Turf Monthly October 2022

monthly

TURF

October 2022

THIS MONTH ALISTER - A STAR OF THE PAST FIRST SEASON SIRES FOR 2022

Editor’s Letter Where is the year going as we settle down into the heart of the Spring Carnival in October? The breeding season is in full swing, and I am excited about the prospects of some of the new stallions. We are about to see some of the new 2yo’s hit the track, and with them will rest the hopes of plenty of Freshman sires from their season. If history is a marker, then we will be lucky to see two or three of the new boys being commercially viable within the next decade despite the amazing depth of quality. One word missing there was diversity, and we struggle with introducing new lines into our bloodstock year after year. This is not a new phenomenon and has been happening since thoroughbred breeding began. Even though coverings for stallions have increased dramatically over the past twenty years, it seems that every ten or so years there comes along a stallion that will dominate the breed.

From Danehill to Sir Tristram, Bletchingly to Star Kingdom, Delville Wood to Heroic and so the pattern repeats. The coming 2yo season will see one of the most interesting with some top-notch prospects having their first runners hitting the track. Who can forget the exciting The Autumn Sun from our own ranks? He is rivalled in the local market by Trapeze Artist who was another of our top line performers. We also have the remarkable Justify having runners, and we watch this US shuttle stallion with probably more interest than any others from that country for many years. We can add a son of Written Tycoon in Written By, and a son of Dark Angel in Harry Angel for the Darley group.

Coolmore has the well-performed son of Deep Impact in Saxon Warrior. Plenty of others will also spark interest with even Encryption in Queensland looking to stamp his future within that State. While history is remarkable, sometimes the anticipation of the future is what makes the thoroughbred industry stand out.

CONTENTS 4

Cox Plate Moments

5

Alister - A Forgotten Star

14

Freshman Sires 2022

15

Palace Pier

20

Portland Sky

26

Profiteer

30

Stay Inside

34

Tiger Of Malay

40

Victor Ludorum

44

Wild Ruler

COVER IMAGE Portland Sky

Until next month

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

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COX PLATE MOMENTS ALISTER - A 3YO STAR

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he thoroughbred is an amazing creature. Its history also reflects the living history of society throughout the years. One such example is this month’s edition of TURF MONTHLY. Our Freshman Sires series this month talks of a new stallion in Tiger Of Malay. His family traces to a mare called Dark Queen who was the dam of that star galloper, Taj Rossi. With Spring in the air, we were on the lookout for a story that would fit well with our favourite part of the racing season. We have written about Taj Rossi in previous editions but another interesting part of Tiger Of Malay’s pedigree is that we see another wonderful galloper in Red Anchor appear in his tail female line. These two gallopers must rate among the best 3yo’s we have seen in Australia, and they share a pretty rare feat in that they both won the Cox Plate and VRC Derby in the same season. The list of horses that have achieved that is very small including only these two, the legendary Manfred, Daryl’s Joy and Alister. The odd one out in terms of his place in history is Alister who achieved the feat in 1950 and this offers us a unique opportunity to see if we can redress the historical neglect that this galloper has received. But not only is his a story of a great horse, it is also a story of some of the great names in racing and breeding.

Red Anchor winning the Cox Plate TURF MONTHLY 4

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lister was foaled in 1947, a son of the imported British stallion Whirlaway from a mare called New Flower by Nuffield. Everything about the colt was steeped in history. He was bred was Alfred Owen Ellison, better known as AO. Ellison had been born in Queensland on 1 January 1903, a son of a Methodist minister. He was educated at Newington College in Sydney and had a distinguished academic career culminating in graduating from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Arts (Law) with Honours in 1927. Having served as an articled clerk for Robson and Colwishaw during his studies, Ellison started his own practice, AO Ellison and Co almost immediately upon graduation. Commencing by specialising in industrial relations and occupational health and safety, the firm quickly expanded into insurance litigation and become one of the largest of its type in Sydney by the early 1930’s. Ellison enjoyed both horticulture and horses from a young age, and as his business expanded he found the income to indulge his hobbies. He started his horse breeding interests on a small seven-acre property at Wahroonga and expanded to keep some of his mares at Widden Stud. It was there that he became aware of a property for sale that was formerly known as Joe’s Paddock but had later been renamed Barramul. It had been used for horses from time to time in its history but

Daryl’s Joy

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Alister

by 1947 when purchased by Ellison it had become a 900-acre dairy farm. Ellison removed one of the ‘r’s from the name and spent around four years seeding his paddocks with rye and lucerne. He also increased his holding to some 5000-acres making it one of the country’s leading thoroughbred nurseries. Much later of course it was purchased by Gerry Harvey of Magic Millions fame where he operates his extensive thoroughbred interests. For Ellison, among the first horses born on his new property was a colt out of New Flower. The mare had been one of his first purchases for his breeding venture, and he bought her as an unraced 3yo filly in 1943 for only sixty guineas. She was a daughter of the 1938 NSW Derby winner, Nuffield.

Her first foal in Set Purpose by Veilmond had been runner up in the Breeders’ Plate.

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lister was the fourth foal of his dam and was born the same year as Ellison bought Baramul. The colt by the imported Whirlaway who stood at Widden Stud was reared at Segenhoe while Ellison was transforming his own property.

Interestingly Whirlaway was to become the first stallion since Multiform in 1905 to sire both the first and second placegetters in an AJC Derby when Rumyle ran second to Alister. Ellison sent the yearling to the Inglis sale which also saw the filly that was to be named True Course go through the ring. Alister bought 1500 guineas when purchased by trainer Snowy Wolters on behalf of Bill Balloch, a master baker from Melbourne. Balloch had been a well-known identity in Victorian trotting and was appointed a stipendiary steward when night trotting had commenced after the

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Alister on the turn Cox Plate

war. He had divested himself of all of his racing interests with his appointment, but this did not last long as he was soon back buying thoroughbreds. One of his most notable purchases had been Cragwil who was well fancied in the 1949 VRC Derby but fell around 400m from the finish. Wolters had a commission of 1000 guineas to purchase the colt. He had been about to let the colt go at 1300 guineas when Randwick trainer, Jerry Carey, who had been sitting next to him allegedly said, “If he is worth 1300 guineas, he’s worth 1500,” stiffening his resolve to get the colt. Balloch named the horse in honour of Alister Clark whose name is now synonymous with Victorian racing. Clark had been a friend of Balloch and the former chairman of the Moonee Valley Race Club. He was also one of Australia’s leading rosarians and flower lovers waited eagerly for Clark’s new roses each year. It was particularly apt given that Alister’s dam was named New Flowers.

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nterestingly, Alister is widely described as being a slow developer. Alister had six starts as a 2yo but finished in the placings only once. As a 3yo, he had only one win before the AJC Derby which was run on 30 September 1950. The Derby was worth over 8000 pounds to the winner which was double the prize from the previous year. Increased prizemoney together with a lack of any dominant 3yo colt saw eighteen runners line up for the Derby that year. The favourite was the filly True Course by Midstream who had been the dominant 2yo winning the AJC Champagne Stakes and both the VRC and AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes. Aristocrat by Le Grand Duc who had been a fast finishing fifth in the Rosehill Guineas after getting well back was second favourite. Careless, also by Midstream, was well supported and had won the Hobartville Stakes and Rosehill Guineas on heavy tracks, but many doubted his ability on top of the ground. The Victorian visitor Alister was next at

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Alister’s Cox Plate finish

7/1 and ridden by the Melbourne jockey, Reg Heather. Alister was to be the second AJC Derby winner for Heather having won on Magnificent in 1945. Heather had been apprenticed to Jack Holt and was renowned as a vigorous rider with a fierce determination to win. This attitude saw him earn the ire of stewards on more than twenty occasions. Before his win on Magnificent, Heather had sought to set himself up in Sydney but was forced to return to Melbourne when the winners were not forthcoming. The setback proved a positive for his career as he enjoyed success in his home state upon return becoming leading jockey. Among his biggest wins were the 1936 QTC Stradbroke on Capris and the controversial 1946 Caulfield Cup on Royal Gem when Bernborough was beaten. Heather was also to win the VATC Toorak Handicap seven times although one of his proudest moments was winning the VRC Sires’ Produce in front of the Queen in 1954 on Acramatis, a colt bred by his wife at the couple’s Marylands Stud. The jockey had successful ventures in America, Ceylon and India and retired from racing in May 1959 after a 28-year career. Tragically, Reg Heather was to die of a heart attack less than a year after retiring.

