Danehill | Horse Racing Free Tips

Noughts and Crosses Behind a Dream Mare

Now I do realise that I am in a minority of one here. But while everyone else seems to perceive some unique alchemy between Galileo (Ire) and Danehill, to me the number of good horses obtained by that cross is pretty much as you should expect when one breed-shaping stallion is mated with the daughters of another. After all, their dams will in turn have been well-bred and/or accomplished runners, simply to have gained access to an elite sire. If we call this “selective breeding”, we are surely flattering ourselves.

That said, it’s easy to acknowledge an elementary logic in combining the trademark influences of their respective sires; in reuniting the crucial division of Northern Dancer’s legacy between Sadler’s Wells stamina and Danzig speed. Seeking the best of both worlds, speed that can be carried Classic distances, is the simplest grail of all. It seldom works out, mind you, and hardly ever to the epoch-making degree we saw in Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), the ultimate template for the cross.

Regardless, there’s no arguing with the dividends achieved by John Magnier and his partners in Coolmore, who found themselves with paddocks full of Danehill mares just as Galileo was on the rise. And the model was eagerly adopted elsewhere.

The cross was back in focus last Saturday, after Ballydoyle’s historic GI FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile clean sweep. The winner, to general astonishment, was Order Of Australia (Ire)–by Galileo’s son Australia (GB) out of a mare from the very last crop of Danehill. And runner-up Circus Maximus (Ire) is by Galileo himself out of a Danehill Dancer (Ire) mare. Third (and fastest) to finish, Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), represented a different sire-line but completed a distaff trifecta for Danehill and his daughters, as a son of Lope De Vega (Ire) out of a Dansili (GB) mare.

All three, unusually for Ballydoyle, were the work of breeders other than Coolmore, entering the stable either through partnership or auction purchase. Lope Y Fernandez, bred by SF Bloodstock, was recruited as a €900,000 Arqana August yearling; while Circus Maximus (Ire) was bred by co-owners Flaxman Stables. But the winner himself attested to the mastery of his supervision in a fashion still more instructive, perhaps, than this unprecedented Breeders’ Cup 1-2-3.

For Order Of Australia is a half-brother to Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler Of The World), who won her fourth elite prize in the GI Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last year. And both were bred by Aidan O’Brien and his wife Annemarie, herself a remarkable horsewoman, from a mare that cost just 14,000gns. (In the case of Iridessa, of course, their accomplishments extended to having also bred and raised the trainer, their son Joseph.)

Senta’s Dream (GB) was presumably added to the O’Briens’ Whisperview Trading broodmare band primarily because, as just noted, she belonged to that final crop of Danehill. (Along with the likes of Peeping Fawn, Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) and Duke Of Marmalade (Ire)… Gosh, the champ really was still in his pomp!)

While necessarily only part-time breeders, horse people as devoted and inspired as the O’Briens could never treat Whisperview as a mere pastime. With their access to so many different stallions “made” by Aidan, their customary professionalism has duly reaped many dividends besides Senta’s Dream. With Annemarie’s late father, the hugely respected Joe Crowley, the O’Briens co-bred Danehill’s record-breaking son Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire); and have since produced such Group 1 winners as Kingbarns (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Beethoven (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) and the Fastnet Rock (Aus) pair Intricately (Ire) and Qualify (Ire). But the way they have realised the potential latent in Senta’s Dream represents a new peak.

The Breeders’ Cup is in the mare’s blood, as she is one of just two foals–and the only daughter–delivered by Starine (Fr) (Mendocino), who preceded Iridessa on the Filly and Mare Turf roll of honour by 17 years. Starine, however, had such a plain pedigree that Bobby Frankel was unable to find an owner when he imported her from France, and ended up racing her in the silks of one R.J. Frankel. He had the last laugh, cashing her in for $1 million to Newsells Park Stud at the Keeneland November Sale straight after the Breeders’ Cup.

