Lemongrove Stud may have been the newest name on this year's Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail and stallion master Tom Wallace, who is set to stand Tosen Stardom (Jpn) at the County Westmeath operation this year, is confident that the son of Deep Impact (Jpn) will provide something different for breeders.
Wallace, a notable breeder who has, up until now, yet to dip his toe into standing a stallion, said the opportunity to offer a dual Group 1-winning son of the late, great Deep Impact, was too great an offer to turn down.
Tosen Stardom began his racing career in Japan before transferring to Australia where he recorded both of his Group 1 successes.
Owned by Emiratis Hamad Al Kadfoor and his racing business partner Ali Farooq, Tosen Stardom is shuttling from Woodside Park Stud for the 2023 northern hemisphere breeding season and is already booked in to see over 40 mares.
Wallace said, “Obviously some people might be a little bit wary about a new unknown stallion who is standing at a stud they never heard of before but, to try and get your hands on a horse who has won two Group 1s in Europe, that's extremely difficult.
“Has he been difficult to market? Not at all. The Deep Impact connection is working in our favour and the fact that he was an unbeaten two-year-old in Japan is a major help as well. Everyone tells me that Deep Impact's progeny do better with time, as this lad did, so for him to do what he did at two shows how good a horse he was.”
He added, “Not only did he win a listed race as a 2-year-old, but he also started favourite for the Japanese Derby at three, only to hit the rail when coming with his run and eventually finishing down the field. He achieved a rating of 118 which is three pounds higher than Study Of Man (Ire) and only three pounds lower than Saxon Warrior (Jpn) who won the 2000 Guineas. He's a gorgeous horse.”
Tosen Stardom was not the first horse who was put to Wallace with a view towards standing him at Lemongrove. Based a couple of miles down the road from Tally-Ho Stud, an operation that knows a thing or two about producing speed, Wallace turned down the chance to stand a smart Australian sprinter in the opinion that he would be bringing an apple to an orchard. But in Tosen Stardom, he was confident he could offer breeders something different.
He explained, “I was asked if I had any interest in standing a good Australian sprinter but, where I am based, you have Tally-Ho Stud a couple of miles down the road and Starfield Stud isn't too far from me either. Tally-Ho specialises in speed while Starfield have a number of sprinting stallions, including Kuroshio (Aus), so I didn't think it made much sense to try and go into competition with them. Then Tosen Stardom cropped up and, obviously Saxon Warrior had just had a brilliant year with his 2-year-olds, so I thought a son of Deep Impact could be something different. Study Of Man has also been well-supported in England so it made a lot of sense.”
Wallace added, “I have been following sons of Sunday Silence for over 20 years, which obviously Deep Impact is, so I just said to myself, the pedigrees have become saturated over here in Ireland by sons of Green Desert, Danehill or Galileo (Ire), so why not try a new sire line. This fella seemed to fit the bill, a real good-looking horse who retired sound of limb and wind. As well as that, he raced as a 2-year-old right up to his 7-year-old campaign. Why not give him a chance?”
Lemongrove Stud may be new to the stallion ranks but Wallace is no novice. He spent time working at Water Cress Farm in America, where Cigar was based while he was there, spent time with his neighbours Tally-Ho, Rathbarry and has sold many good horses in his own right as well.
Branching out into the Zenith Stallion Station at Lemongrove is by no means a step into the unknown and, given he is in the process of building a four-horse stallion barn, Wallace is hoping Tosen Stardom can be the first of many to stand at his burgeoning operation.
Wallace said, “We're very happy with how things have gone so far with him. He went down well on the Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail. The fact that Tally-Ho weren't taking part in the Stallion Trail probably lessened our footfall but we'd plenty of interest, which was great. I had over 50 different groups call here on the Friday and Saturday and not many of them were tyre-kickers either. There are over 40 definites booked in to him in his first season which is positive. It's all about numbers so hopefully we can get a few more mares into him.
“I'm building a new four-box stallion barn because Hamad Al Kadfoor and Ali Farooq want to send another stallion next year and hopefully we can keep building it up. It would be nice to establish a stallion-standing stud.”
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