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crowd of 66,000 attended the AJC Derby meeting in the Spring of 1950. It was the first ever to be started from the mobile barrier stalls. Alister though showed a dislike to the stalls and lashed out resulting in him missing the start by a couple of lengths. He quickly balanced and took up a position on the rails although well back in the big field. The race was run at good tempo with Gallant Roger setting the pace.

This changed at the half-way mark, with Auld Acquaintance making a move to the front. At the 1200m, Rumyle had taken charge, and as the field fanned out on the home turn, both Alister and True Course had taken rails runs to be just behind the leader. Into the straight there looked to be lots of chances, and True Course strode out in pursuit of Rumyle stylishly only to have her run peter out. It was left to Alister to run down the leader which he did easily, winning with plenty in hand by two lengths with True Course a further half-length back in third.

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lister and True Course went to Melbourne for the Spring and were booked to fly. True Course travelled without issue, but Alister put on a display when boarding and was eventually to travel by rail and boat to meet his engagements. He was aimed at the Cox Plate in preference to the Guineas over a mile, and with good

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Alister-Clark 1925 TURF MONTHLY 9

Governor General McKell and Snowy Wolters

form and little weight was among the better chances. Alister had to contend with a 4yo stallion by the name of Delta who had won three major races in Sydney before heading to Melbourne that Spring. He had won the Chelmsford Stakes (1800m), Colin Stephens Stakes (2400m), and Randwick Plate (3200m) although he had failed in the Metropolitan. Second favourite in the race was Iron Duke who had finished fourth in the Caulfield Cup at his previous start. The race was a slowly run affair with the stayer Silver Buzz leading until the 800m when Iron Duke took over. Alister had started to move forward at this stage, while Delta who had suffered interference was back in the field. By the turn, Iron Duke was still in front, but Alister with Jack Purtell on board was continuing to make ground. Under vigorous riding from the master jockey, Alister drew ahead to win officially by a neck, although the photo suggested that the margin may have flattered the second horse. The Cox Plate, it should be noted, was only worth 1700 poumds including the trophy while the AJC Derby earned connections over 8000 pounds. A move was afoot though to increase the profile of the race, and within a decade the Cox Plate had begun a rapid rise in importance on the Australian turf.

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Balloch and Wolters

Alister sees surprisingly little inbreeding in his pedigree, but it is a great reminder that quality rather than quantity is a good strategy. The closest duplication we see lays in the fifth generation through the good stallion, Desmond who was a son of the legendary St Simon. Next is a 6mx5f cross of Ayrshire, another important stallion who is a son of the excellent Hampton. In fact, if we were to look at the pedigrees of Desmond and Ayrshire more closely, we would see that they both carry multiple lines of Voltaire. We also see multiple lines of Gallinule, another top stallion we repeatedly note appearing regularly in our best racehorses of yesteryear. The other duplication we see is that of Martagon, not a stallion we see all that often but a son of one of the best in Bend Or.

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fter the Cox Plate, Alister went on to dominate the VRC Derby as the 7/4 on favourite proving himself the best 3yo colt in Australia. There was some conjecture as to whether he was indeed the best 3yo with a special filly called True Course, who he had beaten in the AJC Derby at their only meeting, had strong following and had won the AJC and VRC Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes as a 2yo. At three she won the One Thousand Guineas, Wakeful and Oaks having been kept to her own sex. In all she was to win nine stakes races including the Coongy and Heatherlie Handicaps against the open horses. Alister went on to the Melbourne Cup starting the 3/1 favourite but failed to stay finishing eighth behind Comic Court in an upset result.

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lister never really recovered from his Cup run and many of our older readers will remember this as a constant criticism of running 3yo’s in that race. The colt was to only have one more preparation, returning to the track in late January winning handicap races at Moonee Valley and Caulfield carrying big weights. He was narrowly beaten by Midway in the St Leger where Heather protested unsuccessfully against interference. The race had been run at a farcical pace with the first mile taking well over two minutes. Taken to Sydney for the AJC St Leger, Heather took the colt to the front but failed to see out the trip, weakening to finish third behind Aristocrat and Midway. Alister was favouring his near foreleg after the run and was immediately scratched from the Sydney Cup. He was soon retired to stud where he stood initially at Alex Hunter’s Northwood Stud at Seymour for 200 guineas. Sadly, he was to prove a failure at stud ending our rich history that Alister brings to the Spring heritage.

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Baramul Stud

PALACE PIER PORTLAND SKY PROFITEER STAY INSIDE TIGER OF MALAY VICTOR LUDORUM WILD RULER

PALACE PIER

ANOTHER DARLEY STAR

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alace Pier joins the Darley roster this season as another high profile prospect who deserves his place among the best the thoroughbred world has to offer.

The quality of the Darley bloodstock is outstanding but overseas success has never been a measure to their suitability in Australia. In fact, I recall writing a piece some years back that suggested that shuttle stallions who were close to the top of the UK first season sire list were unlikely to figure in the top 10 in Australia at the same stage. Whether this still holds true is another question. None of this detracts from the potential of Palace Pier. A world champion miler, a five time Group 1 winner, unbeaten as a 2yo and perhaps the best son of a top stallion in Kingman; what is there not to get excited about on face value? But as we all know, racetrack performance is only one part of the puzzle, so what does Palace Pier have to offer Australian breeders?

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he colt won two races at two, in a maiden and a novice at Sandown Park both over 1400m. He returned as a 3yo on 6 June 2020 winning another minor race on the all-weather surface at Newcastle over a mile. It was then a huge step up in class for the colt as he took on the best in the Group 1 St James Palace. He beat the hot fancy Pinatubo who is also travelling to Australia this season by a length to stamp his quality. Taken to France in August, Palace Pier won the Group 1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois again over a mile. Returning to the UK for the open Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, he finished a creditable third behind The Revenant and Roseman. He started the 11/8 on favourite but lost a plate during the running to give some excuse for his first defeat. After a spell, the lightly raced 4yo returned to win the Group 2 Bet 365 Mile at Sandown by a stunning eight lengths. Palace Pier then won the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot, both times starting in the red. After a short break it was back to France for the Group 1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois, winning this time by only a neck from Poetic Flare. He was to have his last start in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October.

Again starting at odds-on, he tried gamely to fail by a neck to overhaul Baaeed, the unbeaten son of Sea The Stars who recently won his sixth straight Group 1 in the Juddmonte International by an impressive 6.5 lengths. Clearly Palace Pier was an outstanding galloper, and his successes saw him crowned the Champion miler.

An interesting observation from his career is that he only ever started at 1400 and 1600m. His two starts at 1400m were as a 2yo, while at three he only ever raced over a mile. Whether this will impact his own performance at stud is another question although one point does need to be made. Unlike in Australia, there is rarely the prestige in winning some of the shorter races in the UK.

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alace Pier is by the top stallion Kingman. His son Calyx has shuttled to Australia since 2020 but has surprisingly not been all that well patronized by Australian breeders. Kingman stands at Juddmonte Stud for a fee of £150,000 which is indicative of his success in the rest of the world and he has sired stakes winners in the US and Japan. Kingman is a son of Invincible Spirit who has been something of a mixed bag in Australia. He shuttled here from 2003 to 2006 but despite his great overseas success, his crops here saw him underperform, producing only one Group 1 winner in the excellent filly, Yosei. His legacy though is assured through his son I Am Invincible who has been a sensation at stud. It is an interesting discussion as to whether the success of I Am Invincible is through the influence of his sire, or his remarkable local female line. Invincible Spirit we cannot forget is a son of Green Desert who produced Sunline in another unspectacular shuttle career, while he hails from the same female family that gave us the top colt, Pride Of Dubai.

The female family of Palace Pier is no doubt going to play an important role in his success at stud under local conditions.

