Castelli: Rosehill Guineas win spotlights cheap sire

The phone of Levin studmaster Paul Hobbs deserves to ring more frequently this breeding season. Paul stands Rosehill Guineas winner Zabrasive's lightly raced half brother Castelli and last season the son of Galileo served just 13 mares, most belonging to the stallions majority owner, Hawkes Bay's Lawrence Redshaw.

For those of you with good memories the Murray Baker trained Castelli created enough of an impression in three starts here in the early spring of 2006 to at one stage hold a single figure quote for that seasons VRC Derby.

Unfortunately the colt never made it the Derby after chips in a knee were discovered following a second placing to Old Belvedere over 1600m at Hastings on Mudgeway Stakes day. Ultimately the injury saw the stallion never return to the racetrack, going to stud in 2008 after failing to stand two further training preparations.

Retiring with a sole maiden win (at 1400m) on a slow track from three starts and being a son of Galileo is not a recipe for attracting mares, particularly in this part of the world after Galileo's very disappointing shuttle service to Australia, but the stallion looks good value at his $1,000 service fee.

Castelli is the first foal of his Danehill stakeswinning and group one placed dam Danasia - Zabrasive is the mares fourth foal. As a son of Galileo and with staying influences further back in his female family such as Persian Bold, Exbury (Zammazan's sire), and the former Fairdale stallion Kings Island, Castelli won't sire Karaka Million runners however he showed enough tactical speed in his short racing career to that suggest that with the right type of mare getting an early three-year-old to the races won't be out of the question.

The odds of Castelli making it as a stallion are extremely slim but with his pedigree, the glimpse we got of his ability on the racetrack and a reinvigorated market for staying types, he's a better gamble than a number of his colleagues out there pitched in a similar price bracket.

I gather Windsor Park may agist some Castelli weanlings for a client; if that is the case I shall make a point of dropping in when I'm next down in Cambridge. Even at $1,000 you need to do your homework thoroughly and I recall seeing a couple of Castelli's immediate family as yearlings and they were not impressive types. For instance Zabrasive at Karaka was quite light and a poor walker.

Karaka: After The Gold Rush

What an extraordinary week. Even Tony Robbins or Telecom's PR department would have struggled to predict what took place.

There's been a lot written about why there was so much moolah around at Karaka and I don't disagree that any of it failed to contribute in some shape or form; from our group race performances in Oz last season to the strength of the Ozzie dollar and the catalogues depth, it all played it's part.

I thought a couple of under rated influences were the group one win in Hong Kong by Winning Fellowship the night before the Sale commenced and the release of Bart Cummings book. The later, publicity not even America's Cup syndicates could buy, would have had an immeasurable impact on the demand for staying types.

Some observations:

It's hardly a new trend but just how important a totally clean set of x rays are. I know of a couple of outstanding types that had very minor x ray issues and were crucified in the ring.

I would liked to have seen a bit more leg under the Fast N Famous yearlings. The best of his in this department, the Oh Blue Angel colt in Select, fetched his top price.

I thought the Perfectly Ready's would sell a bit better than they did. They walked well, were on the whole athletic and looked o have good temperaments. I thought they may have been a bit heavier bu I didn't mind that. A comment I heard second hand pre Sale from an Ozzie agent may well have summed up his appeal over the ditch; words to the effect that he was only an eastern state group 3 sprinter and they had many more options in young sires at the next level. Hard to dispute that but I thought they were good buying.

The lack of genuine staying types. Sure what was available sold well but as types I thought buyers were limited to a few Golans, the odd Jungle Pocket and Don Eduardo. I didn't see too many Master O Reillys or Gallopins amongst the plethora of O'Reillys and Pins. Imagine the sale results if High Chaparral had stood the 2007 season here.

It's getting off the subject slightly but I imagine Rich Hill will be feeling quite good about Sir Percy and so will some other studs with newish staying orientated stallions who could do with greater patronage. St Reims and Metre En Jeu come to mind.

The week s results should give breeders the encouragement to invest in stallions after quite some hiatus. I predict the Nom Du Jeu announcement will be the first of a number especially of those with some sort of staying resume. There should be any number of nice staying options on the market. I would love to be a bloodstock agent sourcing them.

How buyers deserted Savabeel. Someone mentioned to me just the other day that his record compares more than favourably with O'Reilly and Pins at the same stage of heir careers. I haven't had the time to check this out. There s still enough trainers saying good words about progeny of his they have but buyers have dropped him quicker than a used match.

