Turf Monthly November 2022

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TURF

November 2022

THIS MONTH

THE FIRST COX PLATE FURIOUS FIRST SEASON SIRES FOR 2022 ANOTHER GREAT RACE

Editor’s Letter I read an article this week from Byron Rogers who does a lot of good work in the field of DNA research. He has written an article about age and its effect on progeny and a correlation between a drop off in stakes winners as horses age. Many years ago, when I used to write for The Sportsman in a time when that great publication had a 16 page Breeders Guide, I too did a study on age. Mine was more focussed on stallions and whether age had an impact on performance. What I found in that study was that the number of foals produced had more of a correlation with decline in performance than actual age. For example, a 15yo stallion that had produced 1000 foals, and bearing in mind this was a time of smaller crops, had around the same success at black type level as a 20yo stallion with the same number of foals. Whether these figures would hold up in the modern era of huge foal numbers with shuttle stallions is another question. It is certainly an area of study that would be worthwhile. In the breeding industry we often do not find some of these studies pursued as they run the risk of detracting from the appeal of stallions, and consequently the service fees that they command. If there are pedigree students who would like to submit some of these studies to us for publication, we are certainly open to contributions. One day I might even have some time to revisit some of these studies as well. The aim after all is to develop our understanding of the thoroughbred, a pursuit that is both noble and critical to the long term health of the breed.

CONTENTS 4

The First Cox Plate

5

Violoncello

10

Easingwold

13

Furious

21

First Season Stallions

22

Aclaim

28

Delaware

34

Glenfiddich

40

Jonker

46

The 1936 Melbourne Cup

Until next month

Cover Photo ANAMOE

Ross Prowd

Turf Monthly ABN 64 892 144 940 Phone 0412 712 181

Email editor@turfmonthly.com.au Unit 4/125 West St Menzies Qld 4825

TURF MONTHLY 3

THE FIRST COX PLATE 100 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE

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e go to production too early to know the result of the 2022 Cox Plate, but this year marked the 100th anniversary of what is now our most prestigious WFA race. It is a remarkable race, and while the unique Moonee Valley track has led to the downfall of many fancies, it adds to the spectacle. In recent times we have been privileged to see the mighty Kingston Town win three Cox Plates only to be surpassed by the wonderful Winx. The Honour Roll of the Cox Plate really is a who’s who of the Australian Turf with Phar Lap, Sunline, Flight, Tobin Bronze, Northerly, So You Think, Hydrogen, Tranquil Star, Beau Vite and Young Idea all dual winners. There is something of a perception that the Cox Plate has only become a notable race in recent times. While it is fair to say that its importance has increased, along with prizemoney, from its inception it always attracted the top horses. As a weight for age event in the Melbourne Spring, it always allowed the champions some relief from the huge imposts they were asked to carry in the Cups races. For those with doubts, let us go back to the first Cox Plate.

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he race was run on 28 October 1922 with a crowd that was in competition with the Henley Regatta on the Yarra River. A field of 14 faced the starter with the accomplished galloper Tangalooma ridden by Hugh Cairns the short priced favourite at 6/4. A son of Linacre, Tangalooma was a stable mate of the great

Eurythmic and was fresh from a win in the 12 furlong October Stakes, a race that was later to be renamed the Turnbull Stakes. It had been Tangalooma’s second win in the race, having won the year before beating Eurythmic in an upset. The win was no fluke though with Tangalooma going on to defeat the champion again in the Autumn in the Governor’s Plate in Sydney.

The Cox Plate though was robbed of some of its glamour when Eurythmic was scratched on the morning of the race. Tangalooma had been scheduled to run in the more prestigious Moonee Valley Cup but trainer Jack Holt was able to switch his charge to the Cox Plate such were the vagaries of the racing rules at the time.

In the end, Tangalooma was to race ungenerously on the Moonee Valley track finishing sixth. It was a good betting race with Violoncello, the imported English galloper next in the market at 2/1 with Furious at 9/4.

Salatis who was to win the Futurity Stakes the following year, and was later to become a good stallion, was next in the betting at 7/1 with Easingwold at 8/1 and the top Sydney horse, David who was to finish fourth at 10/1.

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he race itself saw the WA star Easingwold lead the field until the home turn, when Violoncello who had always been handy quickly headed him to draw away and win comfortably by a length and a half. Furious ran home strongly to be only a neck from Easingwold.

1922 WS Cox Plate first time in the straight TURF MONTHLY 4

VIOLONCELLO THE FIRST WINNER

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ne would imagine that as the first Cox Plate winner, that Violoncello would have a special place in Australian Racing history, but his name is likely relegated to the answer of an obscure trivia question unfortunately. The stallion has an interesting story being bred by James de Rothschild in Great Britain in 1916.

He was by Valens, a somewhat moderate stallion who was perhaps more notable as being a grandson of the great Bend Or. Violoncello was to be only his fourth stakeswinner with two of the others in King Sol and Volta winning the best sprint races in Britain in the King’s Stand Stakes and July Cup respectively. As a result, Violoncello was kept to the shorter distances in the Northern Hemisphere in contrast to his local success. The colt was out of the mare, Catgut by Lactantius who had produced Quinologist by St Frusquin who had won the 1916 AJC Metropolitan.

Quinologist was unplaced in a maiden in the January before being sold at public auction for 40 guineas. The horse had been owned by Theodore Trautwen and Albert Cockram but was put up for sale and purchased by David Price who then sold the horse back to Trautwen. The sale ended in the High Court as Cockram claimed that Trautwen had misrepresented the soundness of Quinologist to have him agree to the sale. Further doubts were cast on the validity of the sale, but the case was controversially settled before the appeal was heard. Trained by HW “Mick” Chippendall who had worked for Ike Earnshaw when he trained the great Poseidon, Quinologist blossomed in the Spring winning the AJC Trial Stakes, Metropolitan and Waverley Handicap at the same meeting.

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ioloncello had his first start in England as a 2yo, winning at Newmarket over five furlongs with Viceroy, who was later to become a good stallion, second in a field of 21 runners. He then had three unplaced runs before returning as a 3yo with another substandard run. Violoncello was then heavily backed to win a Newmarket Flying Handicap by five lengths. After four more unplaced runs, Violoncello then won the Derby Peveril of the Peak Plate over a mile beating Brigand. Stepped up in

1922 WS Cox Plate Finish TURF MONTHLY 5

distance, Violoncello finished his three-year-old season with three more unplaced runs including running last in the Durham Stakes over 10 furlongs. He was again unplaced in his first run at four, and then finished fifth in the Ascot Royal Hunt Cup before winning the Swaggham Welter at Newmarket in July over a mile. Violoncello was then second at Doncaster over 7 furlongs in the Town Moor Handicap at Doncaster and third at Yarmouth in the Norfolk and Suffolk Handicap over the same distance. After winning the Newmarket Clare Welter in September of 1920, Violoncello was sold to Sydney retail magnate, Sir Samuel Hordern for 4000 guineas.

Hordern

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t was a year before he had his first start in Australia finishing tenth in the Chelmsford Stakes over 9 furlongs. A week later he ran second to Beauford over

Violeoncello winning the Caulfield Cup TURF MONTHLY 6

a mile in the Hill Stakes beaten 1.5 lengths. He then finished a close fourth behind David in the Spring Stakes over a mile and a half. Violoncello was sent to Melbourne where he ran fifth behind Eurythmic in the Herbert Power over 11 furlongs. His main aim was the Caulfield Cup, and despite being backed to 4/1 at the beginning of September, by the time the field lined up he was almost unwanted in the betting at 16/1 behind the favourite, Tangalooma at 7/2 and Purser at 4/1. Lionel Attwill led into the straight with Tangalooma and Violoncello close behind, with Purser starting to make a strong run from well back. Violoncello collared the leader but was immediately under pressure from Purser and the two settled down for a titanic battle. The strength of jockey Billy Foulsham was a factor in Violoncello getting the upper hand and going on to win by a half-length with Lionel Attwill staying on well for third a further half-length back. The unlucky runner in the race was the 3yo filly Sister Olive who finished fourth who did not clear running for much of the straight.

At his next start, Violoncello ran second behind Eurythmic in the Melbourne Stakes over 10 furlongs before finding the distance and a 10 pound penalty too much in the Melbourne Cup won by Sister Olive who made up for her Caulfield Cup bad luck.

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ioloncello was given a good break and did not return to racing until the following September, again starting his campaign in the Chelmsford finishing unplaced behind Beauford who beat Gloaming and David. He was then unplaced behind those first two placegetters in the Spring Stakes before finishing third behind the same two, who swapped positions, in the Craven Plate at Randwick.

In Melbourne Violoncello was unplaced in the Caulfield Stakes behind Eurythmic before finishing a close fourth in the Caulfield Cup won by Whittier. Drawn wide, Violoncello raced over to take the lead before the field left the straight for the first

Violoncello winning the CB Fisher Plate from Tangalooma and Easingwold TURF MONTHLY 7

time, causing severe interference to many runners. He was then allowed to settle, taking a position behind the front runners. In the end, the lightly weighted Whittier proved too strong beating Tangalooma and Purser. Violoncello’s victory in the Cox Plate followed and connections chose to send the stallion on to the Cantala Stakes over a mile rather than attempting another Melbourne Cup start. Violoncello beat Fingdon by three lengths on Derby Day before winning the Linlithgow Stakes over the same distance on Oaks Day, this time beating Gilray by four lengths. On the Saturday, Violoncello then had his final start in the CB Fisher Plate over 12 furlongs beating Tangalooma by a neck, with that horse having bounced back from a poor run in the Cup.

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t stud Violoncello was to be only a moderate success, ending his career standing for only 10 guineas at the Rouse brothers Wallumburrawang Stud at Gilgandra, NSW. He got plenty of winners, eventually siring nine stakes winners with his best being Prince Viol who won the Moonee Valley and Hobart Cups, Coongy Handicap and Tasmanian Derby, Viol D’Amour who won two VRC October Stakes, a Geelong Cup and AJC All-Aged Stakes and Mulcra who won the 1931 VRC Sires Produce.