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is dam is the unraced Beach Frolic by Nayef, a US bred stallion by Gulch who raced in the UK winning the Juddmonte International, Prince of Wales and Champion Stakes. At stud he was only a moderate performer although he did produce multiple Group 1 winner Tamayuz who in turn produced the French bred Gallic Chieftain who raced in Australia winning the 2019 ATC Chairman's Handicap. Nayef is himself from an outstanding female family being a half-brother to Nashwan and related to horses like Deep Impact and Unfuwain. Beach Frolic is a half-sister to Joviality by Cape Cross who won multiple stakes races in the UK, and also Bonfire by Manduro. Bonfire had won the Group 2 Yorke Dante Stakes before being sent to race in Australia where his biggest win was in the Grafton Cup. The gelding ended his career in 2017 over the jumps. In turn, their dam was Night Frolic by Night Shift, a son of Northern Dancer who shuttled to Australia with some success including siring Align who won the AJC Sires Produce as a 2yo. The

Palace Pier has a pedigree that arguably has a number of weaknesses. Inbred at a level of 6.64%, this is probably a saving grace in that it is not all that heavily inbred allowing for the multiple influences to cover some of these points that I am not all that keen on. We see multiple lines of Northern Dancer through sons, Danzig, The Minstrel, Lyphard and Night Shift who we do not see as the most common sons of this stallion certainly not in our local thoroughbred at least. We see two male lines of Mr Prospector in the pedigree, and this is perhaps one of the key issues on. He was such a good stallion that perhaps we can forgive this, but it is certainly something that we noted in his future. An impressive feature though is the sex-balanced cross of the good stallion, Busted, who we do not see often enough in modern pedigrees but remains such a potent stamina influence in the breed.

family has had limited opportunity in Australia although one branch of it was to be resident at Woodlands Stud producing the likes of Hire (AJC Royal Sovereign and Theo Marks), Lease (Tulloch Wine Stakes) and Orsay (Kenway Stakes).

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here then does Palace Pier sit among our new stallions? Clearly his racetrack performance is the key to his opportunity, but what if any of our local mares is he likely to find his best success with. Interestingly, Night Shift is a good place to start. He is a son of Ciboulette, a mare that we know best in Australia for appearing in the female line of Flying Spur and Encosta De Lago. The simple presence of a name in a pedigree is no guarantee of success, and Flying Spur and Encosta De Lago both bring in lines of Mr Prospector, Northern Dancer and Sir Ivor which need to be treated carefully. In the case of Flying Spur, we see Danzig also present who is of course the sire of Green Desert. If we are keen to try and pursue the presence of Flying Spur, perhaps a stallion like Sebring who sees Flying Spur as his damsire, might be a good option.

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he presence of Danzig in Danehill is going to make a lot of the Danehill line stallions problematic with Palace Pier. A stallion we did mention was Deep Impact and he might be one that will be highly sought after for Palace Pier.

Importantly we need to remember that the stallion will stand at Darley who have access to a remarkable international broodmare band. While we do not see that many daughters of Deep Impact in Australia, we are now seeing more of his sons here and stallions like Mikki Isle and Real Impact might prove valuable. There are also emerging sons like Saxon Warrior whose daughters we will not see at stud for a few seasons yet. Ideally Darley will support Palace Pier enabling him to shuttle for long enough to take advantage of these types of mares.

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arley of course will send mares from their locally based stallions to Palace Pier.

Lonhro is one of these that could do well, and in turn his sons including Pierro.

Perhaps the presence of Sir Tristram in a pedigree will be a good strategy. As we saw with I Am Invincible, it looks to be these local lines that will make or break the stallion. Unfortunately, with I Am Invincible being by Invincible Spirit, this will largely exclude the most obvious source of local speed. We do not have the same issue with Written Tycoon, and he could be the one that makes the career of Palace Pier. He has a number of sons now at stud, and these too may well have daughters to suit the stallion. Darley also has access to many of their overseas lines. Mares by the likes of Teofilo, Shamardal, Street Cry and even Street Boss all have some attractions, but it is likely that the success rate with these types of mares may not be as high as breeders would like.

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alace Pier has an intriguing pedigree and an outstanding race record, but overall looks to be a prospect for relatively few breeders. There is little doubt that he will produce some outstanding progeny, but there is also the chance that many will not be suited to local conditions. At his fee, it is certainly not likely to be the hobby breeder that is the target market for the stallion, but then again, there are fewer of these in the market each year. A bigger question then remains as to how the yearling buyers will react to the progeny of Palace Pier.

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PORTLAND SKY A CHOICE FOR THE FUTURE

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ortland Sky is this season’s newcomer at Widden Stud in NSW. The stud continues to expand its impressive list of largely unproven stallions across their two State operations. The stallion becomes the second son of Deep Field to go to stud with the other being the Newgate stallion Cosmic Force who is approaching his third season at Newgate this year. It will be interesting to see if the first foals of that stallion, who stands for $11,000 will have an impact on the future of Portland Sky. Such can be the fickleness of the breeding industry, and the misleading nature at times of tools such as Nicking theories, that some ideas will be tempered by such comparisons. That is not to say that lessons cannot be learned from similar sirelines, but rather we should be careful in how we use that information. But on to Portland Sky.

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he stallion did not start his racing career until an early 3yo, winning his first start in a maiden on the synthetic track at Ballarat. He started at odds-on but was made to work hard before getting the upper hand near the finish, drawing away to win by over a length from the I Am Invincible filly, Baaqyah who had actually

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finished second in the Maribyrnong Plate as a 2yo at her first start, beating Tagaloa.

Taken to Caulfield for his second start, he had little luck in running fifth behind Muntaseera. He gave a good sight in finishing fourth behind September Run in the Listed Poseidon Stakes over 1100m at Flemington at his next start. Portland Sky then won the Group 3 Red Anchor at Moonee Valley when well rated in front by jockey Ben Melham defeating Bella Nipotina. Portland Sky then had a ten week break before going to Brisbane where he raced wide and struggled over the 1400m of the Group 3 Vo Rogue Stakes at Eagle Farm finishing last behind Apache Chase.

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ack in Melbourne a month later and Portland Sky won the Group 3 Manfred Stakes over 1200m at Caulfield beating Aysar and Tagaloa. Then, almost six months to the day since his first start, the 3yo colt had his finest moment winning the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate over 1100m at Caulfield. He again settled near the lead and kicked clear in the straight, winning narrowly from Celebrity Queen and Kemalpasa. A month later he lined up in the Group 1 William Reid over 1200m at Moonee Valley where he sat behind the leaders before shifting off their heels and taking the lead as the field entered the straight. His lead was short lived as Masked Crusader got a run on the inside to kick clear, with Portland Sky holding on for second, 2.5 lengths from the winner. After a spell, Portland Sky returned with a second in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes over 1000m at Moonee Valley before failing three weeks later over the same course and distance in the Group 1 Moir Stakes won

by Wild Ruler. The stallion was then retired and given plenty of time to let down heading into his stud career.

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ortland Sky is the only Australian Group 1 winner by Deep Field in Australia.

Deep Field has also sired the Hong King Group 1 winner, Sky Field. Deep Field who stands at Newgate for $88,000 is the sire of 12 stakes winners to date including Isotope, Big Parade, Chat and Fiteuse. In turn, he is a son of the ill-fated Northern Meteor. He was a son of Encosta De Lago who had won the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes and died after only four seasons at stud. During this time, he sired 21 stakes winners including Group 1 winners, Amanpour, Cosmic Endeavour, Romantic Touch, Shooting To Win who was the full brother to Deep Field, Speak Fondly and boom sire, Zoustar. Portland Flyer might be unique in modern Australian breeding in that he was sold at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling sale. He went through the ring in WA in 2019 making a moderate $85,000 when purchased by Matt Laurie Racing. Portland Sky was a son of the Shrewd Rhythm mare, Sky Rumba. Shrewd Rhythm is a son of Danehill Dancer who won the 2007 Blue Diamond Prelude.

He went to stud in 2010 with limited success but is perhaps worthy of some more discussion shortly being out of a daughter of Canny Lad in Balcanny who traces back to the great mare, Selene. In turn, Sky Rumba was out of Line Of Flight by the top WA stallion, Bletchley Park. She produced the stakes winning London Line by Blackfriars who was to race in Hong Kong as Most Beautiful. Interestingly Line Of Flight who was out of the stakes placed Sweepshot by Dr Grace, was a half-sister to one of WA’s best gallopers in recent times in Scenic Shot who won 17 races from 1000m to 2400m including the LKS Mackinnon Stakes and two Doomben Cups at Group 1 level.

