BORN TO SEA : BORN TO RULE

Click above to watch Born To Sea winning the Blenheim Stakes (L)
(Image : V.Chandler - Footage : All The Doyles)

BORN TO RULE

If ever a horse was born into greatness, it had to be a sibling of the greatest stallion of our era, Galileo, and of arguably the best racehorse of the last decade, Sea The Stars. That horse is Born To Sea, who debuted in the very race that rocketed Brave Tin Soldier to stardom as a juvenile, the Blenheim Stakes (Listed) at 1200m at The Curragh. It wasn’t that he won it, it was the way he won it, and while his trainer John Oxx was loathe to draw comparisons with his illustrious brothers, he did say he had some big plans for the colt.

The son of Invincible Spirit (a sprinting son of Green Desert) is said to be an imposing looking individual, who ought to be better suited by longer distances. His dam, Urban Sea, was an “Arc” winner at 2400m, and both of her most illustrious progeny excelled at that distance. Of course, there’s no guarantee Born To Sea will stay any sort of a trip, but the Invincible Spirits have at least shown some versatility, the odd one (Lawman), prevailing in the French Derby at 2000m. (The French can be different, as we know, and their Derby is 2000m, not the conventional European 2400m).

Interestingly, in the same week, the only horse in history to have won a Breeder’s Cup Juvenile and a Kentucky Derby, Street Sense, celebrated some notable successes in the Keeneland salesring, no doubt on the back of what horsemen know of his progeny, and in a week in which several of his first crop put up convincing performances. With his credentials, few would be surprised to see Street Sense emerge as a cracking sire; we’ve seen a number of them at Southern Hemisphere sales, and they look the sort to find their best in their classic years. Anything that comes to pass while they’re juveniles (as they are at the moment), is a bonus. On the face of what we’ve seen so far, there’s cause for the crew at Darley America to have smiles on their dials.

We have a small syndicate of investors at Summerhill who annually raid the weanling sales in Australia, and in the context of this story, they seem to have hit the jackpot. They have a son of Street Sense who’s being aimed at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale, from the immediate family of Galileo, Sea The Stars and Born To Sea. That’s not the kind of pedigree you’d expect to see at a sale in this country, and it’s a rare jackpot, not only for the vendors, but for anyone among the investing public with a modicum of Street Sense.

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale
Sunday 6th November

*Six cheque payment scheme for qualifying buyers.

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

IT'S RAINING CATS AND STAKES HORSES

Galileo (Sadler’s Wells)
(Image : Stallions/UTexas)

LEADING EUROPEAN STAKES SIRES 2010
BY NUMBER OF BLACK-TYPE HORSES

We tend to think that a horse like Jet Master, arguably as good a stallion that has ever stood in South Africa, has excelled when he posts 12 Stakes winners in a season. Of course, he has, and that’s what makes him what he is. Yet a glance at the European list of leading sire by number of 2010 Black type horses, either makes your mind boggle, or suggests that they have, proportionally, more Black type events.

Sire	Black Type Performers	Black Type Winners
GALILEO (Sadler’s Wells)	37	17
OASIS DREAM (Green Desert)	32	17
DANEHILL DANCER (Danehill)	31	14
PIVOTAL (Polar Falcon)	30	16
DANSILI (Danehill)	27	15
MONTJEU (Sadler’s Wells)	26	9
DUBAWI (Dubai Millennium)	25	16
CAPE CROSS (Green Desert)	23	10
SHAMARDAL (Giant’s Causeway)	22	13
INVINCIBLE SPIRIT (Green Desert)	19	13
MONSUN (Konigsstuhl)	19	8
SADLER’S WELLS (Northern Dancer)	17	11
ROCK OF GIBRALTAR (Danehill)	17	7
FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND (Giant’s Causeway)	16	5
KING’S BEST (Kingmambo)	14	6
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY (Storm Cat)	14	5
EXCEED AND EXCEL (Danehill)	14	5
SINGSPIEL (In The Wings)	13	6
HIGH CHAPARRAL (Sadler’s Wells)	13	5
MEDICEAN (Machiavellian)	12	7

WORLD TOP 30 SIRES

A.P. Indy
(Photo : NYC/Karen Kasper)

“Top 5% of North American
and European Sires”

Bill Oppenheim Thoroughbred Daily NewsEach year there are between 1,000 - 1,100 sires in North America, Europe, and Japan who are assigned APEX ratings.

