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sires in form

10 days that changed the world (of bloodstock)


The last 2 weeks have seen huge amounts of top level action in the UK, Ireland and France. It would be easy to simply write about one top level winner but I aim to please so here are ten items of interest from the past two weeks…….

1.Sea the Stars- His greatness is unquestioned, but is he the greatest ever?

The answer is no. Sea the Stars is undoubtedly a fantastic horse whose consistency and versatility has to admired but some of the praise has been vastly overdone. I believe that I have seen better individual performances over a mile, 10 furlongs and 12 furlongs. It is interesting to compare his level of form with that of last year’s winner Zarkava. She also won an Arc by two lengths beating Youmzain, over a mile she trounced Goldikova in the French Guineas and she was both a Group 1 winner at two and unbeaten throughout her career. However would anyone seriously suggest that she might be the greatest horse of all time,as has been mentioned in the case of Sea the Stars?

2. Mighty Mighty Montjeu.

We have learned that when Montjeu sires a good two year old, that horse becomes a top class three year old. Thus far his only Group One winning two year olds have all become Derby winners namely Authorized, Motivator and Fame and Glory. For good measure Jukebox Jury who won last years Royal Lodge has now become a Group 1 winner after narrowly triumphing in the Preis Von Europa.  On Saturday 26th September at Ascot in the Royal Lodge Joshua Tree won well. The next day in the Curragh’s Beresford Stakes,St Nicholas Abbey was even more impressive and become ante post favourite for next year’s Derby. For good measure Bikini Babe was runner up in the CL Weld Stakes.  As if to remind everyone that he still sires the odd decent older horse he had an Australian Group 1 winner Speed Gifted to complement Jukebox Jury’s success at the highest level. With Fame & Glory likely to stay in training it would be no surprise if he is champion sire in 2010.

3. John Oxx- You can’t get away from his influence!

Back in 2000 Sinndar gave John Oxx the best day he could ever have hoped for when winning the Arc on the same day as Namid won the Prix de’lAbbaye. In 2009 apart from Sea the Stars he won the Prix de Cadran with Alandi who spoilt Yeats farewell to racing. This was Alandi’s second major victory in three weeks following on from his Irish St Leger victory. The weekend also gave plenty of reminders of that memorable day in 2000 as Namid sired Total Victory who followed his sire in triumphing in the Abbaye and Sinndar was responsible for Youmzain who again had to settle for the runner-up spot for the 3rd successive Arc. For good measure Sinndar sired Rosanara who was quite impressive in retaining her unbeaten record in the Prix Marcel Boussac. I wrote in one of my first posts that Sinndar was badly overlooked by Irish breeders. He is now resident in France where I hope he gets the big books that he deserves as he is more than capable of siring a top horse. Total Gallery became Namid’s first Group 1 winner but he has probably arrived too late to make much of a difference to Namid’s reputation and his lack of major success saw the median for his yearlings slip to €5600 in 2008.

4.The Aga Khan- as good as it gets.

The Aga Khan had an incredible weekend. Group 1 successes for Shalanaya, Alandi, Siyouni, Rosanara, Varenar represent an incredible return and a vindication of his breeding policy.The sires involved Lomitas,Galileo, Pivotal, Sinndar and Rock of Gibraltar, are a decidedly mixed bunch but such success highlights the strength of his female lines.His non-conformist approach to stallion selection often sees him responsible for breeding the best offspring of many overlooked stallions. For good measure Daryakana (by Selkirk) and Manighar (by Linamix) picked up Group 2 races. Looking at some of the pedigrees involved familiar names quickly appear. The third dam of Shalanaya is Sharmeen the dam of Shergar, the dam of Alandi is a full sister to Oaks winner Aliysa, the grand-dam of Siyouni is Slipstream Queen who was dam of Slickly and was presumably purchased as part of the Lagardere purchase so it is fitting that he won the race commemorating Jean Luc Lagardere. Rosanara is out of a Linamix mare so again it can be taken that she was part of the Lagardere acquisition. Varenar is a half brother to Visindar who started favourite for the 2006 Derby on the back of an impressive win in the Prix Greffulhe and Daryakana is out Daryaba who won the French Oaks and Prix Vermeille in 1999.

5. Pivotal- another gap on the cv filled

I am a huge admirer of Pivotal and it is interesting to monitor the impact of the better mares on his results. The Prix Jean-Luc de Lagedare say a first and third for Cheveley Parks finest, comprising Siyouni and Buzzword. Interestingly both are our of Danehill mares and this is a cross that has been tried repeatedly since the success of Saoire in the Irish Guineas. Kitty Kiernan is another representative of this cross. Surprisingly it was the first time that Pivotal had sired a Group 1 winning two year old although he did have Group 2 winners previously in Captain Rio and Excellent Art.

6. Sahm- a loss

Sahm was impeccably bred being by Mr Prospector out of Salsabail. However I always felt he was at stud on the wrong continent. He has had relatively few runners in Europe and most of them were with Kevin Prendergast, who never seemed to train a bad one eg Mustameet, Adaala, Red Moloney. He also sired Maram who won last years Breeders Cup Fillies Turf.  Now he has had a Group 1 winner in surprise Sun Chariot winner Sahpreasa. Sahm died in 2007 aged only 13 and before he really got to capitalise on his better than expected results.

