Sovereign Star

Introducing Sovereign Star, a nice-looking and well-bred 5-year-old gelding, now in training with Donald McCain.

Sovereign Star ran in three point-to-points in Ireland, placing in two of them.

He finished 3rd on first start, which was particularly impressive given that only four of the nine runners finished the race. The winner, Affordable Fury, has since won a bumper and a maiden hurdle.

We can reasonably put a line through his second run, as only three finished that day due to terrible conditions.

He clearly had no trouble putting that race behind him, as he came out and finished 2nd on his third and most recent start, beaten only three lengths by Making Headway. Both the winner and Kingofthegame, who finished behind him in third place, later sold at the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale for good money.

Donald is very enthusiastic about the big lad’s future, informing that ‘He will win bundles of races!’ and adding that he ‘should go through the whole system. I don’t know if you’d run him in a bumper but hurdles and fences. He looks a big, staying horse and is just very straight forward.’

Sovereign Star is sired by Soldier Of Fortune and out of the Presenting mare, Sovereign Lass.

Soldier of Fortune is a proven Grade 1 sire by Galileo, who has produced some very smart horses over the years. These include prolific and Graded race winners, Early Doors, Mega Fortune, SlowMotion, Flying Tiger and Tin Soldier.

Sovereign Star’s dam, Sovereign Lass is a full sister to Ballydub, a highly rated hurdler, who achieved a mark of 145 after finishing 2nd in a Grade 3 at Sandown. He also won a Pertemps Qualifier at Newbury on his fifth start and kept the company of horses like Synchronised, The Giant Bolster and Hunters Ploy when running over fences.

Sovereign Star is a full brother to winning pointer Royal Infantry who has subsequently been sold for £60,000 to top connections.

His dam’s sire, Presenting, is one of the very best sires of National Hunt horses. His progeny include superstars Denman, War of Attrition, First Lieutenant and Yorkhill to name a few.

Sovereign Star has returned to Donald's yard for the season feeling fresh and preparations are underway to get him ready for his first run in the Old Gold Racing silks in the winter months.

The plan at the moment is to send him straight over hurdles with a view to getting a couple of wins on the board before going novice chasing next season. With a bold attitude and impressive jumping technique, he looks set for a bright future!