Incredibly its less than 60 sleeps till the first day of the Hawkes Bay Spring Carnival so its time we took a look at some horses who showed enough to be backed with confidence for 2011/12.
Kekova: Kekova was very consistent throughout her inaugural six start campaign, culminating in a competitive Te Rapa maiden win at her final start for the season. Typical of the progeny of her sire Elusive City, she handles most types of tracks and looks best suited between 1200 and 1400m. An attractive looking three-year-old filly with some length, if she has one confirmation fault it is a lack of length in her front cannons. With her ability to race on the speed and find plenty in a finish she should easily win a couple more races but has yet to show the turn of foot to win in Pattern company.
Aldebaran Star: Tall and rangy son of No Excuse Needed who despite his physical immaturity made good progress this season at three. Aldebaran Star is a half brother to Telegraph Handicap runner-up Tootsie but is physically a different type all together to his Pins sister, and judging by the way he finished off his 1400m assignments this season he looks ideally suited to a mile and with some furnishing, possibly further with time.Well placed by his connections - who include part owner, jockey Jonathan Riddell - the gutsy chestnut looks capable of taking a higher rating in the seasons ahead.
Beejay Belle: For such a natural two-year-old himself, some will question the progress Perfectly Ready's youngsters have made this season however the promise shown by this filly and the fact that a number of his 21 starters looked capable of physical improvement entitle him to some grace from breeders and yearling buyers.
The manner of Beejay Belle's win on debut, when under a ride 600m from home, initially cast a slight doubt on her genuineness but in hindsight it may well have deserved quite a contrary response and she was probably just lacking race fitness and racing on heart. Her next two starts produced fast finishing seconds, the later in the Matamata Breeders where she lost little in comparison to the winner Anabandana, while her final start for the season in the Sires at Awapuni is best ignored after getting back on a day when nothing made ground from off the speed and then striking interference in the straight. A filly who always hit the line hard indicating that 1600m should hold no fears next season.
Hold It Harvey: Tough and versatile southerner who seems to get better with time. Chased our best all over the country between a mile and 2000m from spring till autumn and although most of the usual suspects had gone to the paddock, his wins at his final two starts for the season in the Thompson and Awapuni Gold Cup were so comprehensive and accomplished with a tremendous turn of foot over the closing stages that the likes of Wall Street and Keep The Peace would had to have been at their peak to hold him out. This season's wfa ranks were not strong and with many of our outstanding crop of three-year-old fillies targeting Australia, the situation next season should not be any different, giving the King Cugat seven-year every chance to secure that elusive group one success.
Planet Rock: A $295,000 Karaka yearling, Planet Rock debuted at Trentham over 1000m in December, narrowly going under to another first starter in Super Easy, after laying out slightly in the closing stages. She then came north to chase a start in the Karaka Million and burst into clear favouritism for the rich race with an outstanding winning performance at Ellerslie in mid January, coming from well off the pace at the 300m to score effortlessly. She ran third in the Million itself, finishing just in front of Super Easy who had a much tougher run. Given that she was stepping up significantly in class and taking a line through Super Easy's finish, her run could on face value be seen as true to form but it's also highly conceivable that she had improved significantly with raceday experience from Trentham and that in fact the Ellerslie track on Million night, made shifty from afternoon showers, blunted her big finish. While extremely athletic, the tall daughter of Fastnet Rock still looked the type to improve a great deal physically from two to three and she looks the testing material for Anabandana next season between 1400 and 1600m.
Alvesta: An 800m scurry often conducted on a heavy track hardly sounds like much of a form guide, yet the two-year-old race on the Wanganui Guineas card has produced it's share of talent. Who will forget the 1994 edition when Our Maizcay beat a game Ballroom Babe with eight lengths to the third horse. Whether this years victor Alvesta is in their league is unlikely but his six length stroll to beat subsequent stakeswinner and group one placed Antonio Lombardo and Karaka Million winner Fort Lincoln, makes him a fair sort of horse. A season ending injury suffered two weeks later in Sydney when preparing for a stakes race meant he was not sighted again and although by a sire whose stock can have a tendency to not train on, he has a bit of length and leg about him to suggest he should at least measure up at three, although the distances of the Guineas races are likely to find him out.
Rockburn: Tall and slow maturing son of Thorn Park who debuted this season at four and immediately showed his class with a win on debut at Taupo, running the quickest time of the day of four 1200m events, including a R80 contest, before another success two starts later on a Premier Day at Awapuni. Takes a long slightly extravagant stride and understandably was not suited by the shifty Ellerslie track at his final start for the season after been galloped on at his penultimate start. Fits the profile of another patiently handled son of Thorn Park in Veyron, and conceivably he too could end up a chance in a group race at a mile.
So Divine: A fast finishing fourth on debut followed by an easy win over 1600m had the dogs barking but the company in hindsight was not strong. She then ran third to Starcheeka at Trentham over 1600m however her next start effort for third to the same horse in the Oaks Stud Classic was a significant upgrade in performance, with the increase to 2000m the key. Her effort to make-up considerable ground from the rear was arguably the standout performance on a high class card. She then travelled to Christchurch where she ran a close and luckless third in the Warstep, before going to the paddock. Missing the Oaks may have been a blessing as she was not overly furnished for such a tough assignment. Hunterville breeder Brian Lamp already has one of the sale ring bargains, stealing the sister to dual group one winner Monaco Consul for just $9000 and there should be plenty more upside to come.
Fleur De Lune: Another member of a vintage three-year-old filly crop; she quickly went through the classes with sharp acceleration late in the stretch a trademark of the three wins from her first four starts. An unlucky second to Veyron, beaten a head with four lengths to Gendarme, preceded a start in the Group One Breeders Stakes. Belying her 30-1 odds, the filly ran the gamest of thirds at Te Aroha, beaten a head and neck, with fellow three-year-old Smoulder second. She backed up a month later in a listed event over 1400m at Rotorua on a heavy track, only to be nabbed close to home by Dowager Queen who was in receipt of 9kg. Typical of the better Stravinsky's she is of medium height and length, but strongly made. While she ran the 1600m right out at Te Aroha it would not surprise to see her dropping back in distance and tackling races like the Railway and Telegraph next season.