7. Sales races- distorting the truth

There were a number of sales races over the past 8 days with the Tattersalls races at Newmarket and the Goffs races at the Curragh.  Amazingly for the second year running Hawk Wing sired the winner of one of these sales races (Lucky General) to put him near the top of the two year old rankings again. This is a travesty of justice if it means that someone in the distant future comes to the conclusion that it was a mistake to banish this great racehorse but dreadful sire to Korea. Shamardal sired another Shakespearen the winner of the Goffs Million Mile and along with Arctic who was somewhat disappointing in the Middle Park he ensures that Shamardal will feature near the top of the first season sires listing. At Newmarket in the Tattersalls races Danehill Dancer sired Lilly Langtry the winner of the fillies races which means that he will now win the Anglo-Irish championship at the expense of Cape Cross. 

8. Middle Park in decline

THe Middle Park stakes has been in decline for a long period. In the past twenty years only Oasis Dream and Rodrigo de Triano have gone on to Group 1 success as three year olds. This years field was small but select with all the runners having shown a high level of form. In winning Azwaan retained his unbeaten record but he wasn’t overly impressive. Alhaarth throws all sorts and this year he was very unlucky that Mourayan didn’t win thus years St Leger as he got no sort of run. In the past Alhaarth has shown his versatility by siring sprinters (Dominica), milers (Haafhd) and middle distance horses (Bandari).  Accordingly it is hard to say how far Azwaan will stay but it will be a surprise if he wins next years 2000 Guineas.

9. Special Duty- omens are good

Special Duty showed a very impressive turn of foot to win the Cheveley Park. She has already been highly tried taking on colts when beating Siyouni in the Prix Robert Papin and finishing second to Arcano in the Prix Morny. She is from a top class family as her dam is a full sister to Sightseek who won 7 Grade 1’s for Juddmonte. Her sire Hennessy died in 2007 whilst on duty in South America and he is one of those sires that seemed to be around forever yet he was only 14 when he died. In Europe he is known solely for outstanding two year old Johannesburg and it is to be hoped that Special Duty trains on a little better than he did. She will most likely be targetted at the 1000 Guineas and she seems to have a good chance of giving Criquette Head her fourth success in that classic.

10. Singspiel – A value sire

I think that Hibaayeb was fortunate not to be disqualified after winning the Fillies Mile. She clearly impeded Lady Darshaan who is incidentally a half sister to Prix de l’Abbaye winner Total Gallery. However she kept the race and thereby became the 12th Group 1 winner for Singspiel and his third this year after Eastern Anthem and Dar Re Mei. Singspiel saw a significant reduction in his stud fee some years ago and he is value at £15000. Hibaayeb’s fourth dam is Oh So Fair who achieved fame as the dam of Oh So Sharp.

 

Date

Horse age sex
 
 
 

 

Sire
 
 
 

 

Race and distance
 
 
 

 

Dam (broodmare sire)
 
 
 

 
04/10/09 Total Gallery 3 c Namid Prix de l’Abbaye Gr 1 (5f) Diary (GreenDesert)
04/10/09 Sea the Stars 3 c Cape Cross Prix de l’Arc Gr 1 (12f) Urban Sea (Miswaki)
04/10/09 Shalanaya 3 f Lomitas Prix de l’Opera Gr 1 (10f) Shalamantika (Nashwan)
04/10/09 Alandi 4 c Galileo Prix de Cadran Gr 1 (20f) Aliya (Darshaan)
04/10/09 Siyouni 2 c Pivotal Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (7f) Sichilla (Danehill)
04/10/09 Rosanara 2 f Sinndar Prix Marcel Boussac Gr1 (8f) Rosawa (Linamix)
04/10/10 Varenar 3 c Rock of Gibraltar Prix de la Foret Gr 1 (10f) Visor (Mr Prospector)
03/10/09 Sahpresa 4 f Sahm Sun Chariot Gr 1 (8f) Sorpresa (Pleasant Tap)
03/10/09 Speed Gifted 5 g Montjeu The Metropolitan Gr 1 (12f) Good Standing (Distant View)
02/10/09 Special Duty 2 f Hennessy Cheveley Park Gr 1(6f) Quest to Peak (Distant View)
02/10/09 Awzaan 2 c Alhaarth Middle Park Gr 1 (6f) Nufoos (Zafonic)
27/09/09 St Nicholas Abbey 2 c Montjeu Beresford Stakes Gr 2 (8f) Leaping Water (Sure Blade)

27/09/09

 Jukebox Jury 3 c Montjeu Preis Von Europa Gr 1 (12f) Mare Aux Fees (Kenmare)
26/09/09 Hibaayeb 2 f Singspiel Fillies Mile Gr 1 (8f) Lady Zonda (Lion Cavern)
26/09/09 Rip Van Winkle 3c Galileo QEII Gr 1 (8f) Looking Back (Stravinsky)
26/09/09 Joshua Tree 2 c Montjeu Royal Lodge Gr 2 (8f) Madeira Mist (Grand Lodge)

Rain helped this Parade

Last month, I wrote about the phenomenal success that Oasis Dream was enjoying. Not to be outdone, Pivotal has just had his own super Saturday. It was a potent reminder that he has earned the right to be considered the best sire in Britain and he isn’t going to easily relinquish that title to young pretenders Oasis Dream and Dansili.

Within the space of a few hours Pivotal was responsible for Emerald Commander who won a listed two year old race over a mile, the four year old colt Poet who won a Group 3 over 10 furlongs, Heaven Sent a 6 year old mare who finished runner in the Group one Matron Stakes over a mile and most significantly Regal Parade a five year old gelding who won the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup over 6 furlongs. Regal Parade became Pivotal’s 13th Group one winner and his second winner of the Haydock Sprint Cup after Somnus in 2003 (who in a neat twist defeated Oasis Dream) .

