This column appeared in the December edition of Owner Breeder magazine. Acclamation sadly passed away on December 2.
It says something for the consistency of a stallion when the industry comes to take them almost for granted.
There is some truth in that notion for both Invincible Spirit and Acclamation, two brilliant stallions who were officially retired last month by their respective connections following years of successful stud service.
Consider this: there are some participants out there who weren’t even born when either Invincible Spirit or Acclamation were retired to stud.
Invincible Spirit retired to the Irish National Stud in 2003 having secured an elusive Group 1 win by a nostril in the Haydock Sprint Cup. At the time, the stud housed another high-profile son of Green Desert in the Classic-winning miler Desert Prince. While he was the popular go-to young stallion at €35,000, Invincible Spirit was the cheaper Green Desert alternative at €10,000. Yet within five years, he was the one commanding €75,000 while Desert Prince’s star waned en route to exile.
At his peak, Invincible Spirit was one of Ireland’s most important stallions at €120,000. Plenty of his stock possessed that Green Desert pace and they were often smart, sharp-looking types, all of which made his progeny appealing in the ring. And as time went on, he made a name for himself as a sire of sires through the likes of I Am Invincible and Kingman – although that reputation has come under threat to some extent in the past few years by a series of recent underwhelming sons.
Nevertheless, he retires having been the most remarkable servant to the European industry, in particular the Irish National Stud for whom his importance cannot be underestimated. His current roll call consists of 22 winners at the top level while in addition to supplying various leading sire sons, he has found some momentum as a broodmare sire as the likes of Notable Speech and Starlust have illustrated to good effect this year.
Acclamation’s importance to Rathbarry Stud in County Cork, meanwhile, pays a further tribute of the legacy of Liam Cashman. Cashman secured the son of Royal Applause, winner of the Diadem Stakes at Ascot for Gerald Cottrill, during his racing career with the assistance of Patrick Cooper of the BBA Ireland but died in 2010 just as the horse was getting going.
Like Invincible Spirit, Acclamation was initially a friend of the smaller breeder, providing plenty of those who used him during his early days at €10,000 with a good turn while he maintained his upward trajectory. Early on it was apparent that the typical Acclamation was a tough and genuine type capable of coming to hand early. And like Invincible Spirit, several sons were quick to pick up the baton, notably Yeomanstown Stud’s Dark Angel, a member of his first crop who is on course to be crowned this year’s champion sire, and Mehmas, a record-breaking two-year-old sire of 2024 who continues to go from strength to strength at Tally-Ho Stud.
There is an understandable pride at Rathbarry Stud in Acclamation, not just in light of his success, which consists of seven Group 1 winners including current stars Romantic Warrior and Makarova, but the fact that he retires on his own terms with hopefully a long retirement ahead of him.
“For us, he was our Galileo,” says the stud’s Niamh Woods. “Dad [Liam Cashman] bought him through Patrick Cooper. There were a lovely bunch of people involved with him as a racehorse and several stayed involved at stud, people like David Powell [of Catridge Farm who co-bred Acclamation out of Princess Athena].
“I think the attitude and soundness of his progeny went a long way. There was a longevity to a lot of them. Look at Romantic Warrior winning again [in the Group 2 Jockey Club Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong] the other day. And the likes of Oh This Is Us [winner of 17 of 90 starts] as well. There’s so many of them by him who kept running and I think that helped make him so popular with trainers.
“He’s always been very easy to do, very fertile, but time took its toll this season. Many thanks go to Clive Cox, our stallion mare, who has wrapped him up in cotton wool and really looked after him.”
Rathbarry bring down the curtain on Acclamation’s career in the knowledge that his influence on the breed is flourishing. For starters, Dark Angel has a collection of sons at stud, one of which will be the top miler Charyn in 2025, and is well regarded as a broodmare sire. Mehmas also has a growing group of young sire sons despite being a relatively young ten-year-old himself. As for Rathbarry Stud, the operation has its own young son of Acclamation on the roster in Bouttemont, who covered 81 mares in his first season this year.
Meanwhile, Acclamation’s daughters continue to be well sought after thanks to a broodmare sire record that consists of almost 40 stakes winners led by Broome and Eqtidaar.
“He was one of those that if you got a colt, then great,” says Woods. “But if you got a filly, then that was still great because you had the chance of a serious throw on the track and then again if you decided to breed from her. He was one of those rare stallions where it didn’t really matter what you got by him.
“He’s been a wonderful servant, not just to us but to the shareholders and breeders who used him. He really was good to everyone and for us he’ll always be a star.”