Starine was all that salvaged her sire from oblivion. A son of Theatrical (Ire), Mendocino did win a small stakes race in France for owner-breeder Allen Paulson but his eligibility for stud presumably rested on the fact that his dam was by Caro (Ire) out of a half-sister to Exclusive Native. As a result, the mating that produced Starine did yield one conspicuous feature in a 3×3 presence for Caro, whose son Kaldoun (Fr) had sired her dam. But by the time Starine won at Arlington Park, her sire had mustered 61 foals across eight crops and just half a dozen other winners. Nor was there the least distinction in the past two or three generations of Starine’s maternal family.

Yet by the time the yearling Senta’s Dream was sent to Deauville in August, the death of both her illustrious parents had made her appear worth retaining at €300,000. After failing to make the track, however, her first foals made little impact either in the ring or at the races and she was culled as a 9-year-old for 14,000gns, the docket signed by BBA Ireland, at the Tattersalls December Sale of 2013.

Her new owners were quick to turn around her fortunes. Even the Equiano (Fr) filly she was carrying at the time was processed as a yearling for €92,000. (Now six, Tisa River (Ire) resurfaces as lot 1680 in the forthcoming Tattersalls December Sale.) And while Senta’s Dream appears to have missed the following year, her 2015 assignment with Ruler Of The World would give that luckless stallion–who suffered an untimely injury during his first covering season–the outstanding achievement to date, in Iridessa, of a career he is now pursuing in France.

Her next foal was Order Of Australia. He has clearly been well regarded all along, tried in the G1 Irish Derby and G1 Prix du Jockey Club when still a maiden. But the inspiration that he was not getting home, and should be dropped to a turning mile, would have eluded most of us after subsequent wins at 10 and 12 furlongs.

He was given his debut at the backend, remember, over a mile in heavy ground at Naas. But he travelled with high energy in a very different environment last Saturday and, while plainly well served by a jockey in electric form, looks absolutely entitled to consolidate his reinvention next year.

This feels like a key moment in the career of his young sire, whose Group 1 breakthrough had come just a few weeks previously when Galileo Chrome (Ire)–himself out of a Dansili mare–met the gruelling demands of the G1 St Leger. That Australia should impart that kind of stamina was unsurprising, as a Derby winner famously by a Derby winner out of Oaks winner Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross) (Ire); and, indeed, his only previous crop had produced the Leger runner-up in Sir Ron Priestley (GB).

But let’s not forget that Australia was beaten under a length by Night Of Thunder (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the G1 2000 Guineas. Or that he outpaced The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) over 10 furlongs on fast ground in the G1 Juddmonte International. As a 2-year-old, moreover, he had thrashed subsequent Group 1 winner Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) by six lengths at Leopardstown.

Sure enough, two of Australia’s first juveniles were denied Group 1 prizes only by a neck apiece: Broome (Ire) in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, and Sydney Opera House (Ire) in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. The latter race obviously represents an extreme test for a youngster, but at least Australia was quickly proving that he could produce an eligible Classic type at an accessible fee. Broome, indeed, failed by just half a length to emulate his sire and grandsire at Epsom, having taken the Ballysax-Derrinstown route often reserved at Ballydoyle for the “anointed” colt of the crop.

With the maturing of his stock, Australia has advanced annually within his intake: fourth in the prizemoney table with his first juveniles; third last year; and looking booked for second this time round, with a class-high five Group 1 performers, plus a tally of seven Group winners shared only by Kingman.

Despite having managed more or less to “lie up” with Kingman and No Nay Never–whose precocious achievements have sent their fees through the roof–Australia had been eased from an opening €50,000 to €27,500 for 2020. As such, especially in the current environment, a fee of €25,000 for 2021 represents a pretty solid “hold”.

Whatever the future holds for Australia, the fact is that Senta’s Dream has consecutively given two stallions their outstanding achiever to date. So perhaps the most exciting aspect of her story is the stunning debut of her latest juvenile, whose sire Camelot (GB) had been getting on very nicely without her. Santa Barbara (Ire), again registered in the regular Coolmore surnames plus Mrs. A.M. O’Brien, looked some prospect when outclassing 17 maidens at The Curragh in September.

