Group winners are important for every stallion at any time of the year but to have three slap bang in the middle of Europe’s largest yearling sale is a boost that will have been appreciated by John O’Connor and his team at Ballylinch Stud, the home of Lawman.

Purple patch for Ballylinch Stud’s Lawman

The eight-year-old son of Invincible Spirit fired in three Group winners with 72 hours, starting with juvenile US Law, who won the Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud on Thursday having been third in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes last month.

Bred by Ballylinch, US Law is the first foal of the Linamix mare Dookus, who is a half-sister to the dam of Breeders’ Cup Turf winner and young sire Red Rocks.

At Newmarket’s Future Champions’ Day on Saturday, fillies by Lawman filled the quinella in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes, with the Charlie Hills-trained Just The Judge leading home another Ballylinch-bred Nargys. Better was to come on Saturday, however, with the news that Richard Hannon’s raider Law Enforcement had landed Italy’s big two-year-old race, the Group 1 Gran Criterium at San Siro.

Both Law Enforcement and Just The Judge are out of daughters of the late Rainbow Quest, the dam of the former being Broken Spectre, a sister to Juddmonte’s Racing Post Trophy winner and St Leger runner-up Armiger. Broken Spectre ran only twice for her owner/breeder Prince Khalid Abdulla before being sold at Tattersalls’ December Sale in 2008 for 9,000gns.

The unbeaten Just The Judge, who won the Listed Denford Stud Stakes on her previous start, was selected by her trainer at Goffs for €50,000 as a yearling and is out of Faraday Light, who has already produced a winner by Lawman, Amber Silk, who is also trained by Hills. Faraday Light, like her Group-winning half-sister High Heeled, was bred by Ballylinch Stud but was sold for €26,000 at Goffs to Joan Keaney in 2007.

Lawman had four yearlings sell at Book 1 of tattersalls’ October Sale last week for an average of 133,250gns, with Sackville Donald going to 360,000gns for a half-brother to Captain Marvelous. He has a further 15 catalogued for Book 2, which starts on Monday, and one in Book 3 on Friday.