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ortland Sky offers an interesting pedigree puzzle for breeders. The initial appeal to many will be the presence of Deep Field, and of course his sire, Encosta De Lago. These will no doubt play a role, but as to how important they will prove to be is a question for the ages. Encosta De Lago was one of our great stallions of recent times, but despite his success, his sons never really established themselves at the top level. That is not to say that they could not produce good runners, but it was Northern Meteor who appeared as if he was the stallion who was going to ensure the legacy of Encosta De Lago. While this seems to be the case, it is a matter of what might have been. Arguably, it is Zoustar that looks to be the stallion that is carrying on this line at the highest level, but he is perhaps not in the mould of Encosta De Lago being more noted as a sire of precocious speedsters. This brings us to Deep Field who also looks to be more noted as a sire of speedier types although perhaps not with the ability to get as many of the early 2yo types. We also see his full brother in Shooting To Win as a source of speed, but again without the ability to get the successful youngsters that the market craves. Portland Sky appeared to have followed in these footsteps and, as we saw, did not appear at the races until an early 3yo. He made an early impact at that age, but he certainly did not fit the early 2yo type. Deep Field, it is worth noting has Elusive Quality as his damsire and he certainly is another source of speed by and large. His second dam is Announce who is by Military Plume by Sir Tristram out of Theme Song, a granddaughter of Eight Carat and a half-sister to Danewin and Commands.

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he female line of Portland Sky, as we mentioned, sees Scenic Shot as one of the recent stars of the family. While he was a talented and versatile racehorse, arguably he was at his best over more of a middle distance which does not introduce this precociousness that we might be looking for in the stallion. The direct female family did not arrive in Australia until the 1970’s and one of the first successes was the Lord Ballina son, Lord Regent who won a stakes race in NZ over a mile. As the line that gave us Portland Sky was sent to WA, we see the very good stallion, Beau Sovereign, a son of Sovereign Edition, appear close up in the pedigree. He was quite a remarkable stallion from his WA base producing horses like Dark Beau who was able to win the Stanley Wootton Stakes at Moonee Valley, Polo Player who won the VATC Schweppes Cup, and Palace Reign who won the Feehan and Memsie Stakes and Caulfield Guineas in the early 1990’s. We should also acknowledge that we see the presence of Dr Grace, the outstanding son of Sir Tristram who won eight stakes races including the AJC Derby and three other Group 1 races. At stud he had success with the likes of Stradbroke winner, Crawl, Doncaster winner Over, and George Ryder winner, Referral. Again though we see a lack of 2yo’s sired by the stallion and we should also note the additional line of Sir Tristram that we also saw through Deep Field.

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he key then to the future of the success of Portland Sky may then lie quite surprisingly through the more moderate stallion in Shrewd Rhythm who many breeders would see as perhaps a weakness in the pedigree. The ability of Portland Flyer to produce top line 2yo’s may well lie in the ability to bring out the speed influences of Danehill Dancer and Canny Lad that we see in this sector of the stallion’s pedigree. Recently we looked at a new stallion joining Coolmore this

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season in Home Affairs, and it is interesting to see that he shares both Canny Lad and Danehill in his pedigree that is somewhat reminiscent of those influences in the pedigree of Shrewd Rhythm. Canny Lad will be found in mares carrying I Am Invincible, and it could be these types of mares that allow Portland Flyer to produce the market topping early 2yo types. The other notable source of Canny Lad is through the pedigree of Redoute’s Choice. While this of course brings in another male line of Danehill, it is unlikely to be a negative especially if we can look for mares from that stallion’s sons and grandsons. While not yet in large numbers, stallions like Shamus Award, Wandjina, Sizzling, Sooboog and Russian Revolution may well represent interesting options in the quest for early 2yo’s. If we look at this in the greater Danehill picture, again it would seem likely that best successes may come from pushing that stallion further back in pedigrees but these opportunities are becoming more common.

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arly speed is only one aspect of a stallion’s career, and as we saw with Encosta De Lago, is not critical to long term success. It is these other aspects though that would be instrumental in the long-term success of Portland Sky. Perhaps the first of these to be addressed should be Encosta De Lago himself. It would be interesting to find mares that have Encosta De Lago through a female. One particularly interesting broodmare sire would be the young stallion Impending who is out of the star daughter of Encosta De Lago in Mnemosyne. Mares tracing to Mnemosyne may be interesting prospects, but Impending is of particular interest in that he sees his sire as Lonhro which brings us to another factor in Portland Sky’s pedigree. Lonhro is a son of Sir Tristram and while there would be a risk in introducing another male line of that stallion, the influence is hardly a dominant one. We must also balance this potential negative with the presence of Eight Carat who we saw in the direct female line of Deep Field. Whether this presence is now being pushed too far back in the pedigree of the stallion to have any significant impact is another question though.

Returning to the issue of Encosta De Lago, there also remains the possibility of introducing Flying Spur into a mating with the stallion as he also traces to the top mare, Rolls although of course brings in potentially a closer line of Danehill.

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verseas lines will again be important to the stallion, and again we come back to many of the standard lines. In particular Japanese lines could be of interest with the stallion. While I have mentioned a lack of precocious 2yo speed in the pedigree of the stallion, that is not to say that the pedigree lacks speed. In fact, speed abounds, and this was witnessed by the on-track performance of Portland Sky. It does however suggest that there could be a weakness in his progeny by continually breeding to additional speed lines. This is the strength of the Japanese thoroughbred in that they have strong classic and stamina lines, and of course this is what Australia sources from overseas including New Zealand. It includes the likes of High Chaparral, So You Think, Galileo, Dubawi, Street Cry and a host of these wonderful lines. Portland Sky of course is a great example with the reliance in his pedigree on influences like Danehill and Sir Tristram. There are a host of wonderful influences that the stallion offers breeders, who, if they get the balance of their mating right, will be able to breed solid 1000m to 1600m horses that should train on past their 3yo seasons.

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Portland Sky at 4.69% continues a trend so far this month of relatively little inbreeding in pedigrees. Considering this, it is even more critical when we see that four lines of Northern Dancer appear within the first six generations, again through a range of sons in Fairy King, Hero’s Honor, Danzig and Nijinsky. The key to his pedigree strength may well be the two male lines of Sir Tristram through Dr Grace and Military Plume. While normally two male lines of the stallion might be of concern, it is interesting to note that we see sex balanced duplications of his sire, Sir Ivor in the pedigree that may well balance this.

PROFITEER

ANOTHER NEWGATE STAR

Profiteer courtesy of Lisa Grimm Turfstars Media and Newgate Farm

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rofiteer is the first commercial son of Capitalist to go to stud making him an interesting proposition for many breeders. Capitalist, the 2016 Golden Slipper winner went to stud in 2017 with an immediate impact. Himself a representative of a new sire line in Written Tycoon, Capitalist hit the headlines producing Champagne Stakes winner, Captivant and Black Opal winner Kalashnikov in his first crop. As a result, Capitalist who also stands at Newgate has seen his fee rise to $99,000 to rate among our most expensive and perhaps most promising young stallions.

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he colt made his debut at Flemington over 1100m on 21 December 2020 in a 2yo handicap. Profiteer led and easily extended to dominate the race, winning untroubled by almost three lengths from a Winning Rupert colt in Ranveer. Having made $165,000 at the 2020 Inglis Classic sale, Profiteer went to the Inglis Millennium at Randwick in February. He started at $1.75 and again showed his speed to lead easily. When Hugh Bowman increased the tempo as the field entered the straight, he cruised away to win by five lengths untroubled. Next up was the Todman where he again started favourite, although drifting from $1.95 to $2.20 as support came for a promising Darley colt in Anamoe. Profiteer again led and was only run down by the impressive Anamoe in the closing stages, with another promising colt in the Coolmore owned Home Affairs running well to finish third just over half a length

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from the winner. On to the Golden Slipper and Profiteer again showed his abundant speed by leading the field into the straight. The 1200m was beyond him though as he faded to finish seventh, almost six lengths behind winner Stay Inside who is also joining Profiteer at stud at Newgate this season.

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eturning as a 3yo in the Spring, Profiteer again led in the Group 1 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley before running sixth behind Wild Ruler, who rather surprisingly is another stallion to join Newgate this season. A second behind another Freshman stallion this season in Extreme Warrior in the Blue Sapphire followed before winning The Schweppervescence Plate on Melbourne Cup day in November. Another break saw him return to racing in the Group 1 Lightning, but he found Home Affairs and Nature Strip too strong, finishing sixth. He was to have only one more run, a fifth in the Listed Fireball Stakes at Randwick before retiring with earnings of over $1.5 million from his nine starts.