If you like sires who leave a line then the Darci's would obviously have featured on your shopping list. They are like peas to a pod, lovely heads, deep girths, medium sized and athletic. I was taken with Michael Wallace's purchase in the Premier Sale, the colt from First of May and Little Avondale had a sweet filly from Tycoon Lover.

I saw some quality types from Pentire mares and he's going to be a significant broodmare influence with the right type of mare.

I know Elusive City had a good run in Hong Kong in the weeks leading up to Karaka but I still though his colts exceeded expectations even allowing for some quality types. His record to date is good without been outstanding but it's his fillies who lead the way in terms of stakes performers so I can only conclude that he has some very promising un raced colts out there.

The Lucky Unicorns are going to take time. I didn't mind some of his types although I can't see too many getting nominated for the Karaka Million.

A lot of pinhookers got hurt. Esker bucked the trend, their overall return helped by the Montjeu colt but their median was strong. Goodwood did well with their two also. Holy Roman Emperor was out of favour at the Magic Millions and the trend continued at Karaka. Sadly a number of pin hookers invested in his weanlings who looked good the handful I saw last year, but came unstuck. His yearlings disappointed me on the whole and maybe they just don't develop. Savabeel left some outstanding foals many of whom didn't quite go the right way through to yearlings. The pinhookers results just go to show how hard it is to get right even in a good market.

I only got to see a couple of hundred horses this year and then only in the outside rings and the auditorium but here s a handful I singled out for their X factor.

Lot 79 - Zabeel- Oh So Precious colt. Wonderfully balanced sort, athletic and not too heavy - a great blend of his sire and Sadlers Wells.

Lot 441 - Fastnet Rock - Haibah colt. More attractive around the head and eye than a lot of his sire s progeny; this mare has left another fine type.

Lot 528 - Volksraad - Mardi Gras colt. In the vein of his best colts Orange County, Vinaka and this colts three quarter brother Military Move, a sweet walking strong bodied handsome individual.

So a number of breeders have cash in their pockets again. Will this encourage a buy up at the Australian weanling sales. It will be fascinating to see the catalogue for our weanling sale. Will breeders hang on or still divest here in May. Good decisions to mull over I guess.

Trentham 30 January

Fazza's my each way tip for the Cup.

Adaline: good buying

Adaline's win in the Group Two Royal Stakes may not have conclusively determined her ability to be competitive past 2000m but she showed her minute defeat by Katie Lee in the Eight Carat Classic was no flash in the pan and that Trevor McKee has once again found a quality horse cheaply at the sales.

Maybe it has something to do with it being the first time most three-year-old fillies have gone further than 1600m and connections therefore preferring a cautious approach but this years renewal of the Royal Stakes was once again plagued by a lack of pace making it an inconclusive guide to upcoming oaks races.

Inspecting Adaline for the first time in the parade ring at Ellerslie over Xmas it was hard to see how type could have been a factor in McKee only having to pay $28,000 for the Court of Jewels filly at the 2008 Karaka Select Sale.

A medium sized strongly girthed filly with good balance and an attractive feminine head she exhibits a number of the better characteristics of her very good female family.

The excellent but short lived publication Raceform 1988/89 described Adaline's grand dam the dual groupwinner Soleil Rouge as "short-coupled, big barelled poweful type; good shoulder..." . Another member of the family Silky Red Boxer, whose dam Soleil Etoile is a half sister to Soleil Rouge, was a very similar type.

Although it is back in the second generation, there is a good deal of black type in Adaline's female family with a number of half sisters to Soleil Rouge regularly represented by siblings in the Karaka Premier and Sydney Easter Sales. Soleil Rouge has herself been a good producer leaving a listed winner and her daughters beside Red Covet (dam of Adaline), have left Hong Kong Group One winner All Thrills Too and the group winning NZ two-year-old Crossyourheart.

The taproot mare responsible for the family is the english bred mare Polly Soleil who was imported to NZ in 1976 by Waikato breeder Ron Denby. There is little known about the mare before she came to these shores other than she was a half sister to Denby's good stallion Avon Valley.

Red Covet by St Covet looks to have shown connections some ability on the racetrack given that her six lifetime starts were all on Melbourne's city tracks and she was jumped to a stakes race at just her third start coming off a Flemington win at 1400m.