No Galileo over Danehill here, obviously, with Camelot representing the Montjeu (Ire) branch of the Sadler’s Wells hegemony. (Actually Camelot instead introduces extra Danehill, as sire of his second dam.) Sometimes it really does seem as though we’re all simply seeking a proxy for Sadler’s Wells-Danzig. In the case of Australia himself, for instance, Galileo combines with the alternative route to Danzig, Ouija Board being by a son of Green Desert.

And the thing is that stretching a nick this far dismisses, for no intelligible reason, a ton of other good stuff in the vicinity. In the case of Santa Barbara, for instance, a lot of “Special” stuff. Camelot’s damsire Kingmambo was out of Nureyev’s peerless daughter Miesque; Mendocino was by Nureyev’s son Theatrical; and Nureyev’s mother Special also produced the dam of Sadler’s Wells.

Before her acquisition by the O’Briens, Senta’s Dream was tried with a son of Sadler’s Wells, High Chaparral (Ire), and a son of Montjeu, Motivator (GB), with dismal results. The simpler the breeding “formula”, the more it resembles a “system”, the more wary we should be. The only rule is that there are no rules. (Think Mendocino.)

In planning matings, I feel we should really only seek balance, in terms of type; and depth, in terms of pedigree. When people talk about nicks between entire sire-lines, often branded by patriarchs who have meanwhile receded into a third or fourth generation, I never understand why they feel able to discard so many other genetic strands with an equal footprint.

True, a wider reading of this cross soon takes us to the same kind of place anyway. Galileo and Danehill are both grandsons of Northern Dancer but Danehill brings that extra shot of Natalma into the equation, Northern Dancer’s dam also being granddam of Danehill’s mother Razyana. And Razyana is out of Buckpasser mare, just like Galileo’s damsire Miswaki.

In fact, if you think about it, there’s an awful lot of broodmare power behind this cross: a lot of stallions whose dams also produced other top-class horses. Danehill’s damsire His Majesty, for instance, was a sibling to Graustark and Bowl Of Flowers; Urban Sea gave us Sea The Stars as well as Galileo; and Sadler’s Wells, as just noted, was out of Nureyev’s half-sister.

In the end, we’re all trying to get to the middle of the same maze. You can use electric shears, if you like; or navigate from the stars. There are always umpteen factors in play. But perhaps none is more important than how a horse is raised, broken and trained. And, in the case of Senta’s Dream, to that extent you’re talking about a daily accretion of genius.

The post Noughts and Crosses Behind a Dream Mare appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Taking Stock: Sires and Racing Environments

The advent of Twitter over the last decade or so has made racing results quickly accessible to fans and observers anywhere in the world, so much so that it seems that a greater number of people in the U.S. are more familiar with European racing than ever before. Back when I was a kid, we’d have to wait for the Blood-Horse magazine to arrive in the mail to scan the 10-day old European results in the agate type in the back pages. Now, we get a video of a race on Twitter minutes after the finish, and you’ve got quite a few people on the platform discussing those races with as much passion and knowledge as they do racing here. Moreover, these European visuals have exposed more Americans to the glaring differences in racing environments between here and there.

To begin with, the top European races are contested on turf instead of dirt. And more importantly, there’s a greater variation in distances, courses, and racing styles over there, as the videos of the one-mile G1 Sussex S. on Wednesday from the U.K. and the two-mile G1 Goodwood Cup a day earlier from the same venue pointedly illustrated. There are no Grade l races in this country at two miles, and neither are there Grade l races at five furlongs here as there are in Europe, where 12 furlongs is considered a “middle distance” and the cadence of races is markedly slower earlier, no matter the distances–which are clearly delineated at sprints at five and six furlongs, mile events, 10-13 furlong races, and extreme staying events at a mile and three-quarters up to two-and-a-half miles.

In contrast, almost all top races here seem to hover within a narrow band of seven-to-nine furlongs over dirt ovals and are contested frenetically from the start. Also, 12-furlong horses here are considered “stayers” or “plodders,” and though we do have a graded turf program that caters to horses over 10-12 furlongs, many of whom are ex-European imports, the winners of those races are rarely sought after as stallion prospects like our nine-furlong dirt runners and 10-furlong Gl Kentucky Derby winners.

