Tag: pedigree

  • Who said it’s difficult to breed a classic winner?

    It used to be said that the fittest horse wins the Guineas, the luckiest horse wins the Derby and the best horse wins the St Leger. Whatever about being the fittest, Sea the Stars was the best bred horse in the Guineas field coming from a truly outstanding female line that produce top racehorses with remarkable regularity.  This was not rags to riches but untold riches to further riches.

    Sea the Stars is the remarkable fourth Group 1 winner produced by surprise Prix de l’Arc winner Urban Sea. At the time of her conception she would have been described as having an unremarkable pedigree but all has changed utterly in the past two decades. Her dam Allegretta was a German bred who finished second in the Group 3 Lingfield Oaks Trial. Allegretta comes from an unfamiliar background being by Lombard who won a German 2000 Guineas and German St Leger among 20 races over five seasons.  Allegretta’s brother Anno ended up being rated champion three year old in Germany in 1982, winning the German St Leger but in recent years the success has moved to a different level.

    Allegretta must be almost unique as being the dam and granddam of a 2000 Guineas winner for she was the dam of King’s Best who comprehensively defeated Giant’s Causeway in the 2000 Guineas of the year 2000.  Her Prix Flore winning Riverman daughter Allez Les Trois became the dam of Anabaa Blue who won the 2001 Prix de Jockey Club (back in the good old days when it was over 12 furlongs). Allez les Trois is also granddam of Tamayuz who was an outstanding miler last year winning the Prix Jean Prat and Jacque le Marois and is now at stud in Derrinstown. Allegretta is also grandam of Anzillero (by Law Society) who was a 12 furlong Group 1 winner at Dusseldorf in 2001.  Urban Sea was similar to Kings Best in producing one outstanding performance (in her case the Arc, in his the Guineas) but at stud she has been remarkably consistent.

    Her first foal was the lazily named Urban Ocean who won the Gallinule Stakes for Aidan O’Brien. He subsequently lost his form but he is now operating as a National Hunt stallion.

    Her next mate was the newly retired Lammtarra, who had just completed a scintillating career winning a Derby, King George and Prix de l’Arc. The filly called Melikah was unraced at two and her entire career encompassed only 4 races. She won the Pretty Polly stakes before finishing third in the Oaks to Love Divine and then second in the Irish Oaks. At stud she is the dam of 2 winners including Valedictory (by Dubai Destination) who was very impressive in winning his sole start last year at Saint Cloud and who could yet add further lustre to the family.

    Urban Sea then made four consecutive visits to Sadler’s Wells. The results were outstanding, headlined by the outstanding Derby winner and now outstanding sire Galileo. His younger sibling Black Sam Bellamy was Group one placed at two, won the Group 1 Gran Premio del Jockey Club at three at looked a star in the making when winning the Tattersalls Rogers Gold Cup at 4. He then ran well in the Coronation Cup but failed to shine in his subsequent outings. He retired to stud in Germany and although there was some promise in initial results he was brought back to Shade Oak Stud in the UK where he will fulfill a dual purpose role. The third foal Atticus was unraced but the next foal All Too Beautiful won her first two races before finishing runner-up to Ouija Board in the 2004 Oaks.  In one of those neat twists of fate it was that winning performance of Ouija Board that was almost certainly the inspiration for the mating with Cape Cross. Ouija Board added an Irish Oaks and a Breeders Cup Fillies and Mare Turf to her haul that year and although there were other stakes winners from that first crop, it was Ouija Board who propelled Cape Cross to the top table.

    Urban Sea was then sent to another hot freshman sire in Giant’s Causeway. Their filly foal My Typhoon was sold for a record 1.8 million guineas and although she was never going to earn that amount on the track she managed 4 stakes wins including a Grade 1 as a five year old.

    Urban Sea paid two visits to Cape Cross’s sire Green Desert with slightly disappointing results.  Her 2004 filly Cherry Hinton retired a maiden but she did finish second in the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes and ran a creditable fifth to Light Shift in the Oaks. Still at least she made the track unlike Sea’s Legacy who was unraced for John Oxx. Sea’s Legacy was sold for 10,000 Guineas at last years Tattersalls October Sales. It would be no surprise to see him appear as a stallion somewhere in the near future.