Safari: A compact five-year-old sprinting son of the disappointing Jungle Pocket, whose local stock have tended to have more of a predisposition towards the middle distances. Still prone to a bout or two of greenness, which cost him at least a race this season, he still managed this season to take his record to three wins from seven starts and showed his ringcraft maybe improving by navigating through some tight quarters on his final start for the season to beat a very strong R70 field on Hawkes Bay Cup day.Will start the season on a low 68 rating but with his sharp turn of foot, you would expect him to move just as swiftly through the grades.
Booming: Its rare to see a staying horse, even a placegetter in an Auckland Cup, win over 1200m and on reflection the performance of Booming to win freshup over a handy field of R90 sprinters at Awapuni should have signalled that the big son of Don Eduardo was in for a somewhat extraordinary season. But even a win two starts later in the 2000m Zabeel Classic at 13-1 couldn't have prepared even his most ardent supporters for what was to occur next in the Thorndon Mile, when with 57kgs he quickened like a leading sprinter to charge through on the rails and take the group one handicap. Connections are apparently eyeing the Melbourne Cup and if he can continue with the level of improvement shown this season, they should do so with some optimism.
Pussy O'Reilly: The beautifully bred Pussy O'Reilly was limited to just two starts at two, finishing second on debut at Pukekohe in December, before returning in April to win a competitive contest at Te Rapa. A feature of both her starts was her last 200m, especially at Te Rapa where she seemed to have learnt from the race and trials experience and stretched out with a lovely pendulum like action over the closing stages. There were some promising types in the later event and it should prove a strong form race - one of the few to start again, the well beaten fourth place getter Under The Sun came out and won impressively at his next start. Typical of many O'Reilly's she did not look and race like a natural two-year-old. Octapussy, the mother of Pussy O'Reilly did not start as a two-year-old and finally achieved black type as a six-year-old, while her sire has only left one stakeswinning two-year-old filly - Shamrocker, successful in the 2010 Group Two VRC Sires Produce.
Narrowly missing the cut were, Letmeby, Cap Eden Roc, Phar Cry, Super Easy, Nuits St George, On The Level (again) and Kiwi Lady (how many three-year-old fillies can one have).
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Te Rapa: No Winter Wasteland
Surely one of the best initiatives in local racing since the millennium has been the renovation and sand slitting of the Te Rapa track.
Before the refurbishment it was a photo finish between Te Rapa and Trentham for the rights to the saying "the punters graveyard", but any claim to that tag has long since passed as now year round it provides punters and horses with arguably the fairest and most consistent surface in the country.
As a consequence the autumn, and even some of the winter form on the track can measure up anywhere and the form from last Saturday's meeting should prove no exception.
The No Excuse Needed colt Under The Sun won a competitive juvenile contest nicely enough and has the physical scope to improve further at three. He also joins a couple of other raceday winners with trials placings behind Pussy O'Reilly, further enhancing the reputation of that filly.
Under The Sun's sire tends to be a little underrated with his stakeswinners to runners a more than respectable 8%. Interestingly the Roger James trained colt is bred on a similar cross to Carlton House the favourite for next weekends English Derby - both are by sons of Machiavellian (Street Cry in Carlton House's case), with Carlton House being out of a Bustino mare and Under The Sun being from a Maroof mare, who himself was a son of a Bustino mare.
So Pristine may not have beaten an overly strong field but she never looked comfortable on the soft track at any stage - she was zero placings from three starts on soft prior to Saturday. She's had her quirk's in the past but with maturity the rising six-year-old mare can land a much stronger race than the Dunstan Stayers Final next season.
At no stage in the home straight bar the finishing line did Kekova look a winning hope in the Special Conditions Maiden 1400m. Subsequently it was reported that her jockey had dropped his whip 200m from the finish but in fairness to Mark Sweeney the three-year-old filly didn't look at home in the testing conditions but still showed a ton of courage over the closing stages to win narrowly. A long barrelled strongly made filly, not dissimilar in appearance and pluck to another Elusive City female in Hinemoa, connections have good reason to feel she may show similar improvement between three and four years.
It was a shame Safari and Captain Kirk were late scratchings at the barrier but the Rating 80 1400m should still prove to be one of the strongest form races for some months. While Geographer, who looks set to do his future racing in Hong Kong, won well, I felt the next three home lost little in comparison.
Pure Cruising was second-up after a long lay-off recovering from serious leg injuries so you could forgive a horse who won his last start before the break at 1600m (over Veyron and So Pristine to boot) to be a little dour second-up over 1400m. And that he was, although the soft track may have inconvenienced him, especially when getting balanced to make his final run at the 200m.
Pure Theatre the sire of Pure Cruising has an interesting background. Conceived in Kentucky, foaled at The Oaks in Cambridge and sold at Karaka for $850,000, a winner on debut defeating Distinctly Secret at Hastings before an Australian campaign that saw him win the Group Three Caulfield Guineas Prelude quite brilliantly followed by a third place finish to Lohnro and Ustinov in the Guineas itself.
I can clearly recall Pure Theatre at Karaka. He was the most magnificent of yearlings, not big but very athletic with a most attractive masculine head and a small white star. $850,000 was a lot of money at Karaka in those days and predictably all the good judges liked him with the early bidding action resembling the opening minutes on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Sadly the son of Nureyev never recaptured that race form and his record as a stallion, albeit that he would not have served a great quality of mare in Queensland, has been decidedly average and not befitting a horse of his type, pedigree and ability. Sound familiar?
It's hard to get too optimistic over day to day racing propositions but Pure Cruising looks capable of being competitive in pattern company at 1600m next season and handicap races such as the Coupland and Richhill Miles may not be completely out of the question.
Third-place-getter Phar Cry may have been inconvenienced by being in the worst of the chopped-up ground on the rail on Saturday. The finishing kick which highlighted her brief initial campaign last season has deserted her this time in and although she is up in class and has been ridden closer to the pace in her new campaign, she could just be getting slightly dour as some horses are prone to do as they mature.
Art Beat, who finished nicely for fourth was giving weight to all her conquerors and with her proven ability to handle wet tracks looks in for a profitable winter.
Horses to Follow: So Pristine and Phar Cry
Before the refurbishment it was a photo finish between Te Rapa and Trentham for the rights to the saying "the punters graveyard", but any claim to that tag has long since passed as now year round it provides punters and horses with arguably the fairest and most consistent surface in the country.
