Turf Monthly April 2022

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TURF

April 2022

THIS MONTH

CATMINT -A SON OF SPEARMINT THE AUTUMN SUN AT STUD HYPERNO - AN OLD FAVOURITE ANOTHER GREAT RACE IN HISTORY

runner was to later win multiple races. Connections must have been excited for the future as The Autumn Sun went for a break. He returned with an eye catching third in another trial at Rosehill and then won a Randwick trial in preparation for his first race start. This was perhaps appropriately on Anzac Day when he appeared in a 2yo maiden over 1200m when ridden by Kerrin McEvoy at Randwick. Despite getting back in the run, he was clearly a class above the opposition strolling to a 1.5 length victory. A month later he was to win again at the same track over 1400m this time starting at odds on. His first real test was to come two weeks later when he travelled to Brisbane for an ambitious bid at the Group 1 JJ Aitkins over the 1600m at Doomben. He beat another very good Waller trained galloper in Zousain who had won the Champagne and run second to Lean Mean Machine in the BRC Sires Produce at his two previous starts. The David Hayes trained filly Fundamentalist was to run third.

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fter a brief spell, The Autumn Sun was back for the Spring with his first engagement the Group 2 Stan Fox over 1500m. He had a torrid run but flashed home for third on the heavy 8 at Rosehill. Next up was the million-dollar Golden Rose back over 1400m at the same track two weeks later. Settling last, The Autumn Sun looked in an impossible position when Zousain kicked clear within the last 200m. In a stirring effort, the champion colt hit the front in the shadows of the post to record a memorable victory. At only his sixth start, it was then to Melbourne for the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas. Ridden much closer to the lead, albeit three wide for most of the race, The Autumn Sun stamped himself the outstanding colt of his year by demolishing a strong field in the time honoured event. Deservedly, the colt was sent to the paddock to await the Sydney Autumn.

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n 23 February, The Autumn Sun won first up in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes, so long a great guide for the rest of the season. Over the 1400m, The Autumn Sun again was giving away a big lead inside the 200m, but stamped his brilliance by swamping the handy Vegadaze, winning easily by almost a half-length. Next up it was the Randwick Guineas over 1600m. For many it was the race that took The Autumn Sun from a top class 3yo to a star. The race was run at breakneck speed, and The Autumn Sun was a dozen length from the lead as the field entered the straight.

Early leader, Miss Fabulass compounded and Fundamentalist, who had finished third to The Autumn Sun in the JJ Atkins, strode clear, bounding away to almost certain victory. The Autumn Sun though staged a remarkable finish to reel in the leader on the post, with an official margin a clear cut 0.2 lengths such was the power of the colt’s finish. A new star was well and truly born. Sadly, for Australian racing, the colt was to have only one more start, winning the Rosehill Guineas over 2000m from a gallant Arrogant. The mighty mare Winx was to win the following race that day, the George Ryder. She was also to be retired after only one more run which made the retirement of The Autumn Sun an even greater blow to the turf.

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here is no doubt that The Autumn Sun was one of the best colts to grace a racetrack. The question today though is his future at stud. The first argument from knockers will be that he did not win one of the pre-eminent 2yo races. He did not start racing until relatively late in the season, but does that really matter? He was clearly a standout performer in his early trials, and this is where patience comes in.

With a different owner and trainer, no doubt The Autumn Sun could have pushed on to race early. Personally, I have little doubt that he would have been competitive

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in any race just on sheer talent alone. How that would have impacted his later performances we will never know, but history has shown us that champions can do things that ordinary horses cannot. When he did reach the track, his form was franked against horses that had performed against the top level making this rather a moot point. The next step in this argument against the racetrack performance is that he was not exactly a speed type. In fact, it is possible that he could have gone on to win a Derby. The biggest reason as to why he did not is likely that in the modern era, a Derby win in Australia is often seen as a kiss of death to a stallion career. It is simply nonsense in terms of breeding principles. Race performance is not a genetically inheritable trait. The best we can say is that there are certain characteristics that are related to the ability to race over particular distances. We cannot say which of these will be transmitted by any potential stallion, although experience does tell us which may be most likely. The fact remains that The Autumn Sun won as a 2yo over 1200m and even won a trial around 800m.

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he best clues as to the success of The Autumn Sun are in his pedigree. His sire line needs no introduction to any even casual racegoer. His sire is the great Redoute’s Choice who in turn was the best sire son of the incomparable Danehill.

