Irish Gold Cup winner Edwulf is his sire’s top performer of the season.

For the ninth time, Kayf Tara has finished the season as the leading National Hunt sire in Britain, with 87 winners of 123 races throughout the 2017-18 season helping him to total progeny earnings of £1,929,544.

Kayf Tara finished fifth in the overall table for Britain and Ireland, and third among all active sires, with Flemensfirth winning the title for the first time ahead of the late King’s Theatre and Presenting, with Milan in fourth place.

Kayf Tara’s most successful progeny of the season were led by the Ivor Valentine-bred Edwulf, the winner of the G1 Irish Gold Cup in February, while Tea For Two posted another consistent campaign, finishing third in the G1 King George VI Chase on Boxing Day. Blaklion won the G3 Becher Chase and was unfortunate to be brought down at the first fence in the Grand National, and Identity Thief posted a second Grade 1 win in the Ryanair Stayers’ Hurdle at Aintree.

Now 24, Kayf Tara remains one of the most sought-after jumps sires in Europe and will cover a book of around 100 mares at Overbury, where he stands alongside fellow National Hunt sire Schiaparelli and young dual-purpose prospects Dunaden and Jack Hobbs.