It is becoming difficult to find Violoncello in modern pedigrees. Perhaps the most significant influence in recent times was a stallion called Sports Works who won the Listed STC Heritage Stakes, VRC Bobby McGee Stakes and the Group 2 AJ Moir fittingly at Moonee Valley. While a regular source of winners at stud, Sports Works was to produce only one stakes winner in Sportsbrat who won the 2001 STC Missile Stakes. An interesting runner that traced to a brother of Violoncello in Devizes was Brindisi who was to fittingly win the 1980 AJC Metropolitan. Sphenophyta who won the 2006 Turnbull Stakes after winning the Ipswich Cup the same year is another who traces to a half-sibling of Violoncello in Day Comet. Another of the St Frusquin brothers was Planet whose descendants also include Rena’s Lady who won the 2007 AJC Oaks and her half-brother Vatuvei who won the Group 2 Drake International Cup which was a short-lived name for the Moonee Valley Cup. Yet another was Day Comet whose descendants include Ebony Grosve who won the 1997 AJC Australian Derby, STC Hill Stakes and VRC Mackinnon Stakes. Another from this line was Inaflury who won seven stakes races including the VATC One Thousand Guineas, Edward Manifold, Feehan, and JJ Liston Stakes, and the Prime Minister’s Cup on the Gold Coast.

TURF MONTHLY 8

EASINGWOLD

WA RACING TO THE FORE

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asingwold was a West Australian horse that helped highlight breeding in that state at a time when the great Eurythmic was taking the east coast by storm.

The colt was unbeaten as a 2yo including a win in the prestigious Karrakatta Plate.

He continued his form as a 3yo with wins in the All-Aged Stakes, December Stakes, WA Derby, Osborne Stakes and St Leger. Returning as a 4yo, he won the Spring Stakes at Kalgoorlie over 2000m on 1 August by three lengths with a further six lengths to the third horse. Four days later he won the Kalgoorlie Cup over the same distance in race record time. Easingwold then won the City Stakes at Boulder over the same distance at his next start before heading to Victoria. He finished fourth in the Toorak Handicap over a mile at his first run in Victoria before going on to be

TURF MONTHLY 10

placed in the Caulfield Cup and to run second to Violoncello in the Cox Plate. But it was the following season, when transferred to the care of legendary Mordiallic trainer Jack Holt, that he proved to the East just how good he was. Easingwold was to start on all three days of the Caulfield Carnival. He finished a close third to Maid Of The Mist in the Caulfield Stakes over 9 furlongs on the first day, and then won the Herbert Power over 11 furlongs on the second day. On the final day, he ran a gallant second to the lightly weighted mare, Wynette in the Caulfield Cup. It was then back to Moonee Valley for the second Cox Plate against a top-class field of nine runners. Such was the quality of the field that the Melbourne Herald suggested that the race had almost eclipsed the Moonee Valley Cup in importance. It was a big statement given that the Moonee Valley Cup was then rated on the same level as the Caulfield Cup in importance as a lead into the Melbourne Cup. Easingwold was well backed to win the Cox Plate starting at 6/4 with Whittier at 3/1. He was taken to the lead in the Cox Plate but Whittier sat on his outside for the entire race. Nearing the turn, Easingwold gained the upper hand and started to draw ahead, although it looked like Purser was going to reel the leaders in. Easingwold though was not to be denied and Purser faded on his run, not managing to take second from Whittier who was a length and a half from the winner. The time was a track record of 1.57.25.

Easingwold returned the following season to win the Herbert Power for the second time, and also won the Perth Stakes and Osborne Stakes in WA but his career was curtailed by a shoulder injury. He went to stud where he produced Easewold who won two Kalgoorlie Cups and Bunbury Cup and Ganemedes who won a WATC Easter Mile.

Easingwold beating Whittier in the 1923 Cox Plate

TURF MONTHLY 11

FURIOUS

THE ILL-FATED CHAMPION

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urious was the star filly of her time but her story started some years earlier. The famed Victorian breeder, owner of Melton Stud and brother to Sir Rupert Clarke in Ernest Clarke had remarkable success with his champion stallion The Welkin.

Furious was one of 46 stakes winners by that stallion that included such top quality horses as Gloaming and Thrice. Furious was out of the Wallace mare, Danaide.

Danaide was quite remarkably a full sister to Ardea who was the granddam of the

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champion Eurythmic. Their dam, Danae by Calma was a half-sister to another champion in Amberite by Carbine. Sadly, the family is only found through a full sister to Danae in Paisana and few are still active. Perhaps the best runner from the family in recent times was the great sprinter of the 1980’s, At Sea who won twelve stakes races including three Challenger Stakes, three Carrington Stakes, two Canterbury Stakes, an Apollo Stakes and an Expressway.

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s a break from tradition, Ernest Clarke gave his homebred filly to top Sydney trainer, Frank Marsden. All of Clarke’s horses, and those of Sir Rupert had been trained in Melbourne by James Scobie, and in fact would continue that arrangement apart from Furious. While it has never been established what prompted Clarke to

TURF MONTHLY 14

Furious winning the VRC Derby

send Furious to Marsden, at the same time he had a well related filly called Isa that he sent to Scobie and rumour had it that he wanted to keep the two fillies apart.

Furious was described as a fine, raking filly if a trifle light behind the saddle. She was a rich golden chestnut and was distinguished by a white blaze and two white stockings on her near side. After being brokenin, Furious was one of four Marsden fillies that he saddled up in the Gimcrack and he quinellaed the race with Furious an easy winner over Even Song. The filly went to Melbourne where she ran second beaten only a neck by Antarian in the time honoured Maribyrnong Plate before being sent for a spell. Furious returned in January to win a Juvenile Stakes at Rosehill before being beaten into second in a similar race in March.

She then won the AJC Sires’ Produce beating Ernest Clarke’s other star filly in Isa, and then went on to win the Champagne Stakes beating Salatis to close our her 2yo season.

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eturning at three, Furious was a close fourth in the open Dundas Handicap over six furlongs. Two weeks later she was third again against the older horses in the Liverpool Mile at Warwick Farm. She then finished fourth in the Chelmsford behind Syce Knight beating all other 3yo’s in the field. Furious then won the Rosehill Guineas over 9 furlongs in her first start for the season against her own age with Braehead in second. The filly was sent out as the 2/1 favourite in the Derby.

Braehead led for much of the race with Furious well positioned not far from the leading group. Bobby Lewis took her wide entering the straight and she was to hit

TURF MONTHLY 15

the front to the cheers of the crowd. The NZ bred Cupidon got a run near the rails and challenged the filly, eventually outstaying the brave Furious to win by a halflength. Four days later she lined up in the Craven Plate over the same distance and ran third behind Beauford. On the last day of the Randwick Carnival, five days later, she won the Clibborn Stakes over a mile beating Honey Bee who had ran third in the Derby. It was then to Melbourne where she destroyed the field in the VRC Derby, winning by three lengths. Bassi was second with Harvest King in third while Furious set a new race record for the event, in perhaps the race that cemented her reputation. The Melbourne Cup proved too much for her, finishing towards the rear behind winner, Sister Olive, a filly by Red Dennis that we have written about in the past. Two days later, Furious stepped out in the VRC Oaks where she had another comfortable victory over Bassi, prevailing by two lengths with Melbourne Cup star, Sister Olive in third. As an Autumn 3yo, Furious started her campaign by running sixth in the Dundas Handicap, which was run twice that year, over six furlongs at Rosehill. In Melbourne, the filly won the St Leger beating Harvest King over 14 furlongs before running third of four runners behind Eurythmic in the CM Lloyd Stakes over a mile. Back in Sydney for the Rawson Stakes over 9 furlongs, Furious again found Beauford too strong, finishing third. She then started odds on in the AJC St Leger but the Melbourne horse, Harvest King turned the tables on the filly, winning by two lengths. Furious had her last run as a 3yo four days later in the two mile Cumberland Stakes, running second to the top Sydney horse, David.

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urious had a colic scare on the morning of the VRC Derby, and during her spell at the end of her 3yo season, suffered a recurrence of the disease. She recovered from this but was to have trouble with her feet which were described in the words of the day, as shelly and fleshy with Marsden having to work hard to keep her sound.

Furious After the VRC Derby TURF MONTHLY 16

She won her first start at four in the Liverpool Handicap over a mile at Warwick Farm. She was unplaced in the Chelmsford and Spring Stakes behind Beauford, and also in the Hill Stakes and Craven Plate behind Gloaming. Her next placing was to be a third behind David in the Randwick Plate over two miles in October, before heading to Melbourne. Furious ran fourth behind Purser in the Herbert Power before finishing third in the inaugural Cox Plate. Poor runs followed in the Mackinnon Stakes and Melbourne Cup and the mare was sent to the paddock. The Autumn saw rain in Sydney that might have helped her feet, as her form improved.

She won the Rydalmere Mile first up at Rosehill carrying 10.1 (64kg), and then beat Salatis by a half-length in the Rawson Stakes. Furious then ran fourth to Specialty in the AJC Autumn Stakes and fourth to Purser in the All-Aged Stages. Three days later she won the AJC Final Handicap over 10 furlongs on a heavy track carrying 10.4 (65.5kg). She beat Oranian by a neck and leading vet, Dr Stewart Mackay, stated that Furious was suffering from a weakened heart and suggested that it would be fitting to end her career on that high note.

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fter a rest, connections brought her back as a 5yo with her first engagement on 1 September 1923. She ran third beaten only 1.5 lengths in the Liverpool Handicap which was run that year at Randwick. The AJC had taken over Warwick Farm and it would not be until 1925 that the club would reopen the new facility.