As a consequence the autumn, and even some of the winter form on the track can measure up anywhere and the form from last Saturday's meeting should prove no exception.
The No Excuse Needed colt Under The Sun won a competitive juvenile contest nicely enough and has the physical scope to improve further at three. He also joins a couple of other raceday winners with trials placings behind Pussy O'Reilly, further enhancing the reputation of that filly.
Under The Sun's sire tends to be a little underrated with his stakeswinners to runners a more than respectable 8%. Interestingly the Roger James trained colt is bred on a similar cross to Carlton House the favourite for next weekends English Derby - both are by sons of Machiavellian (Street Cry in Carlton House's case), with Carlton House being out of a Bustino mare and Under The Sun being from a Maroof mare, who himself was a son of a Bustino mare.
So Pristine may not have beaten an overly strong field but she never looked comfortable on the soft track at any stage - she was zero placings from three starts on soft prior to Saturday. She's had her quirk's in the past but with maturity the rising six-year-old mare can land a much stronger race than the Dunstan Stayers Final next season.
At no stage in the home straight bar the finishing line did Kekova look a winning hope in the Special Conditions Maiden 1400m. Subsequently it was reported that her jockey had dropped his whip 200m from the finish but in fairness to Mark Sweeney the three-year-old filly didn't look at home in the testing conditions but still showed a ton of courage over the closing stages to win narrowly. A long barrelled strongly made filly, not dissimilar in appearance and pluck to another Elusive City female in Hinemoa, connections have good reason to feel she may show similar improvement between three and four years.
It was a shame Safari and Captain Kirk were late scratchings at the barrier but the Rating 80 1400m should still prove to be one of the strongest form races for some months. While Geographer, who looks set to do his future racing in Hong Kong, won well, I felt the next three home lost little in comparison.
Pure Cruising was second-up after a long lay-off recovering from serious leg injuries so you could forgive a horse who won his last start before the break at 1600m (over Veyron and So Pristine to boot) to be a little dour second-up over 1400m. And that he was, although the soft track may have inconvenienced him, especially when getting balanced to make his final run at the 200m.
Pure Theatre the sire of Pure Cruising has an interesting background. Conceived in Kentucky, foaled at The Oaks in Cambridge and sold at Karaka for $850,000, a winner on debut defeating Distinctly Secret at Hastings before an Australian campaign that saw him win the Group Three Caulfield Guineas Prelude quite brilliantly followed by a third place finish to Lohnro and Ustinov in the Guineas itself.
I can clearly recall Pure Theatre at Karaka. He was the most magnificent of yearlings, not big but very athletic with a most attractive masculine head and a small white star. $850,000 was a lot of money at Karaka in those days and predictably all the good judges liked him with the early bidding action resembling the opening minutes on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Sadly the son of Nureyev never recaptured that race form and his record as a stallion, albeit that he would not have served a great quality of mare in Queensland, has been decidedly average and not befitting a horse of his type, pedigree and ability. Sound familiar?
It's hard to get too optimistic over day to day racing propositions but Pure Cruising looks capable of being competitive in pattern company at 1600m next season and handicap races such as the Coupland and Richhill Miles may not be completely out of the question.
Third-place-getter Phar Cry may have been inconvenienced by being in the worst of the chopped-up ground on the rail on Saturday. The finishing kick which highlighted her brief initial campaign last season has deserted her this time in and although she is up in class and has been ridden closer to the pace in her new campaign, she could just be getting slightly dour as some horses are prone to do as they mature.
Art Beat, who finished nicely for fourth was giving weight to all her conquerors and with her proven ability to handle wet tracks looks in for a profitable winter.
Horses to Follow: So Pristine and Phar Cry
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thorn Park: Recasting the Mould
After his first two crops supplied consecutive winners of the Matamata Breeders Stakes and a seperate Wellesley Stakes winner, Thorn Park's start at stud was promising enough, but the fact that all three of those Pattern wins came on surfaces between slow and heavy would have weighed heavily on breeders and yearling buyers especially when that trio could only manage one subsequent win - a rating 75 - between them.
Things looked up briefly last summer when La Etoile and Glamorous Girl took competitive group two contests on firm surfaces in the Rich Hill Mile and Desert Gold Stakes respectively and while both mares have failed to win again since, the Windsor Park stallion should have silenced many of his critics with an outstanding 2010/11 domestic season.
Significantly for those fairly questioning the stallions ability to leave horses who are just as competitive on top of the ground and can train on, all three of Thorn Park's group one winners this season have shown this capability and in bucketloads.
Jimmy Choux emerged from a competitive and even crop of two-year-olds last season to completely dominate his contemporaries on all surfaces this season; four-year-old mare The Party Stand worked her way through the middle distance staying ranks culminating in success in the Zabeel Classic on a good three track and although Veyron's group one win came on a heavy track, the five-year-old (Thorn Park's oldest crop) showed during his unbeaten seven win sequence that he was every bit as classy on fast surfaces - running some impressive overall times and sectionals.
Despite Jimmy Choux's form, Thorn Park was one of the more serious casualties of the extremely disappointing local market at this years Karaka Sale, however the son of Spinning World -obviously taking that snub personally - has since come out and shown he is far from a 'one trick' stallion, with new group one winners The Party Stand and Veyron complemented by the likes of the very promising listed winner Magic Briar. And Jimmy Choux's outstanding win in the Group One Rosehill Guineas, supported by Centennial Park's group one WFA form in Sydney this autumn should see his progeny under closer scrutiny from Australian buyers in future.
Thorn Park was reputed to have cost Windsor Park close to a million dollars when purchased just prior to his final racing campaign at the 2004 Brisbane Winter Carnival. Sure he didn't at that stage have the elusive group one victory on his record - that came with success in the Group One Stradbroke Handicap at his last career start - but it still seemed a very realistic price at the time for a multiple set weight group two winning Australian sprinter tracing to the Blue Hen mare Denise's Joy, and an excellent physical specimen to boot.
There's little doubt that being a son of stallion Spinning World would have discounted his purchase price. While the Champion son of Nureyev has been far from a failure at stud and has had fertility issues throughout his stallion career, he hasn't been the siring success his racetrack performance and pedigree suggested and notably his temperament quirks are well known and a number of his stock, especially the fillies, have reputations for being difficult to handle.