I have discussed St Covet briefly in an earlier posting but his record at stud before his death after just two seasons is quite astonishing, posting nearly 80% winners to runners and 15% stakes performers to runners. From I'm guessing around 40 live mares, St Covet has also managed to leave his mark as a broodmare stallion with Mimi Lebrock, the sensational filly Amelia's Dream and now Adaline.

Adaline has older half siblings by General Monash, Danehill Dancer and Fasliyev who amounted to very little on the racetrack while a year older full sister named Regally Red has been a useful performer on the Victorian provincial circuit with stake earnings of $50,000. A two-year-old unraced half brother by Bianconi called The Admiral Returns is Red Covet's latest foal of racing age.

Which leads us to Adaline's sire Court of Jewels and notwithstanding the luke warm start by Red Covet to her broodmare career, probably the significant factor in Trevor McKee acquiring her so cheaply.

Court of Jewels retired to stud in Victoria in 2004 with a record of 4 wins and 5 placings from 17 starts including a group three 1300m success in Adelaide and stakes placings at Rosehill, Caulfield and Doomben. A useful enough record but hardly one to get breeders rushing the farm gate down.

It gets better though on the pedigree side and significantly too, for Court of Jewels as a son of Danehill from a Sir Tristram grand daughter of Eight Carat is very closely related to leading stallions Commands and Danewin.

To Be Continued

Sound Reason: around for a while yet

I've always liked Sound Reason in a pedigree.

Like dad, his stock always tended to be strongly made, tough and durable racehorses. A strong wither, deep girth and a decent hindquarter were the most obvious physical traits of his best stock.

Maybe Sound Reason whose own racing career was characterised by consistency and durability inherited those attributes from his grandsire Hail To Reason who had eighteen starts as a two year old in the US.

He may have been dead seventeen years but Sound Reason's influence on the thoroughbred breeding and racing industry in these parts is still being felt as results today at Trentham show.

Vonusti who took the Telegraph is by Ustinov from the Sound Reason mare Reasonably while Group Two Wakefield Challenge Stakes runner up Cellarmaster, already a group three winner this year, is by Dubawi from the Sound Reason mare Oneology.

Although his record of six individual group one winners will never rank him as an outstanding sire, Sound Reason still carved out an enviable record as a sire from Ollie Goodwin's Riddlesworth Stud on the outskirts of Masterton, where he stood from 1980 until his death in 1993. The 16.2 and a half hand son of Bold Reason left everything from stakeswinning juveniles Validity and Eurudite; Oaks winners Candide, Sounds Like Fun, Sound Gold and Cologne; classy WFA performers Sound Horizon and Lacka Reason through to tough handicappers such as Tour Blade, Soundoration and the mercurial St James.

Remarkably though it's been as a broodmare sire where Sound Reason will be better remembered with Vonusti today becoming his twelfth individual group one winner.

Comparing his record as a broodmare sire with some other great influences from the same era makes interesting reading. Centaine has sixteen group one winners from his daughters and a few more to come yet, Pompeii Court, Star Way and Crested Wave 9 each and Grosvenor, steadily increasing his tally, on 7.

I don't know if such statistics exist but the sires of grand dams of group one winners would make fascinating reading. Sound Reason seems to have had a affinity down the years to figure significantly in this role particularly in conjunction with Centaine mares, many from Waikato Stud families, and not forgetting his daughter Sellou is the dam of the current NZ Broodmare of the Year Gussy Godiva.

Sadly there are no direct male line son's of Sound Reason to carry the line on and although the bred lost a wonderful opportunity to carry the female tail line on when St Covet, who had got off to such a promising start at stud, met with an early demise, maybe it's a mantle that the young group one winning Redoutes Choice stallion Nadeem can inherit, being a son of group one winning mare (It's) Candide.

While it's starting to get a little further back these days, the presence of Sound Reason blood in any pedigree is a big positive.

Karaka: predicting this years trends

I was looking at the Gold Coast averages today. They make interesting reading, probably slightly disturbing for some breeders, particularly those that have foals on the ground by Stratum, Exceed and Excel and Hussonet.

The Stratum reaction has been swift - we are not yet half way through the season. I recall an agent telling me in August last year how all the talk in Sydney and Melbourne was how impressive the Stratum youngsters were in their early education and gallops. How quickly things change in this game.