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is sire Capitalist as mentioned is one of the country’s hottest sires. By Written Tycoon, he is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare, Kitalpha. His second dam is the Danehill mare, Compulsion who was out of the champion Luskin Star mare, Bold Promise who won the 1991 Magic Millions. Profiteer’s dam is the stakes placed Snitzel mare, Athena Lass. She was to win two of her ten starts and was third in the Listed Quezette Stakes at Caulfield over 1100m behind I Am A Star. She was in turn out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare, Meduesa who also produced the Listed Gibson Carmichael winner by Lonhro in Euryale. Her dam was the very good Danglissa who won the Group 1 Flight Stakes and was a daughter of another Golden Slipper winner in Danzero. Danzero was a son of Danehill, and of course Snitzel is a son of Redoute’s Choice by Danehill. We have also mentioned that Capitalist sees the Danehill daughter in Compulsion in his female line. This also brings us to the close female duplication of Fusaichi Pegasus which becomes more problematic. Fusaichi Pegasus was by Mr Prospector and shuttled to Australia with mixed success. He was the sire of Haradasun but his Australian performances did not match his overseas results. For those who do not remember the fanfare that surrounded the stallion, he was one of the first Kentucky Derby winners to travel to Australia, and the horse had also won the time-honoured Wood Memorial Stakes in the US. The stallion had a pedigree that featured a daughter of Danzig, and this may well have been to his detriment. Many breeders sought to use this inbreeding to Danzig as a feature of matings with Fusaichi Pegasus and this particular strategy proved largely unsuccessful. As with many instances of inbreeding, the further back we can push some of these influences the much better it is. Perhaps we could see the presence of a daughter of Danzig through these two lines of Fusaichi Pegasus may now be a strength for Profiteer.

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nother interesting line breeding opportunity exists with the stallion Zoustar whose daughters are now at stud. He sees Redoute’s Choice as his damsire, and that stallion also appears as the sire of Snitzel in the pedigree of Profiteer. With the right daughters, this could make for an interesting match. For those breeders looking at Profiteer as an outcross to their mares, they are likely to be disappointed.

As a son of Written Tycoon, no doubt many will view the stallion as an option for Danehill line mares, but this is not likely to be a strategy that will meet with a good strike rate. Having said that, there will be granddaughters of Snitzel that may have attraction should close inbreeding be called for. With a growing number of the sons of Snitzel at stud, there might be some opportunities with damsires like Shamus Award, Invader and Sooboog as examples. While talking of closer inbreeding, other interesting options include Casino Prince and his son, All Too Hard who both could offer some suitable daughters for the stallion.

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y and large though it is likely that those stallions which offer more of an outcross pedigree may be the most suited to the stallion. Given the pure speed nature of his pedigree, mares that offer some stamina lines may be among the best of these.

Two emerging broodmare sires appear to fit the bill nicely here with Dundeel and So You Think potential lines that are worth pursuing with Profiteer. Importantly both stallions offer significant stamina influences within their pedigrees. Both are by High Chaparral, and while this stallion has fewer daughters now, he will continue to play a role. In turn, High Chaparral is by Sadler’s Wells and he is another influence that may well work in a range of pedigrees with Profiteer. Dundeel is out of a mare by Zabeel, and the value of that stallion in our thoroughbred should not be forgotten. Xtravagant is an emerging stallion that features Zabeel in his pedigree and he is starting to get to the stage in his career where his first daughters are going to stud. Other descendants like Lonhro and Pierro are both potential broodmare sires that could suit the stallion. There is of course here the biggest elephant in the room, and that is the presence of Mr Prospector. It is unlikely to be a major issue in many cases, although multiple lines of that stallion may become problematic. Still, stallions like Street Boss and Shamardal are important sources of Mr Prospector and we would not be discouraging many of their daughters visiting the stallion.

In fact, the presence of Encosta De Lago who sees Mr Prospector in his pedigree through a daughter may well give breeders the opportunity to take advantage of this great influence.

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verseas influences will play a role in the success of Profiteer. Medaglia D’Oro is another US stallion who well may have success with Profiteer through his daughters. Flying Artie is another we can extend to being by the US influence Artie Schiller and he is a stallion that also stands at Newgate Farm. We are starting to see more Japanese influence and many of these might well suit the stallion. Lord Kanaloa, Deep Impact and more are starting to make their mark. We have mentioned Snitzel appearing in the pedigree of Profiteer which means that we see a female line of Storm Bird. We often forget just how important an influence he was because many breeders talk exclusively of his best son, the great US stallion, Storm Cat. Mares that carry Storm Cat may well be worth pursuing with Profiteer. An interesting extension of this is the stallion Churchill whose oldest local progeny are only now 3yo’s. Breeding is a long game though, and when some of the daughters of Churchill enter stud, they could prove successful with a stallion like Profiteer. Not only does Churchill see the presence of the great son of Sadler’s Wells in Galileo, but also the presence of Storm Cat.

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hile on face value Profiteer looks to present some challenges to broodmare owners, it seems that there is a distinct niche that could well be filled by the stallion importantly through stallions who have stood in the Hunter Valley and are readily accessible. Profiteer certainly had no shortage of speed on the track and if he can impart that to his youngsters, there is no doubt that the sales ring will embrace his early crops with relish.

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Profiteer bucks the trend of this month with heavy inbreeding at 17.97%. As we have discussed, the feature of the pedigree is an all-female duplication of Fusaichi Pegasus, and outstanding racehorse but certainly an underperforming sire in Australasia. He won a Kentucky Derby, yet Profiteer never raced beyond 1200m. We can forget that even though a horse appears in a pedigree, it does not mean that it has any influence on the mating. Similarly, even if it does not appear to impact the racing prospects of a horse, it does not also mean that their attributes cannot come through in the breeding barn. On top of FuPeg, a son of Mr Prospector, we see three lines of Danehill, four of his sire Danzig, and six of Northern Dancer. On top of that, we also see duplications of Kaoru Star and Vain

STAY INSIDE

A GOLDEN SLIPPER WINNER

Stay Inside courtesy of Lisa Grimm Turfstars Media and Newgate Farm

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tay Inside is pretty much the Holy Grail of first season sires; a Golden Slipper winning colt. He stands his first season at Newgate for $77,000 putting him in the top echelon of stallions at stud in Australia, certainly in terms of the Freshman sires.

Golden Slipper winners have always been highly valued at stud, and while we have seen some wonderful successes, the Slipper is no guarantee that a stallion will have a profitable career. As a recent Golden Slipper analogy, for every Capitalist whose fee has almost doubled, there is Vancouver whose fee has halved. Interestingly we saw Farnan go to stud last year with Stay Inside this year. The last time two consecutive Golden Slipper winning colts went to stud was a decade ago with Pierro and Sepoy.

But we digress and it is time to look at the exciting Stay Inside.

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he colt had his first race start in a 2yo Handicap over 1000m at Randwick on 23 January 2021. He sat behind the leaders but pulled out on the turn to win comfortably. Three weeks later at Randwick over 1100m he stepped up to the Listed Pierro and again sat behind the leaders in the run. Stay Inside cruised past them in the straight to dominate a good field that saw Vianello and Giannis fill the placings. In the Todman he had little luck, settling last and having a chequered run in the straight but finishing a strong fourth behind Anamoe, Profiteer and Home Affairs. In the Golden Slipper, Stay Inside was able to again sit behind the leaders and explode away as the field entered the straight. This time it was Anamoe who had the hard luck story and was left to chase the winner. Stay Inside returned for

the Spring in the Newgate colours but was disappointing in his return in the San Domenico behind In The Congo and Paulele at Kembla Grange. His last start was again a disappointment this time in the Run To Rose at Kembla Grange. This time he settled outside the lead but he lacked his earlier dash in the straight, fighting on to finish fifth behind Anamoe and In The Congo. Despite how good his 2yo form was, Stay Inside will still have some of that stigma of a Golden Slipper winner who did not return as a 3yo on his resume, and this might have an impact on his stud and sales career.

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tay Inside is a son of Extreme Choice like Extreme Warrior and Tiger Of Malay who also feature in our Freshman Series. Extreme Warrior is the only one of these standing in Victoria and it will be interesting to see if that change in environment will see different results. Extreme Choice who also stands at Newgate has been a sensation despite poor fertility and these three colts may well extend his influence in a way that he has not been able. Extreme Choice is a son of Not A Single Doubt and it is telling that despite that stallion’s success, it is only recently that we have seen his sons at stud with Farnan, Anders and Doubtland yet to have runners.

