US STALLIONS : CONFUSION REIGNS

Speightstown (USA)
(Photo : Winstar Farm)

“Speightstown who, like Western Winter and our own Visionaire,
is a member of the Gone West tribe”

You’d have thought that the world’s most sophisticated economy would be “tickety boo” when it comes to their stallion logs. But that isn’t the case in America, where he who leads depends on who you read. If your point of reference is the traditional source, the Bloodhorse, then Giant’s Causeway is headed for the Championship, but if you’re anything of a purist, you’d probably choose to believe the list compiled by the Thoroughbred Daily News. Why? Because the former list includes earnings over the jumps (as it always has), while the TDN schedule is limited to earnings on the flat. In the end, the one most people will go with is bound to be the Bloodhorse list, because it’s the way it’s always been done, the probability therefore is that Giant’s Causeway has taken his third Sire’s title in the past four years. On the other hand, if you go the TDN route, the crown has been handed to first-timer, Speightstown who, like Western Winter and our own Visionaire, is a member of the Gone West tribe. Gone West of course, is responsible also for the top stallions Elusive Quality, Zaphonic and Zamindar, so this is not altogether surprising.

But when you consider the American’s aversion to later maturing stallions, and the fact that Speightstown won his first Graded Stakes race at the ripe old age of six, you’d begin to understand that he’s arrived where he has by dint of his excellence, and nothing less. He’s only now begun to serve the mares he deserves, and with 19 Black-type winners in the past season, and 35 Black-type performers, this won’t be the end of our friend. For the record, Giant’s Causeway (with some 70 runners more), has finished the season with an equal number of Black-type winners, and 36 Black-type performers, 14 of the former at Graded stakes level.

Whichever way you shake up the numbers, the horse that ranks second or third, depending on which list you prefer, Empire Maker, just goes to prove the old adage; if they die or if you sell them, you’re bound to regret it. Empire Maker now resides in Japan, simply because his first crop were a little slow in making muster.

*Editor’s Note: At the time of publishing, Empire Maker had surpassed Speightstown according to the Bloodhorse log, and is currently in second position.

THOROUGHBRED DAILY NEWS LEADING SIRE LIST
1	SPEIGHTSTOWN
2	EMPIRE MAKER
3	GIANT’S CAUSEWAY
4	TAPIT
5	SMART STRIKE

	BLOODHORSE LEADING SIRE LIST
1	GAINT’S CAUSEWAY
2	SPEIGHTSTOWN (now in 3rd position)
3	EMPIRE MAKER (now in 2nd position)
4	TAPIT
5	SMART STIKE

EMALIYAMI : MONEY ON THE ROCK

Click above to watch Emaliyami winning her maiden…
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

EMALIYAMI (AUS)
2011 SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN GRADUATE

EMALIYAMI (AUS)
Rock Of Gibraltar (IRE) - Elusive Kash (AUS) by Elusive Quality
3 Year Old Filly

Owner : Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum
Trainer : Mike de Kock
Jockey : Anthony Delpech
Breeder : Tara Farm Pty Ltd

Career Record : 1 Win, 1 Place, 2 Starts

EMALIYAMI is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2011 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.

DORIE GOUNDEN MEMORIAL MAIDEN PLATE
Scottsville, Turf, 1600m
19 August 2012

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	EMALIYAMI (AUS)	58.0	0	12	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
2	5.25	BREEZE BY	58.0	0	3	* J Mariba (4.0)	Paul Lafferty
3	5.30	SWIFT BOW	58.0	70	9	K Shea	Duncan Howells
4	5.40	LONDON OLYMPICS	58.0	71	6	S Randolph	James Goodman
5	7.40	VERY ATTRACTIVE	58.0	0	1	I Sturgeon	Paul Gadsby
6	9.40	CAMPANOLOGIST	58.0	73	11	C Orffer	Michael Miller
7	13.65	FRENCH FILLY	58.0	59	10	A Forbes	Michael Miller
8	18.90	ICEONIC	58.0	72	5	K Latham	Joey Ramsden
9	21.15	RAD ROCK	58.0	0	8	B Lerena	Pat Lunn
10	22.15	ZUMBA	58.0	0	2	G Coetzee	Paul Gadsby
11	23.40	ASCOT CHARM	58.0	0	4	M Yeni	Julie Dittmer
12	23.65	MISS MIRREN	58.0	68	7	M Odendaal	Chris Erasmus

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

THE STALLION MAKER

Click above to watch Visionaire winning the King’s Bishop Stakes (Gr1)
(Image and Footage : Team Valor)