Plenty of kiwi breeders obviously didn't see these quirks of temperament as inherent, supporting the stallion with nearly 300 mares during his first two seasons at stud. And his mares didn't lack for quality either - the
stallion having a healthy 18 Karaka Premier Sale entries as a first-season sire in 2007.
When a prospective yearling buyer at this years Karaka Sales mentioned to me that he would not be inspecting any yearlings by Haradasun simply because he was a son of Fusiachi Pegasus, it struck me as rather short sighted. History has shown that a number of comparatively moderately performed stallions have left sons considerably superior to themselves in the breeding barn, locally Star Way (Star Appeal) and Pompeii Court (Tell) immediately come to mind, and the tremendous season being experienced by the Spinning World stallion Thorn Park is another example of how it pays to have few pre conceived ideas in this game.
Things looked up briefly last summer when La Etoile and Glamorous Girl took competitive group two contests on firm surfaces in the Rich Hill Mile and Desert Gold Stakes respectively and while both mares have failed to win again since, the Windsor Park stallion should have silenced many of his critics with an outstanding 2010/11 domestic season.
Significantly for those fairly questioning the stallions ability to leave horses who are just as competitive on top of the ground and can train on, all three of Thorn Park's group one winners this season have shown this capability and in bucketloads.
Jimmy Choux emerged from a competitive and even crop of two-year-olds last season to completely dominate his contemporaries on all surfaces this season; four-year-old mare The Party Stand worked her way through the middle distance staying ranks culminating in success in the Zabeel Classic on a good three track and although Veyron's group one win came on a heavy track, the five-year-old (Thorn Park's oldest crop) showed during his unbeaten seven win sequence that he was every bit as classy on fast surfaces - running some impressive overall times and sectionals.
Despite Jimmy Choux's form, Thorn Park was one of the more serious casualties of the extremely disappointing local market at this years Karaka Sale, however the son of Spinning World -obviously taking that snub personally - has since come out and shown he is far from a 'one trick' stallion, with new group one winners The Party Stand and Veyron complemented by the likes of the very promising listed winner Magic Briar. And Jimmy Choux's outstanding win in the Group One Rosehill Guineas, supported by Centennial Park's group one WFA form in Sydney this autumn should see his progeny under closer scrutiny from Australian buyers in future.
Thorn Park was reputed to have cost Windsor Park close to a million dollars when purchased just prior to his final racing campaign at the 2004 Brisbane Winter Carnival. Sure he didn't at that stage have the elusive group one victory on his record - that came with success in the Group One Stradbroke Handicap at his last career start - but it still seemed a very realistic price at the time for a multiple set weight group two winning Australian sprinter tracing to the Blue Hen mare Denise's Joy, and an excellent physical specimen to boot.
There's little doubt that being a son of stallion Spinning World would have discounted his purchase price. While the Champion son of Nureyev has been far from a failure at stud and has had fertility issues throughout his stallion career, he hasn't been the siring success his racetrack performance and pedigree suggested and notably his temperament quirks are well known and a number of his stock, especially the fillies, have reputations for being difficult to handle.
Plenty of kiwi breeders obviously didn't see these quirks of temperament as inherent, supporting the stallion with nearly 300 mares during his first two seasons at stud. And his mares didn't lack for quality either - the
stallion having a healthy 18 Karaka Premier Sale entries as a first-season sire in 2007.
When a prospective yearling buyer at this years Karaka Sales mentioned to me that he would not be inspecting any yearlings by Haradasun simply because he was a son of Fusiachi Pegasus, it struck me as rather short sighted. History has shown that a number of comparatively moderately performed stallions have left sons considerably superior to themselves in the breeding barn, locally Star Way (Star Appeal) and Pompeii Court (Tell) immediately come to mind, and the tremendous season being experienced by the Spinning World stallion Thorn Park is another example of how it pays to have few pre conceived ideas in this game.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Savabeel: Finding his Calling
There were high expectations for Savabeel when he retired to Waikato Stud in 2005. A Cox Plate winner and group one placed at two, the son of Zabeel was seen in many quarters as the much awaited heir apparent to his champion sire.
While the emergence of Lohnro over the last two years has spared Savabeel the pressure of carrying the mantle of the Zabeel lineage, Savabeel's own results make for an interesting analysis, particularly when considering where they now position him in our stallion market and how they evaluate alongside the careers of two other Zabeel sire sons in Reset and Don Eduardo.
Given his pedigree breeders were always going to be slightly more forgiving than usual, however with his oldest progeny about to turn four at the conclusion of the 2009/10 season and just a solitary group winner on his resume in the form of the filly My Emotion, Savabeel's future was under intense scrutiny from breeders faced with any number of alternative options. The 2010 Karaka Sale rather told the story, when on the back of a booming market buyers deserted his progeny, with only passings halting a more significant average drop from the 2009 Sale.
Things begun looking up in November last year when his three-year-old fillies Lady Kipling and Placement ran third in group one races on either side of the Tasman respectively, and his son Digital Fortress ran a close fourth in the VRC Derby. Since then the winners haven't stopped and interestingly they haven't been confined to his oldest four-year-old progeny either with more Pattern performances from his three-year-olds highlighted by Do Ri Ma's victory in a strong rendition of the Group Two Kewney, and locally via a most promising two-year-old Savabill who capped some good form with a win in the Listed Fairview Ford Slipper at Matamata.
However it's two three-year-olds who have had their share of problems, one mental, the other physical, who could be well take Savabeel's profile to a new level over the next couple of months - more than likely at the Queensland Winter Carnival. Kudakulari, a horse rated highly by the Bart Cummings stable from day one, returned from a spell after been gelded, to win the Listed Canberra Guineas last week and Scarlett Lady, who had an operation for a bone chip after running fourth in the Royal Stakes, showed her class and staying potential with a storming finish to beat a strong field fresh-up at Ellerslie on Saturday.
To date there doesn't look to be any discernible affinity to particular broodmare bloodlines bringing success Savabeel's way but what is becoming apparent is the tendency for the physical makeup of his better progeny to be stronger and more robust than is the norm for his stock. Throwing more to his dam sire Success Express than Zabeel, Savabeel has largely stamped his progeny, leaving an athletic but lighter boned type - particularly beneath the knee - and without the strength, particularly through the girth, gaskin and crop of many of the better Zabeel's.
