RIDING HIGH AT NEWMARKET

Watch Toronado winning the Craven Stakes (Gr3)
(Image : The Telegraph - Footage : Almaged KSA)

CRAVEN STAKES (Group 3)
Newmarket, Turf, 1600m
19 April 2013

You can either look upon this as a commercial punt, or you can read it for its historic value. We know we’re biased about High Chaparral and his progeny by reason of his presence here of his highest-rated Northern Hemisphere son, Golden Sword, but in the space of four days, we’ve witnessed two world class performances that demand a mention.

When It’s A Dundeel crushed his rivals by a growing six lengths in last Saturday’s Australian Derby (Gr.1), he wrote a new chapter in the history of their Triple Crown. His winning margin was the biggest since Prince Grant in 1965, and he became the first Triple Crown winner since Octagonal, as celebrated a racehorse as Australasia has known, and in Timeform’s opinion, his 127+ made him the top-rated Australian Derby ace in the past 20 years.

Just last week, his unbeaten son, Toronado, paralysed his opposition in England’s principal Guineas trial, the Craven Stakes, giving notice that Golden Sword’s reign as the best of his sire’s stock in those parts, is on the brink of extinction.

Racing Post’s Mike Riley was overcome to the degree of saying: “It wouldn’t be a surprise if Toronado goes on to have a race named in his honour, such was the impression he created. It was the sort of performance that oozed class, Richard Hughes motionless throughout, until gently pushing his mount out to the line inside the final furlong with no need to even consider the whip for an authoritative romp.

“He’s a machine. He quickened, and he quickened again. He’s a very good horse. He’ll come back here for the Guineas and whatever beats him will win,” said a delighted Richard Hannon, his trainer.

“The second [Havana Gold - also trained by Hannon] is no mug either. I said to Hughesie if it got messy let him run as we know he stays.” Hughes added: “I’d have been gutted if he hadn’t won like that. He quickened away, and when he got into the Dip he went away again up the hill. Not many do that.” Toronado piled the pace on, and blew his rivals out the back door, and then, when asked to quicken, the response was impressive. He confirmed he was comfortably better than very good horses. Nothing he has met so far has been able to live with him.

On the prospect of Toronado staying the Derby trip, Hannon added: “I’ve no doubt he’ll get a mile and a half, and he’s got the speed to go round Epsom, and if he does that, I might retire.” While Hughes added: “He’s bred to get the Derby trip, but now he’s stronger, he’s got a bit more pace.”

HIGH CHAPARRAL RIDING HIGH

James McDonald celebrates aboard It’s A Dundeel following an emphatic victory in the Australian Derby
(Photo : Jenny Evans/The Age)

“THE AUSTRALIAN TRIPLE CROWN”

Let’s be frank, no Triple Crown is ever a piece of cake, because wherever you are, you have to take on the best of your contemporaries. It’s even tougher in a place like Australia, which today is as competitive a racing jurisdiction as any. The Aussies last witnessed a Triple Crown winner in 1996 when the mighty Octagonal managed it, and for Australian-breds theirs is probably all the more elusive because their producers have spent much of the last century and before, breeding the five and six furlong steeds for which they’re famous. That meant that if ever there was going to be a contender, it was more likely to come from the sturdy beasts across the Tasman than Australia.

The Australian Triple Crown is a big ask, rivalling both the American and English versions in its demands, and arguably outpointing both in the tightness of its schedule. As opposed to the American’s, the range of its distances (1600m to 2400m,) is broader too, comprising the Randwick Guineas (over 1600m), the Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and the Australian Derby (2400m), demanding not only loads of versatility, but buckets of durability, squeezed as it is into a matter of four weeks.