Pivotal’s Stud Career

Expectations were modest when Pivotal retired to his owners Cheveley Park Stud in 1996. After a six race career, he was the winner of a King’s Stand Stakes and a Nunthorpe Stakes (both over five furlongs) but his pedigree was deemed unremarkable. Breeders viewed him as a likely source of cheap speed. He has delivered that speed in abundance but he has also sired plenty of horses who stay much farther.  An interesting aspect of his stud career is the difference in aptitude between his fillies and his colts.  In general the top class fillies by Pivotal will win from a mile to twelve furlongs (Sariska,Chorist, Peeress, Megahertz, Golden Apples,Silvester Lady, Saoire) the top class colts are sprinters (Kyllachy, Somnus, Regal Parade) or milers (Excellent Art, Falco, Virtual).  What is common to his runners is a tendency to improve with age, an ability to handle cut in the ground (although soft ground is not essential as they win on all ground conditions), and what I believe might be called a will to win. It is difficult to prove a ‘will to win’ but it would be interesting to look at the stats for photo finishes involving offspring of Pivotal as I suspect they would have a better than 50% strike rate.

His success has seen his fee rise steeply to a height of £85000, before in a nod to the recession it was reduced to £65000 for the current season. Sheikh Mohammed was also impressed and paid an undisclosed sum for a significant share in the chestnut.  Pivotal is now enjoying the cream of the broodmare crop and he seems sure to capitalise on these chances.  It is still quite early to rate his prospects as a sire of sires as his best bred sons are yet to have runners.  To date Kyllachy has done reasonably well, whereas Captain Rio and Needwood Blade have failed to impress from the limited evidence available to date.  However the likes of Excellent Art, Falco and Windsor Knot are yet to have runners and we can expect plenty of Pivotal’s better sons to be given opportunities at stud over the coming years.

Regal Parade’s Career

Regal Parade has twice passed through the sales ring Tattersalls. As a yearling he fetched a whopping £430,000 to the bid of John Ferguson acting for Sheikh Mohammed. He was his sires top priced yearling of 2005 so clearly he was a good looking yearling.

Unraced at two, it might have seemed that this huge invesment would pay dividends when he won his first three starts as a three year old for Mark Johnston. Like so many from that stable he was kept busy and ran a further eight times that year. However success proved elusive and presumably he was not deemed worthy of a trip to Dubai. Therefore he was sent back to the same Tattersalls sales ring where second time round he fetched a much more modest £16,000 to the bid of Dandy Nicholls.

That money was recouped in the first season for Dandy. From 10 runs who won two major handicaps, the Buckingham at Royal Ascot and the Ayr Gold Cup. This season he has again been busy with 8 runs already. Significant improvement has occurred in the past few months and he ran creditably in the Golden Jubilee before winning Listed event at Chester in July over 7 furlongs. Kept to 7 furlongs he was placed in the Group 2 Betfair Cup and Hungerford Stakes.  Dropped back to six furlongs, there was no fluke about his defeat of Fleeting Spirit and High Standing. It will be interesting to see if he continues to improve and it was reported after the race that his next target is likely to be the 7 furlong Prix de la Foret.

Model Queen

Model Queen, the dam of Regal Parade ran six times for Khalid Abdullah and Barry Hills. She ran once at two finishing a promising third.  However it is likely that she showed some promise at home as she made her three year old reappearance in the Fred Darling Stakes, and she started at a mere 11/2.  She never threatened to win that day, but she did win her next race a 7 furlong Beverley maiden. She ran three more times but was deemed surplus to requirements by Juddmonte and was sold at Tattersalls December for £92000. Her price reflects the fact that she was a daughter of ultra fashionable Kingmambo from a top class Juddmonte family. Her dam Model Bride was unraced, but granddam Mofida has appeared in the pedigrees of a host of big winners. Mofida is the dam of Zaizafon who achieved fame as the dam of the brothers Zafonic and Zamindar. Another daughter of Mofida was the unraced Modena who was the dam of Oaks winner Reams of Verse and Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes winner Elmaamul. There are also plenty of other black type horses to help fill the page.

At stud Model Queen’s first mate was Fantastic Light and the outcome was the minor winner Sister Sylvia. Then came Pivotal and Regal Parade followed by a visit to Montjeu and a colt that cost Demi O’ Byrne 600,000 gns,. Subsequently named Mount Helicon he is now running over hurdles but he showed plenty of promise on the flat finishing a close 4th in Group 2 Prix Noailles behind Full of Gold and another 4th in a Group 3 behind Montmartre. More sales success has followed. Her 2006 Danehill Dancer colt named Canyon Ranch fetched 350000 gns and her 2007 Motivator colt name Hot Prospect (a three part brother to Mount Helicon) fetched 230000 gns. Hot Prospect made a promising debut at York in July and looks like he might live up to his name.

Conclusion

Regal Parade combines an outstanding sire with a dam from a celebrated Juddmonte family. His pedigree shows inbreeding to Nureyev 3×4 and he is the second Group winner from 5 foals by Pivotal out of Kingmambo mares. The other Group winner was Brazilian Bride who won the Group 3 Swordlestown Stakes at two and also finished fourth in the Phoenix and Moyglare Stakes. It is a cross that is likely to be tried more often in the coming years. Regal Parade is a typical son of Pivotal. He is best over shorter distances, he has won on a variety of grounds but is probably best with a little cut in the ground. He has improved with age, he takes his racing well and as a gelding we can anticipate watching him compete for some years to come. 