Even Redoutes, averaging just under $350k. This seasons foals are from a $330k odd service fee I think, so a nervous 12 months awaits breeders who used him that year.

Interested to see the Starcraft's selling well. He already has a nice two-year city winner along with two individual place getters from just four runners in Australia. I was impressed with a two-year-old by him at last weeks Paeroa trials. I wouldn't have picked him to sire early types.

So what are we in for at Karaka. Obviously the reaction to the Darci Brahmas will be very interesting. I wonder what the aussie buyers will make of them. Will they discount his progeny on account of Apache Cat out toughing him in the Guineas or will their love affair with sons of Danehill continue?

I'm interested in how the Savabeels sell. Things were looking up for the stallion after that stakeswiining two-year-old Australian filly won so well first up at 3 and that Rogerson filly took a competitive Breeders Stakes at Ruakaka but it's been hard work since. Things aren't helped when you lose your best colt in Warrentherooster. Tullamore and No Emotion finding there feet a bit earlier too would have helped.

Will buyers discount O'Reilly and Pin's on account of weight of numbers? I'm picking they will. It will be a good sale to pick up an O'Reilly filly for the broodmare paddock.

I haven't seen enough of the Fast n Famous and Perfectly Ready yearlings to be able to judge how they'll sell but I'm picking both will be popular but more so with the locals. When I saw PR run third in the Blue Diamond I thought him to be the most mature two-year-old I'd seen in the flesh so I'm interested in seeing how his stock have progressed from weanlings to yearlings. The son of More Than Ready Bennico seems to have been popular in Australia so I'm picking PR will be well received generally.

The first day of the Premier Sale could be a good time to strike as maybe a lot of buyers will want to sit back and evaluate the market. The Select catalogue seems stronger than recent years so it should be another interesting week.

The Derby Path

Yesterday's three-year-old 1600m race at Ellerslie hasn't changed my thoughts on the Derby greatly.

Thé winner doesn't strike me as a Derby horse. Physically he's come on in leaps and bounds in the last two months but he tends to get on the bit and overrace a little to get a distance at present. A nice family this, one that I've recommended a friend consider buying into at Karaka - although No Fear and his half sister Dutch Strikers form won't have helped us much in terms of her value.

Any horse that fetches 1 million plus as a yearling is obviously no Danny De Vito but Maciano is still going to some animal in 12 months time. He's a chance in the Derby - he'll get the trip on his ear - but he's just a tad immature for mine. Take a look at him around the face and body. The only thing he doesn't have is acne.

Corporal Jones stays near the top of my list. Gee he's a well bodied horse. Not as long as Excellent but he still has a lot of physical resemblence to great stayer. He's relaxed bugger, just what you need to work with going through to a Derby. While he didn't necessarily show the lick he had in his two wins, I still liked the way he got home yesterday, largely under his own steam. Remember the miles would have been going into those legs the last month.

Keyora looked like his trainer after a month on the Gold Coast so I wouldn't read too much into his performance. In saying that I would have liked him to settle better yesterday.

Our Heir Apparent will have benefitted from the run too. He is pretty one-paced though and unless he can find some speed from somewhere I struggle to see him competing with Corporal Jones and Zarzuela. They had the blinkers on yesterday so they must have been expecting something.

I was taken with the run of Roger James filly. She may have finished closer with a clearer passage and didn't lose a lot in comparison with Corporal Jones up the straight. Roger does a great job with staying types at this time of year and isn't afraid to go the Derby way with fillies - Sixty Seconds ran second or third I recall - so I'll be keeping an eye on her progress.

No Emotion would have finished closer with a clearer run too. He's a nice type, in fact the best bodied Savabeel I've yet seen.

I had a peek at the two-year-olds too. Remember this race has been the superior guide to the Million and while I didn't necessarily see any Corsage runs this year, a couple will be competitive on the big night. The winner is strengthening up all the time and will continue to improve. Mark Walker's other runner, the Spartacus gelding, was also a nice run. They tend to go very hard in the Million and some winners have come from well back on the turn - think Vincent Mangano and last year, if Corsage had got one final gap, she probably would have got up.

The Bachelor Duke was another nice run, a pity about the ride. I had a look at his pedigree last night. It's that wonderful speed family of Clever Zoe etc that Waikato Stud have developed so well. I don't think he'll make the field for the Million but he should win a nice race somewhere.