WHERE HAVE ALL THE STALLIONS GONE?

Top Priced Yearling - Hip 131 Distorted Humor Colt
(Photo : Keeneland)

KEENELAND SEPTEMBER YEARLING SALE
10 - 21 September 2012

While many an American breeder will take heart at the results of the recently concluded Keeneland September Sale, there is a stark reality about the numbers. The top stallion (by average), A.P. Indy, is in retirement, and he is at that stage where the commercial appeal of his progeny would ordinarily have been in decline. Yet the dearth of “big” alternative choices is such that A.P. Indy retains pole position, and while he is still such an influence in his own right, that he remains there is as much an indictment on those around him as it is a compliment to his staying power. While the names of Street Cry, Distorted Humor, Unbridled Song, Giant’s Causeway, Tapit and Smart Strike are all worthy of their own respect, they simply don’t have the pizzazz of the generation before.

Cast your minds back to the 70s and 80s and the awed silence which greeted a son of Northern Dancer as he entered the salesring; remember the great stallions contemporaries Mr. Prospector, Nijinsky, Danzig, Alydar, Lyphard, Blushing Groom, Riverman, Vaguely Noble, Raise A Native and Exclusive Native and the lesser likes of Secretariat, Sir Ivor and Caro. These stallions were the legacy of decades of investment by American breeders across the Atlantic, where they plundered the substantial larder of European bloodstock, including most of the top racehorses of the era and any emerging stallion who looked the part. The balance of power shifted to the States in what seemed like an irretrievable monopoly at the time, and studs like Claiborne, Spendthrift and Gainesway presided over a lock on European money for almost three decades. The traffic was one-way, justified by overwhelming dominance and the American conquest of a disproportionate share of the European classics.

It is the story of all empires though, that when you think things are going so well you believe you can take your foot off the juice, and that’s the story of American breeding. Complacency set in, and far from maintaining the levels of investment which had characterised the raids of Bull Hancock, John Gaines, Leslie Combs and others of earlier decades, they tended to sit back somewhat on their laurels.

A buying splurge triggered initially by Coolmore, Robert Sangster and Vincent O’Brien, and ratcheted up to unprecedented levels by the Maktoum family, has witnessed a resurgence in the stocks of Europe’s fire power; epitomised by Galileo, Montjeu, Dubawi, Dansili, Pivotal and Oasis Dream. These are the new colossi of the stallion universe, and you can expect the world and his dog to turn up at the Tattersalls Highflyer in early October, where we’ll see the fireworks for which the Keeneland sales pavilion was once renowned.

The truth is, if America wants to get back to the top of the pile, they will only do so through the strength of their stallions, which means if you want ‘em, go get ‘em!

KEENELAND SEPTEMBER YEARLINGS
Overall Top 10 Colts

Hip	Sire	Price (US$)
131	DISTORTED HUMOR	1,650,000
469	BERNARDINI	1,550,000
94	WAR FRONT	1,100,000
956	EMPIRE MAKER	1,050,000
41	STREET CRY	1,000,000
1021	SMART STRIKE	900,000
132	DISTORTED HUMOR	850,000
645	BIG BROWN	825,000
1004	UNBRIDLED’S SONG	800,000
807	GIANT’S CAUSEWAY	750,000

KEENELAND SEPTEMBER YEARLINGS
Overall Top 11 Fillies

Hip	Sire	Price (US$)
45	SMART STRIKE	1,300,000
128	A.P. INDY	1,100,000
124	A.P. INDY	725,000
125	A.P. INDY	675,000
1042	DYNAFORMER	650,000
960	INDIAN CHARLIE	650,000
51	INDIAN CHARLIE	625,000
654	TAPIT	525,000
81	DIVINE PARK	500,000
117	EMPIRE MAKER	500,000
349	TIZNOW	500,000

For further reference, please visit :

www.keeneland.com

2012 NATIONAL YEARLING SALES SPOTLIGHT

Duke Of Marmalade (USA)
(Photo : Racing NSW)

Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale
TBA Sales Complex, Germiston, South Africa
27 - 29 April 2012

Market-watchers in the racing world would’ve noticed that the session-topper on the first day of Australia’s most prestigious yearling sale in Sydney, was an Encosta De Lago daughter of the highly performed Absolut Glam, at Au$910,000 (in the region of R7,5 million.) It’s been a habit of Summerhill’s in the past six or seven years, to include in our draft the progeny of some of the world’s top stallions, and of course these graduates have included Horse of the Year Igugu (by Galileo), and her conqueror in the R2million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup, Hollywoodboulevard (by Street Cry). This year’s consignment is no different, punctuated by three stand-outs, one of whom is especially topical today for the fact not only that he’s a colt by Galileo’s outstanding son, Teofilo, but because he’s from a close relative to Absolut Glam, dam of the session-topper.