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Martin Stainforth’s Painting of Furious

Furious then ran sixth behind Rapine in the Chelmsford and a week later, fourth beaten over five lengths in the Rosehill Handicap behind Mirthmaker. Marsden turned her out in a paddock behind his stables following that run. The champion mare caught her neck on a rail in the yard, and tetanus, a scourge of the time also known as lockjaw, set it. The disease stops the muscles from relaxing making them appear rigid. It results in seizures and the inability to breath and Furious was to pass away on 1 December 1923. She was at that time second only to Desert Gold as the highest stakes winning mare in Australian history having earned £20,222 from 41 races which saw her achieve 13 wins, 5 seconds and 7 thirds.

Furious winning the Rosehill Guineas and in the inset TURF MONTHLY 18

Furious at 3.13% represents a very low level in inbreeding within six generations. The closest duplication is that of Stockwell who we see appearing four times in the fifth and sixth generations. Interestingly we see that Stockwell appears through a daughter. The other duplication we see is Newminster who appears three times in the sixth generation. Again, we see this stallion duplicated through both daughters and sons. While it is easy to look at the presence of the great Australian influences in The Welkin and Wallace, two of our most enduring lines, sometimes it is what is further back in the pedigree that can be just as important. In this case the subtle yet critical presence of two legendary stallions in Stockwell and Newminster may just have been the most telling influence.

ACLAIM DELAWARE GLENFIDDICH JONKER

ACLAIM

A QUEENSLAND SHUTTLER

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claim represents a new direction for Aquis Farm in Queensland, being the first shuttle stallion that stud has brought to Australia. The stallion has gotten off to a great start in the UK where he topped the first season list in terms of the number of winners. History will tell us that success in the UK is no guarantee of success under local conditions, and in fact could even be a portend for poor performance.

After all success with one broodmare population often means that a stallion is incompatible with another population. We can run a similar argument with any number of factors, and it usually is in different forms. We read how winning a certain race can be a factor in predicting success, but this line of argument certainly has little basis in fact. Certainly, better racehorses regularly win the best races, but any number of factors can impact on a field in a particular season. All of these

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factors are marketing points and have little to do with anything apart from possible opportunity. If we really wanted to look at the most obvious factor of success in a first season stallion, it comes down simply to numbers. The bigger book a stallion covers, the bigger chance they are of getting good runners on the track. No one has ever said that thoroughbred racing and breeding is fair and the name, The Sport Of Kings, did not come about by accident. But this is a digression and gives us little hint at this stage as to the future of Aclaim who comes here with plenty of things to like.

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claim was a quality racehorse winning seven of his fifteen starts in the UK. He made his debut winning a 2yo maiden very late in the season; on 9 December 2015 to be exact over six furlongs on the all-weather track at Kempton. Obscurely he beat a horse called Enreaching who was to end up in the stable of John Size in Hong Kong where he won only one race. Returning as a 3yo in April, Aclaim was to win again over the same distance, this time at Newmarket. It was not until the end of the season though that Aclaim was to win his next race, the Listed Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes over 7 furlongs at Newbury. This was followed by victory in the Group 2 Dubai 100 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket beating the filly Lumiere, a Darley bred daughter of Shamardal who had won the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes as a 2yo. As a 4yo, Aclaim was to only race in Group events. Again, he struck his best form later in the season and was taken to France in August to run second in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville over 1300m behind Brando by Pivotal. Returning to the UK five weeks later he won the Group 2 Alan Wood Plumbing And Heating Park Stakes over 7 furlongs at Doncaster beating Nathra and Home Of The Brave.

Home Of The Brave was later brought to Australia by Darley and trained by Edward Cummings. He was to win the Aurie’s Star and Theo Marks locally to frank the form of Aclaim. Aclaim was to have his last start on 1 October 2017 when again taken to France to win the Group 1 Qatar Prix de la Foret over 7 furlongs at Chantilly.

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red in partnership by the famed Queensland stud, Canning Downs, Aclaim is a son of the top stallion Acclamation who is perhaps best known as the sire of another top stallion in Dark Angel. Dark Angel is represented in Australia currently

by Harry Angel who stands at Darley in the Hunter Valley. Acclamation who won the Group 2 Diadem Stakes on the track, is also the sire of Equiano and Harbour Watch who both briefly shuttled to Australia. He was also represented by Lidari who won the 2014 VRC Blamey Stakes, and Romantic Warrior who won the QEII Cup in Hong Kong. Acclamation is a son of Royal Applause by Waajib who in turn is by Try My Best. Try My Best is best known in Australia as the sire of Last Tycoon, and perhaps this has been an issue as to why the line has not established itself to date locally. We already see that breeders have access to this line which, when we look at the big picture of thoroughbred breeding, is always going to be a relatively minor line here. Try My Best is by Northern Dancer and we certainly see other more dominant lines of this stallion which does not appear to be likely to change into the foreseeable future. Another interesting factor in the pedigree of Acclamation is the presence of Ahonoora, a stallion who we have seen play an important part in the pedigrees of Tycoon Tracy, Cape Cross, Iffraaj and New Approach to name but a few.

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claim is out of the stakes placed Aris, a daughter of the Australian bred stallion Danroad. The son of Danehill won two stakes races as a 2yo in NZ and stood for much of his career in that country. He is perhaps best noted at present as the damsire of Verry Elleegant. Danroad was out of Strawberry Girl by the great Strawberry Road. Aris is out of Cumbres by Kahyasi who produced the champion Irish 2yo filly Again by Danehill Dancer. Most notable though is the third dam of Aclamation who is Floripedes by Top Ville, the producer of the champion colt, Montjeu who was one of the best racehorses Europe has ever seen. His list of achievements includes 11 wins with six of those at Group 1 level. He won an Arc de Triomphe, the French and Irish Derbies and was crowned Champion 3YO colt in Europe, France and Ireland in 1999, and in the same year headed the International 3yo and 4yo and older Classifications and Champion Older Male in Ireland, France and GB. He went on to a wonderful career at stud and we see his progeny include the likes of Authorised, Camelot, Green Moon, Tavistock and Hurricane Run. Montjeu in particular is seen as a noted source of stamina, despite Aclaim being successful at shorter journeys.

In fact, his sire Acclamation is largely known for his sprinters despite some of his progeny, especially those who have raced in Australia, having been able to extend a little further. Interestingly the two sons of Acclamation that have stood in Australia to date in Equiano and Harbour Watch have carried significant stamina lines in their pedigrees suggesting that Aclaim may have something very different to offer local breeders.

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he elephant in the room is always going to be the quality of British sprinters compared to our local stars. Historically it is the overseas staying types that have had the greatest success locally. Nature Strip only this season proved the quality of our local sprinters while Verry Elleegant, through no fault of her own, took some of the gloss off our local staying ranks. Statistically speaking, the overseas sprinters are going to have much greater competition, and this is going to no doubt be an issue with Aclaim. Even if we look at the other two Aquis Park stallions at stud this season, we see that Jonker and Glenfiddich offer a similar profile in terms of speed.

An advantage that Aclaim will have is the backing of Canning Downs and their history of producing quality runners. However they do not have large numbers of mares like they did back in their days of standing stallions, so it looks like it will be a matter of quality over quantity which is never necessarily a bad strategy, although one that faces more challenges. Given that the stallion will face some stiff competition, what is it that will make him prevail in Australia if anything?

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nlike our other Freshman sires this year, we have some statistics and runners to look at. Whether these will translate to Australian, and in fact Queensland success is another thing. We cannot forget that Queensland racing is a little different to the other States and that many local stallions do not get recognition in other jurisdictions. This is not a new phenomenon and we can go back to Smokey Eyes, Sequalo, Lion Hunter and Spirit Of Boom to see this pattern repeated. The advantage of the Aquis Park operation is that they regularly race their horses interstate, although many of these are not yet by their local stallions. Prizemoney in Queensland is below the southern capitals making it more difficult to dominate Sires Tables. We only have to look at the difference in the Magic Millions offerings at their January and March sales to see this disparity. Let us however remain optimistic that Aclaim will be able to get his youngsters into the top stables interstate to level the playing field. This difference in racing is especially important when we look at

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the progeny of Aclaim at this stage of his career. His first progeny hit the track only in 2020 and he has already sired over 50 individual winners at a rate of around 50% winners to runners which is outstanding at this stage of any stallion’s career. Of these, I can find at least 25 that have earnings of less than £10,773 suggesting that these are not winning at the major tracks. It is perhaps very important when we look at this in light of the earlier comments about Queensland stallions. Aclaim has certainly though proven he can produce runners who compete at the top level. He has produced Cachet out of a Teofilo mare who has won over £500,000 and this year she won the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes and Group 1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Aclaim has also produced the very good filly Royal Aclaim who won her first three starts and was recently placed in the Group 3 Prix du Petit Couvert at Longchamp interestingly over 5 furlongs. She is out of a mare by Soviet Star which we should note carefully. Aclaim has also had five stakes placed runners in Jacinda out of a mare by Manduro, Chelsea Gardens out of a mare by Cape Cross, Lassca out of a mare by High Chaparral, Woman of Ciprea out of a mare by Dynaformer, and Beautiful Black out of a mare by Sea The Stars. Interestingly we would see that the damsires of these best progeny to date would likely be considered more of stamina lines than the predominant speed lines that are prevalent in Australia, and even more so in Queensland.