This past weekend, new Triple Crown history was made by a son of High Chaparral, It’s A Dundeel, who completed the third leg with an annihilation of his rivals by a growing six lengths, suggesting his class and stamina could make him competitive in Europe later in the year for  the likes of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr.1) at Ascot, or Longchamp’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1). While the stamina profile of Aussie-breds has changed somewhat in recent times, it says something for the skills of New Zealand breeders that both Octagonal and It’s A Dundeel are from the Land of the Long White Cloud, perpetuating a decades-long tradition of producing some of the Southern Hemisphere’s best stayers.

It’s A Dundeel’s sire High Chaparral, who kicked off life very much in the shadows of his illustrious paternal siblings, Galileo and Montjeu, has climbed to the pinnacle of his profession through a tally of no fewer than six individual Group One winners from his first year at stud (four in the Southern Hemisphere and two in the Northern Hemisphere), and he now has this standout in his second crop. Its A Dundeel is not isolated in his class though; among his fellow candidates in Saturday’s production were a further three in the ten horse field (Kingdoms picking up the third place cheque) while his unbeaten son Toronado is a strong Epsom Derby fancy in the UK.

His highest rated Northern Hemisphere product is the Summerhill resident, Golden Sword (Timeform 122), who might’ve been a Derby winner in any other year; it was his misfortune to be born in the same era as the World Champion, Sea The Stars, and Fame And Glory.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

FLYING HIGH

Golden Sword (GB)
(Photo : Greig Muir)

“He was booked choco-a-bloc within weeks of his arrival…”

One global stallion who’s cookin’ right now is High Chaparral. The dual Derby and Breeder’s Cup hero is yet another breed-shaping son of the almighty Sadler’s Wells, whose other celebrities at stud include Galileo, Montjeu, El Prado, and South Africa’s Fort Wood. Galileo is widely regarded as the world’s best stallion, to the degree that many pundits believe he is already a better stallion than Sadler’s Wells himself. The latter notched up an unprecedented fourteen European sire’s championships, while Montjeu has produced four of the last eight winners of England’s most famous horserace, the Investec Derby (Gr.1). Yet none of his paternal siblings could emulate High Chaparral’s feat of six individual Group One winners from his first year at stud, an achievement which ranks alongside only his illustrious father’s, though it has to be said, Sadler’s Wells got all of his from a single Northern Hemisphere covering season, whilst High Chaparral produced two in the Northern Hemisphere and an astonishing four in Australasia. We use the word “astonishing” advisedly, as the Sadler’s Wells tribe has been largely shunned Down Under, though that’s not the case with High Chaparral, where his progeny continue to be difficult to buy by dint of their popularity.

A fortnight ago, his New Zealand-bred first crop progeny, Shoot Out, took out his second consecutive edition of the Chipping Norton Stakes (Gr.1), taking his tally at the highest level to four, whilst this past weekend, at a distance considered on the short side, It’s A Dundeel skated home in the Royal Randwick Guineas (Gr.1) over the traditional 1600m trip in Sydney.

Despite the modern tendency of breeders to avoid the use of stallions after their first season at stud for purely commercial reasons, it seems the High Chaparral legacy has maintained its momentum through to the third generation, where his unbeaten Group-winning two-year-old of last season, Toronado, is a hot contender for line honours on the first Saturday in June at England’s Epsom racecourse. His seasonal high point was an impressive cruise in Doncaster’s Champagne Stakes (Gr.2).

High Chaparral’s highest-rated Northern Hemisphere runner is a barnmate in the Summerhill Stallion complex, where he’s held in the joint ownership of the farm, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifah Al Maktoum, Mary Slack’s Wilgersbosdrift Stud, Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud and Moutonshoek. Clearly, South African breeders know the value of the strain, as he was booked choco-a-bloc within weeks of his arrival at the property.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

HIGH CHAPARRAL ON A HIGH

Click above to watch It’s a Dundeel winning the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr1)
(Image : ABC News - Footage : TVN)

“…those that got in on the ground floor were the lucky ones.”