 

REGAL PARADE (GB) 2004 g ch
Pivotal
(GB) 1993		 Polar
Falcon (USA) 1987		 Nureyev
(USA) 1977		 Northern
Dancer (CAN) 1961
Special
(USA) 1969
Marie
D’argonne (FR) 1981		 Jefferson
(GB) 1967
Mohair
(FR) 1974
Fearless
Revival (GB) 1987		 Cozzene
(USA) 1980		 Caro
(IRE) 1967
Ride
The Trails (USA) 1971
Stufida
(GB) 1981		 Bustino
(GB) 1971
Zerbinetta
(GB) 1970
Model
Queen (USA) 1998		 Kingmambo
(USA) 1990		 Mr
Prospector (USA) 1970		 Raise
A Native (USA) 1961
Gold
Digger (USA) 1962
Miesque
(USA) 1984		 Nureyev
(USA) 1977
Pasadoble
(USA) 1979
Model
Bride (USA) 1985		 Blushing
Groom (FR) 1974		 Red
God (USA) 1954
Runaway
Bride (GB) 1962
Mofida
(GB) 1974		 Right
Tack (GB) 1966
Wold
Lass (GB) 1960

No mystery here.

The Prix Morny was expected to see Cranford Cliffs prove himself a superstar.  Instead he finished only third behind narrow winner Arcano.  Arcano is now unbeaten in three runs after winning a Newmarket maiden and the Group 2 July stakes also at Newmarket.  His win wasn’t visually impressive and more improvement will be required if he is to be considered a serious Guineas prospect for next year, although the time of the race set a new track record.

 We are still learning about Oasis Dream and Arcarno’s dam Tariysha was unraced. She is by the outstanding performer Daylami who apart from Irish Derby winner Grey Swallow failed to live up to expectations at stud and is now plying his trade in South Africa. It is early days to assess him as a broodmare sire but he is also broodmare sire this Summer of Group winner Summer Fete (by Pivotal). 

Arcarno’s granddam Tarwiya was a very useful filly for John Oxx at both two and three years of age. At two she had eight runs (unusual for a John Oxx inmate), she took five runs to break her maiden but by the end of the season her cv included wins in a Listed race, the Group 3 C.L Weld stakes and a second place in the Group 1 Moyglare stakes.  She failed to win at three but did manage a very respectable third to Marling in the Irish 1000 Guineas. At stud she has produced a few winners but nothing of significance. One of her non-winning daughters Tahara is the dam of Godfrey Street who won a Flying Childers. Given the pedigree, a price of 90,000 Guineas seemed right when Arcano was offered at the Tattersalls October sales. It is a nice balanced pedigree with the only inbreeding being Mill Reef 4×4 and the Northern Dancer 4X5 that appears in Oasis Dream’s pedigree. Given the way Arcarno stayed on to win, connections might be tempted to step him up to 7 furlongs for the Dewhurst or alternatively they may target the Middle Park which his sire won in 2002.

Arcano is the Spanish word for mystery but there is no mystery about the source of his talent. Oasis Dream has been the story of the Summer, producing a multitude of Group winners across a range of distances.  Twelve months ago it was clear that the best sire in Britain was Pivotal followed by Dansili- now Oasis Dream has overtaken Dansili and Pivotal’s position is under threat.  As the table below shows, since the start of July, Oasis Dream has sired the winners of 10 Group races. He has had three Group winning Two year olds (Misheer, Arcarno and Showcasing), Midday and Arcarno were Group 1 winners and Aqlaam and Main Aim were runners up in Group 1’s. It is a remarkable sequence of success and these results were produced from crop fees of £25000 to £30000.  Recession or not, I expect him to stand for c.£60k next year, he has large crops in the pipeline, he seems to work with all sorts of distaff lines and it seems that only premature death can stop him becoming a hugely significant European sire.

  

Date Horse age sex  Race and distance Dam (broodmare sire)
 23/08/09  Arcano 2 f  Prix Morny Gr 1 (6f)  Tariysha (Daylami)
 23/08/09  Lady Jane Digby 4 f Walther Jacobs Gr 3 (10f)  Scandalette (Niniski)
 19/08/09  Showcasing 2 f Gimcrack Gr 2 (6f)  Arabesque (Zafonic
 18/08/09 Monitor Closely 3 c Great Voltigeur Gr 2 (12f)  Independence (Selkirk)
 16/08/09  Mullein 4 f Flying Fillies Stakes lstd (6f)  Gipsy Moth (Efisio)
 16/08/09  Sri Putra 3 c Prix Guillaume D’Ornano Gr 2 (10f)  Wendylina (In the Wings)
 01/08/09  Midday 3 f Nassau Stakes Gr 1 (10f)  Midsummer (Kingmambo)
 11/07/09  Tuscan Evening 4 f Royal Heroine Mile  Gr 2(8f) The Faraway Tree (Suave Dancer)
 11/07/09  Aqlaam 3 c Summer Mile Gr 2 (8f)  Bourbonella (Rainbow Quest)
 09/07/09  Arcano 2 c July Stakes Gr 2 (6f)  Tariysha (Daylami)
 08/07/09  Misheer 2 f Cherry Hinton Stakes Gr 2 (6f)  All For Laura (Cadeaux Genereux)

 

ARCANO (IRE) 2007 c b
Oasis
Dream (GB) 2000		 Green
Desert (USA) 1983		 Danzig
(USA) 1977		 Northern
Dancer (CAN) 1961
Pas
De Nom (USA) 1968
Foreign
Courier (USA) 1979		 Sir
Ivor (USA) 1965
Courtly
Dee (USA) 1968
Hope
(IRE) 1991		 Dancing
Brave (USA) 1983		 Lyphard
(USA) 1969
Navajo
Princess (USA) 1974
Bahamian
(IRE) 1985		 Mill
Reef (USA) 1968
Sorbus
(IRE) 1975
Tariysha
(IRE) 2002		 Daylami
(IRE) 1994		 Doyoun
(IRE) 1985		 Mill
Reef (USA) 1968
Dumka
(FR) 1971
Daltawa
(IRE) 1989		 Miswaki
(USA) 1978
Damana
(FR) 1981
Tarwiya
(IRE) 1989		 Dominion
(GB) 1972		 Derring-do
(GB) 1961
Picture
Palace (GB) 1961
Touraya
(IRE) 1984		 Tap
On Wood (IRE) 1976
Takrana
(GB) 1977