Epsom Derbys

This disconnect between the racing environments of the U.S. and Europe has been particularly pronounced since 2000, though the trend was evident in the 1990s, and it’s directly related to the types of stallions that find favor here versus there. Since North American-based Northern Dancer exploded in Europe with Nijinsky in 1970, Europeans, particularly Coolmore, have collected his sons, and Coolmore hit the mother lode with the 1984 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Sadler’s Wells, whose sons Galileo (Ire), a G1 Epsom Derby and Irish Derby winner, and Montjeu (Ire), winner of the G1 Irish Derby and Prix du Jockey-Club (French Derby) back when it was still run over a mile and a half, have dominated European Classics during the same time frame that N. American-bred influence was waning in Europe.

In fact, it may come as a surprise to some on Twitter who ardently follow European racing nowadays–many of whom I’d hazard a guess are younger than 50–that N. American-breds at one time ran roughshod over some of Europe’s greatest races, including the Epsom Derby. During the 1970s, for example, Nijinsky (Northern Dancer), Mill Reef (Never Bend), Roberto (Hail to Reason), Empery (Vaguely Noble {Ire}), and The Minstrel (Northern Dancer) won the prestigious mile-and-a-half Classic, followed in the 1980s by Henbit (Hawaii {SAf}), Golden Fleece (Nijinsky), Teenoso (Youth), Secreto (Northern Dancer), Shahrastani (Nijinsky), and Nashwan (Blushing Groom {Fr}). Things slowed a bit in the 1990s, with Erhaab (Chief’s Crown), Lammtarra (Nijinsky), and Benny the Dip (Silver Hawk), and by the aughts the Americans were limited to just Kris Kin (Kris S.), who won the Blue Riband in 2003. Since then, Galileo and Montjeu have between them accounted for nine European-bred winners of the race, while their sons New Approach (Ire) (Galileo) and Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu) have sired two others.

Northern Dancer’s son Danzig also established a foothold in Europe that remains strong through today. North Light (Ire), the winner of the Epsom Derby the year after Kris Kin, was by Danehill, an outstanding and influential son of Danzig; and two other winners since then, Sea the Stars (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB), were by Cape Cross (Ire), a son of the Danzig sprinter Green Desert; and Sea the Stars sired Harzand (Ire), giving the Danzig line four winners of the Classic since 2003. Though Danzig’s European presence is primarily based around milers and sprinters to Sadler’s Wells’s main influence in the mile-and-a-half races, you’ll note that Cape Cross and Sea the Stars have made this branch of Danzig into players at European middle distances, and Sea the Stars has even ventured farther into extreme-stamina territory.

In total since the last U.S.-bred winner of the Epsom Derby in 2003, the Northern Dancer line through Sadler’s Wells and Danzig has accounted for 15 of the 17 winners, with only Sir Percy (GB) (Mark of Esteem {Ire}, who traces to Mill Reef) and Workforce (GB) (King’s Best, a son of the Mr. Prospector horse Kingmambo) breaking up the monopoly.

Of course, there are many other branches of Northern Dancer that have had success through the decades and are still successful in Europe, but Sadler’s Wells and Danzig are the stars, and they’ve combined successfully in pedigrees, back and forth, to keep the Northern Dancer locomotive hurtling forwards. Frankel (GB) (Galileo), the top young sire in Europe and his 22-year-old sire’s heir apparent, is from a Danehill mare and is a product of the Sadler’s Wells/Danzig cross.

The pedigree of this year’s Irish Derby winner Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), who was third in the Goodwood Cup on Tuesday, employs this same cross, but with even more doses of Northern Dancer: his sire is by Montjeu and his dam’s sire is Cape Cross, which is Sadler’s Wells/Danzig, but in between and around them in his first five generations are the top Northern Dancer sires Lyphard and Nureyev, along with another dose of Danzig, making Santiago 4x5x5x5x5 to Northern Dancer and 4×4 to Danzig. There’s no question European pedigrees are getting saturated with Northern Dancer blood, but so far with little ill effect.