Redoute’s Choice produced over 150 stakes winners in his career, and he has outstanding sons like Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt who in turn are proving their continued influence through emerging sons of their own. There are clues to the future of The Autumn Sun in their success, but before we get to those, let us look at the other important factor, the stallion’s female line.

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he Autumn Sun was the second named foal of the imported Galileo mare, Azmiyna. She was an unraced daughter of the stakes winning Lear Fan mare, Asmara. She had won a Listed race over 2000m at Leopardstown in Ireland. That makes Azmiyna a half-sister to Azamour by Night Shift who was a champion racehorse in his own right, and champion older horse in Europe in 2005. He won four Group 1 races in the Irish Champion Stakes, King George VI and Queen

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the case of Encryption, his pedigree sees Danehill appear twice but significantly this is cross balanced. Breeders must be aware though of the inherent dangers of introducing another line of Danehill, but if this is carefully managed, it should be able to be a positive feature in many of the offspring of the stallion. Perhaps all that really needs to be said is that it is likely to be less of a feature the further back we can push Danehill into the mare’s pedigree. If we extend this a little, we see that Danzig also appears twice as the sire of Danehill. If we bring in another line of Danzig apart from via Danehill, this may represent alternate issues. The other key issue is that we see two male lines of Mr Prospector. His incredible influence on the breed diminished in the face of the dominant Danehill lines and we are now seeing him appearing through multiple male lines. The US nature of his pedigree though brings its own difficulties, and this is something that needs careful thought. There are real risks in breeding to what we might consider more dirt track traits in the progeny if we introduce additional male lines of this stallion.

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aving said that, the presence of Mr Prospector is an interesting mix if we bring in mares that carry Encosta De Lago. A key feature of his pedigree was the female line of Mr Prospector and this could be a positive for Encryption although we are seeing fewer daughters of Encosta De Lago these days. He does however have sons like Rubick at stud, and his daughters are now breeding. Of course, the question is whether we can find these types of mares that do not carry multiple lines of Danehill to further complicate the matings. This becomes more evident if we look at a stallion like Shooting To Win, a grandson of Encosta De Lago who carried not only three lines of Mr Prospector, but one of Elusive Quality through a female which repeats the pattern we see in the pedigree of Guelph, the dam of Encryption. This is the style of mating that is probably best avoided in most cases unless a family specifically needed these types of influence. We see this issue also raised when we look at mares that carry Lonhro and Zabeel. I would suggest if these stallions are carried through a son, then it probably would raise some warning signs within a mating. However, these are certainly not lines that have been prevalent in Queensland in particular.

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Encryption Lot 235 Magic Millions

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nother of the real positive sides of the pedigree of Encryption is that he hails from the same female line as the great Canny Lad. Perhaps two of the most readily identifiable sources of Canny Lad are Redoute’s Choice and I Am Invincible, both wonderful stallions who are both now having sons and even grandsons at stud.

Rothesay and Sepoy are two successful stallions from this direct female line, and it is particularly interesting that Rothesay has stood for many years in Queensland.

Sepoy we see is a son of Elusive Quality which perhaps creates an issue, but for broodmare owners, spending time looking at seeing what has worked with him could pay good dividends.

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utcross pedigrees will always be an attraction and in the case of Guelph, mares by stallions like Bel Esprit, Written Tycoon, and Show A Heart fit that bill quite nicely and all stood in Queensland at one time. While mentioning Queensland stallions, we cannot ignore Encryption’s paddock mate in Spirit Of Boom. The stallion will obviously have opportunity to cover some of these mares and again, if well planned there are strengths that could achieve good results. On the negative side, it is hardly likely that the stallion will suit every Spirit Of Boom mare. Overall though, a bit of time and effort spent in finding the right mares for this stallion is likely to reap significant reward. While standing at such a moderate price in Queensland, it is hard to see Encryption rise to the top of the Australian Sires Table.

Nonetheless should get more than his share of good quality progeny to ensure that he will make an impact on the local breed.

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the run when galloped on and ultimately euthanised. Even more tragically for many, the horse that galloped on Dulcify was the eventual winner Hyperno who was never forgiven by some racing lovers. Hyperno went some way to making amends by winning the Queen Elizabeth the following Saturday as the 3/1 favourite beating Magistrate. Cummings then sent Hyperno out for a spell.