Montjeu jumps to the fore

Sadler’s Wells has had a profound effect on the jump racing scene, even more so than his impact on the flat. A look at the current jump stallions standings shows Sadler’s Wells himself in 15th position by prize money and an astonishing 7 of his sons are ahead of him in the stallion rankings. These are Old Vic, Oscar, Accordion, Saddlers’ Hall, Kayf Tara, King’s Theatre and the new kid on the block Montjeu who sits one place ahead of his sire in the table. To date in the 2008/09 season Montjeu has been represented by 60 runners and 11 winners and considering that his oldest progeny have just turned seven he is likely to move nearer the top of the table over the coming years.  Montjeu’s merits as a jumps sire were highlighted over the Christmas period when he sired a grade 1 hurdles winner, and two placed grade 1 runners. The placed runners were Blue Bajan (2002 Montjeu-Gentle Thoughts by Darshaan) who finished a close up third to Harchibald in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and Won in the Dark (2004 Montjeu-Mesata by Lion Cavern) who ran Sublimity to half a length in the Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown. Won in the Dark had previously scored in Grade 1 company when running away with the champion 4 year old hurdle at Punchestown and he is currently quoted at 25-1 for the Champion Hurdle. However Montjeu’s Christmas cracker was Hurricane Fly (2004 Montjeu-Scandisk by Kenmare) who won his second Grade 1 in spectacular fashion when quickening right away from the field in the champion novice hurdle at Leopardstown. Hurricane Fly showed real acceleration after the last and it was no surprise that he had been more than useful on the flat where he once won a listed race defeating no less than Literato and Spirit One in  France.  He is now clear favourite for the Supreme Novices at Cheltenham and he is even quoted in the Champion Hurdle betting by some firms. The dam of Hurricane Fly produced another stakes horse in Hunzy (by Desert King) who picked up some cheap Italian black type. Hurricane Fly’s second dam Yankee Lady was a sister to Yankee Gold who won a Royal Whip and Ballymoss Stakes. She was by Lord Gayle who is now in so many National Hunt pedigrees because of the impact of his son the champion sire Strong Gale. Hurricane Fly was not bred for the National Hunt game but it is no surprise that he has shown such talent in the field. As for Montjeu’s credentials as a jumps sire, they could hardly have been better. Sadlers Wells was an outstanding sire of hurdlers siring Istabraq, Theatreworld, Pridwell and French Ballerina amongst others. Montjeu’s broodmare sire Top Ville sired a number of top jumps sires and promising younger sires including the tragically short lived Toulon, Beneficial, Un Desperado, Pistolet Bleu and Norwich. Had Montjeu not been such a success on the flat no doubt he would now be a very stallion at Coolmores National Hunt division. As it is he seems set to follow in his fathers footsteps as a top class stallion in both realms.

HURRICANE FLY (IRE) 2004 c b
Montjeu
(IRE) 1996		 Sadler’s
Wells (USA) 1981		 Northern
Dancer (CAN) 1961		 Nearctic
(USA) 1954
Natalma
(USA) 1957
Fairy
Bridge (USA) 1975		 Bold
Reason (USA) 1968
Special
(USA) 1969
Floripedes
(FR) 1985		 Top
Ville (IRE) 1976		 High
Top (IRE) 1969
Sega
Ville (USA) 1968
Toute
Cy (FR) 1979		 Tennyson
(FR) 1955
Adele
Toumignon (IRE) 1971
Scandisk
(IRE) 1995		 Kenmare
(FR) 1975		 Kalamoun
(GB) 1970		 Zeddaan
(GB) 1965
Khairunissa
(GB) 1960
Belle
Of Ireland (GB) 1964		 Milesian
(GB) 1953
Belle
Of The Ball (GB) 1958
Yankee
Lady (IRE) 1977		 Lord
Gayle (USA) 1965		 Sir
Gaylord (USA) 1959
Sticky
Case (USA) 1958
Ceol
An Oir (GB) 1961		 Vimy
(FR) 1952
Pal
An Oir (IRE) 1956

What Goes Up? Recession Busters

Chicken Little aka Chicken Licken wasn’t wrong, she was just ahead of her time. Nowadays it seems that the sky really is falling down as asset values crash around the world. Stallion fees are understandably under pressure as the recent sales season showed falls in the grosses, averages, and medians. However there are still some stallions bucking the trend, who’s fees for 2009 are showing increases on 2008. So in the words of Bugs Bunny “Whats up doc?”