When we talk about a “World Top 12”, therefore - given that we do know we’re really only talking about North American and European sires on the world’s number one international circuit - we are essentially saying, these are the top two percent of sires. When we say “World Top 30,” practically speaking it is the top five percent of sires. I don’t mean to diss the top Southern Hemisphere and Japanese sires, but they aren’t really on this number one international circuit, so, practically speaking, the “World Top 30” is the top five percent of available proven sires in North America and Europe with foals three years old and up.

A.P. Indy sired 9.76 percent top-two-percent earners in the major racing countries covered; Galileo sired 7.50 percent top-two-percent earners; Dynaformer, 5.32 percent; Elusive Quality and Invincible Spirit 3.62 percent. The second figure is the career percentage of “unique” A Runners to named foals of racing age. So, since his first foals raced in 1996, 14.15 percent of the named foals of racing age by A.P. Indy became A Runners in at least one year. That’s an astronomical percentage. As you can see, most younger sires from the “Big-Book Era” have considerably lower percentages. A Runners roughly equate to listed winners and above. A few years ago, if you’ll remember, our research indicated “six percent is the new 10 percent,” and six percent is the yardstick I use now for this category.

I will note that all of the current World Top 12 have A Runner indices above 2.50, and, with a couple of exceptions, their percentage of unique A Runners to foals is above seven percent. The two exceptions are Coolmore sires Danehill Dancer (6.77 percent with huge crops starting with impossible mares - this is a lifetime statistic, remember) and Montjeu (6.63 percent, but with a severe colt bias). Obviously those numbers don’t guarantee you a spot among the World Top 12, but you just about can’t get there without them. They are what are called “necessary, but not sufficient” conditions for inclusion.

As you’ll see from my (admittedly subjective) table, the first four Kentucky sires I’ve listed in the “World Next 18” portion of the table all do have A indexes of 2.50 - plus, and all have eight percent-plus unique A Runners from foals. I can’t really explain the voodoo which tells me where a sire really rates, but there must be hundreds of industry professionals who are compiling similar lists, using their own voodoo. As noted last week, I now think the balance of power among the world top 12 has shifted from North America (now five of the top 12) to Europe (now seven). But in the second tier, I counted 12 Kentucky sires, against five from Europe. Oh yes, that means one slot is open for reader input. There are 30 slots in the World Top 30, and I have only filled 29 of them. Who else deserves to be in (and no, you can’t kick out some of mine to make more room - just one opening for now)?

It’s also interesting that the two F2005 sires (first foals now five-year-olds) are both European, top 12 sire Oasis Dream and top 30 sire Dalakhani. Then the four top F2006 sires (first foals now four-year-olds), all Top 30 sires at the moment, are all North American: Medaglia d’Oro, Speightstown, Tapit, and Candy Ride; and the two F2007 sires (first three-year-olds; rarely are sires from this category included in these lists), both Darley European sires, are: newest world top 12 sire Dubawi, and newest world top 30 sire Shamardal.

Interesting, too, that Coolmore (Galileo, Montjeu, Danehill Dancer, Giant’s Causeway) leads Darley (Street Cry, Dubawi) four to two among the World Top 12, but in the remainder of the World Top 30, there are four Darley sires (Elusive Quality, Medaglia d’Oro, Cape Cross, and Shamardal), but none for Coolmore.