KING’S BISHOP STAKES (Grade 1)
Saratoga, New York, USA

For some years now, we’ve been banging on about the influence of Saratoga’s King’s Bishop Stakes (Gr.1) as a producer of high-class stallions. The debate is appropriate right now, as the big Saratoga meeting has just commenced, and it happens to coincide with the emergence of another rising star on the stallion firmament, Hard Spun, who like the Summerhill sire, Visionaire, is a previous winner of this great race. You may argue that our own awareness of the King’s Bishops’ importance as a “stallion-maker”, was only awakened by the need to “propagandise” Visionaire’s demolition of the 2010 King’s Bishop field, but that would hardly be doing justice to a team, which if nothing else, is diligent in its research. When we first made our observations on the King’s Bishop’s outcomes known, we already knew about More Than Ready and his exploits in the covering shed, Distorted Humor was not yet Champion Sire of America, (though he was on his way there), and Elusive Quality, End Sweep, Ghostzapper and Successful Appeal were all fine living adverts for the belief. In a modern nutshell, the King’s Bishop is far outpointing even the Kentucky Derby (Gr.1) as a provider of top notch stallions at the moment.

Let’s turn to Hard Spun again, and America’s stallion logs. Hard Spun is head and shoulders ahead of his contemporaries with their first three-year-olds at the races, with no fewer than eleven stakes winners already, including a Grade One exacta last weekend. And if you take a peek at the general sires’ log, what do you find? Sitting snugly in third spot behind Empire Maker and Giant’s Causeway, is City Zip, remarkably, another graduate of the King’s Bishop.

The world’s top stallion guru, Bill Oppenheim, penned an excellent article in Wednesday’s Thoroughbred Daily News on the state of play of the Danzig male line (from whence Hard Spun descends), which is an excellent read, as always.

Visit: www.thoroughbreddailynews.com

His observations are worthy of our attention; and this is an especially relevant piece on the re-emergence of Danzig in the States, the impact of the “undeclared war” between Coolmore and the Maktoums, and how that has pretty much split the fate of the line between Danehill and Green Desert in Europe. Go to it!

A NEW APPROACH

New Approach (Galileo)
(Photo : Darley)

“First two-year-old race in Europe”

With the first two-year-old race in Europe taking place on Sunday, bookmakers Stan James have updated the odds on their market for the leading first season sire. Darley’s New Approach (Galileo), whose Jim Bolger-trained son, Dawn Approach, could get him off to a flyer in the Tally-Ho Stud-sponsored maiden, is the favourite at 11/8, with Sakhee’s Secret (Sakhee) at 4/1, and Raven’s Pass (Elusive Quality) and Duke Of Marmalade (Danehill) both on 9/2. Newsells Park Stud’s Mount Nelson (Rock Of Gibraltar) is 12/1, while Tamayuz (Nayef) is 14/1.

Joseph Burke of Stan James, explained his company’s pricing, saying, “Numerically, Duke Of Marmalade is the best represented first season stallion for 2012, with 126 to run for him, but as New Approach was a far superior two-year-old, we would expect him to set the pace. Furthermore the median for the New Approach yearlings was phenomenal, hence we conclude that New Approach is a worthy favourite at this stage.”

“Sakhee’s Secret has 93 to run for him. Whilst he was a top sprinter, it does not necessarily follow that his stock will be precocious, however they have been well distributed amongst competent trainers, so we expect him to have a good year. Of course, as a racehorse, he finished in front of the first two in last year’s competition, Dutch Art and Red Clubs when winning his July Cup, so his chances of success are obvious.”

“Raven’s Pass is an interesting prospect and similar in many ways to New Approach in that he was a top two- year-old and three-year-old and reports of his stock have been encouraging, plus they sold well.”

“Duke Of Marmalade comes from a fantastic stallion producing family and is without doubt the best bred of those with first crop runners in 2012. He has such a vast number of representatives to run for him that he already has a head start; if just 25% of his crop won for him, that would be enough to take this title most years.”

“I have left out Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo), as despite the fact that Aidan O’Brien has six or seven of them, overall I don’t think he will have enough representatives on the ground in the United Kingdom and Ireland to make an impact in terms of numbers.”

“We have done our job, so now its a matter of sitting back and seeing if money talks for one particular stallion prior to the first two-year-old race of the season.”

Extract from European Bloodstock News

THE IMPORTANCE OF BROODMARE SIRES

Northern Guest
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

“How important is the Broodmare Sire?”

SARAH WHITELAW - When first looking at a pedigree, particularly in a catalogue, I first look at the sire, then I look at the dam, and then I look at the female line, or at least the first two dams.