Starting with Coolmore- Montjeu and Danehill Dancer are both now listed as private from last years fees of €125,000 and €115,000. Both sires had good years with Montjeu adding another classic winning colt in Irish Derby winner Frozen Fire and the very impressive Grand Prix de Paris winner Montmartre. His older horses included Group 2 winners Honolulu and MacArthur and the Autumn saw him reveal some promising 2 year olds including a one-two in the final Group One of the Season at Saint Cloud with Fame and Glory and Drumbeat, alongside the Royal Lodge success of Jukebox Jury who also finished second in the Racingpost Trophy. Danehill Dancer had a great year in Ireland where his star turns were Mastercraftsman who won the Phoenix and National Stakes as well as Again who won the Moyglare. These had a large back up cast including Ice Queen who  was just touched off in the Irish Oaks, Caribbean Sunset who was narrowly beaten in the Irish 1000 Guineas and Westphalia who won the Group 2 Champagne Stakes. Both stallions have the offspring of better books of mares on the way and normally you would say that the fee hikes could be justified but in the current environment it is more questionable.  In the case of Danehill Dancer I would contrast his situation with that of Pivotal who sired Guineas winners in three countries but saw his fee cut from £85000 to £65000- and Danehill Dancer whilst a good sire is no Pivotal. It is possible, indeed probable that the decision to list the fees as private is just the famed Coolmore spin machine at work. I strongly suspect that any breeder prepared who offered last years fees for either Danehill Dancer or Montjeu would have no problem getting an appointment for his mare. The other Coolmore giant is Galileo and his fee is advertised as private in 2009, the same situation as 2008.  Galileo had a fantastic year with his three year olds New Approach and Lush Lashes, older horses Soldier of Fortune and Red Rocks and promising two year olds Kite Wood, Cuis Ghaire and Rip Van Winkle. Although there is no advertised change in his fee, with the retirement of Sadler’s Wells he is probably ‘more private’ now than he was before!

Darley have raised two of their stallions. Kheleyf has gone from €5000 to €12000 and Exceed and Excel was raised from €10000 to £12000. It’s easy to understand these increases given the success of both stallions with their two year olds, finishing first and second with 27 and 21 individual winners respectively, including a respectable number of stakes performers.

The Irish National Stud also had a good year with its first season sires. Elusive City was responsible for Group winners Elusive Wave and Soul City and it was no harm that Soul City also won the Goffs million. The success of Raven’s Pass, another son of Elusive Quality was also timely. His fee has now moved from €8000 to €12500 which seems pricey to me. Indian Haven also had two Group winners in Ashram and Aspen Darlin and has fee has increased slightly from €6000 to €7500. I would expect his progeny to train on well and I think he is represents very good value and could be the one to replicate the success enjoyed his sire Indian Ridge and grandsire Ahonoora at the Irish National Stud.

Amongst the second season sires Dalakhani was the star. Two classic winners in Moonstone and Conduit were backed up by Group 2 winners Centennial and Democrate and four other stakes winners. His results justify an increase from €40000 to €50000.

Nayef matched Dalakhani by siring two Group 1 winners in Lady Marian and Tamayuz. Like Dalakhani he is free from Northern Dancer and he represents very good value at his new fee of £15000 up from £10000 in 2008.

Bizarrely Shadwell also increased the fee for Sakhee from £10000 to £12000. He had a few useful performers in Samuel and the Italian Permesso who was twice Group 1 placed but it hardly constituted a successful season. I certainly can’t see the rationale behind this increase.

Juddmonte have not increased any of their fees, nor have Rathbarry or Lanwades, although Lanwades would have been forgiven had they given Hernando an increase after the exploits of Look Here and Casual Conquest.

 The National Stud raised Bahamian Bounty from £9000 to £10000. This was surprising as although he had plenty of winners he had no Group winners all year and his best performer was Gallagher who finished runner up in the Prix Morny. Time will tell whether this decision was brave or foolhardy, but I found it surprising.

The brevity of the above list tells you all that you need to know about the current state of the market.  Confidence is in short supply but no doubt commercial breeders are hoping that when it comes to selling the outcome of their 2009 matings that the financial outlook will be a lot rosier. I hope they will be proved right but I’m always reminded of the saying “anyone who wants to make a small fortune out of horses, needs to start with a big fortune”……..

Compton Place for Pace

Compton Place is after a fantastic few weeks. On the 19th July the six year old Intrepid Jack won the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes over 6 furlongs. On the 1st August the two year old Prolific won the Group 2 Richmond Stakes and then to cap it all on the 22nd August another 6 year old Borderlescott won the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes (following in the footsteps of his grandsire Ahonoora) when the race was run at Newmarket after York was cancelled. Borderlescotts victory was his first ever Group win and was Compton Place’s first ever Group One victory. Compton Place has earned a reputation as a good sire of tough speedy horses and is good value at his current fee of £7500.

Racecourse Career:

Compton Place’s racecourse career is really all about one race the 1997 July Cup. He triumphed at 50-1 defeating Royal Applause. As his price suggests this was a massive improvement on his previous form although at 2 he did finish runner up in the Gimcrack and the Flying Childers. In his previous run he had been well beaten in the King’s Stand and he must be one of the few Group One winners about which the trainer had to explain the improvement in form! The rest of his career was a big disappointment, his final run at three was in the Nunthorpe but he missed the kick and only beat one horse home. Kept in training at four he ran three times but finished close to last on all his runs including when bidding for a repeat in the July Cup.

Stud Career.

The below table taken from his home stud (http://www.whitsburymanorstud.co.uk/) shows an analysis of Compton Place first 6 crops.  His foal sizes are relatively small in the modern era dropping to a mere 39 recorded foals in 2002.  Despite his current success it it refreshing that it is advertised that his books are restricted to 100 mares.  It is impressive to note his very large percentage of runners to foals which indicates that he is siring sound animals and another intriguing stat I came across was in relation to the number of lifetime runs per runner (13) which reinforced the soundness of his offspring. His percentage of stakes winners at around 3% is not impressive but considering the quality of mares it is not too disappointing. A cursory analysis of the winning distances of his offspring tells you at a glance all you need to know about the distance preference of his offspring with 5 furlong and 6 furlong races dominating in terms of wins and runs.  He was viewed by breeders as a source of cheap speed and he has delivered them just that.  HIs previous best progeny include Godfrey Street who went one better than Compton Place and won the Flying Childers (defeating his paternal half brother Hunter Street), Passified who is Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 placed in the US, Boogie Street who was only a listed winner but came within a head of winning a Kings Stand, multiple stakes winners Angus Newz and . Many of his better runners including Boogie Street, Godfrey Street and Prolific were trained by Richard Hannon who is an enthusiastic supporter of the stallion and his been well rewarded for his foresight. There are no obvious nicks when looking at the pedigrees of Compton Place’s previous stakes winners although he has two out of Night Shift mares in Passified and Italian Group 3 winner Champion Place. Intrepid Jack is out a Primo Dominie mare, Prolific out of Bahamian Bounty mare, Judd Street out of a College Chapel mare, Boogie Street out of a Distant Relative mare and Godfrey Street who is out a Caerleon mare. Incidentally Caerleon also appears in the third generation of Prolific.