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he female lines of the three sons of Extreme Choice will make a difference in their likely success. Stay Inside is out of an Anabaa mare called Nothin Leica Storm. She did not make it to the track until a 4yo, winning a maiden at Cessnock in May of that season. In all, she was to retire with one win from 20 starts, with her finishing last in a field of 12 at Port Macquarie in her last start. Her dam was Nothin’ Leica by Nothin’ Leica Dane, the star 3yo that won a VRC Derby and was placed in a Melbourne Cup. She won three races including her only start as a 2yo at Canterbury, and her first start as a 3yo at Randwick. She was later to win the Goulburn Cup. This is the family of a colt called Wonderful World by Agnes World who won the Caulfield Guineas and finished second in the Cox Plate before failing at stud and being sent to China. The family also includes the good sprinter, Spartacus by Snippets who won the Australia and Manikato Stakes, and the Oakleigh Plate. He too went to stud with limited success. It is perhaps fair to say that it is not the strongest family that we will see in our Freshman sires, but it is one that came to Australia in the 1920’s and has produced its share of winners under local conditions.

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he pedigree of Stay Inside though represents some challenges to breeders, and even a cursory glance will suggest some of these. He traces to a Danehill line stallion, yet also sees his second dam tracing to another Danehill line. In addition, his dam traces to a Danzig sire line. Again, we find ourselves asking the question as to how much Danehill is too much. Nonetheless, it is not drawing too much of a long bow to suggest that this will potentially be an issue that could affect the success of the stallion. Looking for mares that do not carry Danehill is difficult especially in NSW. One stallion that does fit the bill is Written Tycoon, but his daughters will be highly sought-after and it is hard to know how many of these will be available. A key to Written Tycoon is his strong colonial lines, and in this day and age it may be that Written Tycoon could potentially offer too much of this. We would do well to remember that 2yo racing is largely a city phenomenon. Few country regions have the numbers to hold too many of these races, so we need to consider this in terms of a stallion who did not train on at three.

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eing in NSW, Stay Inside will have access to many of the Sadler’s Wells line stallions like So You Think and Dundeel who could prove to be important to

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his future. These classic style of stallions, who can get progeny that run over some distance, will add to the versatility of Stay Inside’s progeny. We need to remember that Not A Single Doubt as well as siring many precocious 2yo’s was also capable of siring a Doomben Cup and SA Derby winner. Given that we see Nothin’ Leica Dane in the stallion’s pedigree, it is certainly likely that careful breeding can extend many of his progeny past their 2yo seasons and even up to a mile.

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sually with this style of stallion, we would be looking at overseas stallions. In many cases, the US style stallions are going to prove quite difficult as we see Extreme Choice is out of a mare by the US stallion Hussonet by Mr Prospector.

Many of the lines that we would consider suitable like Street Cry as an example may find the male duplications of Mr Prospector detrimental. Medaglia D’Oro would be one of the US stallions that could well suit Stay Inside, as would the recently deceased More Than Ready. From a more European standpoint, Teofilo and his sons may suit, but these also could be a little problematic through an extra line of Danehill, albeit through a daughter.

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verall Stay Inside will attract plenty of interest through his Golden Slipper victory, although he is perhaps not the type of stallion who will have success with huge numbers of mares. Given the fertility issues of his sire, it would make sense for Newgate to be very exclusive when considering the mares that he covers.

It is possible that he will have greater success with this strategy, and it is easy to see a very selective crop of yearlings by him that will make premium prices. The selective breeding could well see him produce a good percentage of quality runners, even if few of them end in smaller country stables to end their careers.

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Stay Inside with 12.11% inbreeding is another at the higher end of this coefficient compared with others this month. We see two male lines of Danehill and three of his sire, Danzig. In addition, there are four lines of Northern Dancer, and two of Native Dancer. An interesting presence is a duplication of the mare, Missy Baba, the dam of Raja Baba and Gay Missile who have been important, albeit underrated influences on the Australian thoroughbred throughout the years. Perhaps the most recent example was the good stallion Anabaa who saw a grandson of Missy Baba as his damsire.

TIGER OF MALAY A BUDGET CHOICE

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iger Of Malay comes to Newgate Farm to stand alongside his sire, Extreme Choice. This makes Tiger Of Malay the third son of that stallion that we are looking at in 2022 as part of our Freshman series. He also stands alongside Stay Inside, the Golden Slipper winner but at a fee of $16,500 compared to the $77,000 of Stay Inside, Tiger Of Malay is unlikely to get the same quality of mare as his better performed colleague.

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hat is not to say that Tiger of Malay was poorly performed. In fact, it is quite the contrary but nonetheless his performances will inevitably draw comparison with Stay Inside. Tiger Of Malay started his career by winning the Kirkham at Randwick on 20 October over 1000m. He settled midfield but finished strongly to win by a half-length from Cerda, a Snitzel filly. The first five in the race finished within a length and a half. A spell saw him return in the Silver Slipper in February where he ran into Home Affairs, finishing fifth. This time over the 1100m, Tiger Of Malay settled well back and was taken to the outside in the straight but was baulked

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at a crucial stage in a fairly roughhouse affair. He finished powerfully to finish a little over a length and a half from the winner. In the Pago Pago, Tiger Of Malay again settled midfield and chased strongly in the straight, eventually failing by a narrow margin to haul in the Magic Millions winner Shaquero to miss a start in the Golden Slipper. He started in the 1400m Sires Produce and was taken to the lead which proved his downfall, finishing a well beaten seventh behind Anamoe. On to Brisbane in the Winter, Tiger Of Malay ran fifth behind Prince Of Boom in the 1200m Champagne Classic before winning the Group 2 Sires Produce over 1400m.

A third in the Group 1 JJ Atkins over 1600m behind Converge followed. The colt had settled well back and finished strongly but Converge was to prove himself a standout on the day.

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colt’s three-year-old season can be the make or break time and Tiger Of Malay came back to racing with high hopes. He lined up with three other Newgate owned runners in the Group 3 Up and Coming Stakes at Kembla Grange over 1300m. He settled fourth on the rail and got a run on the inside in the straight to win in a close photo from Coastwatch and Construct. Tiger Of Malay settled second in the Listed Dulcify over 1500m and went to the front early in the straight. He was headed by Giannis soon after but held on strongly to be beaten a neck. Back to the 1400m of the Group 1 Golden Rose he ran a good race finishing fifth beaten a little over two lengths by In The Congo with Anamoe second. Tiger Of Malay then went to Melbourne to finish eighth behind Anamoe in the Caulfield Guineas. A spell saw him have only one run in the Autumn, a disappointing seventh in the Expressway before retiring.

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e have spoken at length about Tiger Of Malay’s sire in Extreme Choice who now stands for some $275,000 despite, or perhaps because of, poor fertility.

Extreme Choice is a son of Not A Single Doubt by Snitzel. The female line of Tiger Of Malay though is another thing that sets him apart from Extreme Warrior and Stay Inside. He is a son of the More Than Ready mare, Sambar, a Sydney winner who had also produced Samovare by Savabeel and Samizdat by Not A Single Doubt. Both had won at Group 3 level in WA. In a bit of an odd twist, both More Than Ready and Sambar both died this year. Sambar was out of the Bluebird mare, Am Crazy who in turn is out of the Red Anchor mare, Red Spice, also a Sydney winner. This time of the year, it is always good to remember the remarkable Red Anchor who was arguably one of the greatest 3yo’s we have seen who won the Caulfield Guineas, Cox

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Dark Eclipse

Plate and VRC Derby in the Spring of 1984. Red Spice was a half-sister to the full siblings by Baguette in the Golden Slipper winner, Dark Eclipse and Bagalot. Dark Eclipse was a top broodmare and her line has included the good son of Lonhro and good sire in Denman, and another Golden Slipper winner in Kiamichi. Their dam was Marjoram who was herself a half-sister to another outstanding 3yo in Taj Rossi who we have written about at length in a previous edition. The family arrived in Australia through a mare called Cymbala who arrived in Australia at the end of WW1. Among the wonderful sires that Tiger Of Malay sees in his female line are Law Maker, Manitoba, Rossendale and Coronation Boy giving the stallion a real traditional colonial depth to his pedigree.

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he strength of Tiger Of Malay will no doubt be his colonial heritage. Given that most of our colonial lines though have visited Danehill line stallions in recent times, this is where the sire line becomes problematic. Redoute’s Choice in particular will be an issue and breeders would need to show caution when looking at introducing additional lines of that stallion. That is not to say that there cannot be an advantage to be had in Redoute’s Choice. A stallion like Zoustar who offers Redoute’s Choice through a daughter a little further back in a pedigree could present an option. More likely though, a Redoute’s Choice factor may come through his female line and a stallion like Rubick who also traces to Shantha’s Choice might offer some interesting prospects. With a view to close inbreeding, the presence of More Than Ready in the stallion’s pedigree does offer some attractions. Again, as with most close inbreeding, caution should be taken and a clear focus on what a breeder wants to achieve should be top of mind. There is no sense in duplicating an influence if it is just a name in a pedigree without an understanding of what it is likely to bring to the mating.