If you’ve been following us in the last couple of weeks, you’ll know that High Chaparral has recorded Group One winners on both sides of the Atlantic, while he also has most people’s idea of the best juvenile colt in Britain, the unbeaten Toronado. None of us who have seen his stock at auction houses around the world, would be surprised at High Chaparral’s successes: they look the part, and these days, they fetch the sort of money they deserve. It wasn’t always like this though, and like so many stories in this game, those that got in on the ground floor were the lucky ones. There were six Group One winners from his first year at stud, and once that cat was out of the bag, you’d have to put your head down, if you wanted to buy one.

The point was rammed home last weekend, when It’s a Dundeel, a three-year-old from his second New Zealand-bred crop, scooted home in the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr.1) at Randwick, Sydney, reassuring those of us who’ve booked mares this year to High Chaparral’s most accomplished Northern Hemisphere-bred son, Golden Sword, standing his first season at Summerhill Stud this year.

And while we’re on the subject of stallions, it’s pertinent to speak of Admire Main, whose first youngsters strut their stuff at the Ready To Run Gallops on the farm next Friday 19^th October. We very nearly witnessed a Sunday Silence-line winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1) on Sunday in Orfevre, while across the seas in the United States, King David (a son of Hat Trick by Sunday Silence) captured the $400,000 Jamaica Handicap (Gr.1) at Belmont. It’s been hard work establishing this male line outside of Japan, simply because the bulk of the world has lived in blissful ignorance of one of the most potent sire influences international breeding has ever known. Hat Trick himself was a good racehorse, but by no means the best of the Sunday Silences, yet he’s already produced (besides King David), the Cartier Juvenile European Champion of 2011, Dabirsim, and the 2012 Graded Stakes winners Howe Great (for Team Valor) and Zenji.

For the record, Admire Main was one of the top three-year-olds of his generation, unbeaten in his first four starts before going down a neck in the Japanese Derby (Gr.1), and it’s a sign of the respect for which the Japanese themselves hold for this horse, that Yusuke Tsukahara should fly out to represent the Shadai group as part of the panel of judges at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Gallops on Friday.

Read more about the
2012 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale

For more information please visit
www.tba.co.za

VISIONAIRE FOALS IMPRESS

Pictured at Summerhill is this strong foal from the first crop of American Gr.1 sprinter Visionaire. Out of the Northern Guest mare Summersault, the colt is a half-brother to Gr.2 Gold Bowl winner Winning Leap and to stakes-placed Gymnast.
(Photo : Leigh Willson)

“THE STALLION WITH ROCK STAR LOOKS”

Ada van Bent reports in the European Bloodstock News that early reports indicate the first foals of Gone West’s Gr.1-winning grandson, Visionaire, are making quite an impact. The former Team Valor colourbearer entered stud at Summerhill Stud in 2011 following a successful racing career, the highlight of which was a breathtaking last to first victory in the Gr.1 King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga. Described by stud owner Mick Goss as “the stallion with rock star looks”, the powerful chestnut is passing on those same qualities to his offspring, according to Summerhill spokeswoman Linda Norval: “He has some stunning foals and what’s wonderful is that he’s really stamping them; they are robust, with big bums.”

According to Norval, the stud’s latest recruits, Irish Derby runner-up Golden Sword (High Chaparral) and More Than Ready’s Gr.1-placed son Traffic Guard, have settled in well and have taken to their new careers with gusto.

“Golden Sword has attracted a fine book of mares and is stopping his mares on one jump,” Norval remarked. “We have been pleasantly surprised by the popularity of Traffic Guard,” she added. “He has impressed all and sundry with his powerful good looks and breeders are really putting a lot of thought into the type of mare they are sending to him.”

Editor’s note : Visionaire’s sister, Scarlet Strike, was 2^nd Saturday in America’s Chandelier Stakes (Gr.1) behind the season’s unbeaten Champion Two-Year-Old elect, Executiveprivilige. The blood runs deep!