A first graded winner is a significant landmark in the career of any stallion, but especially so when the stallion was the highest-priced new stallion of his year.

The stallion I am referring to, you will probably have guessed, is Point Given, who got off the mark when his son Go Between narrowly landed the GIII Palm Beach S. two days ago-­on the same day that Point Given's sire Thunder Gulch was successfully represented by Balance in the GI Santa Anita Oaks.

The important thing to remember is that Point Given was an even better three-year-old. A winner of the last two legs of the Triple Crown, he went on to dominate both the GI Haskell and the GI Travers and his only loss, in the Kentucky Derby, was totally forgotten by the time of the Eclipse voting. An undisputed winner of the three-year-old male award, he was also a decisive victor for the Horse of the Year title. His achievements earned him a first book of 104 mares, with 71 live foals.

There was always every chance that Point Given's progeny would also start to shine in their sophomore year, and this is beginning to happen. One son, Great Point, was a good second to Barbaro in the GIII Holy Bull S. over a mile and an eighth last month and now Go Between has taken the GIII Palm Beach S. over the same distance on turf. We might also soon be seeing the likes of Point Determined and Point of Impact start to go on to better things.

Although turf racing never entered Point Given's agenda, it isn't surprising that Go Between is flourishing on the green stuff. His dam Mediation, an Irish-bred daughter of Caerleon, ventured onto the main track only once in 11 starts in the U.S., having earned a Timeform rating of 110 during a busy three-year-old season on the turf in Ireland.

I must admit to having been a fully paid-up subscriber to Caerleon's fan club, and I admired him both as a racehorse and sire. An unbeaten two-year-old, Caerleon went on to win the French Derby and the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup (now the Juddmonte International). He was also a very attractive, well-bred individual who cost $800,000 as a yearling in 1981.

Altogether, this member of the famous La Troienne family looked assured of stardom as a broodmare sire, but that hasn't materialised. With over 1,700 offspring of racing age to the end of last year, Caerleon's daughters could hardly fail to have produced some important winners, with such as Stuka, Avonbridge, Patavellian, River Keen, Dimitrova, Mutamam, Taiki Shuttle and Mutafaweq among his Group 1 winners. However, there haven't been many superstars and I feel a little cheated.

Mediation was one of Caerleon's speedy winners, with the mare inheriting her speed from her female line. Go Between's second dam, Redeem Herself, was a useful Irish sprinter and the next dam, Redowa, was a sister to Yellow God, a top-class two-year-old who was second in the 2000 Guineas, and to St Alphage, sire of the champion sprinter Sandford Lad.

Although there is plenty of speed in Go Between's female line, both his sire and broodmare sire were Classic winners over a mile and a half, so there is every chance that he will stay a mile and a quarter - and continue improving.