Royal Ascot Group 1 winner Free Eagle (Ire) will shuttle to Cornerstone Stud in a deal struck with the Irish National Stud this week.

The five-year-old son of High Chaparral will stand in South Australia for an $18,700 (inc gst) service fee.

A Moyglare Stud homebred, Free Eagle is out of the winning Danehill mare Polished Gem, and was trained by Dermot Weld to win three races including a Leopardstown mile maiden on debut at two, G3 Enterprise Stakes at three and G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last year.

High Chaparral supplied 10-time Group 1 winner So You Think and fellow multiple Group 1 stars It’s A Dundeel, and Shoot Out during his time in the southern hemisphere.

“Free Eagle is one of those horses that walks out of his box and immediately takes your eye,” Cornerstone Stud’s managing director Sam Hayes said.  “Types are what sell at the yearling sales and physically Free Eagle has that ‘wow’ factor.

“We believe in the sire line and the way in which he accelerated away from world-class horses at Royal Ascot makes him something special.”

News of Free Eagle’s arrival comes just days after it was announced Cornerstone shuttler Dalakhani (Ire) will miss the rest of the northern hemisphere breeding season due to an unspecified “veterinary problem”.  He is based at the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval in Normandy.

FREE EAGLE