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he opportunities for the stallion to cover mares by stallions that have seemingly proven successful in the Northern Hemisphere appears to be quite limited but on face value they certainly look to be the type that will be best suited. Again, we are not sure if these would be suited to Australia but given that we are familiar with many of the broodmare sires of his successful progeny, there is a strong likelihood that many could adapt to local conditions. The bigger question is whether these sprinting types that Aclaim has produced to date will be the precocious 2yo’s that the Australian market values so highly. But let us start with the proven lines in the UK, and the most obvious would be High Chaparral and his sons So You Think and Dundeel. Both stallions represent something of an outcross to the pedigree of Aclaim and would appeal as potential matches. Competition for this type of mare though is high in the market, and while Canning Downs will potentially have some of these types in their band, it is going to be hard to source large numbers from the Queensland broodmare population. Teofilo is another who would be highly sought after, and the pedigree features a sex-balanced cross of Danehill. This perhaps is a feature more highly valued in Europe than Australia as we see multiple same sex crosses of that stallion having success here. Sea The Stars is a son of Cape Cross and that stallion stood in NZ for some years. Again it will be difficult to source many of these types of mares for the stallion, but Cape Cross is a son of Green Desert

by Danzig out of Park Appeal by Ahonoora so perhaps this opens up other more numerous possibilities which we will look at shortly. The presence of Ahonoora is an interesting aside to the Cape Cross story. A stallion who stood in Queensland called Red Element would likely have some very interesting daughters for Aclaim, although perhaps the service fee might dissuade many of their owners. Red Element was a son of Tracey’s Element who was by Last Tycoon by Try My Best out of the Princess Tracey by Ahonoora. Animal Kingdom is another stallion who carried Ahonoora prominently as is Spill The Beans, a stallion who stood at Aquis Farm and is likely to be well represented in the local broodmare population. Another interesting stallion is Power who moved to Queensland from NZ in 2018.

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reen Desert is an influence that is now having significant success locally largely through the deeds of I Am Invincible. There appear plenty of strengths through this stallion, and the presence of strong colonial lines is one of the most apparent.

No doubt it will be a strategy that comes with some risk. Perhaps the fact that the stallion is based in Queensland will overcome some of these, with the most obvious being the lack of stamina. Distance racing is almost non-existent in Queensland, with all but a handful of races outside of South East Queensland being run past a mile. Many country areas have dirt tracks and there is a market for sound sprinting types that can train on as older horses. This could see Aclaim well positioned for future success in these regional areas. Sadly, the horses in country Queensland are often cast offs from the city, so Aclaim would have to have his share of good runners in the major centres to get this opportunity. Stallions like Sequalo and Lion Hunter certainly had large numbers of winners and there was a significant number of these in the country regions.

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o doubt the success of Aclaim in Australia will depend on his success with mares carrying Danehill in their pedigree. While Queensland has had its fair share of Danehill line stallions over the years, Lion Hunter was the one who made the biggest mark. As we see Danehill through the rather unusual son in Danroad, it perhaps opens up a lot more options than had he been found through a more dominant influence. It is always best to err on the side of caution, and I would recommend looking for Danehill to appear at least through grandsons rather than through daughters of his sons. That still leaves the way open for a host of mares including many of the Danehill line stallions that have stood in Queensland over the years including Rothesay, Jet Spur, Holy Roman Emperor, Golden Archer, Ferocity and Excites just to name a few. The biggest word of caution with the stallion remains with the likely need to introduce stamina lines into the pedigrees of his progeny, and his long-term commercial success may well depend on this.

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claim represents an amazing part of history with Canning Downs returning, albeit indirectly, to the role of providing stallions for Queensland breeders. If Aclaim can match some of the Barnes’ past success that we have documented in our pages, then the sky will be the limit for this exciting prospect. It has also been some time since we have seen the shuttle stallions landing in Queensland and together these factors could see a new appreciation for Queensland bred horses from our Southern counterparts.

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Aclaim has relatively little inbreeding (4.69%) especially for a stallion prospect. Simply put, the more ancestors in a pedigree, the more variables in the genes being passed to their progeny. However, we see plenty of good stallions with little inbreeding and his pedigree represents an interesting and well-balanced mix. We see multiple lines of Northern Dancer which is no closer than the fifth generation, and importantly through both sire lines. We see Natalma and Buckpasser duplicated but the other more interesting cross is that of Sheshoon. He was a multiple G1 winner and important stallion siring the champion, Sassafras. Sheshoon is out of the mare Noorani who also produced the top racehorse and sire Charlottesville who we see in pedigrees of stallions like General Nediym and Montjeu.

DELAWARE

FRANKEL IN VICTORIA

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elaware stands at Woodside Park in Victoria and becomes the first son of the remarkable Frankel to go to stud in Australia. That alone should ensure some interest in his progeny as his sire continues on from his brilliant racetrack career to an outstanding stud career.

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e cannot even touch on the prospects of Delaware without mentioning Frankel, the unbeaten British champion rated by many as the world’s greatest racehorse. Of course Australian’s query this assessment with our own Black Caviar appearing at Royal Ascot at the same time as Frankel. Frankel won fourteen starts with an amazing record of ten of these being Group 1 races. In fact, his last nine wins were at the highest level and included races like the Juddmonte International, Queen Anne, Queen Elizabeth and 2000 Guineas. He won from a mile to 2000 metres which is a little unusual in the UK and means that he did not run in races like

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the Derby or venture to Europe for the Arc de Triomphe. He was the highest rated Timeform horse in history, and currently stands for a fee of £200,000 at Juddmonte Stud. Frankel has sired over 70 stakes winners including international stars like Cracksman, Adaya, Nashwa, Alpinista and Inspiral. In Australia he is already known for his runners like Hungry Heart, Converge, Miss Fabulass and Rostropovich. We perhaps should also mention that a three quarter brother to Frankel in Bullet Train stood in Australia for five seasons with only limited success.

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elaware started his racing career as a 2yo in France, finishing fourth beaten a little over four lengths in a maiden over 1200m at Maisons-Laffitte. Two weeks later he broke his maiden with an impressive two length win over the same distance at Deauville. Stepping up to the 1400m of the Group 3 Prix La Rochette at Longchamp, Delaware finished fifth in a blanket finish less than two lengths from the winner, The Black Album. He started favourite in the Listed Criterium De Lyon at Lyon Parilly but was a well beaten fifth behind Certain Lad. Back over 1300m at Deauville, Delaware finished his 2yo season with a close second to Shaman before heading for a spell.

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s a 3yo, Delaware again raced in France but only ever started over a mile. He was placed in three straight runs before winning the Listed Prix de Tourgeville at Deauville beating Dan by three lengths. Next up it was another victory in the Group 3 Prix Daphnis at the same track beating another oddly named runner in Dave by an impressive four lengths. He then stepped up to the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp but found the class too strong finishing ninth behind Circus Maximus, a son of Galileo who is now at stud in NZ. The colt had been bred by Juddmonte Farm and he was sent to the US to race the following season. His first attempt in that country saw him run eighth, beaten only five lengths on the turf at Belmont over 7 furlongs. Delaware then finished a good second over the same course and distance before starting favourite in the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes at Woodbine in Canada over a mile, again on turf. He finished a disappointing fifth behind March To The Arch, a son of Arch out of a German mare again underlining the importance of breeding in that country. After two more unplaced runs, Delaware broke through over a mile on grass in the Listed Danger's Hour Stakes at Delaware beating Rinaldi

by Posse. He then finished third to that horse, beaten only three quarters of a length in the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple Stakes at Saratoga. He then changed stables for his 2022 campaign that saw him run in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile Stakes at Santa Anita behind Count Again by Awesome Again. His last start before coming to Australia was on 1 May 2022 in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile Stakes, beaten five and a half lengths in finishing tenth.

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elaware is certainly not the best racehorse among our Freshman stallions, but he was also no slouch. His 2 and 3yo performances in France were top quality and we often underestimate the quality of US turf racing. We need to also note that it does not suit all horses, as the US turf tracks are usually inside the main tracks, resulting in small turning courses that can be difficult for many. At the end of the day, racing performance plays no factors in stud success apart from in opportunity. This can also be a double-edged sword in that racing performance can lead to unsuitable mares going to a stallion on a preconception that their progeny will replicate their own racing patterns.

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elaware is out of an Oasis Dream mare called Zatsfine who won one of her six starts in France. Interestingly she did not start past 7 furlongs, the distance TURF MONTHLY 29

at which she won as a 3yo. Zatsfine has also produced the stakes winning filly, Environs by Dansili who won three of her eight starts in France and US. Her biggest win came in the Listed Prix de Bagatelle at Maisons-Laffitte over a mile as a 3yo. Her dam was Binche by Woodman who was an outstanding broodmare producing five stakes winners including the Grade 1 Diane Stakes winner at Saratoga in Proviso

by Dansili. She also produced Byword by Peintre Celebre who was the Champion Older Miler in France and winner of the Group 1 Prince of Wales’ Stakes at Royal Ascot. Perhaps the most interesting in terms of our interest in Delaware though are the full brothers by Frankel in Baratti and Finche. Baratti is a highly promising type having run second in the Group 1 Grand Prix at Saint-Cloud in July 2022.

Finche is much better known to Australian readers having arrived in Australia in September 2018. He had won three races in France before coming here including the Group 2 Grand Prix de Maisons-Laffitte and Group 3 Prix de Reux. At his first run in Australia he was third in the Geelong Cup before going on to run fourth in the Melbourne Cup behind Cross Counter. After a long spell Finche returned to run fifth in the Chelmsford at Randwick before winning the Group 2 Kingston Town over 2000m. In Melbourne he was a close second to Kings Will Dream in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes before a close fifth behind Mer De Glace in the Caulfield Cup. Finche then ran seventh behind Vow And Declare in the Melbourne Cup beaten less than a length and a half. Finche returned again the following Spring running third in both the Chelmsford behind Mister Sea Wolf and the Turnbull behind Verry Elleegant. A fifth behind that champion mare in the Caulfield Cup followed with his last start being fittingly in the Melbourne Cup. In 2020 he ran ninth behind Twilight Payment but was far from disgraced finishing a little over 4.5 lengths from the winner. Binche interestingly is a half-sister to Foreign Language TURF MONTHLY 30

by Distant View who is the granddam of Desert Crown by Nathaniel who won this year’s Epsom Derby.