But how important is the broodmare sire? When looking at such modern day champions as Horse Chestnut and Dynasty (out of mares by Col Pickering and Commodore Blake respectively), it is easy to believe that the broodmare sire pays little part in the pedigree, as both the aforementioned horses are out of mares by failed stallions.

There were 25 winners of 32 G1 races run last year in South Africa. Of these 25 horses, eight were produced by daughters of champion sires. Genetically speaking, the broodmare sire will contribute 25% to the DNA makeup of the individual horse.

It is hard to see this when looking at a horse like the mighty Smarty Jones - by a good sire in Elusive Quality out of a 12 times stakes winner. Smarty Jones’s broodmare sire Smile was a disaster at stud - and it is hard to see quite what part he plays in the pedigree of one of the finest racehorses of the 21st century.

It is also surely more than a coincidence that often a champion racehorse, but poor sire, who covers good books of mares when first retiring to stud, can produce at least one G1 producing daughter. One such example is the mighty Dancing Brave, a stallion who was largely a disappointment, but whose daughters have done very well at stud.

Ironically enough, a horse to fall in the same category as Dancing Brave, is his old rival Shahrastani (who beat Dancing Brave somewhat fortuitously in the 1986 Epsom Derby). Shahrastani, who has spent his stud career in all of the USA, Japan and Ireland, was a very poor sire, but his daughters have produced such G1 winners as Alamshar (Irish Derby) and Caradak (Prix de la Foret).

It is also worth noting that sometimes ordinary stallions can leave their mark on the breed through their daughters. One of history’s greatest ever stallions, Danzig, is out of a mare by Admirals Voyage (himself a son of champion handicap male, Crafty Admiral). The latter sired just a handful of minor stakes winners during his time at stud - none of which won at the highest level. But through the deeds of Danzig and his legions of successful sons and daughters, Admirals Voyage’s name will survive in the modern day pedigree - outlasting sires who enjoyed more stud success!

Another ordinary sire whose name lingers in the modern day thoroughbred through a daughter is the Promised Land stallion, Understanding. Winner of the G3 Stuyvesant Handicap, Understanding sired just two stakes winners in a brief stud career - but one of those stakes winners was Wishing Well. She not only won the Gamely Handicap (today a G1 race), but at stud she produced US Horse of the Year and legendary Japanese sire, Sunday Silence.

Poker was a son of the top-class sire and broodmare sire Round Table. While he himself was an ordinary sire (his only champions coming in Norway and Puerto Rico), Poker’s daughters produced numerous champions including champion sire Seattle Slew. The latter twice topped the US broodmare sires list, and his daughters have produced a host of champions. Poker is also the maternal grandsire of US champion, Silver Charm, as well as the useful sire, Lomond (himself a champion sire in Italy). Through Seattle Slew alone, Poker is guaranteed to be around in pedigrees for decades.

In contrast, history has produced a number of truly exceptional broodmare sires. In North America, arguably the greatest broodmare sire of all was Sir Gallahad III. Sir Gallahad III led the US broodmare sires list on 12 occasions - and his daughters produced over 130 stakes winners (in an era where stallions covered 30 mares a season). Sir Gallahad III’s daughters produced champions Challedon and Gallorette as well as high-class stakes winners such as Mars Shield (Kentucky Oaks), Boswell (St Leger), Galatea (Epsom Oaks), Black Tarquin (St Leger), Aurelius (St Leger) and Nothirdchance (Acorn Stakes, dam of Hail To Reason).

Another truly phenomenal broodmare sire was Princequillo. A stout stayer, he dominated the US Broodmare Sires list in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He not only headed the list on eight occasions, but remarkably enough, his son Prince John and grandson Speak John (by Prince John) also became champion broodmare sires. Princequillo is best known as the broodmare sire of the US Triple Crown winner Secretariat (also a great broodmare sire), with his daughters also producing such luminaries as champion Mill Reef, leading sire and broodmare sire Kris S, G1 winners Squander and Sham, champion half brothers Fort Marcy and Key To The Mint, as well as champions Bold Lad and Successor.

In South Africa, the trend in recent times has been for champion sires to become champion broodmare sires. The broodmare sires list has recently been dominated by Northern Guest, who has been champion broodmare sire in this country nine times. He is certainly bred to be a champion broodmare sire with both his sire, Northern Dancer, and broodmare sire, Buckpasser, having topped the broodmare sires list on more than one occasion.

So how relevant is the broodmare sire? Clearly it helps to have a successful sire/broodmare sire as a maternal grandsire of a horse, but it is also clear that it is not the sole defining success factor.

Extract from www.sportingpost.co.za