Stradivarius (Ire), who won the Goodwood Cup for the fourth consecutive year and is the premier stayer in Europe in races up to two-and-a-half miles, is by Sea the Stars, who happens to be a half-brother to Galileo, and is inbred 5x4x5 to Northern Dancer through Danzig, Sadler’s Wells, and Lyphard. Stradivarius’s pedigree illustrates how a branch of the Danzig line evolved gradually from speed to stamina through the generations in the sequence of Green Desert to Cape Cross to Sea the Stars, and it did so only because the racing environment in Europe allowed it the opportunity. This isn’t an option in America, where to succeed as a sire requires consistent high-class speed in the seven-to-nine-furlong Grade l dirt races, with occasional strikes in the Classics at up to a mile and three-sixteenths, a mile and a quarter, and a mile and a half.

Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), the winner of the one-mile Sussex S. on Wednesday, is also a member of the Green Desert branch of Danzig as Stradivarius is, but his sire is by Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert), who tends to get more sprinter-milers and stays truer to the ethos of Danzig.

The Sussex was notable for another reason, too. In the beaten field were two American-bred Classic winners this year. Third-place finisher Siskin (First Defence), undefeated in five starts entering the race, won the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, and Kameko (Kitten’s Joy), fourth, had won the G1 2000 Guineas. The duo were the first American-bred European Classic winners since Senga (Blame) won the G1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in 2017–and she was, I believe, the first since Arctic Cosmos (North Light) won the G1 St. Leger in 2010–and are harbingers that American-breds might once again start to have an impact on the European Classics, particularly as a newer generation of American owners are getting more smitten with the idea of racing in Europe.

American Sires

Kitten’s Joy is that rare American-based turf sire who’s succeeded against the odds, but he came up through the all-weather era and benefited from a subsequent increase in turf racing to lead the N. American general sire list in 2013. Since then, he’s attracted some European patronage and has had a string of European successes, led by the late European champion and Group 1 winner Roaring Lion and including others such as champion and Group 1 winner Hawkbill, French Group 2 winner Taareef, and current Irish Group 3 winner Crossfirehurricane in addition to Kameko.

War Front, one of Danzig’s last sons, is another with a sparkling track record in Europe, where he’s been particularly effective with his juveniles and at sprint and mile distances. He’s been bred to quite a few Galileo mares by Coolmore and is probably sitting on a Guineas winner down the line.

Aside from them, however, there aren’t too many other American-based sires that are sought after in Europe, but that might change.

Siskin’s pedigree offers the first clue. First Defence (Unbridled’s Song), a Grade l winner at seven furlongs on dirt, is now at stud in Saudi Arabia, but Siskin’s breakthrough in a European Classic was the first for the Unbridled line, which has been so effective on American dirt but nowhere near so on European turf. Siskin’s success now suggests new hope for the line, and that bodes well for Coolmore’s Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), who’s from the same line by way of Empire Maker (Unbridled) instead of Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled).

So far, American Pharoah is showing a distinct penchant for the turf. From his first crop of 3-year-olds he’s represented by nine black-type winners and six group/graded winners, most of them on turf. He didn’t come up with a first-crop European Classic winner this spring and summer–neither did Northern Dancer; Nijinsky was in his second crop–but American Pharoah does have a dirt colt in Japan who’s eligible for the Kentucky Derby in the fall.

Coolmore stands American Pharoah in Kentucky. The Irish-based farm has actually bet heavily on two American Triple Crown winners, the other being Justify (Scat Daddy)–the two best American 3-year-old champions since Sunday Silence.