Indian Ridge as a Sire of Sires

Compton Place’s sire Indian Ridge was an unexpected success at stud rising from humble beginnings to be the star in the Irish National Stud roster with two Breeders Cup mile winners in Ridgewood Pearl and Domedriver along with champion sprinter Namid, Irish Guineas winner Indian Haven, National Stakes winner and Irish Derby runner-up Definite Article and dual group one winner Indian Ink. Indian Ridge has mixed results as a sire of sires. Definite Article was atypical of the best Indian Ridges in his aptitude for middle distances and at stud he followed suit by siring an outstanding stayer in Vinnie Roe, who is himself now at stud. Despite or more likely because of the success of Vinnie Roe, Definite Article is now covering large books as a dual purpose sire. Ridgewood Ben ( a brother to Ridgewood Peal) was disappointing even for a cheap sire and the likes of Fumo Di Londra , Handsome Ridge, Indian Rocket and Tumbleweed Ridge also failed to sire anything of note from admittedly poor quality mares.  Namid started promisingly with his first crop and sires lots of winners but needs a few top class horses if he is to justify his reported fee of €10000. Domedriver received a quality book of mares but although his oldest progeny are still only three, results to date are very disappointing and he has left Lanwades for France. Munir has a quality pedigree as a son of Al Bahatri but also has failed to deliver any offspring of note. Thus it is fair to rank Compton Place as the best son of Indian Ridge currently at stud but that could change quickly if Sleeping Indian or Indian Haven start to deliver with their large initial crops.

Borderlescott’s pedigree:

It is a rarity nowadays to find a pedigree devoid of Northern Dancer or Mr Prospector but Borderlescott is one of those rarities. His dam Jeewan was a 12 furlong winner as a three year old at Catterick, and this was her sole success in seven outings for Harry Thompson Jones. She was a daughter of Touching Wood (also trained by Jones) who was runner up to Golden Fleece in the Derby but notched a classic double in the Irish and English St Legers. He spent only two seasons at stud in England befor being sold to New Zealand. His most notable offspring was Ascot Gold Cup winner Ashal (also trained by Jones) and it is likely Borderlescotts breeders were hoping to inject some speed into the pedigree. Jeewan was previously the dam of 4 winners but none of them displayed stakes class. They did however display toughness and longevity with Woodbury (by Woodborough) running 58 times from the age of 2-6 and she registered 6 wins and 9 places, Harry Browne by Al Hareb ran 26 times winning 5 times and Patricia Philomena by Prince of Birds ran 37 times winning on 4 occasions. The moderate sires she visited Woodborough, Al Hareb, Prince of Birds, Gallic League, Classic Music and Primo Dominie are appropriate given her own pedigree and moderate racecourse performance and the 13000 guineas given for Borderlescott as a yearling at Doncaster must have seemed a fair price at the time. It is now looking like a real bargain and there could be more to come from this tough, progressive horse.

Crop Foaled

 

 Live Foals

 

Runners

 

Winners

 

Wins

 

SW

 

GW

 

2000

 

68

 

61

 

41

 

166

 

2

 

1

 

2001

 

47

 

36

 

20

 

65

 

3

 

0

 

2002

 

39

 

32

 

23

 

75

 

2

 

1

 

2003

 

55

 

44

 

21

 

61

 

4

 

3

 

2004

 

72

 

58

 

33

 

75

 

1

 

1

 

2005

 

71

 

50

 

15

 

21

 

0

 

0

 

First 6 crops

 

352

 

281

 

153

 

463

 

12

 

6

 

 

 

BORDERLESCOTT (GB) 2002 g b
Compton Place (GB) 1994 Indian Ridge (IRE) 1985 Ahonoora (GB) 1975 Lorenzaccio (IRE) 1965
Helen Nichols (GB) 1966
Hillbrow (GB) 1975 Swing Easy (USA) 1968
Golden City (GB) 1970
Nosey (IRE) 1981 Nebbiolo (GB) 1974 Yellow God (GB) 1967
Novara (GER) 1965
Little Cynthia (IRE) 1974 Wolver Hollow (GB) 1964
Fazilka (IRE) 1965
Jeewan (IRE) 1985 Touching Wood (USA) 1979 Roberto (USA) 1969 Hail To Reason (USA) 1958
Bramalea (USA) 1959
Mandera (USA) 1970 Vaguely Noble (GB) 1965
Foolish One (USA) 1957
Adeebah (USA) 1980 Damascus (USA) 1964 Sword Dancer (USA) 1956
Kerala (USA) 1958
Transylvania (USA) 1969 Bold Ruler (USA) 1954
Cascade 2nd (USA) 1951

 

Who likes it heavy?

I blame the Chinese for the ‘Summer’ we just endured. Once they stopped burning all that coal in an effort to clean up Beijing’s polluted air for the Olympics they somehow changed the Irish climate for the worse.  Also I’ve developed a new theory on the extinction of the dinosaurs which I suspect was caused by a Summer like this back in 65million BC. This caused all the dinosaurs to drown or to drown themselves due to the unrelenting misery of it all. Anyway given the circumstance I thought it might be opportune to look at those sires whose offspring do best when the ground is heavy. 