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he family is an important one tracing to the original Bruce Lowe number 1 family. There have been many branches of this family over the years, and it is interesting to note that one of the recent stars of this branch was a horse called Horse Chestnut who was a star in South Africa winning their Triple Crown, Champion 3yo and Horse of the Year for the 1998/99 season. He was to stand at stud at the historic Claiborne Stud in Kentucky for a decade before returning to his native South Africa to end his career, passing away in 2015. An interesting feature of the pedigree of Delaware is the list of stallions in his female line. We see horses like Nijinksy, Klairon, Mossborough, Precipitation and Hyperion all of which have had great success in Australia. It is the pedigree of Delaware though that is the key to his success or otherwise. We cannot ignore the close inbreeding with Danzig, Rainbow Quest, Northern Dancer, and Mr Prospector all duplicated within five generations. All are notably through same sex duplications, but it does not seem to have negatively impacted this particular family with horses like Finche showing similar close inbreeding. We often see that patterns like this repeat within families and there are lots of instances of families having greater success with one type of pedigree than another. Overall though it is not unsurprising that most families sit in a far more moderate level of inbreeding. The question is as to how this will impact the prospects of his progeny.

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he first key factor to be considered is the presence of Danehill in the pedigree of Frankel and Delaware. We see that legendary stallion appear through a daughter in Kind, and naturally there will be a temptation to breed to that sexbalanced cross. It will certainly have attractions, but the best lessons are often ones from the past, and in this case the lessons of Frankel should be noted. If we look at the pedigree of some of his best progeny like Hungry Heart and Cracksman, we do not see the presence of Danehill through their dams. Instead we see the presence of a duplication of Danzig, the sire of Danehill and we see those duplications being pushed back to the fourth and fifth generations. The lesson that I suggest should be taken from this is to look at pushing the presence of Danehill back to at least similar positions in pedigrees. This would mean looking at mares by the grandsons and great grandsons of the stallion, and fortunately we have lots of these like Snitzel, Not A Single Doubt, Smart Missile, Starspangledbanner, Your Song and a host of emerging stallions. Another of the key points to be taken from some of Frankel’s best progeny lies in his sireline. He is a son of the great Galileo by Sadler’s Wells.

More recently in Australia it is the Sadler’s Wells line through High Chaparral that has been more successful. Nevertheless, we see that Sadler’s Wells is a son of Fairy Bridge, a daughter of Special. Frankel has had good success with daughters of Pivotal, a stallion we do not see all that often in Australia. Pivotal is a grandson of Nureyev who we see is a son of Special. In Australasia we see Nureyev regularly in pedigrees especially through Zabeel, and the likes of Thorn Park and Starcraft. The presence of Nureyev in a pedigree may well be an interesting factor in the future of Delaware and of course the great Lonhro is a wonderful source of these lines.

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t the other end of the spectrum, there are not that many stallions that represent an outcross to the pedigree. One interesting stallion who may have suitable daughters is one called Ilovethiscity who might be one of our most underrated stallions. His best daughter was El Dorado Dreaming who was out of a Zabeel mare, and mares like this would seem to be ideal types for Delaware. Written Tycoon is TURF MONTHLY 31

perhaps the most high-profile of stallions that sit in this range. His daughters are a little of a mixed bag as the stallion started at such a moderate level. Nevertheless, these mares would look to be suitable in many cases with this stallion, especially bringing in such strong colonial lines. Delaware raced in the US and one of our highest profile shuttlers in recent years has been American Pharoah whose daughters are now getting to a stage that some will be heading to stud. Again this could be an interesting match with Delaware.

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e have mentioned the mare, Special and Sadler’s Wells but perhaps this stallion in particular needs a little closer look in terms of Delaware. We see him often through his grandsons in So You Think and Dundeel who both offer interesting matings through their daughters. So You Think brings in a line of Nijinsky as well and he is a stallion that we have mentioned who appears in the tail female line of the stallion. When we mention Nijinsky, the may be no better source of that stallion in Australia than Bel Esprit who has had great success in Victoria in particular. It would be quite fitting to see this stallion who was the sire of Black Caviar have success with a son of the other great unbeaten star of the time in Frankel. Returning to Sadler’s Wells we see that Dundeel brings in a line of Zabeel who we have noted through the presence of Nureyev. This brings us to the mare Special who we see prominently in the pedigree of Encosta De Lago and no doubt this line would be of interest. He can be found especially through his son Northern Meteor and more recently his son Zoustar and again these are lines that may suit the stallion. Another interesting line of Sadler’s Wells may prove to be the stallion Flying Artie who again is getting to the stage of his career when his daughters will be attempting to make their name in the breeding barn.

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wo lines though that deserve a special mention to be wary of though I think are Woodman and Blushing Groom. Both have been wonderful stallions, but both have perhaps not been at their best under local conditions. A stallion like More Than Ready has had great success in Australia but sending his daughters to Delaware may bring in another line of Woodman that might not be the most successful strategy. Blushing Groom represents a very different prospect especially as the likes of Shamardal, who is a son of Giant’s Causeway with Blushing Groom as his damsire, has had significant success with Frankel. They key to success with the presence of Blushing Groom will be again to push that stallion further back in the pedigree which is where he is commonly placed in the modern era. A stallion like Street Boss who sees Blushing Groom in his tail female line may well be placed to revitalise this great influence locally.

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elaware is a bit of an enigma in our list of Freshman stallions for the season. His race performance and direct female family probably place him at the lower end of those standing for the first time. With him being the first son of Frankel at stud locally, it certainly offers something different for breeders, as does a distinct stamina feel to his pedigree. Victoria is no doubt much better placed to take advantage of this stallion, although clearly his own family and performance suggest that there is enough speed to make him a versatile option for the early 2yo breeders. Delaware is the type of stallion that has plenty of challenges to overcome, but he has enough positives to suggest that he will have some youngsters who will see that he finishes above a few of the more fancied stallions in the sires table in the first couple of years.

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Delaware at 16.80% represents a heavily inbred pedigree. In the fourth generation we see the duplications of Danzig and Rainbow Quest, both through same sex crosses. The presence of Rainbow Quest is certainly significant especially in Australia where his success was certainly not a shadow on his Northern Hemisphere results. His most important son here was the Woodlands stallion Quest For Fame who was rather noted as producing youngsters with bad legs. No doubt many breeders will be considering that factor when looking at breeding to Delaware. We should also note the same sex duplications of Northern Dancer and Mr Prospector. The positive here is that the limited number of ancestors would suggest that Delaware might produce consistent types, although the big question is as to whether these will be suitable in Australia.

GLENFIDDICH AN ACQUIRED TASTE

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lenfiddich is another of our Freshman sires standing at the luxurious Aquis Park Stud in Queensland. The stallion comes to the stud with a career that could have been so much better had he not had the misfortune to run into some outstanding colts at the peak of their powers. His biggest win was at Group 2 level, but he was twice placed in Group 1 races. The son of boom stallion Fastnet Rock joins an amazing roster at Aquis and it certainly makes us wonder where he fits among such an expansive group.

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he stallion had his first start in the time-honoured Maribyrnong Plate, finishing fifth behind Hard Landing. A ninth behind the good colt Hanseatic in the Merson Cooper followed before going for a spell. Resuming in the Blue Diamond Preview, Glenfiddich ran second to Hanseatic before finishing a good fourth to that same horse in the Prelude. He then failed behind Tagaloa in the Blue Diamond before heading to Adelaide to run second to Amish Boy in the Adelaide Magic Millions Classic. Back in Melbourne Glenfiddich won the Mornington Sires over 1500m at his first start past 1200m. A trip to Sydney followed which saw the colt

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finish sixth behind King’s Legacy in the Group 1 Sires Produce on a heavy track.

Glenfiddich then was a gallant second to that same horse in the Champagne Stakes having been headed in the straight by the short-priced favourite but fought back strongly to be beaten only 0.2 lengths. Glenfiddich returned as a Spring 3yo to run third in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes against the older horses beaten by Behemoth and Mr Quickie. He then impressively won the Group 2 Stutt Stakes over a mile beating Cherry Tortoni. He had only one more start in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, but injury curtailed his career leaving him with only two wins from twelve starts and a little over $400,000 in prizemoney.

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lenfiddich is a son of the champion stallion Fastnet Rock by Danehill. As we regularly mention, the closeness of Danehill in a pedigree is becoming problematic in the thoroughbred. We often forget as time goes on just how good some of these stallions were and Fastnet Rock was a quality racehorse long before we knew him as a champion sire. As a 2yo he ran fourth in the Silver Slipper, second to Dance Hero in the Skyline, second in the Pago Pago behind Genius And Evil, fourth in the Golden Slipper and third in the Sires Produce, both behind the Triple Crown winner, Dance Hero. At three in the Spring, he won the Up And Coming Stakes beating Dane Shadow, the Roman Consul beating Charge Forward, and the L’Oreal and Lexus in Melbourne. But it was as an Autumn 3yo that he truly made his mark winning the Group 1 Lightning beating Alinghi, the Oakleigh Plate beating Segments, before running second to Alinghi and Shamekha in the Newmarket and TJ Smith respectively. At stud, Fastnet Rock has been outstanding winning the Australian Champion Sires crown twice and sired over 40 individual Group 1 winners internationally. Among his best progeny have been Atlantic Jewel, First Seal, Merchant Navy, and Mosheen while at stud we have seen quality sons like Foxwedge, Rothesay, Smart Missile, and Your Song continue his legacy. One interesting point in his pedigree is that while Fastnet Rock was a speed machine, his progeny have proven their quality over a range of distances with Oaks and Derby winners numbering among his offspring.