Sunday Silence, based in Japan, and Northern Dancer were two Derby/Preakness winners who changed the face of racing in Japan and Europe, respectively, and left sons to continue their work. American Pharoah and Justify, both of whom were even more accomplished in the grueling Triple Crown than them, will be given their own chances to succeed in Europe. Perhaps the European climate will be just right for them, especially with Montjeu gone, Galileo aging, and voids opening for another infusion of American blood.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

The post Taking Stock: Sires and Racing Environments appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Snitzel Earns Fourth Straight Sire Title

Arrowfield Stud’s Snitzel (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}-Snippets’ Lass {Aus}, by Snippets {Aus}) has become just the sixth sire in the 137-year history of the Australian Sires’ Premiership to earn four or more consecutive champion sire titles. With the current season Down Under wrapping up on Friday, Snitzel joins his grandsire Danehill (who won nine titles, six consecutively, in the 2000s), Star Kingdom (1960s), Delville Wood (1950s) and Valais and his son Heroic (1920s and 30s) as sires to earn a quartet of premiership titles.

Snitzel’s achievement is made all the more impressive by the fact that he is a Danehill-line sire among a Danehill-saturated broodmare population. Competition on the racecourse and in the stallion ranks in Australia have also been at their highest during Snitzel’s era; the region has been the subject of heavy global interest and investment. During the 2019/20 season, a record 11 sires in addition to Snitzel on the sires’ table earned in excess of A$10-million. Snitzel’s A$17.7-million is more than A$2-million clear of I Am Invincible (Aus) and Pierro (Aus).

Snitzel is also the leader by stakes winners (18) and stakes wins (25). His stakes winners in 2019/20 were headed on earnings by his Magic Millions 2YO Classic and G2 Percy Sykes S. winner and G1 Golden Slipper runner-up Away Game (Aus), while I Am Excited (Aus) took the G1 Galaxy H. to become his 14th winner at the highest level. Splintex (Aus) became his 100th stakes winner when winning the G2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint. Snitzel’s stakes winners this season came from six crops and 14 training yards and won black-type races from 1000 to 2400 metres. Six were homebreds, while others were sold from as little as A$90,000 and up to A$1.05-million.

Snitzel earns an additional accolade in becoming the only three-time winner of the Australian 2-year-old sires’ premiership in the past two decades. His 2-year-olds this season earned A$4.7-million and his 28 winners included four stakes winners.

In the sales realm, Snitzel was responsible for his fourth Inglis Easter top lot, this time the A$1.8-million colt out of First Seal (Aus).

“Only the very best stallions can do what Snitzel does, he is absolutely amazing and we are all extremely proud of him,” said Arrowfield’s Chairman John Messara. “I’m grateful for the support he receives from his shareholders, breeders, buyers, owners and trainers and look forward to seeing them all enjoy more success with Snitzel’s progeny, because there is plenty more to come.”

Snitzel’s three prior championship seasons have also included some remarkable accomplishments. Snitzel was three times runner up for the premiership, including in 2013/14 when he and Redoute’s Choice achieved the first sire/son quinella on the table, and three years later he defeated former champion sires Street Cry (Ire) and Fastnet Rock (Aus) to take the honours for the first time with A$16.2-million in the bank. That season he broke Danehill’s national record of 26 stakes winners in a season and Without Fear’s 40-year-old 2-year-old record of 32 wins in a season. He registered a 2-year-old Group 1 trifecta for the first time Down Under since 1982 in the G1 Sires’ Produce S., and also earned the 2-year-old and 3-year-old premierships.

The following season saw records by Snitzel for prizemoney in a season (A$29.2-million), winners (137), wins (307), stakes winners (26) and stakes wins (43). He also defended his titles in the 2-year-old and 3-year-old premierships. A significant slice of that prizemoney was earned by Redzel (Aus) in the inaugural running of The Everest, but so strong was Snitzel’s season that he didn’t need that, nor the money earned by his four Group 1 winners, to take the premiership.

In 2018/2019, Snitzel’s A$24.2-million haul put him A$6-million clear of I Am Invincible and earned him his third straight sire title. Redzel defended his Everest title, Exhilarates (Aus) won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and a new mark was set for a Snitzel yearling when James Harron paid A$2.8-million for Corumbene Stud’s colt out of Ichihara at Inglis Easter now named Mount Fuji (Aus).