Off the top of my head I would have named the best heavy ground sires as Efisio, Pivotal, Diktat and Sadler’s Wells & sons.  I can’t quantify this belief but they are the sires that I’ve noticed seem to do well when the going is heavy.  As an exercise I looked through every Group One race in Ireland, the UK and France over the past five years in which the going description included the word heavy. This amounted to only 12 races and the winners and details are shown below.  The findings threw up a few surprises. Firstly I wouldn’t have guessed that Danehill would have been responsible for a quarter of the wins, but he is via Westerner’s two wins in the Prix Royal Oak and Peeping Fawns win in the Irish Oaks. However as each of these horses were multiple Group one winners, who succeeded at the top level on all sorts of going it is fair to conclude that heavy ground was not needed for them to succeed. Peeping Fawn and Westerner are good examples of the maxim that good horses will win on any ground.

The Sadler’s Wells tribe are the predominate group. Sadler’s Wells himself appears as sire of Linda’s Lad who won the marathon Criterium de Saint-Cloud as a two year old. It was a weak renewal of the race and it proved his sole success at the top level. He did add a Lingfield Derby trial before being beaten about 10 lengths in Sir Percy’s derby which is a fair indicator of his ability. Sadler’s Wells is also the broodmare sire of Peeping Fawn. Two of his sons are responsible for two winners each. Montjeu is sire of Authorized who won the Racing Post trophy at two and Scorpion who won the St Leger in heavy going. In both cases these horses achieved Group one success on better ground , most significantly Authorized in the Derby and Scorpion who broke a track record in the Grand Prix de Paris. Again these were quality horses who were versatile as to going requirements like Montjeu himself who won the Arc on heavy ground.

Galileo only ran once on heavy ground in his maiden which he won by fourteen lengths. He is the sire of two heavy ground, wide margin classic winners in Soldier of Fortune and Nightime. Soldier of Fortune has since followed up at four in a Coronation Cup on good ground but Nightime never won again and a look at her career seemed to indicate that she needed lots of cut to show her best. The 4 others on the list are a slightly surprising bunch.  There are 2 Mr Prospector line horses in Saoirse Abu a great grand daughter by Mr Greeley and Palace Episode a grandson by Machiavellian. Saoirse Abu defeated Henrythenavigator in the Phoenix Stakes but she also won a Moyglare defeating Listen and was a close third in this years 1000 Guineas. Heavy ground was not necessary for her.  Palace Episode won the Racing Post trophy and on the strength of that was sold to Godolphin. He has never won since and is now running on firm ground in the US.  Its hard to say definitively whether he needed heavy ground or if his lack of subsequent success is due to joining Godolphin, becoming another casualty of the big blue hole.

 Araafa caused a shock when he beat George Washington in the Irish Guineas but showed his ground versatility by following up in the St James Palace on good to firm. Interestingly he has a connection with Pivotal as his dam is a full sister to Pivotal.

The final horse on the list is Reverence who won the Haydock sprint cup. He also previously won the Nunthorpe on soft ground and is one of the few horses on the list who really needed soft ground to perform. On pedigree its hard to see where this affinity comes from- Mark of Esteem never ran on ground worse than good and his dam Imperial Bailiwick who was a tough precocious sprinter who won a Flying Childers but didn’t demonstrate a pronounced going preference. It could be down to his particular confirmation.

 Conclusion.  With such a small sample you can’t be definitive about things. Good horses can handle any going.   Sadler’s Wells and his sons handle heavy ground and make up a big part of the sample. Danehill’s better offspring are also versatile as to going. The others on the list are perhaps good examples of why its important not to be too dogmatic when it comes to breeding. Some of the other sires I mentioned such as Efisio and Diktat are hardly regular sires of Group one winners so it is no surprise that they don’t feature in the small sample above. However it is worth keeping an eye on their runners in bottomless ground as they can often surprise at big prices.

 

Horse

 

 

Sire

 

 

Dam

 

 

Dam Sire

 

 

Race

 

 

Saoirse Abu

 

 

Mr Greeley

 

 

Out too late

 

 

future storm

 

 

2007 National Stakes

 

 

Peeping Fawn

 

 

danehill

 

 

maryinsky

 

 

sadler’s wells

 

 

2007 Irish Oaks

 

 

Soldier of Fortune

 

 

galileo

 

 

affianced

 

 

erins isle

 

 

2007 Irish Derby

 

 

Nightime

 

 

galileo

 

 

caumhsinaun

 

 

indian ridge

 

 

2006 Irish Guineas

 

 

Araafa

 

 

mull of kintyre

 

 

resurgence

 

 

polar falcon

 

 

2006 Irish Guineas

 

 

Authorized

 

 

montjeu

 

 

funsie

 

 

saumarez

 

 

2006 Racing Post Trophy

 

 

Reverence

 

 

mark of esteem

 

 

imperial bailiwick

 

 

imperial frontier

 

 

2006 Haydock sprint cup

 

 

Palace Episode

 

 

machiavellian

 

 

palace weekend

 

 

seattle dancer

 

 

2005 racing post trophy

 

 

Scorpion

 

 

montjeu

 

 

ardmelody

 

 

law society

 

 

2005 St Leger

 

 

Linda’s lad

 

 

sadler’s wells

 

 

colza

 

 

alleged

 

 

2005 Crit. Saint Cloud

 

 

Westerner

 

 

danehill

 

 

walensee

 

 

troy

 

 

2004 prix royal oak

 

 

Westerner

 

 

danehill

 

 

walensee

 

 

troy

 

 

2003 prix royal oak