The clues lie in the dam sires of five of his six stakes winners: My Emotion (Rory's Jester); Do Ra Mi (Snippets); Kudakulari (O'Reilly); Savabill (Desert Sun) and Warrentherooster (Pompei Court). On type these five all exhibit considerably more of their dam sire and although in O'Reilly's case, he can leave a range of types, from personal inspection Kudakulari throws to the rangier and stronger group.
Don Eduardo who was the first of the Zabeel trio to retire to stud in 2003 has a stakeswinner to named foals (233) ratio of 3.4%; Reset, to stud a year later, just 2.5% from named foals and Savabeel to stud in 2005, also 3.4% from 179 named foals. While it's hardly a percentage in the league of his own sire (9.1%) or Redoutes Choice (7.9%), it's a figure which has the potential to appreciate over the next 12 months through the likes of Scarlett Lady, Placement, Digital Fortress, Dowager Queen, Mother's Milk and co.
With one of the strongest shareholding registers seen in a NZ stallion and the support of Waikato Stud, Savabeel has always had a level of support most studmasters only dream of. Testimony to that support was last season where for the first time Sababeel served less than 120 mares but still posted a more than respectable 85 services at a time when the knives were well and truly being sharpened.
Assessment: As a son of Zabeel, early expectations at stud were probably ill founded despite his Pattern form as a juvenile, although interestingly his improving record at stud is not necessarily supported by the form of his four-year-olds - Savabeel's oldest crop. Has served far superior quality books of mares to contemporary Don Eduardo and even allowing for his recent results, it's extremely hard to see how he can be warrant triple the service fee of the Haunui stallion. Somewhat of a cliche but the next six months will tell the story. Best results require careful broodmare selection especially as to type.
While the emergence of Lohnro over the last two years has spared Savabeel the pressure of carrying the mantle of the Zabeel lineage, Savabeel's own results make for an interesting analysis, particularly when considering where they now position him in our stallion market and how they evaluate alongside the careers of two other Zabeel sire sons in Reset and Don Eduardo.
Given his pedigree breeders were always going to be slightly more forgiving than usual, however with his oldest progeny about to turn four at the conclusion of the 2009/10 season and just a solitary group winner on his resume in the form of the filly My Emotion, Savabeel's future was under intense scrutiny from breeders faced with any number of alternative options. The 2010 Karaka Sale rather told the story, when on the back of a booming market buyers deserted his progeny, with only passings halting a more significant average drop from the 2009 Sale.
Things begun looking up in November last year when his three-year-old fillies Lady Kipling and Placement ran third in group one races on either side of the Tasman respectively, and his son Digital Fortress ran a close fourth in the VRC Derby. Since then the winners haven't stopped and interestingly they haven't been confined to his oldest four-year-old progeny either with more Pattern performances from his three-year-olds highlighted by Do Ri Ma's victory in a strong rendition of the Group Two Kewney, and locally via a most promising two-year-old Savabill who capped some good form with a win in the Listed Fairview Ford Slipper at Matamata.
However it's two three-year-olds who have had their share of problems, one mental, the other physical, who could be well take Savabeel's profile to a new level over the next couple of months - more than likely at the Queensland Winter Carnival. Kudakulari, a horse rated highly by the Bart Cummings stable from day one, returned from a spell after been gelded, to win the Listed Canberra Guineas last week and Scarlett Lady, who had an operation for a bone chip after running fourth in the Royal Stakes, showed her class and staying potential with a storming finish to beat a strong field fresh-up at Ellerslie on Saturday.
To date there doesn't look to be any discernible affinity to particular broodmare bloodlines bringing success Savabeel's way but what is becoming apparent is the tendency for the physical makeup of his better progeny to be stronger and more robust than is the norm for his stock. Throwing more to his dam sire Success Express than Zabeel, Savabeel has largely stamped his progeny, leaving an athletic but lighter boned type - particularly beneath the knee - and without the strength, particularly through the girth, gaskin and crop of many of the better Zabeel's.
The clues lie in the dam sires of five of his six stakes winners: My Emotion (Rory's Jester); Do Ra Mi (Snippets); Kudakulari (O'Reilly); Savabill (Desert Sun) and Warrentherooster (Pompei Court). On type these five all exhibit considerably more of their dam sire and although in O'Reilly's case, he can leave a range of types, from personal inspection Kudakulari throws to the rangier and stronger group.
Don Eduardo who was the first of the Zabeel trio to retire to stud in 2003 has a stakeswinner to named foals (233) ratio of 3.4%; Reset, to stud a year later, just 2.5% from named foals and Savabeel to stud in 2005, also 3.4% from 179 named foals. While it's hardly a percentage in the league of his own sire (9.1%) or Redoutes Choice (7.9%), it's a figure which has the potential to appreciate over the next 12 months through the likes of Scarlett Lady, Placement, Digital Fortress, Dowager Queen, Mother's Milk and co.
With one of the strongest shareholding registers seen in a NZ stallion and the support of Waikato Stud, Savabeel has always had a level of support most studmasters only dream of. Testimony to that support was last season where for the first time Sababeel served less than 120 mares but still posted a more than respectable 85 services at a time when the knives were well and truly being sharpened.
Assessment: As a son of Zabeel, early expectations at stud were probably ill founded despite his Pattern form as a juvenile, although interestingly his improving record at stud is not necessarily supported by the form of his four-year-olds - Savabeel's oldest crop. Has served far superior quality books of mares to contemporary Don Eduardo and even allowing for his recent results, it's extremely hard to see how he can be warrant triple the service fee of the Haunui stallion. Somewhat of a cliche but the next six months will tell the story. Best results require careful broodmare selection especially as to type.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Breeder's Great Run
This time two year ago Angela Williams was hoping for two scratchings in the New Zealand Derby so Carchelo (No Excuse Needed - Bellesinga), a horse she bred with her father Tom, could get a start. They didn't eventuate but this year Angela will be represented in the classic with Nippin ( Pins - Wait a Minute), a horse she bred in partnership with Waikato Stud, capping a wonderful month for the Auckland based breeder - who only breeds from 3 or 4 mares each season - that started with Goodview Successor ( O'Reilly - Zalass) winning in Hong Kong on 15 February.