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he dam of Glenfiddich is Nothin But A Dream, a mare by First Defence who won two races over a mile in the US. First Defence is a stallion we know little about locally, but he is a son of Unbridled’s Song out of a Seattle Slew mare. He won the Group 1 Long Branch Breeders Cup as a 3yo, while at four was to win the Group 1 Forego Stakes. He was also runner up in the Group 1 King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga twice. He originally stood at Juddmonte Farm in Kentucky but was later sent to Saudi Arabia. Glenfiddich’s second dam was the Listed winner, Darling Alice

by Northern Flagship, a son of Northern Dancer. Darling Alice won the Ellis Park Audubon Oaks but was placed at both Grade 2 and Grade 3 level and ran fourth in the Grade 1 Keeneland Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. She has produced Quiet Alice who produced four stakes winners in Venezuela, but of more interest to us is a daughter called Smokin’ Alice by Smoke Glacken who came to Australia where she has produced Eleven Eleven by Fastnet Rock who has won nine races and almost $3 million in stakes courtesy largely of two wins in the Magic Millions Cup and a win in the Magic Millions 3yo Guineas. He was also third in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup behind Apache Chase earlier this year. Darling Alice is out of Adarling by Alleged who was also a Listed winner who produced Afleetaffair, a Canadian bred son of Afleet who won the Grade 3 San Vicente and Listed Jim Hill Stakes in the US. He was to stand at stud in Queensland from 1999 but had limited opportunity producing only one stakes winner in My First Affair who won the Listed TURF MONTHLY 35

Bright Shadow Quality. More importantly is likely to be a full-sister to Afleetaffair in Gainesville who came to Australia in the early 1990’s. She produced two stakes winners in Amah Rock who won the Listed Mitchell McKenzie and Mica’s Pride who won the Group 3 Research Stakes. Mica’s Pride was to go on to produce four stakes winners including Group 1 winners Comin’ Through by Fastnet Rock who won the 2018 Doomben Cup and the champion colt, Criterion by Sebring who won the Australian Derby, Rosehill Guineas, Caulfield Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

He also ran second in the WS Cox Plate, George Ryder Stakes, Spring Champion Stakes, Australian Guineas, Caulfield Stakes, and third in the VRC Melbourne Cup, HKJC Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Hong Kong Cup, Ranvet Stakes and Canterbury Stakes all at Group 1 level. At stud he was sadly to prove infertile. Another daughter of Gainesville is Rose Of Cimmaron who produced Siege Of Quebec by Fastnet Rock who won the Group 3 Bill Ritchie and was placed in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes, and his full brother Bull Point who won the Group 3 Manfred Stakes and was placed in the Group 1 Golden Rose and Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.

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t would seem then that the family certainly has done well with Fastnet Rock under local conditions, which should make us comfortable about the US nature of the pedigree of Glenfiddich seeing as it has been proven consistently under local conditions. His pedigree sees relatively close inbreeding, but the close duplications are some that are common among pedigrees. Northern Dancer can be found through Danzig, Nijinksy, El Gran Senor and Northern Flagship. Two of these are rarely seen in local pedigrees, so we can likely introduce other lines of Northern Dancer without issue. Naturally we see the duplication of Natalma which we see in all cases with Danehill in a pedigree with another line of Northern Dancer. We also see multiple lines of her sire, Native Dancer as well as Buckpasser and his sire, Tom Fool. The importance of these is that mostly they are found in the pedigrees of Danehill and Northern Dancer who are influences that largely write their own rules in any case. On face value this would suggest that there should be a range of mares that will suit the stallion.

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ith so many statistics available for Fastnet Rock, perhaps that is a good place to start when looking at the future of Glenfiddich. Among the broodmare sires

that have had success with Fastnet Rock are stallions like Galileo, Zabeel, Stravinsky, Snippets, Woodman, Encosta De Lago and More Than Ready. We see that many of these have been based internationally or else in the Hunter Valley in NSW making it questionable as to where we will find a lot of these types of mares in Queensland.

While we are not expecting to find too many of these, we should note that these are more stamina line stallions and if nothing else, we should take away a possible need to introduce stamina into the matings for Glenfiddich. Perhaps then we should look at the most successful son of Fastnet Rock in Queensland in Rothesay. That stallion has had seven stakes winners and if we look at the broodmare sires of these, we see that they include Show A Heart, Sequalo, Dodge, Hussonet, Deputy Governor and Perugino. Largely we see that these would be considered speed sires and the difference here is that Rothesay is out of a Woodman mare, with that stallion being more of a noted stamina influence. Ideally it is likely that mares by these local Queensland stallions will suit Glenfiddich, especially if we can find additional stamina influences in their pedigrees. One of the local Queensland stamina influences was Semipalatinsk, and while his daughters are few and far between now, Real Saga was a successful stallion who features this sire in his pedigree and might well have some quality daughters that could be suited to Glenfiddich.

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wo of the names from the Rothesay list that stand out are Show A Heart and Sequalo. While Show A Heart mares continue to do well, they are becoming much harder to find. Similarly with Sequalo but importantly with that stallion we see that his influence is carrying on through his brilliant son, Spirit Of Boom. While his pedigree does feature another line of Danehill through Special Dane, it is unlikely to be too much of a troubling occurrence and this stallion may well be a good prospect for this new sire. Again, it may prove important to try and find additional stamina lines in some of these pedigrees. Overall though it would seem that Glenfiddich will suit quite a range of mares, giving him a good chance of performing at his best should he attract sufficient numbers. To increase our chances of breeding higher class horses, we can look at some of the particular influences within the stallion’s pedigree. One such influence is Twig Moss who appears not only in the pedigree of Fastnet Rock, but also in the pedigree of Mossman. Mossman stood at stud in Queensland though is becoming difficult to find in pedigrees. Perhaps a stallion called Love Conquers All might represent an interesting option for Glenfiddich. We also see the good stallion Marauding appear in the pedigree of Fastnet Rock, and this Golden Slipper winning son of Sir Tristram may be important. Owners with mares carrying Sir Tristram should certainly consider the possibility of Glenfiddich and an interesting stallion along those lines would be Dundeel who also introduces Sadler’s Wells who we saw as the sire of Galileo. Another factor that should be considered is the US influences in the pedigree. We have seen how well the family has adapted to local conditions, so we should not necessarily shy away from these overseas factors which have shown their importance. Unbridled’s Song is one such influence, although we struggle to find him in many local pedigrees. Stallions like Puissance De Lune, Frosted and American Pharoah fit the bill but are going to be hard to find in the local population. An interesting relationship in the pedigree of American Pharoah is that his grandsire, Empire Maker is closely related to First Defence. One final US influence to highlight is that of Alleged, the US bred dual Arc de Triomphe winner. He is still able to be found in pedigrees, and one interesting stallion carrying that influence is Drumbeats who stood at Lyndhurst Stud for many

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years. His pedigree shows some similarities with that of Glenfiddich and he could be another surprising prospect with his daughters. Alleged can also be found in the pedigree of The Mission who stands at Aquis Farm. His daughters are now reaching the age when they will be going to stud, and he offers another interesting mating for Glenfiddich. Not only do we see Alleged, but also More Than Ready who has been so successful with Fastnet Rock. Interestingly we see two lines of Danehill through Choisir and Redoute’s Choice which will no doubt be worth introducing at some point. On a final note, Snippets is another stallion we have mentioned who had success with Fastnet Rock. That stallion has a wonderful connection with Queensland having won the Magic Millions, and he is found through the pedigree of Snitzel, the champion son of Redoute’s Choice. He is another of the Danehill line stallions that may well mix with the Fastnet Rock line in Glenfiddich.

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t a relative budget fee, we would like to think that Glenfiddich will get good numbers of mares early in his career. While we have suggested some factors in pedigrees to look for, there appear to be a wide range of mares that have a lot to offer a mating with the stallion. Hopefully we will see that the stallion can make a name for himself in Queensland, and to reach a level above what he was able to achieve on the track.

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Glenfiddich has what we would normally consider quite a heavily inbred pedigree at 10.55%. What is interesting for many of our regular breeders is that we see the same names repeated in this pedigree as we have seen in so many before. Northern Dancer, Natalma, Buckpasser, Native Dancer and Tom Fool all appear in the pedigree of Danehill, so these influences abound in the modern thoroughbred. The real trick to Glenfiddich’s success is trying to find lines that complement these without bringing in too much inbreeding. It is always interesting to note what sons of Northern Dancer appear when that stallion is duplicated and again the pedigree of Glenfiddich would suggest that introducing different types of sons of that stallion is the strategy that has most success.

JONKER

LOCAL BLOODLINES TO THE FORE

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onker is another of the Aquis Park Freshman sires for 2022. He represents an interesting diversion from many of those we have looked at, and some incredible bloodlines that have become highly valued in Australia. Unlike many of our Freshmen, Jonker breaks one of the unwritten laws of the modern thoroughbred stallion, in that he had 30 race starts, considered too many for a stallion by many breeders. Perhaps our look at history suggests that this has been a relatively new rule as many of our star stallions of the past were required to prove themselves on the track before going to stud. It seems an odd reflection on the past that it was once considered a sign of weakness if a stallion was retired too early. It is certainly not a criticism that we can level at Jonker, and hopefully he can produce sound types like himself which would go some way towards improving the hardiness of our local breed.

