As of Dec. 1, the racing world was still awaiting plans for Godolphin homebred Sovereignty, the dual classic winner who is the favorite to be voted Horse of the Year. But whether Sovereignty races on or retires for 2026, Godolphin will still bring two homebreds to the Kentucky stallion ranks this season under its Darley banner, with Grade 1 winner Highland Falls and Grade 2 winner First Mission, both millionaires, having retired this fall. Highland Falls is by emerging sire of sires Curlin and out of Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Round Pond. Like Curlin and many of his progeny, he improved with age and experience. After debuting at age 3, he won the Grade 3 Blame and the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup this year at age 4. “They take a little bit of time, but they surely reward you when they get there,” Kate Galvin, nominations sales and operating manager for Darley’s Kentucky farm, said as Highland Falls was shown at one of his first stallion open houses in November. In 2025, Highland Falls returned from a nearly eight-month layoff to defeat allowance foes. He was then second in the Grade 1 Whitney to champion Sierra Leone. In what proved to be his career finale, he was elevated to third in a roughly run edition of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. First Mission is by Darley sire Street Sense, out of a mare by the operation’s stalwart Medaglia d’Oro. Street Sense’s sons are rising at stud. McKinzie, at Gainesway, has Grade 1 winners Baeza, Chancer McPatrick, and Scottish Lassie in his first crop. Darley homebred Maxfield is among this year’s top three freshman sires, and fellow Darley resident Speaker’s Corner has been well received with his first yearlings. “It’s an incredibly precocious line, and it’s an incredibly physical line,” Galvin said. “Street Sense has knocked it out of the park so far.” First Mission won the Grade 3 Lexington in 2023 and missed the Grade 2 Clark by a nose later that year. He won the Grade 2 Alysheba and Grade 3 Essex last year and the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap this year.