A winner over 1600m from just six career starts, the Zabeel mare Zalass's second dam is the former high class racemare and increasingly influential taproot mare Sanderae who has foundered something of a dynasty in recent years with the likes of Roman Emperor, Black Mamba and Rios all descendants of the Oncidium mare. Zalass is a half sister to Switch Hitter, dam of the promising Melbourne three-year-old Absolutelyawesome.
Goodview Successor who was Zalass's first foal, has a year younger unraced three-year -old No Excuse Needed half brother in work with the Saunders at Te Awamutu, a retained two-year-old O'Reilly full brother in training at Awapuni and a weanling Towkay half brother who Williams intends to have prepared for next years Ready to Run Sale. Zalass is in foal to Nom Du Jeu.
Racecaller Dave McDonald summed up the finish of the Listed Southland Guineas on 19 February perfectly when he implied that the winners name Champagne Needed (No Excuse Needed - Bellesinga) would be needed in rather large quantities, and quite quickly by connections of the 52 to 1 winner. As the colts breeder and well capable of joining in a good party, Williams may not have been trackside to share in the celebrations but she had a toast or two at home to just the second stakeswinner she has bred - the first was Larry's Never Late (Pentire-Labeel) who she bred with her father Tom.
A most attractive mare by Danasinga, Bellesinga, who was a winner over 1600m and 2000m in 15 starts, came from a family extremely light on black type and it was only her ability to transmit her looks into her progeny that saw her second foal - Champagne Needed's full brother Carchelo - accepted into the 2007 Karaka Select catalogue, where he sold purely on type for $95,000. More workman like than his prettier older brother, but still a very nice type, Champagne Needed only made the Festival Sale in 2009 where he sold to his present trainer Shane Kennedy and Michael Wallace Bloodstock for $27,000.
Unfortunately Bellesinga died last year when in foal to No Excuse Needed. Williams has retained her first foal, an O'Reilly mare who she will send to the court of the new Little Avondale Stud stallion Per Incanto later this year, and Bellesinga's last foal an unbroken Scardee Cat two-year-old filly is currently on the market for private sale.
The jewel in William's broodmare band is clearly the dual race winning Centaine mare Wait A Minute whom Angela bred and raced. A full sister to the group one winning filly Sixty Seconds and group winner Spottswoode, this is the family of the 2007 NZ Broodmare of the year River Century and her sister Arletty - grand dam of this weekends New Zealand Derby second favourite He's Remarkable.
Nippin, Wait A Minute's first live foal, was a $210,000 purchase by Alan Sharrock from the Waikato Stud draft at the 2009 Karaka Premier Sale. His year younger half sister by Savabeel, bred in partnership with Little Avondale Stud and passed in at last years Karaka Premier Sale is likely to be leased for a racing campaign before a broodmare career for Williams and her cousin Sam Williams (owner and studmaster at LA). Wait A Minute has a weanling Pins colt and is in foal to O'Reilly.
The fourth member of Williams broodmare band the O'Reilly mare Maggie O'Reilly was purchased from the Waikato Stud draft at the 2009 Karaka Broodmare Sale for $6,000 in foal to No Excuse Needed. Unraced at that stage, Maggie O'Reilly's first foal a filly by No Excuse Needed has since made a promising start to her racing career from John Bary's stable as No Excuse Maggie, registering a win and two seconds, one of which was to Derby contestant On The Level, from just 4 starts.
Canterbury's Berkley Stud may well have got somewhat of a bargain when they bought No Excuse Maggie's full brother from Williams at last years National Weanling Sale for $2,000 with a view to re-offering him at this years South Island Sale. Maggie O'Reilly, who is empty and did not have a foal last year, is due to visit Per Incanto this year.
While it maybe expecting too much from Nippin to win this weekends New Zealand Derby, Williams has savoured the last month, coming as she does from a family stepped in breeding tradition and well versed in the ups and downs of breeding thoroughbreds. Regardless of Saturdays result Williams small band of broodmares look well capable of bringing her a lot more enjoyment over the next few years.
A winner over 1600m from just six career starts, the Zabeel mare Zalass's second dam is the former high class racemare and increasingly influential taproot mare Sanderae who has foundered something of a dynasty in recent years with the likes of Roman Emperor, Black Mamba and Rios all descendants of the Oncidium mare. Zalass is a half sister to Switch Hitter, dam of the promising Melbourne three-year-old Absolutelyawesome.
Goodview Successor who was Zalass's first foal, has a year younger unraced three-year -old No Excuse Needed half brother in work with the Saunders at Te Awamutu, a retained two-year-old O'Reilly full brother in training at Awapuni and a weanling Towkay half brother who Williams intends to have prepared for next years Ready to Run Sale. Zalass is in foal to Nom Du Jeu.
Racecaller Dave McDonald summed up the finish of the Listed Southland Guineas on 19 February perfectly when he implied that the winners name Champagne Needed (No Excuse Needed - Bellesinga) would be needed in rather large quantities, and quite quickly by connections of the 52 to 1 winner. As the colts breeder and well capable of joining in a good party, Williams may not have been trackside to share in the celebrations but she had a toast or two at home to just the second stakeswinner she has bred - the first was Larry's Never Late (Pentire-Labeel) who she bred with her father Tom.
A most attractive mare by Danasinga, Bellesinga, who was a winner over 1600m and 2000m in 15 starts, came from a family extremely light on black type and it was only her ability to transmit her looks into her progeny that saw her second foal - Champagne Needed's full brother Carchelo - accepted into the 2007 Karaka Select catalogue, where he sold purely on type for $95,000. More workman like than his prettier older brother, but still a very nice type, Champagne Needed only made the Festival Sale in 2009 where he sold to his present trainer Shane Kennedy and Michael Wallace Bloodstock for $27,000.
Unfortunately Bellesinga died last year when in foal to No Excuse Needed. Williams has retained her first foal, an O'Reilly mare who she will send to the court of the new Little Avondale Stud stallion Per Incanto later this year, and Bellesinga's last foal an unbroken Scardee Cat two-year-old filly is currently on the market for private sale.
The jewel in William's broodmare band is clearly the dual race winning Centaine mare Wait A Minute whom Angela bred and raced. A full sister to the group one winning filly Sixty Seconds and group winner Spottswoode, this is the family of the 2007 NZ Broodmare of the year River Century and her sister Arletty - grand dam of this weekends New Zealand Derby second favourite He's Remarkable.