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he stallion started his career as an early 2yo on 3 December 2017 winning the Listed Max Lees Stakes at Newcastle. He then dominated the Wyong Magic Millions, winning by over four lengths and earning his trip to the Gold Coast for the main event. Jonker found the step up to the 1200m and the rise in class too much for him, and he went for a well-earned break following a disappointing run in the Magic Millions. Returning as a 3yo, Jonker struck a wet track which he never liked in the San Domenico finishing fourth. A good third in the Run To The Roses followed before he was sent for another spell after finishing fourth on a heavy track in the Roman Consul. Jonker returned in the Autumn with a good third in the Fireball before failing again on a heavy track in the Darby Munro. He beat all but the star Classique Legend in the Group 2 Arrowfield Stud Stakes at Randwick before heading to Brisbane to run a good third behind I Am Excited and Redzel in the Group 2 Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm. Jonker returned to have ten starts as a 4yo but was placed only once in the Listed Ramornie at Grafton behind Signore Fox. A change in stable to Tony Gollan in Brisbane reinvigorated the 5yo, and he started off his campaign by winning the Listed Keith Noud Stakes at Doomben. A narrow second in the Group 3 George Moore Stakes saw him head to the Gold Coast to win the million-dollar Magic Millions Sprint. Another let up saw him return to run third in the Group 1 Galaxy behind Eduardo at Rosehill before he went for another short spell. Back in Brisbane he was narrowly beaten in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup behind Vega One. Jonker then was taken to Melbourne for the Spring where he ran seventh in the Group 2 Bobbie Lewis. A trip to Sydney again saw him a little disappointing in running sixth in the Premiere Stakes behind Masked Crusader. Returning to Melbourne, Jonker stepped up for his greatest moment by winning the Group 1 Manikato at Moonee Valley beating Bella Nipotina and Ingratiating. He returned in the Autumn to finish well beaten in both the Oakleigh Plate and William Reid before retiring to stud.

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onker is a son of Spirit Of Boom, the wonderful Queensland stallion who seems somewhat underappreciated in the south. Nonetheless, Spirit Of Boom

by Sequalo has sired almost twenty stakes winners although the majority of these are at Listed level. Only Jonker, Spirit Of Boom and Boomsara have won at Group level in Australia, with Jonker being the only Group 1 winner. Spirit of Boom is a fixture among the top 20 stallions Australia wide and among the highest in respect of winners. Notably, the Eureka bred stallion sees a son of Danehill in his female line through the sub-fertile Special Dane and the old stalwart Semipalatinsk as his grand damsire. The dam of Jonker is Hearts and Arrows by Kempinsky, another son of Danehill. She had won her first two starts at Cranbourne before failing in the Group 3 Auraria Stakes at Morphettville and retiring shortly after. She was a halfsister to the Group 3 winning Fair Trade by Danewin and Fiscal Fantasy by Skilled.

Their dam was Villa Igea by the underrated sire Papal Power, a US bred stallion by Miswaki. She was a half-sister to Catecombe who was the dam of Impaler by Dracula who won 11 races including the Group 2 Hobartville and Challenge Stakes. In turn, their dam was Wycombe by Imposing who was a daughter of Cotehele House, the dam of Danewin and Commands. She was herself out of the great mare Eight Carat

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making her a half sister to the likes of Octagonal, Mouawad and Kapstaad. No doubt the presence of these great horses will feature in his future at stud.

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ne of the great strengths of Jonker as a stud prospect is likely his sire line which offers the wonderful line that traces to the legendary Hyperion who has such an impact here through Star Kingdom in particular. The other key feature as mentioned is likely to be his female line which has produced top stallions like Danewin and Commands in recent times. It is interesting to reflect where we put Octagonal in this mix as he was an outstanding racehorse, but overall something of a disappointment at stud outside of his champion son, Lonhro. We would suspect though that introducing lines of all of these influences, including Hyperion may well be important to the stallion’s future at stud. As we often often see, the multiple lines of Danehill become an issue of how these can be utilised. Danehill appears twice in the pedigree of Jonker through his sons Special Dane and Kempinsky.

Kempinsky may be especially significant as we see that he hails from the same female line as Jonker with Diamond Lover and Cotehele House being half-sisters.

It is also of note that we see Sir Tristram in the pedigree of Kempinsky who was the sire of Octagonal. Danehill appears in both the female line of Spirit Of Boom, and through the sire line of Jonker’s dam. This means that we do not see the stallion in the top and bottom quarters of the pedigree which might make the prospect of duplicating Danehill more appealing by introducing him through the sire line of a stallion. Again, it would seem to be more prudent to push the Danehill influence as far back in a pedigree as we can, with sons of Danehill like Lion Hunter, one of Queensland’s more recent champion stallions likely to present some issues.

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n practical terms, where does that place us when looking at what mares may suit the stallion? The presence of Semipalatinsk in his pedigree indicates that there is some stamina in his bloodlines that is not always apparent in the progeny of Spirit Of Boom, who like his sire Sequalo is often considered a source of speed.

Perhaps this will be a good balance for some of the speedier mares that breeders in Queensland in particular have in large numbers. This is not to suggest that Jonker

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is likely to throw classic types, just that perhaps he offers less of a risk of breeding to additional speed lines. We have mentioned the importance of Eight Carat in the tail line of Jonker, and this offers appeal to breeders. No doubt mares by those stallions we have mentioned will have appeal with Jonker, with Lonhro looking like he could be the standout. We can only hope that some breeders will find daughters of that stallion to send to Jonker, and it is almost certain that the backing of Aquis will assist in sourcing at least some of these mares. Lonhro’s son Pierro offers another interesting mating in that his daughters will bring in a sex-balanced cross of Miswaki, a son of Mr Prospector whose influence is probably underestimated in Australia. Miswaki was the sire of Japan Cup winner, Marvelous Crown, top Australian stallion, Umatilla and of course Arc de Triomphe winning mare, Urban Sea who went on to produce Galileo and Sea The Stars. This presence of Miswaki might be a real plus for Jonker and Galileo could be a key. This son of Sadler’s Wells will introduce stamina into matings and we could see some from these types of mares extend out to a mile. The challenge is standing this stallion in Queensland when access to this type of mare is far more prevalent in the Southern States. This will represent a real challenge for the stud who must entice a different quality of mare than is readily available in the local population to the stallion.

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hen we look at some of the Queensland based stallions, there are good options for Jonker. Better Than Ready is one, although we have mentioned something of a risk in terms of a lack of stamina in some of the locals. Some of the daughters of Better Than Ready may well be examples of this. Court Command was a stallion who stood locally and, as a son of Commands, has plenty to offer even if few of his daughters remain active breeders. Drumbeats, Tycoon Ruler, Falvelon, Golden Archer, Jabali, Red Element and Red Dazzler are among a host of locals that could suit the stallion through their daughters. This type of mare may well prove to be the make or break of the stallion under local conditions and the fact that there are so many locally bred stallions that look suited is a positive sign.

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eal Saga and Show A Heart were stalwarts at Glenlogan for many years and have attraction with Jonker. These could probably be considered among the sires of the more commercial of the locally bred mares. These will be readily available and may well be important to the future of Jonker. In the case of Real Saga we see a duplication of Semipalatinsk which may appeal to the local market. Show A Heart was perhaps the most important local stallion of his era, and his daughters could easily be a key to Jonker. Importantly Show A Heart daughters will bring in a sexbalanced cross of Bletchingly and, as one of the few remaining Star Kingdom line stallions, offers a real opportunity for lovers of that line. The class of the stallion may also see these take the step up from Queensland racing to that in the southern capitals.

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e should make special mention of some of the stallions standing at Aquis Park, although many are only seeing some of their oldest daughters now entering stud. Spill The Beans who, as a grandson of Redoute’s Choice, brings in a line of Bletchingly and is one of those former Aquis stallions whose daughters may well suit Jonker. His progeny certainly outperformed the opportunity that the stallion got and hopefully his daughters can ensure the newcomer to Aquis can match his predecessor. Duporth is another of the Aquis stallions who brings in a line of Bletchingly and there are quite a few of his daughters at stud. Perhaps the TURF MONTHLY 43

most exciting long-term option is Pierata whose oldest progeny are now yearlings.

As a son of Pierro, he will offer some interesting bloodlines for those breeders who are patient.

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onker is an exciting prospect, but his biggest challenge will be outside of the breeding barn most likely. He has a number of factors against him in terms of market perception that might limit his opportunity. We can never stress enough the importance of simple factors like mare numbers in the success or failure of a stallion. There is probably little doubt that Jonker will produce good bread and butter performers in the local market, and these alone will hopefully ensure a good future. But the real success would lie in the stallion producing youngsters that can make it to the top outside of Queensland. Jonker offers a pedigree and performance that could see him take the step to that next level, but it will be a hard road in attracting the types of mares that would make this a reality. Nevertheless, Jonker is going to make an impression on the local bloodstock, and hopefully showcase the strengths of the colonial lines to the broader racing population.

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Jonker at 4.69% is a type of mating that we do not see very often in the modern pedigree, especially when Danehill is present. The only duplication within six generations is that of Danehill who appears through his sons Special Dane and Kempinsky, two unlikely characters to say the least. Importantly this is likely to open up a lot of options for breeding especially if we find that duplicating different types of Danehill sons is important in the same way that it was in the case of Northern Dancer. Special Dane won the CF Orr and Sandown Guineas while being runner up in the Magic Millions.

Kempinsky on the other hand won the AAMI Vase and was runner up in the VRC Derby. If looking at introducing another line of Danehill, perhaps breeders should look closely as to the type of son that they are bringing in.

WOTAN - 1936 MELBOURNE CUP Sometimes when researching articles for the magazine you come across something that stands out. We take form guides for granted these days, but they were not always available in yesteryear. Great papers like The Sportsman and The Sporting Globe filled this need. Even then, there are things that just are special, and the following is one of those for me.