    That leads us to Sea the Stars. As already mentioned he is a product of the better mares received by Cape Cross post Ouija Board. Cape Cross has lacked a follow up superstar in Europe but did enough with decent performers such as Rising Cross, Sabina Perdida, Halicarnassus and others to remind us that he was a more than capable sire. Many of his progeny stay better than he did and they generally prefer good or better ground. His record will improve as the offspring of the better mares he received over the last few years come on stream. Although Cape Cross was a miler the aformentioned Ouija Board (broodmare sire Welsh Pageant) won an Oaks and Rising Cross (broodmare sire Nomination) was placed in an Oaks. These give hope that Sea the Stars can follow his many siblings who all stayed middle distances well. He is around 4-1 for Epsom which is a fair price as he showed such class at Newmarket that if he stays he wins. The Guineas Derby double has not been done since Nashwan in 1989 but Galileo’s son New Approach came within a nostril of achieving it last year.

    Conclusion.

    Normally we tend to focus on the stallion and assume that he is at least 50% responsible for the ability of the offspring.  However in the case of Sea the Stars and with no disrespect to Cape Cross (whom I like as a stallion) this success was all about the dam.  Looking at this female line it makes you question how much we really know about genetics and how many of our assumptions are incorrect. Urban Sea has produced top performers to a variety of stallions even as she aged. Her dam Allegretta has seem her influence on the stud book grow dramatically and even her grandson Anzillero (who is by Law Society out of a Plugged Nickel mare) has rightfully earned his place at stud.   We might have to wait a few years for science to unravel some of the mysteries of hereditary but it only took 24 hours for another reminder of the power of certain female families. The  1000 Guineas was won by Ghanaati a descendant of Highclere and as remarkable a producer as Allegretta, of which more anon.

     

    Urban Sea’s Foals of Racing Age

    Name Foaled sex Sire Best Result
    Urban Ocean 1996 c Bering Gr3 winner (Gallinule Stakes)
    Melikah 1997 f Lammtarra 2nd Irish Oaks, 3rd Oaks
    Galileo 1998 c Sadler’s Wells Grp 1 winner Derby,Irish Derby, King George
    Black Sam Bellamy 1999 c Sadler’s Wells grp 1 winner*2 incl Tattersalls Rogers Gold Cup
    Atticus 2000 c Sadler’s Wells unraced
    All too Beautiful 2001 f Sadler’s Wells 2nd Oaks
    My Typhoon 2002 f Giants Causeway Grade 1 winner
    Cherry Hinton 2004 f Green Desert 5th Oaks, 2nd Gr 3
    Sea’s Legacy 2005 c Green Desert unraced
    Sea the Stars 2006 c Cape Cross 2000 Guineas winner

     

    SEA THE STARS (IRE) 2006 c b

    Cape
    Cross (IRE) 1994
    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
    Park
    Appeal (IRE) 1982
    Ahonoora
    (GB) 1975
    Lorenzaccio
    (IRE) 1965
    Helen
    Nichols (GB) 1966
    Balidaress
    (IRE) 1973
    Balidar
    (IRE) 1966
    Innocence
    (GB) 1968
    Urban
    Sea (USA) 1989
    Miswaki
    (USA) 1978
    Mr
    Prospector (USA) 1970
    Raise
    A Native (USA) 1961
    Gold
    Digger (USA) 1962
    Hopespringseternal
    (USA) 1971
    Buckpasser
    (USA) 1963
    Rose
    Bower (USA) 1958
    Allegretta
    (GB) 1978
    Lombard
    (GER) 1967
    Agio
    (GER) 1955
    Promised
    Lady (GB) 1961
    Anatevka
    (GER) 1969
    Espresso
    (USA) 1958
    Almyra
    (GER) 1962
  • The other Santa Claus…

    ‘Tis the festive season and here at Montjeu.com we are keen to enter into the spirit of things.  Not wishing to upset anyone with religious sensitivities I won’t speculate on the pedigree of Jesus 🙂 and I won’t mention King of Kings to avoid upsetting the hundreds of breeders who used that flop. I considered writing about the Blandford Stakes winner Kris Kringle, the great Generous and decent sire Cadeaux Genereux but at the end of the day it was an easy decision. These days Christmas has little to do with religion and everything to do with the man in red, so I dusted off my history books and did some research on Santa Claus.

