Oct_110_Caulfield_Owner Breeder 19/09/2013 15:42 Page 73
“Popular nicks tend
to lose potency as breeders jump on the bandwagon with unsuitable mares” As a fellow Coolmore sire, Danehill Dancer is at the forefront of the alternatives. His daughters have made a fine start with Galileo, with the dual Group 3 winner Quest For Peace leading a squad of four black-type performers among the first 11 northern hemisphere foals bred this way. The potential of this cross will receive a more thorough testing with its foals of 2011 and 2012. Its ten two-year-olds include the unbeaten Listed winner Indian Maharaja and the debut winner Illinois. The 12 living yearlings by Galileo out of Danehill Dancer mares include youngsters out of such talented racemares as Lillie Langtry, Tamazirte, Chintz, Ice Queen, Famous, Latin Love, Devoted To You and Remember When. You will gauge the potential of this cross when I point out that Lillie Langtry won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes and that Tamazirte, Remember When and Ice Queen were all narrowly beaten in Classics. No doubt Galileo will also be paired with some of the best daughters of Dansili – a stallion with ten Group 1-winning daughters to his credit. We have already seen Dansili’s Listed winner Prudenzia represented by Galileo fillies which sold for €1,100,000 in 2012 and €1,000,000 in 2013. THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER
Fillies all the fashion for sons of Shadwell matriarch Bearing in mind that Height Of Fashion’s celebrated sons Unfuwain and Nashwan both died in 2002, anyone could be forgiven for forgetting the finer points of their stallion careers. Unfuwain’s legacy included eight Group 1 winners, of which all bar Alhaarth were fillies. Among them were a 1,000 Guineas winner in Lahan, an Oaks winner in Eswarah and three winners of the Irish Oaks in Bolas, Petrushka and Lailani. It was a similar story with Nashwan. Although he sired the top colts Swain and Bago, four of his six Group 1 winners were fillies. One of them, Wandesta, was a champion in the USA, while One So Wonderful defeated the males in the Juddmonte International. In the circumstances we shouldn’t be too surprised that Nayef – Height Of Fashion’s youngest stallion son – should also prove a proficient sire of fillies. He currently has eight Group winners from his six crops aged three or over. No fewer than six of the eight are fillies, including the Prix de l’Opera winner Lady Marian, who was sold for 1,800,000gns in 2008. Two of the eight – Tasaday and Sparkling Beam – have been in fine form in France this year, with this pair of threeyear-olds taking first and second places in both the Group 3 Prix de Psyche and the Group 2 Prix de la Nonette (which
appropriately is sponsored by Shadwell). Before anyone considers dismissing Nayef’s sons, I should point out that his highest-rated winner is a colt. And I should also quickly point out that this colt – Tamayuz – is making a pleasing start as a stallion. Tamayuz was a highly effective miler on his day, as he showed in beating Raven’s Pass in the Prix Jean Prat and Natagora in the Prix Jacques le Marois. However, as a French-raced horse, he had to work to win the affections of Ireland’s breeders when he retired to Derrinstown Stud. His first two crops total 123 foals, compared to the 199 of his contemporary New Approach, but that hasn’t stopped him siring ten runners in 2013 which have managed to attain a Racing Post Rating of 102 or more. He did this even though his Group 2-winning first-crop son Sir Prancealot was retired at the end of his juvenile career. Among them are Molecomb hero Brown Sugar, who along with Sir Prancealot has confirmed Tamayuz’s ability to sire much speedier stock than might be expected of a miler sired by Nayef from the family of Galileo. Unfortunately, Tamayuz covered only 26 mares in his third season, but his bold showing among the first-crop sires of 2012 will surely earn him much more support this year.
GEORGE SELWYN
of a talented half-sister to the top sprinter Double Form. In other words, it seems that you largely need not only a Danehill mare but a Danehill mare who was distinctly above average if you are to reap the full rewards of this celebrated nick. Chances are, though, that Galileo’s very high stud fee will itself ensure that there’s plenty of quality control among the daughters of Danehill visiting the soon-to-be five-time champion sire. Of course Danehill’s youngest daughters will be ten years old at the start of the next breeding season, so many breeders are beginning to look to mares by Danehill’s sons as possible alternatives. This trend is sure to grow, especially after this year’s Irish 2,000 Guineas was won impressively by Magician, whose dam is one of only 35 broodmare daughters of Danehill’s very fast son Mozart.
Height Of Fashion became the bedrock of Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Stud
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