Irish Derby winner acclaimed as the best horse to retire straight to the National Hunt ranks in Britain since eight-time Champion sire Kayf Tara.

Jack Hobbs, winner of the G1 Irish Derby and G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, has been retired and will stand at Overbury Stud. The power-packed son of Halling, who remains in the ownership of Godolphin and the partners who raced him, also ran second to stablemate Golden Horn in both the Derby and the G2 Dante Stakes, and was twice third in the Champion Stakes.

Simon Sweeting, manager of Overbury Stud, said, ‘I am overjoyed that Jack Hobbs is coming to Overbury. He’s a magnificent stamp with an outcross pedigree, and he’s the best racehorse to retire straight to the National Hunt ranks in Britain since Sheikh Mohammed sent us Kayf Tara back in 2001.’ Jack Hobbs will stand at £4,000 Oct 1, SLF.

Jack Hobbs, bred by Willie Carson, was trained by John Gosden, who also handled the racing careers of illustrious jumping stallions Presenting, Shantou, Flemensfirth and Anshan. Initially racing for a partnership including Rachel Hood, Jack Hobbs won his only start at two, before crashing into Derby favouritism with a 12-length success in a Sandown handicap, with the Queen’s future G2 winner Dartmouth among those behind.

Dominant victories were to become his stock in trade: he won his five races, two at the highest level, by an aggregate of more than 25 lengths. Jockey Frankie Dettori chose to ride Jack Hobbs in preference to Golden Horn in the G2 Dante Stakes, but he was no match for the future Horse of the Year, running second to him on the Knavesmire, and again at Epsom. At the Curragh, Jack Hobbs had his own moment in the limelight, winning the G1 Irish Derby by five lengths with Highland Reel and Oaks winner Qualify further back. A bloodless victory in the G3 September Stakes preceded a drop down to ten furlongs for the Champion Stakes where he was third. He returned a year later after a long layoff to be third in the same race, beaten by Horse of the Year Almanzor and recent Arc heroine Found. This season he was extremely impressive at Meydan when winning the £3m G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, beating Postponed and Highland Reel.

Jack Hobbs finishes his career with a peak Timeform rating of 129, one pound beneath the level attained by his new roster mate Kayf Tara, who has been the UK Champion jumps sire eight times.

John Gosden said, ‘Jack Hobbs is a very attractive, rangy colt with a great stride, high cruising speed and a fine turn of foot. A classy individual with a superb combination of speed and stamina.’

Gosden also trained Jack Hobbs’s sire Halling, who is having an impact over jumps through his stallion sons Norse Dancer, sire of Yanworth, and Coastal Path, one of the top young jumps sires in France. Jack Hobbs is out of a mare by Godolphin’s four-time G1 winner Swain from the same Jim Joel family as fellow Derby runner-up Connaught. A G1 sire on the flat, Connaught left his mark on the jumping game through his grandson, the outstanding chaser One Man.