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Tiger Of Malay courtesy of Lisa Grimm Turfstar Media and Newgate Farm

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urther to this end of inbreeding, we see the presence of the son of Mr Prospector in Hussonet appearing in the pedigree through a daughter. Hussonet has sons at stud who will have daughters who breeders may look to try and complement through this duplication. Hussonet was at home on the dirt tracks of South America, and we also see the presence of More Than Ready and his damsire Woodman, also

by Mr Prospector. The dirt flavour of these large segments of the pedigree of Tiger Of Malay must be noted by breeders. This is where the colonial influences in Tiger Of Malay come to the fore. Not only do we see this through his female line, but also through the pedigree of Not A Single Doubt that sees Rory’s Jester and Canny Lad prominent. We have mentioned Dark Eclipse being present in the female line of Denman, and although that stallion is no longer a highly commercial prospect, the level of service fee of Tiger Of Malay may allow owners of Denman mares to seriously consider the stallion. Denman of course is a son of Lonhro, and obviously this female line had an affinity with that stallion at least in the case of Denman who won six stakes races including the Run To The Rose and the Group 1 Golden Rose.

This of course may well also be the case with daughters of Pierro.

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nfortunately, Tiger Of Malay will undoubtedly get a lesser quality of mare by and large than Stay Inside. The best daughters of stallions like So You Think are more likely to go to the most commercial option, although these could well be good matches for Tiger Of Malay as well. That stallion and his sire High Chaparral have had good success with colonial lines including Redoute’s Choice in the past

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and this compatibility may extend to this stallion. Despite the fact that Tiger Of Malay did not have the blistering early speed that we often equate to good 2yo’s, he was in fact a precocious type, appearing very early in the season. There is a danger in considering that his ability to finish strongly in a race has breeders consider that he somehow possesses some stamina in his pedigree. In fact, it is stallions like High Chaparral that are clear stamina sources that could well help improve on the performances of his progeny. The notion of stamina can be expanded to include the concept of extending speed over longer distances. A horse that can run flat out for 1000m metres is a different prospect than one who needs to be held up for that strong final 400-600m burst. We often hear talk of explosive speed in 2yo’s, but we sometimes forget that this can come in different forms.

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iger Of Malay’s success will come down to opportunity and the influence of Danehill. There will be no doubt that many of the mares that he covers will carry one or more lines of that stallion. While some success may arise from this, it will likely be through careful analysis of the rest of his pedigree that Tiger Of Malay will have his greatest successes. It is hoped that breeders will spend the time to understand the colonial influences in Tiger Of Malay’s pedigree and reignite some of the legacy of some of Australia’s finest bloodlines.

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Tiger Of Malay again has only moderate inbreeding at 6.25%. The closest duplication is Mr Prospector who we again see through two sons in Hussonet and Woodman. We also see a sex balanced cross of the US stallion Naskra. The presence of these two duplications sees a very similar pattern in the pedigree of the dam of both Extreme Choice and More Than Ready. We also see the almost mandatory multiple lines of Northern Dancer, although in this case we do see one line appearing through a daughter in the pedigree of More Than Ready.

VICTOR LUDORUM DARLEY’S WINNER OF THE GAME

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ictor Ludorum is Latin for the overall champion in a sports competition, especially at a school or college. While his racing career may not have put him quite in the champion league, he was an outstanding racehorse befitting his Latin roots. He was an unbeaten 2yo and multiple Group 1 winner from one of the great female families in the world. There is certainly a lot to like about him, and he seems very affordably priced by Darley who should be able to attract plenty of interest in this Freshman stallion.

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n the track Victor Ludorum started his career by winning a 2yo maiden at Longchamp in September over a mile. Two weeks later he won over the same distance at Chantilly. He then lined up in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere Sponsorise Par Manateq back at Longchamp again at the mile. Victor Ludorum won by three quarters of a length from the quality German colt, Alson. The colt returned as a 3yo to run third in the Group 2 Prix de Fontainebleau before chalking up his second Group 1 in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Deauville. Again over the mile, he settled towards the rear before finishing strongly to beat his last start conqueror

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in The Summit, with Alson in third in a race better known as the French 2000 Guineas. A third in the French Derby behind Mishriff and The Summit followed, and then the colt was to finish third behind those two horses in the Group 2 Haras du Logis Saint-Germain. His final race as a 3yo was a fifth against the older horses in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp won by Persian King with another of the Darley stallions in Pinatubo finishing second.

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s a 4yo, Victor Ludorum started his season by running third over a mile in the Group 2 Prix du Muguet. A fifth in the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp followed before he easily won the Group 3 Prix Messidor at Chantilly. In the Group 1 Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois, he finished seventh behind Palace Pier. Next up it was the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp over a mile and Victor Ludorum finished third behind the very good galloper, Baaeed. He had his final start in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein over a mile, finishing a disappointing eighth behind Real World before retiring. In all he was to win five of his fourteen races and earnings of £465,072. All of his wins were at a mile, and unlike many horses, he never raced outside of France which probably impacts his appeal to many British breeders but should have little impact here. He also never raced at a distance less than 1600m. It is interesting to see that the colt finished third in the French Derby which once had a reputation of one of the world’s great races. A shift in distance back to 2000m seems to have seen it lose much of its prestige and this should be a good lesson for many Australians who question the value of our Derbies.

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ictor Ludorum is a son of Shamardal who we have spoken about at length in the past. He is closely related to the top stallion, Street Cry but became a champion in his own right in the Northern Hemisphere. His impact in Australia where he shuttled from 2004 to 2010 was underwhelming. It is fair to say that his performances under local conditions have not matched his overseas results which is always something to consider with overseas sons coming to stud. The key feature of Victor Ludorum’s pedigree though is the presence of a close duplication of Helen Street, the dam of Street Cry and the female family is worthy of some closer examination. His dam is Antiquities by Kaldounevees who was herself stakes placed in France and also the dam of Mary Tudor by Dawn Approach who won the Listed Navan Salsabil Stakes. Kaldounevees is a son of Kaldoun by Caro and we know him best in Australia as the sire of Dunaden who won the 2011 Geelong and Melbourne Cups, Hong Kong Vase and 2012 Caulfield Cup. The second dam of Victor Ludorum is the Listed winner, Historian by Pennekamp, a son of Bering

by Arctic Tern. While Pennekamp is not a name many in Australia are very familiar with, he was an outstanding racehorse winning six of his seven starts including the 2000 Guineas and Dewhurst Stakes in the UK. He was crowned Champion 2yo in France and Champion 3yo Miler in Europe. He stood originally at stud in Sweden but was later moved to Bracklyn Stud in Ireland.

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key to the success of Victor Ludorum is that he appears as very much an outcross to many of our traditional lines. Of course, we have our share of Shamardal and Street Cry stallions and mares in Australia but it is likely that these will not be the ones who will make or break the stallion. The two major lines that we see in his pedigree is that of Storm Cat through Giant’s Causeway, and Mr Prospector through his son, Machiavellian. Both have had success with Danehill lines which is one of the major attractions of the Shamardal sire line. He will certainly have his opportunity with this outcross style pedigree with stallions like I Am Invincible, Written Tycoon, Lonhro, and most of the Danehill sons like Exceed And Excel, Fastnet Rock and Redoute’s Choice having plenty to offer. As we saw with Street Cry though, he was not the source of speedy types that the yearling buyers look for, and as a result took some time to reach widespread acceptance in the Australian TURF MONTHLY 41

market. As we have seen with some of the Shamardal sons in Puissance De Lune, Ghibellines, Captain Sonador and Shamoline Warrior, they can produce a little of a mixed bag. Some are later maturing sprinters, while others are more miler types with a sprinkling of stayers in the mix. This in effect is the real issue with Shamardal in Australia. His progeny tend to be a lot of the slower maturing 1600m types that our market does not like to preservere with. Oddly, owners are more likely to be patient with a slower maturing stayer than a slowly maturing sprinter, tending to try and push these too early. Local breeders tend to only see the need to breed to more precocity to try and get these to the track earlier, and it is not a strategy that has necessarily had success with Shamardal.