    The equine Santa Claus was one of the best horses trained in Ireland in the 20th Century. At two he won the National Stakes and entered the winter as ante-post Derby favourite. At three he was successful in the Irish 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and Irish Derby. He also finished second in the King George to the four year old Nasram and the Prix de l’Arc to Prince Royal (beaten 3/4 length).  He was trained on the Curragh by Mick Rogers who had won the 1958 Derby with Hard Ridden. His sire Chamossaire was a St Leger winner and he sired another Leger winner in Cambremer along with 2 other Irish Derby winners in Chamier and Your Highness. His grandsire Precipitation was a winner of the Ascot Gold Cup and his great grand sire Hurry On was one of the leading sires of the early 20th Century siring three Derby winners in the 1920’s in Captain Cuttle, Coronach and Call Boy. His broodmare sire Arctic Prince won the 1951 Derby for Joe McGrath. Interestingly Santa Claus was the last representive of the Godolphin Arabian line to win an Epsom Derby. At stud Santa Claus died early but from 121 foals he had 89 runners, 54 winners and 9 (7%) Black Type winners. These included a pair of Irish classic winners in Reindeer (winner of the 1969 Irish Leger for Vincent O’Brien) and Santa Tina winner of the 1970 Irish Oaks (and closely related to Reindeer).  Bonne Noel won an Ebor and became a National Hunt sire, Father Christmas won the Rose of York stakes and also got a shot at stud. None of his sons made much impact with Reindeer more of a National Hunt sire before he was moved to New Zealand. I noticed Reindeers name in the pedigree of Yachtie the sire of Happyanunoit, who was a Group/Grade 1 winner in Australia/New Zealand and the US. As a broodmare sire Santa Claus’ record is solid but not spectacular. Santa Tina became the dam of Young Mother who won a Prix Vermeille and she is granddam of Equalize a Grade 1 winner of the United Nations Hcp. Santa Claus also sired Sleat winner of the 1970 Sun Chariot stakes and ancestress of Reprimand, Wiorno and a host of other stakes horses. Canaan was an unraced filly who became the great granddam of Yeats and Solskjaer. His stats read 50 mares responsible for 371 foal, 147 winners and 13 (4%) black type winners.  He may not have been a major influence on the breed but Santa Claus is a reminder of a radically different bloodstock world, when stallion books were small but carefully managed and maybe that’s something we should all wish for a return to this Christmas.

    SANTA CLAUS (GB) 1961 c

    Chamossaire
    (GB) 1942
    Precipitation
    (GB) 1933
    Hurry
    On (GB) 1913
    Marcovil
    (GB) 1903
    Tout
    Suite (GB) 1904
    Double
    Life (IRE) 1926
    Bachelor’s
    Double (GB) 1906
    Saint
    Joan (GB) 1918
    Snowberry
    (GB) 1937
    Cameronian
    (GB) 1928
    Pharos
    (GB) 1920
    Una
    Cameron (GB) 1922
    Myrobella
    (GB) 1930
    Tetratema
    (GB) 1917
    Dolabella
    (GB) 1911
    Aunt
    Clara (GB) 1953
    Arctic
    Prince (IRE) 1948
    Prince
    Chevalier (FR) 1943
    Prince
    Rose (GB) 1928
    Chevalerie
    (FR) 1933
    Arctic
    Sun (GB) 1941
    Nearco
    (ITY) 1935
    Solar
    Flower (GB) 1935
    Sister
    Clara (GB) 1938
    Scarlet
    Tiger (GB) 1930
    Colorado
    (GB) 1923
    Trilogy
    (GB) 1923
    Clarence
    (GB) 1934
    Diligence
    (GB) 1919
    Nun’s
    Veil (GB) 1930
  • Eurosavers- Best Bargain Basement sires in Ireland

    With so many stallions in Ireland, I thought it would be easy to compile a list of five or six of the best value sires in Ireland standing for less than €7000. I was wrong and I’m not sure why. Maybe it is just my methodology that is suspect, as I define bargain basement sires as those standing for a published fee of less than €7000. I would imagine that with the right mare and cash in my hand I would gain access to a great many sires with a published fee much greater than 7k.

    Maybe Irish breeders are more commercially astute than some of their European counterparts and there is very little discrepancy between price and value, with studs correctly pricing their stallions. Coolmore in particular are expert at stallion pricing and while you could argue that some of their stallions are slightly over-priced it is very hard to think of one that is underpriced. The best I could manage is as follows:

    Proven Stallions under €7000

    None, nada,nil, zip,zilch. I went through the full list of stallions in Ireland standing in Ireland and could not honestly recommend one of those stallions as being a proven and reliable source of quality offspring. If I’m missing one, please let me know.