Teofilo was an unbeaten Champion European Juvenile whose victory over Holy Roman Emperor counts as one of history’s epic duels in England’s juvenile jewel, the Dewhurst Stakes (Gr.1). Teofilo’s first crop successes include his own Dewhurst hero, Parish Hall, propelling him to the top of the freshman sires class’ in Europe last year, an achievement which prompted the Darley advert that he’s already outstripped his illustrious sire, Galileo, in his first year. Teofilo’s haul included a healthy four Stakes winners, among 22 individual winners overall.

Then there’s a daughter from the first Southern Hemisphere-bred crop of the world champion racehorse, Duke Of Marmalade. The “Duke” wasn’t just a champion though, he was bred to be one, a son of the only stallion in history to win sires’ championships in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Danehill, from the female line of the Emperor of American stallions, A.P. Indy, and our own champion stallion, Al Mufti. But this filly has got more than just a quality sire in her top line; she’s a granddaughter of a famous Melbourne Cup (Gr.1) winner in Jezabeel. She won’t be short of admirers, because she’s a good sort into the bargain. That’s a good reason for any self-respecting South African trainer to have a crack at this one. According to the latest Coolmore propaganda, not all the leading trainers have his first 2 year olds in their yards but most of them do :

Leading trainers in Britain in 2011 :

Trainer	Earnings (£)
Richard Hannon (x4) *	3,485,327
Aidan O’Brien *	2,894,457
Sir Henry Cecil *	2,730,438
John Gosden (x3) *	2,442,259
Mahmood Al Zarooni	1,829,899
Richard Fahey *	1,516,925
Sir Michael Stoute *	1,501,267
Mark Johnston	1,365,628
Kevin Ryan *	1,198,285
William Haggas (x3) *	1,167,428
Mick Channon (x3) *	1,037,688

* denotes “Dukes” in the yard.

Other trainers in Britain :

Trainer
Marco Botti (x3) *	David Elsworth *
Brian Meehan (x2) *	John Quinn *
Kevin Prendergast (x2) *	Michael Bell *
David Wachman (x2) *	David Simcock *
Tommy Stack (x2) *	Elie Lellouche *
Paul Cole (x2) *	Freddie Head *
Dermot Weld *	John Hills *
Sir Mark Prescott *	Jean Beguigne *
David Lanigan *	Alan Jarvis *
Peter Schiergen *

* denotes “Dukes” in the yard.

To top it all, the leading first season sire in Australia right now (and the numero uno by winners on the general Juvenile Sires’ log) is the South American champion Husson, who has already chalked up nine individual winners including a Stakes winner. Like most of our colleagues, we didn’t know much about Husson when we agreed to consign his good looking athletic son, but we took him on trust, because we know the guy who bred him, and besides being a looker, he is a brother to Ill Saggiatore, last year’s KZN Derby (Gr.2) ace.

So besides the usual quality offering from the champions, there’s a touch of class in the exotics on display. Our horses leave the farm this Saturday for their date with destiny. We’ve got a busy old week ahead though, with visits from Dennis Drier, Tony Rivalland, Charles Laird and Mary Liley, and the daily spontaneous bypassers whose curiosity is prickled either by the mystique of the game in general, or out of a specific interest in finding the next champion off the farm.

Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg 27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

IN THE MOOD AT INGLIS EASTER

Lot 445 Street Cry (IRE) - Tugela (USA)
(Photo : Inglis)

INGLIS EASTER YEARLING SALE
10 - 12 April 2012

While not reaching the heights of Wednesday’s session of the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, Thursday’s third and final round of bidding provided a few fireworks of its own, led by a A$1.2-million final bid for Lot 445, a Street Cry (Ire) half-brother to Horse of the Year and three-time G1 Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King). The action quickly reached the seven-figure mark before topping out with a winning salvo from trainer Peter Moody, one of Australia’s top trainers responsible for the racetrack exploits of the nation’s superstar Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit).

“He’s a real trainer’s horse, and doesn’t look like a show pony,” said Moody shortly after the purchase. “He’s not Makybe’s brother now, he’s a racehorse, so I hope we can make him one.” The colt was consigned by Makybe, the same operation that sold a Redoute’s Choice (Aus) half-sister to Black Caviar for A$2.6 million the previous day.

In addition to the A$14.5-million earner, the 17-year old Tugela (Riverman) has produced two additional group winners - Musket (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice) and Valkyrie Diva (Aus) (Jade Robbery).

“I’ve seen all of that mare’s foals, except Makybe Diva as a foal, and she was the nicest foal she had thrown,” admitted Moody. “I really liked the colt, so I was very attracted to him.” The colt’s sire, Darley’s Street Cry, has been responsible for several champions in the U.S., including G1 Kentucky Derby hero and champion sophomore Street Sense and Horse of the Year Zenyatta, but he has also earned distinction down under, siring the 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Shocking (Aus). “Street Cry has done a tremendous job here,” said Moody. “I haven’t had much experience with him, but I was very taken with him as an individual and obviously, mom is a damn good producer.”