Nippin, Wait A Minute's first live foal, was a $210,000 purchase by Alan Sharrock from the Waikato Stud draft at the 2009 Karaka Premier Sale. His year younger half sister by Savabeel, bred in partnership with Little Avondale Stud and passed in at last years Karaka Premier Sale is likely to be leased for a racing campaign before a broodmare career for Williams and her cousin Sam Williams (owner and studmaster at LA). Wait A Minute has a weanling Pins colt and is in foal to O'Reilly.
The fourth member of Williams broodmare band the O'Reilly mare Maggie O'Reilly was purchased from the Waikato Stud draft at the 2009 Karaka Broodmare Sale for $6,000 in foal to No Excuse Needed. Unraced at that stage, Maggie O'Reilly's first foal a filly by No Excuse Needed has since made a promising start to her racing career from John Bary's stable as No Excuse Maggie, registering a win and two seconds, one of which was to Derby contestant On The Level, from just 4 starts.
Canterbury's Berkley Stud may well have got somewhat of a bargain when they bought No Excuse Maggie's full brother from Williams at last years National Weanling Sale for $2,000 with a view to re-offering him at this years South Island Sale. Maggie O'Reilly, who is empty and did not have a foal last year, is due to visit Per Incanto this year.
While it maybe expecting too much from Nippin to win this weekends New Zealand Derby, Williams has savoured the last month, coming as she does from a family stepped in breeding tradition and well versed in the ups and downs of breeding thoroughbreds. Regardless of Saturdays result Williams small band of broodmares look well capable of bringing her a lot more enjoyment over the next few years.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Karaka Observations
While the overall results can't disguise the sorry state of our domestic racing industry, at least Karaka 2011 showed that one's desire to find the next champion of the turf still burns as brightly as ever in Australia and some nations further afield despite the worldwide affliction of the largest global financial crisis since the Great Depression. Whichever way you look at it, racing horses is as bigger luxury item as you will find anywhere, yet Karaka held up remarkably well.
Some other thoughts:
- Maybe it's about time we reviewed our liking for jokes and jibes about our neighbours. At times Karaka resembled the mounting yard at Caulfield and about the only Australian's seemingly missing in the bar were Shane Warne and Paul Hogan, but just as they ve been a saviour in Christchurch, many local breeders will have felt the same way about their Karaka presence.
- How well would the High Chaparral's have sold if he had served a better quality of mare in 2008. Without the HC factor, a number of his yearlings were of Select Sale quality based on the mare, and some marginal at that, but he still finished fifth in the Premier averages.
- The only real offering of Sadlers Wells blood, outside of HC, came from five Gallant Guru yearlings who averaged a more than respectable $30,000. Especially if Montjeu's sire sons Authorised and Motivator can kick on from their promising starts at stud in the U.K, the debut next year by Nom Du Jeu could be very fruitful for those breeders who patronised the Fairdale stallion at his $6,000 service fee.
- The handful of yearlings by Dylan Thomas impressed with their lovely balance and good walks. Despite the stallion's staying profile he has met with pretty good acceptance worldwide to date and it will be fascinating to see how his progeny develop over the next couple of years. Can the son of Danehill follow Danehill Dancer and Invincible Spirit as successful sires from the Danzig/Sharpen Up cross.
- Not unexpectedly Darci Brahma suffered a little from the traditional second-season sire blues. The stallion himself only made his racetrack debut on the opening day of the 2004 Sale and from a Zabeel mare who never raced at two, the market may have expected a little too much of his progeny, however the post Sale performances of Chateauneuf Dupape and Rescue Mission will have heartened many breeders who have invested so heavily in the son of Danehill.
- While the spend by the HKJC was up considerably on last year, the expected Asian influence, especially from Hong Kong and Singapore didn't eventuate. I suspect that it may have something to do with the record of NZ breds this season in both jurisdictions, particularly the former where we haven't been as dominant as recent seasons on account of better performances from high profile Australian stallions such as Encosta De Lago and Fastnet Rock and a European influence which is becoming much more noticeable especially in the more tightly assessed races.
- The Select Sale is now a very strong sale in it's own right and should continue to be promoted strongly however the Festival Sale is no longer viable "tacked onto" the other two sales and a better fit now would seem to be around Auckland Cup time or even slightly later in the autumn.
- With father time conspiring against Zabeel and to a lesser degree Pentire, our industry needs to ensure that the momentum generated by the increased Australian demand for staying bred yearlings can continue to be capitalised on and this can only be achieved by upgrading our stallion ranks with the types of horses that our industry has become re-known for. The debuts next year by Nom Du Jeu and Sir Percy will sustain some of that appetite but continual replenishment is needed as the market place is a very harsh marker even for slower maturing staying types and some of our current crop of younger staying profiled stallions have all but exhausted their appeal to the Australian market.
- Courtesy of a spectacular run of winners leading up to Xmas and then over the New Year period, Savabeel emerged from the Select Sale as the only stallion to improve his average from 2010 ( $30,000 compared to $27,923).
I didn't spend a lot of time at Karaka this year so my viewing of horses on the sale complex was limited however I was lucky enough to get to a trainers and agents parade of the Central District studs over Xmas. Although severley handicapped by a stone bruise at that stage, Wellfield's Zabeel - Cold Shoulder filly could still just about out walk Robert Korzeniowski, reminding me a lot of her three-quarter brother Efficient.
Some other thoughts:
- Maybe it's about time we reviewed our liking for jokes and jibes about our neighbours. At times Karaka resembled the mounting yard at Caulfield and about the only Australian's seemingly missing in the bar were Shane Warne and Paul Hogan, but just as they ve been a saviour in Christchurch, many local breeders will have felt the same way about their Karaka presence.
- How well would the High Chaparral's have sold if he had served a better quality of mare in 2008. Without the HC factor, a number of his yearlings were of Select Sale quality based on the mare, and some marginal at that, but he still finished fifth in the Premier averages.
- The only real offering of Sadlers Wells blood, outside of HC, came from five Gallant Guru yearlings who averaged a more than respectable $30,000. Especially if Montjeu's sire sons Authorised and Motivator can kick on from their promising starts at stud in the U.K, the debut next year by Nom Du Jeu could be very fruitful for those breeders who patronised the Fairdale stallion at his $6,000 service fee.