    Promising Start- 1. Redback at €6500 Tally-Ho stud

    Redback was a decent racehorse winning the Solario Stakes at 2 and the Greenham at 3. He also finished 3rd to Rock of Gibraltar and Hawk Wing in a very good 2000 Guineas. He went to stud without great expectations. His own sire Mark of Esteem was seemingly in decline at the time but Sir Percy has since restored some credibility to his record. His dam Patsy Western is by Precocious, by Mummys Pet and would be associated with cheap speed. . His results to date are very promising. His first crop included Gilded who won a Queen Mary, backed up by Sonny Red who won a listed race. His second crop is headed by Redolent who has won at listed level and looks up to Group level. Redbacks pedigree has only one cross of Northern Dancer in the fourth generation so he should have no problem crossing with mares with Northern Dancer close-up. However Interestingly all 3 of his best runners are out of mares from other sire lines with Gilded being out of an Aragorn mare, Sonny Red being out of a Petong mare, and Redolent out of a Highest Honour mare. Whether this is a reflection of the opportunities afforded to him or evidence of bias is too early to say. We can however categorise Redback as a useful sire of tough, speedy types and he is capable of upgrading his mare. His results should also improve as he benefits from the better mares sent after his very promising first season. At €6500 he represents good value. Incidentally Tally-Ho stud obviously don’t believe in the internet as a means of promoting their stallions as their website http://www.tallyhostud.net/ is an embarrassment and badly needs an upgrade. (Note since this article was written tally-ho stud have notified me of their bright new shiny website at www.tallyhostud.com )

    Promising Start 2:- er, nobody else springs to mind.

    I was going to write about Modigliani who sired group winner Magritte and sales race winner Sudden Impact in his first crop but Greentree Stud have pushed his price up to €7500 which takes him out of the bargain basement and to be honest might be too much too soon.

    Unproven but might prove cheap.

    Trying to pick winners from amongst the ranks of new stallions is a foolish activity but it won’t stop me trying…. If I had to spend my own money on nominations to some unproven stallions in Ireland I would choose the following; Alamshar at €5000 and Indian Haven at €6000 both at the Irish National Stud.

    Maybe this is a sign that the Irish National Stud is taking seriously its obligations to small Irish breeders. Alamshar and Indian Haven are both Irish classic winners and both seem competitively priced. I fondly remember watching Alamshar win his maiden at Listowel and he is certainly the best flat horse to ever win there. He followed up by winning the Beresford. At three he finished third in the Derby but subsequent event showed he was the best horse in the field. He became the only horse to ever beat Dalakhani when out-battling him in the Irish Derby. He followed up by routing the field in the King George where his Derby conqueror Kris Kin was over five lengths in arrears. His career fizzled out when he was unplaced in both the Irish and Newmarket Champion Stakes. However he had proved himself to be an outstanding middle distance horse. At the end of his career the Aga Khan accepted an offer from Japan and it was surprising that he found his way back to these shores before his Japanese offspring had a chance to fully prove themselves. His fee is probably a reflection of the fact that he is by far the best offspring from his sire Key of Luck. As is typcial with Aga Khan families you don’t have to go far to find some class and his granddam is Aliysa who won the Oaks only to be controversially disqualified later for drug infringements, a disqualification that prompted the Aga Khan to withdraw all his horses from Britain.  Aliysa was already the dam of Desert Story who earned a berth at stud with wins in the Horris Hill at two and the Craven at three. His stud career in these parts never really got off the ground and he is now exiled to Alamshars former home of Japan. It might not be what everyone looks for in a stallions pedigree but given his race record he is certainly not overpriced.

    Indian Haven is the Irish National Studs hope to continue the successes they enjoyed with his sire Indian Ridge and his grandsire Ahonoora. Indian Ridge has yet to sire a stallion son as good as himself despite some promise from Compton Place and Namid. However Indian Haven seems to have a better chance than most. He was at as best in the Spring of his three year old season when he won the Free Handicap, got crucified in the Newmarket Guineas and then won well in the Irish Guineas. His form then tapered off and a decision to keep him in training at four failed to add to his record. His dam Madame Dubois won the Park Hill Stakes and she is also dam of Count Dubois (by Zafonic) who is doing well at stud in South Africa.  His first two year olds have now hit the track and at the moment he has one winner from 7 runners. However although this is hardly an exciting start it wouldn’t be a surprise if his progeny took after his example and improved markedly between two and three. At €6000 it might be worth taking a chance that he could be the one to continue the Ahonoora success story at the Irish National Stud.

  • Hebridean- a Ballydoyle blueblood?