Final Results

Final	2012	2011
Catalogued	451	417
No. Offered	398	383
No. Sold	330	310
RNA’s	68	73
% RNA	17%	19%
High Price	A$2,600,000	A$1,025,000
Gross	A$72,825,000	A$74,240,000
Average (% change)	A$220,682 (-7.9%)	A$239,484
Median (% change)	A$160,000 (-11.1%)	A$180,000

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

BANKING ON DUTCH ART

Dutch Art
(Photo : Cheveley Park Stud)

“His runners are making a meal of things…”

Investors in renaissance art are aware of the fortunes some have made in their pursuits of the works of the Dutch masters, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Caspar Netscher and Floris van Dijck. Their works are priceless, and we know of at least one friend who made a personal fortune through her inheritance of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, so much so that in her lifetime at least, there was no longer a need to get up with the sparrows in the morning to attend a day job like the rest of us.

No doubt, the connections of the most precocious English two-year-old of the 2006 season, were hopeful that this miracle might be repeated for them when they named him Dutch Art, whose appeal to Blanford Bloodstock’s Tom Goff was such that he put his hands on him for 16,000 guineas at the Doncaster Yearling sale. The son of Medicean was a very smart juvenile, and included among his victories the stallion-making Middle Park Stakes (Gr1), contested since 1866 at October’s Champion Stakes meeting at Newmarket. As a three-year-old, he claimed the Greenham Stakes (Gr3) on his way to a third in the English Guineas, and looked like the real deal.

Retired with a Timeform rating of 124 to Cheveley Park Stud, home of his own sire, Medicean, Dutch Art has his first runners at the races this year, and to say that he is making a meal of things is an understatement. He already has 21 individual juvenile winners, including the aptly-named, Caspar Netscher (Gimcrack Stakes, Gr2), and several other Stakes performers. He’s not only a shoe-in for the title of Champion Freshman Sire, (from some formidable opposition, mind you, including the similarly named Excellent Art, who stands at Coolmore), but he could well turn out Europe’s overall champion sire of juveniles.

From a Summerhill perspective, the news is encouraging. Like our own Kahal and Darley’s American-based Street Cry, Medicean is another successful son of Machiavellian (also sire of Summerhill resident, Mullins Bay), and just arrived at the farm, is another equally well-performed son of Medicean, Bankable, a much-loved racehorse among the South African public for his exploits at the Dubai Racing Carnival over the past couple of years. Bankable proved his mettle against world champion Raven’s Pass, as well as Eagle Mountain and Passage Of Time in England, and while the rush for services to Bankable is probably due more to local fans appreciation of what we knew of him in Dubai, the news of Dutch Art’s early success is bound to rub off on his bookings. We don’t know Dutch Art in the flesh, but he’d have to be a helluva horse to match the physical attributes of our man, who weighed in at a hefty 560kgs in training with Herman Brown Jnr.

COOLMORE VS DARLEY : BATTLE OF THE TITANS

Click above to watch the Coolmore Stud Documentary 2011
(Image and Footage : Coolmore)

“Who’s Who in the Zoo?”

The battle for international supremacy in the thoroughbred world has developed a real “one-round-to-you, one-round-to-me” look to it. Ever since the official declaration of war by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, on their arch opponents, the Coolmore operation in 2006, some heavy punches have been traded.

The first three years undoubtedly belonged to Coolmore, and for as long as the dominance of their Emperor stallions, Sadler’s Wells and Danehill persisted, and for as long as this blood was denied to the Maktoums, it looked like one-way traffic (in Europe at any rate, the main theatre of battle). Nothing in the thoroughbred world though is forever, and with his strategies spanning both sides of the Atlantic, the emergence of Street Cry looked like pulling things back for “Sheik Mo”, though it has to be said, Coolmore still have on their hands, the champion sire of that realm, Giant’s Causeway. Enormous investment on the part of Dubai in the best prospects of their more recent generations in the United States, must have equipped Darley’s armoury in that part of the world with some real possibilities, but with the exception of Bernardini, who is an emerging force in his own right, the jury will have to wait. If we were in the tipping game, we’d have a few bob on Street Sense, the only horse in history to have won both the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby.

Back in Europe though, out of the blue came Dubawi and Shamardal for Darley, and they look like two of the best young sires around right now. Their supremacy with their first three year olds last year suggested an overwhelming dominance of the older division in 2011 Europe, but, we shall have to wait and see if that’s going to be the case. On the evidence alone, of this year’s three year old Classics, it seems the pendulum may have swung back Coolmore’s way, with four of the six “Guineas” contested in England, Ireland and France, falling to sons and daughters of Bill Oppenheim’s “best stallion in the world”, Galileo.

On Saturday, the Coolmore outfit’s dominance of this crop was as blantly evident as ever, in the renewal of the Investec Derby, in which Coolmore-connected horses landed first, second and fourth placings, though it should be noted the Queen’s third placed Carlton House is a son of Street Cry, gifted to her by Sheikh Mohammed. For the time being at least, the initiative lies in Ireland, though we suspect that Dubawi and Shamardal are that good, they won’t be lying down for long. Either way, it makes fascinating watching.