THE WORLD TOP 12 STALLIONS

Sire	Farm	Index* Apex A	A’s-Fls Pct	2010 Fee	Ring	Sold 2010	$ Average Yearlings
A.P. INDY	Lane’s End	4.88	14.15	150,000	28	19	544,736
SMART STRIKE	Lane’s End	3.16	9.41	75,000	40	34	252,037
DISTORTED HUMOR	Winstar	2.69	10.69	100,000	29	26	381,153
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY	Coolmore	3.09	9.11	100,000	73	54	161,483
STREET CRY	Darley	2.96	9.90	150,000	40	34	282,752
GALILEO	Coolmore	3.75	8.91	private	62	47	422,698
MONTJEU	Coolmore	2.71	6.63	private	34	28	244,891
DANEHILL DANCER	Coolmore	2.68	6.77	private	42	38	186,145
DANSILI	Juddmonte	2.66	7.10	65,000	32	26	231,147
OASIS DREAM	Juddmonte	3.19	9.25	65,000	52	45	224,995
PIVOTAL	Cheveley Park	2.58	7.46	65,000	46	37	168,152
DUBAWI	Darley	2.76	7.63	20,000	37	33	174,257

REMAINDER OF WORLD TOP 30 STALLIONS

Sire	Farm	Index* Apex A	A’s-Fls Pct	2010 Fee ($)	Ring	Sold 2010	$ Average Yearlings
DYNAFORMER	3 Chimneys	2.66	8.42	150,000	25	18	277,284
UNBRIDLED’S SONG	Taylor Made	2.97	8.17	115,000	64	49	181,204
PULPIT	Claiborne	2.50	8.26	60,000	36	26	155,500
AWESOME AGAIN	Adena Springs	2.84	8.03	50,000	50	34	92,071
ELUSIVE QUALITY	Darley	1.81	5.90	75,000	72	54	93,292
INDIAN CHARLIE	Airdrie	2.04	5.76	70,000	56	41	137,231
MALIBU MOON	Spendthrift	2.24	5.92	40,000	81	57	157,184
TIZNOW	Winstar	2.53	6.84	75,000	70	49	159,285
MEDAGLIA D’ORO	Darley	3.68	8.33	100,000	57	43	148,383
SPEIGHTSTOWN	Winstar	4.08	9.74	35,000	57	38	93,311
TAPIT	Gainesway	3.58	12.07	50,000	43	34	120,470
CANDY RIDE	Lane’s End	3.70	5.99	25,000	24	14	93,035
MONSUN	Schlenderhan	3.72	10.16	private	11	8	207,928
CAPE CROSS	Darley	1.93	4.55	35,000	64	52	90,819
DALAKHANI	Gilltown	3.92	7.65	50,000	37	24	109,772
INVINCIBLE SPIRIT	Irish National	1.81	5.53	45,000	40	35	146,255
SHAMARDAL	Darley	2.87	6.78	20,000	51	41	101,056

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

SEA THE STARS : THE END OF A BRILLIANT CAREER

Sea The Stars
(Photo : John Gichigi/Getty)

“Please click photo to enlarge…”

RETIREMENT OF SEA THE STARS

Christopher Tsui’s Sea the Stars will not race again after trainer John Oxx made the widely expected announcement.

Yesterday’s announcement brings to an end a run which may never be equaled, as Sea the Stars not only became the first in history to record the 2000 Guineas-Derby-Arc treble - Nijinsky narrowly failed at the final hurdle in 1970 - but also took in the three major 10 - furlong, all-aged contests of the summer in the Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes.

John Oxx was left to reflect on a remarkable season later in the afternoon, and found it difficult to single out one of the six achievements as a personal favorite.