    Aidan O’ Brien totally dominated the Guineas weekend at the Curragh. He won three Group 1’s, two Group 3’s and a Listed race. Many racing people would argue that such success is only to be expected given the quality of the horses stabled at Ballydoyle. The argument goes that good horses make good trainers and AP O’Briens success is 95% down to Coolmore firepower and 5% down to Aidan O’Brien not making a mess of them.
    A look at the pedigrees of his Group 1 winners seems to back up that theory. Henrythenavigator is a son of Kingmambo out of Sequoyah a Moyglare Stakes winning Sadler’s Wells mare, so it is a tip top pedigree. Henry didnt go to the sales but I’m sure his reserve would have been at least €500,000. Halfway to Heaven is by Pivotal out of the very speedy Cassandra Go who won a Kings Stand. She cost €450000 so again nothing shabby about that pedigree. Duke of Marmalade is from the last crop of Danehill and is out of a Kingmambo mare tracing to Lassie Dear, the family of Wolfhound and Lemon Drop Kid. Again he was never sold but a reserve of at least €400000 would have seemed reasonable.
    His Group 3 Greenlands winner Astronomer Royal is the last of the Danzigs so he had rarity value to go with his pedigree and his two year old winner Heart Shaped is a Storm Cat filly who is a half sister to AP Valentine. Based on those pedigrees it would seem fair to argue that any of the top ten trainers in Ireland or Britain could have expected similar glory from such impeccable pedigrees.
    But there was one other winner that weekend, a gelding called Hebridean running in the colours of Ann Marie O’Brien. He is by Bach out of Delphinium by Dr Massini and his full pedigree is shown below. He passed through the ring at Tattersalls Ireland on the 3rd November 2006 and was bought back for €15000. Bach was an admirably tough horse trained by Aidan O’Brien who ran 22 times and won a soft Group 2 when winning the Royal Whip but whose best run was probably finishing 3rd in a Breeders Cup Mile to Val Royal. He was sent straight to Coolmore’s NH division where he competes with Hebrideans broodmare sire Dr Massini. Dr Massini was trained by Michael Stoute and after winning his first two starts he was made favourite for the 1996 Irish Derby. Unfortunately for Mick Kinane, he opted to ride him that day and missed out on partnering Zagreb. He won once at 4 and then started showing temperament and refused to race on his next start. At five he was transferred to Aidan O’Brien and he was the subject of a major gamble in the Irish Lincoln. However the money was lost as he practically pulled himself up. His career ended in ignominy when he refused to race at Listowel. Despite his temperament and his lack of group wins he still got a spot at NH stud and has taken his chance well. Delphinium the dam of Hebridean is by a sprinter in Tumble Wind and she was trained by Joe Crowley, Aidan O’ Briens father in law. She only ran at two and she never raced beyond 7 furlongs. She never gave the judge much trouble and in her four races her best finishing position was 6th of 12 at Limerick.

    When people talk about overproduction and the need to cull some moderate mares they probably had the likes of Delphinium in mind. I suspect Hebridean was bred in the hope (and not even the expectation) of winning a bumper. It was his breeders family connections that saw him stabled with his betters in Ballydoyle and he must be one of the worst bred horses to ever occupy a stable there.  However as Ryan Price is reputed to have said ‘my horses can’t read pedigrees and I don’t train pedigrees, I train horses’. Hebridean doesn’t seem to know his place as he keeps improving and further success seems likely.

    His success illustrates two points. One is the vagaries of breeding and the dangers of being too dogmatic about pedigrees. The second is that Aidan O’ Brien is truly a training genius.  There can be no arguments in this instance about buying  success in the sales ring.  This success is 100% down to Aidan O’Brien and is achieved despite of and not because of Hebridean’s pedigree.

    HEBRIDEAN (IRE) 2005 g b

    Bach
    (IRE) 1997
    Caerleon
    (USA) 1980
    Nijinsky
    (CAN) 1967
    Northern
    Dancer (CAN) 1961
    Flaming
    Page (USA) 1959
    Foreseer
    (USA) 1969
    Round
    Table (USA) 1954
    Regal
    Gleam (USA) 1964
    Producer
    (USA) 1976
    Nashua
    (USA) 1952
    Nasrullah
    (GB) 1940
    Segula
    (USA) 1942
    Marion
    (USA) 1961
    Tantieme
    (FR) 1947
    Magda
    (FR) 1954
    Delphinium
    (IRE) 2001
    Dr
    Massini (IRE) 1993
    Sadler’s
    Wells (USA) 1981
    Northern
    Dancer (CAN) 1961
    Fairy
    Bridge (USA) 1975
    Argon
    Laser (GB) 1983
    Kris
    (GB) 1976
    Lighted
    Lamp (USA) 1967
    Lunulae
    (IRE) 1985
    Tumble
    Wind (USA) 1964
    Restless
    Wind (USA) 1956
    Easy
    Stages (USA) 1953
    Boldella
    (GB) 1977
    Bold
    Lad (IRE) 1964
    Ardelle
    (GB) 1958