sprinters

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.