“It is hard to say there was any highlight with a horse like that, as they were all major races in their own right,” Oxx added. “When you win a Guineas and a Derby, it becomes even more important for him to win, and as the anxiety builds up as the year goes on, every race brings tremendous relief when it is over. I suppose winning the Derby was marvelous - the way he ran his race there was a joy to watch, with how he handled the track and coasted down the hill before sauntering up the straight waiting to go and win. That was a great sight, and it must be unusual for a trainer to watch his horse in the Derby and feel so comfortable with the way he is going right through the race. After that, he developed a great public following, and everybody quickly realised they were watching something special.

Oxx continued, “There has been great excitement every time from Sandown onwards, and he had a tremendous response from the crowds, and also the wider public towards the end as they realised that there was something special happening.

“In the Arc, I wasn’t as anxious as everyone else was, as although he ran along more strongly in the bridle than most people would like, he could do that and get away with it. I knew he had such a great turn of foot and he could get out of trouble. His success was down to a combination of everything, but mainly to his tremendous cruising speed. Ballydoyle tried their best to put in pacemakers and make it tough for him, but they could never get him off the bridle. He could just travel up behind any pace totally at ease - that’s his big thing - and then quicken up off it. He could do that because he has great heart and lungs, but he’s got this beautiful balance, lovely stride and a great length to him. He’s a big, strong horse – close-coupled in one way, but very long in another and he has this tremendous athletic stride. He also has a great temperament and never worries about anything, was always the calmest horse at the races, and it is courage and temperament at the end of the day that bring the best horses to a different level.”

On top of his unparalleled achievements at three, Sea the Stars also held a commendable record as a juvenile.

While he suffered a sole defeat on his debut when an eye-catching fourth at The Curragh last July, he was off the mark at Leopardstown the following month before registering his first black-type win in The Curragh’s G2 Juddmonte Beresford Stakes in September.

In total, the half-brother to leading sire Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) boasts a record of 9-8-0-0 while earning £

Stud arrangements have yet to be set, but there have been suggestions that the Tsuis are keen to stand him at the Irish National Stud. That County Kildare-based operation was the scene of his birth April 6, 2006, and currently houses Urban Sea’s final foal by Invincible Spirit. John Clarke, who is the chief executive of the Irish National Stud, also acts as racing manager to Ling Tsui and her son Christopher.

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

RACING : THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Malhub
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

Dubai’s Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, once famously said: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, knowing it must run faster than the fastest lion in order to survive. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up, knowing it must run faster than the slowest gazelle in order to survive.

“Either way, when the sun comes up in Africa, you’d better be running!”

So appropriate. And while that may not have universal application, it certainly sticks with the sport of horseracing, and especially this week. Of all the racing weeks in creation, nothing beats Royal Ascot, never mind what the Aussies will tell you about the Melbourne Cup.

From an African perspective, the big one this week (Saturday on DSTV Channel 232) is the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr.1) which brings together the fastest horses on turf in the world. And South Africa will be there, too, in the form of the rocket, J J The Jet Plane. How appropriate.

Which reminds us of our own connection with the inaugural running of this time-honoured challenge under its new guise (formerly the Cork and Orrery, how odd! Only the English could think of a name like that!).

In 2002, the owners of the best sprinters on the planet did this race proud. After all, it marked the Queens Golden Jubilee. The World Champion Juvenile of the previous season, Johannesburg, was there. So were the celebrated stallions (these days) and the crack sprinters of those, Invincible Spirit and Kyllachy. And so was Malhub, son of the most desirable stallion on both sides of the Atlantic. Little known at that point and donning his owner’s “second set”, it wouldn’t be long before his was a household name.

Our Irish friends on course that day, swear Malhub saw Her Majesty in the Royal Box on his way to the start, and proclaimed “I’m comin home to meet you, Ma’m” In a matter of 72 seconds and a bit of change, that’s precisely what Malhub did.

One hot property. The prodigy that sauntered past Johannesburg the only time they met. A spine-tingling moment of utter superiority.

The height of summer. The height of class. The height of places.

Roll on Saturday.