It is an extract from a Melbourne Cup Supplement in the Perth Daily News on Monday 31 October 1936 and written by the racing analyst that went by the name of Trenton. He did quite a remarkable job in the days before videos or race footage were available. His assessment of eventual winner, the 100/1 chance Wotan might not have been his finest moment, but then again he was in good company. A field of 20 lined up for the Cup with Talking, the VRC Derby winner the hot fancy at 3/1. I have included the prices against each of the runners together with their finishing positions. Wotan settled last in the race, a long way behind the tearaway leader, Young Crusader who at one stage was 20 lengths clear of the second horse. No-one could argue that Wotan’s was a lucky win though. He gave every runner a start and a beating, and did it in a time of 3.21.25 which was not only a Melbourne Cup record, but an Australasian record for the trip. It stood as a race record until another outsider in Rimfire beat it in 1948. Wotan was bred in NZ by three Smith brothers who owned dairy farms in the Mangaweka area of the North Island. They had previously owned Gaine Carrington which they leased to Melbourne bookmaker, Mr JA Phillips. who won the 1933 Caulfield Cup and dead heated for third in the Melbourne Cup of that year behind Hall Mark. It had been their intention to lease Wotan but they could not find anyone interested. Instead, they sent him to Australia as a 3yo with a view to running in the AJC Derby. The colt did not enjoy the sea voyage and his form was poor. He was sent back to NZ and did little upon return.

At his last race at three, he finished unplaced in a hack race at Wellington.

Again, the Smith brothers tried to find someone to take the horse but had no success. They had entered him for the Melbourne Cup and thought about sending him to Melbourne with a team taken by leading NZ trainer, Jack Fryer but decided it would be a waste of time and money and left Wotan behind. At his first start as a 4yo, the colt was second in a hack at Wanganui, and the following day won a similar race. The brothers had a change of heart, and immediately booked Wotan on board the luxury liner, Mariposa. Wotan found the trip much smoother and arrived fit and healthy. He was to have only one run in Australia prior to the 1936 Melbourne Cup, running ninth in the Cox Plate behind Young Idea who was to go on to win that race again the following year. Silver Standard was to run second to Wotan, marking a remarkable year for the horse who had also ran second in the Doomben Cup, Metropolitan and Caulfield Cup. Balkan Prince who was a champion WA galloper was third.

SILVER RING 9.4 50/1 13 Silver Ring's effort in the weight for age race on Saturday was not that of a Cup winner.

SPORTING BLOOD, 9.0 50/1 12 Sporting Blood ran a fair race in last year's Melbourne Cup. While he is up to weight, I fancy he has his share of poundage, and would sooner select others who have less weight and credentials that are better.

Sporting Blood is a staying type, but not the brilliant stayer. Sporting Blood's run on Saturday was not very encouraging. Last for most of the way he beat only one home. I do not think he can win the Cup on that form.

ORO, 8.10 25/1 9 Oro has won at a mile and five furlongs in a Metropolitan Handicap, on a protest for interference. He has already had two tries at Melbourne Cups, and while his form is passably good, there are others who impress me more. He seems to have run his best races at and about a mile and TURF MONTHLY 46

a half, but the extra distance has appeared beyond him. Oro displayed customary gameness in his outing on Saturday. He made a good deal of the pace and hung on well.

ALLUNGA, 8.10 5/1 15 Allunga was the dual St. Leger winner of last season, after running a dead-heat for first in the AJC Derby, and running second, after meeting with interference, in the Victoria Derby. Allunga has a fourth at two and a quarter miles in the Australian Cup to his credit, and at 8.10 he is several pounds better off than in that start, on a weight-for-age reckoning.

Allunga's good second in the Mackinnon Stakes on Saturday has caused him to come into limelight for the Cup in which he has 4lb under the scale. He finished on in the Stakes and was beaten by only half a head.

Allunga was distinctly sore when doing his preliminary for the last. Cup and that probably mitigated against his doing better. He has come on at the right end of his preparation this time and he looks like being very hard to defeat tomorrow SARCHERIE, 8.7 10/1 10 This is one of the best mares in recent seasons. Sarcherie has twice run second in Melbourne Cups, the second time with 7.13. While she has a lot more weight this time, her form since last year has been good, including weight-for-age successes. Sarcherie did not show up in the Hotham Handicap as well as her admirers would have liked, but the mare ran a stayer's race. She was a good way back and finished seventh.

She can stay and is fit, and she will have as many admirers as last year.

DONASTER, 8.7 25/1 11 Donaster was thought to have a chance in the Caulfield Cup, but he did not appear to have been patiently ridden in that event, and did not take any part in the finish after being third half a mile from home. In the. weight-for-age race on Saturday Donaster ran a good fourth. However, the extra distance hardly will favor him. He has 4lb less in the two-miler.

QUEEN OF SONG, 8.6 33/1 4 This New Zealand-bred mare finished a long way back in the Metropolitan won by Young Crusader, from Silver Standard, but she has come into more favorable light through her third, finishing on, from a good way back in the Moonee Valley Cup. On Saturday she ran a good race in the Mackinnon Stakes. She was up with the leaders until within a furlong from home, which was a splendid effort for a staying mare.

Queen of Song will probably not be ridden the same way in the Cup, for over a longer journey she will have time to find her feet, and there will not be the same need for her jockey to make so much use of her. She has 7lb less in the Cup, and meets her Stakes rivals, Oro excepting, on better terms in the Cup. The mare looks a placegetter to my mind.

AMALIA, 8.6 14/1 5 South Australia's hope, Amalia, has an Australian Cup to her credit, and as such, she enters calculations. Her Moonee Valley Gold Cup run was disappointing, but Flemington suits a stayer of her type better than the Moonee Valley track, and so will the extra three and a half furlongs.

She ran well in the Stand Handicap at Flemington at one and a quarter miles recently. Amalia did not start on Saturday. She is such a good handicapper that a place would not surprise.

HOT SHOT, 8.2 40/1 17 Hot Shot is not the boom for the Cup this year that he was last year. His finishing effort in the Caulfield Cup last year gave him a great chance at Flemington, but he disappointed in a race that was run to suit a stayer of his type. Hot Shot ran a fair race in the Hotham Handicap, but to hold a good chance in the Cup he would have needed to do better.

BUSTARD, 8.1 33/1 8 Good though his performances have been at a middle distance, I do not think Bustard will be too happy at two miles. He has a third in a Williamstown Cup to his credit, but the two miles might be his bogey.

He ran unplaced in the last Australian Cup as a three-year-old, with

7.7. Bustard came from a long way back in the Hotham Handicap and finished third to Balkan Prince and Young Crusader. He has 6lb less in the Cup, and while he has been finishing on in his races I doubt his ability at two miles, though he is staying better than ever.

BALKAN PRINCE, 8.0 15/1 3 Much as all true West Australians would like to see Balkan Prince win the Melbourne Cup and be the second West Australian-owned horse to do so — Blue Spec in 1905 was the other — I do not consider he will handle the two miles as well as others, in this event. He has won at a mile and a half, while his Moonee Valley Cup effort was good, though he was unlucky. He failed in the two miles of the last Perth Cup — and this company is decidedly more select. Balkan Prince brilliantly won the Hotham Handicap on Saturday, coming at the right end to score from Young Crusader and Bustard. He meets them both 4lb worse in the twomiler.

BREAK UP, 8.0 50/1 18 Break Up is having his first start in the Melbourne Cup, and will be carrying the famous Phar Lap colors — but so far the six-year-old has shown himself no Phar Lap. He ran well forward in the Moonee Valley Cup, and the recent rains have tendered to make him come into the market for that reason, for he is good on a soft track. He ran sixth in a Sydney Cup at two miles, but can hardly be fancied. Break Up was a disappointment in the Hotham Handicap, and does not impress me for the Cup. DARK CHIEF, 7.13 50/1 19 Dark Chief won the Moonee Valley Cup nicely, and has also a second in a Sydney Cup, which was slowly run. Dark Chief was prominent in the chase after Young Crusader in the straight, he finished fifth. Dark Chief is fit for his task tomorrow. He carried 2lb over his Cup impost on Saturday.

WOTAN, 7.11 100/1 1 Form not encouraging.

YOUNG CRUSADER, 7.9 10/1 16 Many people will back this fellow on the strength of his runaway win in the Metropolitan Handicap, in which he led for the greater part of the way and beat Silver Standard (afterwards runner-up in the Caulfield Cup) by five lengths. Young Crusader all but led all the way in the

Hotham Handicap, in which Balkan Prince beat him, but he meets the West Australian horse 4lb better tomorrow. A good place chance.

SILVER STANDARD, 7.5 7/1 2 One of the unlucky gallopers of the spring meetings, Silver Standard is well in with 7.8 — a nice impost for a four-year-old. Silver Standard was a good second in a fast-run Caulfield Cup, and should run well again tomorrow. He is one of the best-fancied gallopers in the race. He might do better in the Cup than Young Crusader, who beat him in the Metrop.

Meets Young Crusader 7lb better, and is bred to stay. Hard to beat.

DESERT CHIEF, 7.7 7/1 14 Desert Chief, who is closely related to Gold Rod, did not take his place in any event on Saturday, but since running fifth in the Caulfield Cup he has done well on the training tracks. By Chief Ruler, he does not inspire confidence from a pedigree viewpoint, though a son of Chief Ruler, in Admiral Drake, has won at two miles. Desert Chief came home well at Caulfield, and on that running the extra journey might not be against him. A four-year-old, with only 7.7, must be respected if he can stay the journey, TALKING, 7.6 3/1 7 A good three-year-old must be considered in the Melbourne Cup — 22 have won the race since 1861 — and there is no doubt about this fellow being a good three-year-old. Talking's AJC Derby win and his third in the Caulfield Cup were both good efforts. He outstayed the opposition at Randwick and but for running greenly at Caulfield would have been closer than third. He has weight-for-age in the Cup, but that is not against him. Came from behind and outclassed his Derby rivals in the style of a brilliant colt. The Derby proved his manageability in a field and he looks the outstanding horse of the Cup. He is my selection.

MALA, 7.4 8/1 6 Talking has proved his master in two Derbies, and I do not expect the position to be any different in the Cup, even though Mala is 2lb better off than the Derbies' winner.

ARABIAN KNIGHT, 7.1 Scratched Arabian Knight's form has not been encouraging, HILLTOP, 6.7 25/1 20 Not fancied.

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