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yperno returned in the Autumn to run second in the CF Orr before winning the Blamey. A third in the St George was followed by a fourth to Ming Dynasty and Double Century in the Australian Cup before another rest. Now a 7yo, Hyperno started slowly but ran third in the Underwood over 2000m before winning the G1 Caufield Stakes over 2000m beating another emerging star in Kingston Town.

Hyperno then rand second to Ming Dynasty in the Caulfield Cup with Kingston Town in third. He then went into the Melbourne Cup where he started the 3/1 favourite but he struggled to finish seventh behind Beldale Ball. Hyperno then went out on the Saturday and won the Queen Elizabeth for the second time, this time as the 10/9 favourite. After a break, Hyperno was back in the Autumn to run third behind Manikato and Turf Ruler in the William Reid. A fifth in the CF Orr was followed by a dead-heat with My Brown Jug in the St George Stakes and then a win in the Blamey Quality. He then won the Australian Cup and Rawson Stakes before finishing fourth in the Tancred and second in the Queen Elizabeth. Hyperno was crowned the 1981 Horse of the Year but it was to be close to his final hurrah.

As an 8yo he was competitive but did not win from nine starts, He was placed in the Aurie’s Star, Underwood Stakes and Caulfield Stakes and finished sixth in the Melbourne Cup behind Just A Dash. He broke down after running third in the CF Orr behind Lawman and did not start as a 9yo. Hyperno had one more preparation as a 10yo, running down the track in the Aurie’s Star and then surprising most onlookers by finishing third behind Pleach in the Craiglee Stakes at 80/1. Hyperno was retired to Harry White’s property where he lived a peaceful life until passing away in 1982. Such was the popularity of the horse that he had his own song, called Go Hyperno Go sung by Slim Whittle and broadcast on the Punter to Punter radio program on 3RRR in the early 1980s

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FILANTE

A VINTAGE CROP

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ilante is one of those horses who was unlucky in that he raced against some of the best we have seen. He was part of a wonderful crop of 3yo’s that would certainly have been hailed at any stage throughout history. He raced against such names as Octagonal, Saintly, and Nothin’ Leica Dane from his own age group, and also other topliners like Encounter, All Our Mob, Juggler, Dane Ripper and Circles of Gold as he got older.

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ilante was a son of the imported stallion Star Way who stood in NZ with great success. He was an interesting addition to the NZ bloodlines as his own race performance and family did not necessarily stamp him as an obvious horse to bring to this region. He was however a son of Star Appeal who had won the Eclipse Stakes in the UK and the famed Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France. In turn, Star Appeal was from a quality German female and hailed from the Herbager sire line which traced back to the wonderful Dark Ronald line.

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he colt, trained by Jack Denham, had his first race start in a 2yo maiden at Randwick on 12 June 1995. He was ridden by Craig Carmody and finished fourth over 1200m behind Encores who himself was to prove a quality racehorse winning the Phar Lap Stakes as a 3yo. Filante then won an open 2yo race at Rosehill before heading to the spelling paddock. He returned in January of the following year to win again at Rosehill, this time with Darren Beadman in the saddle. Filante then ran second to Catalan Opening in the Group 2 Royal Sovereign before finishing fourth behind Nothin’ Leica Dane and Octagonal in the Hobartville Stakes at Warwick Farm. He had Mick Dittman on board when he finished second to Octagonal in the Canterbury Guineas over 1900m. He then finished fourth in the Rosehill Guineas on 23 March beaten only 1.3 lengths behind Octagonal and Saintly in race record time. He then finished third behind those two champions in the AJC Derby, again beaten by only a length.

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well earned rest saw Filante return to win the Warwick Stakes over 1400m, this time with Saintly three lengths in arears. He then won the Chelmsford with Saintly and Nothin’ Leica Dane filling the placings before he ran second to Juggler in the Open Group 1 George Main. Brian York was on board when Filante won the Epsom beating All Our Mob and Iron Horse before heading to Melbourne to finish second in the Coongy Handicap with Dittman back in the saddle. The winner was Circles of Gold and Filante was less than a length away having come from twelfth at the 400m. He then finished second to Saintly in the Cox Plate. Filante was beaten only a head by the other champion and was in front until the last stride. He then ran second to All Our Mob in the Mackinnon but was sent to the spelling paddock rather than take on the two miles of the Melbourne Cup that saw Saintly establish himself as a true champion. Filante came back in February but had two substandard runs in the Clissold with Jim Cassidy riding, and fourth behind Octagonal in the Chipping Norton. He was then sent back to the paddock with his reputation taking a hit.

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