Snitzel’s rates of 9.8% stakes winners to runners and 75% winners to runners, average earnings per runner of A$142,000 and career average earnings index of 2.48 indicate he is the dominant sire of his era, but nonetheless Messara said he “truly believes the best is yet to come for him, with all that we have learned about him, his extraordinary vigour and the mares that have visited him in the past four seasons.”

Messara added, “Redoute’s Choice proved what was possible by leaving The Autumn Sun, Alabama Express and King’s Legacy in his 15th, 16th and 17th crops. That’s well within Snitzel’s capability too.”

The post Snitzel Earns Fourth Straight Sire Title appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Galileo, Sons Setting The Standard

Last weekend was an extraordinary one for the great Galileo (Ire). A world-best 85th Group 1 winner with Peaceful (Ire) in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas went along nicely with the top-level victories by his son Teofilo (Ire)’s unbeaten G1 Prix Saint Alary heroine Tawkeeq (Ire), plus that of Sottsass (Fr)-out of Galileo mare Starlet’s Sister (Ire)–in the G1 Prix Ganay.

When the Danehill gelding Zipping became his sire’s 84th Group 1 winner in the Australian Cup at Flemington on March 13, 2010, it seemed an unsurpassable record at the time. After all, Danehill spent a lifetime covering sizeable books of mares in both hemispheres. His closest pursuer was the previous record holder Sadler’s Wells, whom Danehill had overtaken in 2005. Now, 10 years on, we have a new world leader in Sadler’s Wells’s son Galileo, who equalled his great stud companion’s feat when Magic Wand (Ire) won the LKS McKinnon S. at Flemington last year and became the clear leader following Peaceful’s victory in the Irish 1000 Guineas this week.

At the time of Danehill’s 84th Group 1 winner, Galileo already had four crops at the races and his total of Group 1 winners stood at just 12. And given the fact that he himself stopped shuttling to Australia after only four seasons, there were no guarantees that Galileo would get close to Danehill’s total. A long successful innings was needed and thankfully Galileo has stayed healthy enough to produce large quality crops ever since. As things stand, he’s managed to produce just about the same number of runners as Danehill did from his two bases. Both have been represented by about 2,100 runners and therefore have almost identical strike rates when it comes to Group 1 winners.

The pair are also extremely close when ranked by other metrics, with Danehill still holding sway with 344 stakes winners, compared to Galileo’s 315, but that title will go Galileo’s way too sooner rather than later. And he also eclipsed Danehill’s 207 group winners earlier this year when Magic Attitude won the G3 Prix Vanteaux. The question now for Galileo is what standards he himself can set any future challenger.

Just to prove the Galileo machine is working on all fronts, his son Teofilo also got in on the action at the weekend when his unbeaten daughter Tawkeel became his 16th Group 1 winner. She was also her sire’s 91st stakes winner, which moves Teofilo ever closer to 100, a score achieved by fewer than 20 European sires since the pattern began. What’s remarkable about Teofilo is the 10%-plus rate at which he gets stakes winners. Any sire that can maintain 10% stakes winners or above for 10 seasons is worthy of praise. To underline the point, he’s one of only eight active stallions currently above this benchmark. Moreover, he’s upgrading his mares markedly.

Tawkeel, currently rated 115p by Timeform, has the potential to become his best-ever filly. G1 Irish St Leger winner Voleuse de Coeurs (Ire) is his highest-rated filly at 122, two pounds ahead of the Timeform 120-rated Group 2-winning sprinter Tantheem (Ire) who–like Tawkeel–is a Shadwell homebred. Of course, Teofilo’s highest-rated son is the brilliant Exultant (Timeform 126), a five-time Group 1 winner in Hong Kong and he has two even better in Australia in Happy Clapper (Aus) and Humidor (Aus), both rated 129. Tawkeel was the 35th Group 1 winner sired by a son of Galileo, who now has seven sons with 10 or more Northern Hemisphere stakes winners. Teofilo leads the way numerically from Frankel (GB) (49) and New Approach (Ire) (43), but given normal longevity we can expect Frankel to challenge Teofilo’s numbers at some point in the future.

The post Galileo, Sons Setting The Standard appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post