- The handful of yearlings by Dylan Thomas impressed with their lovely balance and good walks. Despite the stallion's staying profile he has met with pretty good acceptance worldwide to date and it will be fascinating to see how his progeny develop over the next couple of years. Can the son of Danehill follow Danehill Dancer and Invincible Spirit as successful sires from the Danzig/Sharpen Up cross.
- Not unexpectedly Darci Brahma suffered a little from the traditional second-season sire blues. The stallion himself only made his racetrack debut on the opening day of the 2004 Sale and from a Zabeel mare who never raced at two, the market may have expected a little too much of his progeny, however the post Sale performances of Chateauneuf Dupape and Rescue Mission will have heartened many breeders who have invested so heavily in the son of Danehill.
- While the spend by the HKJC was up considerably on last year, the expected Asian influence, especially from Hong Kong and Singapore didn't eventuate. I suspect that it may have something to do with the record of NZ breds this season in both jurisdictions, particularly the former where we haven't been as dominant as recent seasons on account of better performances from high profile Australian stallions such as Encosta De Lago and Fastnet Rock and a European influence which is becoming much more noticeable especially in the more tightly assessed races.
- The Select Sale is now a very strong sale in it's own right and should continue to be promoted strongly however the Festival Sale is no longer viable "tacked onto" the other two sales and a better fit now would seem to be around Auckland Cup time or even slightly later in the autumn.
- With father time conspiring against Zabeel and to a lesser degree Pentire, our industry needs to ensure that the momentum generated by the increased Australian demand for staying bred yearlings can continue to be capitalised on and this can only be achieved by upgrading our stallion ranks with the types of horses that our industry has become re-known for. The debuts next year by Nom Du Jeu and Sir Percy will sustain some of that appetite but continual replenishment is needed as the market place is a very harsh marker even for slower maturing staying types and some of our current crop of younger staying profiled stallions have all but exhausted their appeal to the Australian market.
- Courtesy of a spectacular run of winners leading up to Xmas and then over the New Year period, Savabeel emerged from the Select Sale as the only stallion to improve his average from 2010 ( $30,000 compared to $27,923).
I didn't spend a lot of time at Karaka this year so my viewing of horses on the sale complex was limited however I was lucky enough to get to a trainers and agents parade of the Central District studs over Xmas. Although severley handicapped by a stone bruise at that stage, Wellfield's Zabeel - Cold Shoulder filly could still just about out walk Robert Korzeniowski, reminding me a lot of her three-quarter brother Efficient.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Avondale Guineas: Jimmy to Sleep Well
The difficult 2100m start at Ellerslie combined with the rail being out 10 metres and a number of the higher rated runners drawing wide barriers had led me to suspect that yesterdays Group 2 Avondale Guineas wouldn't be the guide it so often is to the New Zealand Derby in a fortnights time.
Even allowing for those vagaries to be used as excuses, what transpired will have left a number of punters with more questions than answers as they mull over the Derby form.
By rights the genuine tempo set by Starcheeka - who dropped out to run a long last - should have assisted those who settled back in the race however the nature of the running rail out so far in a fifteen horse field meant that those who choose to come through the inside or even the centre of the track were going to need the best of navigation and more than a little bit of luck. Favourites Banchee and He's Remarkable chose the shorter route home and suffered interference although it s arguable that the later was doing enough before his line was taken with about 1500m to go.
However the win of Icepin was thoroughly deserving as he did plenty of work early in the race to get handy and kicked very strongly when they straigthened, in stark contrast to his fellow on pace colleagues who were going back through the field faster than a Helen Clarke motorcade.
Second place-getter On The Level settled much more kindly than he did at Te Rapa - which was his first time beyond 1600m - and lost little in comparison to the winner with his late finishing effort down the outside. Of the rest third place-getter Sierra Nevada and fifth placed O'Reilly's Prize, at his first run right handed, ran on solidly.
If you thought that trainers have it easy preparing a horse for a Derby in March now instead of Boxing Day then you needed to have been taking an interest in the parades of the lead up races. Some horses who looked like catwalk models around Xmas time had that slightly washed out coat look yesterday highlighting how much of a tightrope trainers often have to walk targeting a major race with a young horse.
It's a shame when we have got to a stage where a race with as much history as the Avondale Guineas is dictated by the need to preserve a racetrack for a major carnival. In saying that the turn up in form from yesterdays final Derby lead up probably owes as much to the wonderful uncertainty of a horses physical and mental maturity as it does to the nature of the race conditions although it's doubtful Jimmy Choux will be having any sleepless nights before Saturday March 6.
Even allowing for those vagaries to be used as excuses, what transpired will have left a number of punters with more questions than answers as they mull over the Derby form.
By rights the genuine tempo set by Starcheeka - who dropped out to run a long last - should have assisted those who settled back in the race however the nature of the running rail out so far in a fifteen horse field meant that those who choose to come through the inside or even the centre of the track were going to need the best of navigation and more than a little bit of luck. Favourites Banchee and He's Remarkable chose the shorter route home and suffered interference although it s arguable that the later was doing enough before his line was taken with about 1500m to go.
However the win of Icepin was thoroughly deserving as he did plenty of work early in the race to get handy and kicked very strongly when they straigthened, in stark contrast to his fellow on pace colleagues who were going back through the field faster than a Helen Clarke motorcade.
Second place-getter On The Level settled much more kindly than he did at Te Rapa - which was his first time beyond 1600m - and lost little in comparison to the winner with his late finishing effort down the outside. Of the rest third place-getter Sierra Nevada and fifth placed O'Reilly's Prize, at his first run right handed, ran on solidly.
If you thought that trainers have it easy preparing a horse for a Derby in March now instead of Boxing Day then you needed to have been taking an interest in the parades of the lead up races. Some horses who looked like catwalk models around Xmas time had that slightly washed out coat look yesterday highlighting how much of a tightrope trainers often have to walk targeting a major race with a young horse.
It's a shame when we have got to a stage where a race with as much history as the Avondale Guineas is dictated by the need to preserve a racetrack for a major carnival. In saying that the turn up in form from yesterdays final Derby lead up probably owes as much to the wonderful uncertainty of a horses physical and mental maturity as it does to the nature of the race conditions although it's doubtful Jimmy Choux will be having any sleepless nights before Saturday March 6.
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