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erhaps this will be the key to Victor Ludorum who has influences in his pedigree that reflect more stamina than in many of the Shamardal’s. If this is the case, perhaps the presence of Kaldounevees, who actually had an average winning distance of his progeny of 2400m might see a much better balance to some of his progeny when mated with these early speed types that we see in Australia. If this suspicion is correct, and Kaldounevees can be an important influence, then Victor Ludorum may well be the son of Shamardal that excels under local conditions. On the other hand, perhaps the stamina that may be present in the pedigree may see an outlet under local conditions that is regularly missing in our modern horses. We could easily see Victor Ludorum being a stallion who can produce serious staying prospects and to see Derby and Cups winners by him would not be out of the question from some of our great old staying families.

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he other option with Victor Ludorum is to investigate these more obscure influences in his pedigree that we have mentioned in Kaldounevees and Pennekamp. Kaldounevees sees the stallion Le Haar in his pedigree. We saw Le Haar play a role locally, and a NZ stallion called Dance Floor who was the damsire of Dance Hero is one example of the importance that some of these influences can have locally. Le Haar many may know better as the grandsire of Balmerino who was such a wonderful galloper and later an important influence at stud. Le Haar can also be found in the female line of More Than Ready who is another stallion that may just be able to bring out some of these hidden gems in the pedigree of Victor Ludorum. Another of these influences is Caro who we see in the pedigree of Danehill Dancer and his son, Choisir. Again, these are lines that offer breeders an interesting alternative in the pedigree of Victor Ludorum. Pennekamp is a son of Bering who we saw as the grand damsire of another Melbourne Cup winner in Green Moon. The damsire of Pennekamp is Green Dancer who is a stallion who we saw in the pedigree of two Melbourne Cup winners in Americain and Jeune. Perhaps more importantly Green Dancer was the damsire of Quest For Fame of Woodlands Stud fame who was the sire of over 30 stakes winners including Viscount, Dracula and Unwordly.

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ictor Ludorum could well offer breeders an interesting choice in sons of Shamardal. There is no doubt as to the quality of that stallion, nor is there any as to the racing ability of this important Darley newcomer. It is his pedigree that just may offer local breeders their chance to cement the legacy of Shamardal in Australasia, although perhaps not quite how they may expect. Breeders and buyers may need a little more patience with Victor Ludorum, but he could be another jewel in the Darley crown.

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Victor Ludorum has an interesting pedigree (8.59%) which is dominated by the duplication of Helen Street who we know so well in the modern thoroughbred. What is perhaps interesting is that we do not see his best son under Australian conditions in Street Cry appear in his pedigree. It will be interesting to see if introducing more lines of the mare will have an impact, although we can be sure that some breeders will go down this route. It is also of note that the only other duplication in the pedigree is that of Petingo, the sire of Troy. Petingo was a son of Petition by Fair Trial and himself had an interesting pedigree. A feature was a relationship between Fair Trial and Quarterdeck, the stallion’s second dam. Petingo was the sire of Troy who won four Group 1 races in the UK before a tragically short career that saw him only have four seasons at stud.

WILD RULER

ANOTHER NEWGATE STANDOUT

Wild Ruler courtesy of Lisa Grimm Turfstars Media and Newgate Farm

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ild Ruler is a Group 1 winning son of Snitzel who joins quite a stunning roster of stallions at Newgate Farm this season. He joins a total of 25 sons of that stallion who are at stud in Australia this season which rivals the domination of the great Danehill at the height of his popularity. With so many sons of Snitzel at stud, it becomes quite difficult to stand out from the others and offer something unique for broodmare owners. Certainly, the racetrack performance of Wild Ruler ticks all of the boxes for commercial success, but is that enough?

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he colt won the Nursery Stakes over 1000m at Randwick at his first start in December 2019. After a spell and missing the Golden Slipper, he returned with a second to Macroura over 1000m on the Kensington. In Brisbane for the Winter Wild Ruler was third behind the boom horse, Rothfire in the Group 2 Classic before finishing eight behind that star in the JJ Atkins. Returning as a 3yo, Wild Ruler was a good winner of the Listed Heritage Stakes and Roman Consul before heading to Melbourne to run third behind September Run in the Group 1 Coolmore. The Autumn saw Wild Ruler win the Listed Fireball before finding Eduardo too good in the 1100m Group 1 Galaxy finishing sixth. He then won the Group 2 Arrowfield Stud Stakes over 1200m at Randwick beating Isotope and Prague. Off to Brisbane

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again he was ninth to Eduardo in the Doomben 10,000. As a Spring 4yo Wild Ruler started his season by running second to Nature Strip in the Group 3 Concorde. He then went to Melbourne for his finest moment in winning the Group 1 Moir Stakes over 1000m at Moonee Valley beating The Inferno and Trekking. A poor run in the Everest was followed by a spell and he returned to win two trials in Sydney. It was then to Melbourne where another substandard run in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate saw him retired.

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s a son of Snitzel, Wild Ruler joins a host of other sons at stud. Snitzel of course is an outstanding sire who has won the Champion Sires Title and has sired over 100 individual stakes winners. Among these are such horses as Estijaab, Redzel, Shamus Award, Trapeze Artist and Russian Revolution. The female line of Wild Ruler is therefore likely to play an important role in his future. He is a son of the US bred Gypsy Robin by Daaher. She was a multiple Grade 2 winner in her home country winning the Keeneland Raven Run and Beaumont Stakes as well as running third in the Grade 1 Saratoga Test Stakes. Daaher is a son of Awesome Again who is perhaps best known as the sire of the champion Ghostzapper. Gypsy Robin perhaps importantly was a half-sister to another stakes winner in Tiger Cat Lily who was

by Tale Of The Cat. It is a family that has had little impact in Australia although we did see one line here that produced Lord Galaxy who won the 1986 Goodwood Handicap among his five stakes race victories in Adelaide.

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ild Ruler has a pedigree that sees Danehill through his son Redoute’s Choice, and of course the influence of Snippets in Snitzel’s female line. By and large though it is an outcross pedigree and some of the key names include Awesome Again, In Excess, Seattle Slew and Great Nephew that may present some opportunities for breeders. The most obvious influences though are the local ones, and while Redoute’s Choice may not be a stallion to be bringing in through a mare, many other Danehill line stallions will represent good options. Again we should consider the benefits of pushing Danehill back as far as we can in a pedigree. Nevertheless mares from stallions like Choisir, Exceed And Excel and Fastnet Rock are all likely to have quality daughters who may do well with the stallion. We also have sons of most of these that will also fit the bill. We cannot forget that this includes Giant’s Causeway who is the sire of Shamardal whose descendants are becoming more available in Australia. It is also perhaps quite significant that Shamardal is a close relation to Street Cry who is another stallion whose presence in a pedigree could be of benefit to the stallion.

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e earlier mentioned a successful runner from the family that was by Tale Of The Cat, a son of Storm Cat. Storm Bird appears in the female line of Snitzel and mares that feature this stallion and his descendants might well be very compatible.

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This also extends to many other Northern Dancer line stallions including Sadler’s Wells and his descendants like Galileo and High Chaparral. Another clue that could be gleaned from history is the broodmare sires that have had success with Snitzel.

These are quite varied and include the likes of Success Express, Zabeel, Last Tycoon, Encosta De Lago and Rory’s Jester. These are becoming much harder to find but I would suggest that mares carrying these lines elsewhere in their pedigrees may be worth pursuing. One word of caution though is that the stallion lacks any real stamina in his pedigree unless we consider that Awesome Again may fit that bill. It may be worthwhile looking for some of those stamina influences and we might just find that Wild Ruler will be able to sire some far more versatile types than we first imagine.

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s a complete contrast to some of the other Freshman stallions we have looked at, Wild Ruler looks like he will suit a wide range of mares. He may just be the next big stallion that Newgate brings to Australian breeding and should give breeders a good chance of producing not only good commercial return, but also some quality racing stock.

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Wild Ruler again stamps our relative lack of close inbreeding this month by featuring only 3.52%. We see five lines of Northern Dancer, again through all sons but an interesting mix in Danzig, Nijinksy, Grand Chaudiere, Storm Bird and Vice Regent. Interestingly only one of these is within six generations of the pedigree of the dam of Wild Ruler. We do also see another son of Northern Dancer in Sovereign Dancer who appears in the pedigree of Indian Charlie. The pedigree of Wild Ruler also sees a duplication of Buchpasser. This pedigree is perhaps very important when we see that Snitzel at 13.67% had quite a heavily inbred pedigree while Gypsy Robin (1.95%) is at the other end of the inbreeding spectrum.