Written 2011
With the breeding season imminently grinding into motion, many breeders are looking to pick up a few new mares, hopefully at good value.
We all know that Danehill is sitting pretty on the top of the Leading Broodmare sires list and that the daughters of other stalwarts such as Zabeel, Rory’s Jester, Snippets, Canny Lad, Quest For Fame and Flying Spur are also top producers. This is naturally reflected in their sale price and if you’re like me, you do enjoy getting in before too many people get wind of a good thing.
As the younger sires start to produce daughters at stud, taking a glimpse look at what lurks below the Top 20 Australian Broodmare Sires can reveal some emerging jewels.
I’ve examined stallions whose daughters have around 100 Southern Hemisphere runners or less (down to a handful!) and have come up with a handful of rising and potential stars.
Here they are, in no particular order.
LION HUNTER
A son of Danehill, Lion Hunter spent his short breeding life in Queensland, dying at the age of 11 years after only 6 foal crops. Two of his three stakes winners as dam sire have however, been successful in Sydney and Melbourne.
The jewel in his crown at this point is the dual Group 1 winner, STAR WITNESS (by Starcraft). The 3 year old was recently announced as having been purchased to stand at Widden Stud this season. His Group 3 winning grand-daughter TALLOW (by Street Cry) won the Group 3 VRC Vanity Stakes. Show A Heart has produced two stakes performers out of Lion Hunter mares – DUAL CHAMBER and Blazing Hearts – while Refuse To Bend is sire of Listed placed Ghostnthedarkness.
To-date, Lion Hunter has had 83 runners for 45 winners (54.2%) with 3.6% of his runners being stakes winners.
He epitomises a good broodmare sire, being sired by one (Danehill – currently on the top of the Australian Broodmare Sires table), out of a daughter of another (Godswalk, damsire of Group 1 winners RACER’S EDGE and MOONSHINE) and from a top female line. Hailing from the late Robert Sangster’s famous broodmare AUDREY JOAN, Lion Hunter shares his female family with PREGO, FAITH HILL, CARGO CULT, GONSKI and HAPPY GIGGLE amongst others.
HUSSONET
Hussonet’s oldest daughters in Australia are currently 6 year olds, so it’s too early to have any substantial Australian statistics on him as a broodmare sire.
Worldwide, however, Hussonet has produced the dams of 215 winners (88.5% runners to winners) including 19 stakes winners to runners (7.8%).
Hussonet already sports a top record of compatibility with the keystone of Australia’s breeding industry, Danehill. Group 1 winners GOLD TRAIL and REAAN; Group 2 winner EAGLE FALLS, Group 3 winner MISS DARCY and Listed winners DIRTY and LATIN NEWS are all by Hussonet out of mares by Danehill or his sons.
Being a son of Mr. Prospector, it’s not hard to imagine that flipping the pedigree over and putting Hussonet in the position of broodmare sire, with Danehill line stallions on top, should be an equally tasty recipe.
The 2011 Chilean Derby resulted in all three placegetters being out of Hussonet mares. The first and third placegetters were by Storm Cat line stallions, while the second placegetter was by a son of Dynaformer (Roberto).
It’s clear that Hussonet has the versatility to do very well as a broodmare sire in Australia.
REDOUTE’S CHOICE
OK, you don’t have to be a genius to realise that Redoute’s Choice has all the pedigree makings of a top broodmare sire. His father is Danehill (damsire of SHOCKING, TUESDAY JOY, SEPOY, SUNDAY JOY and 25 other Group 1 winners). Redoute’s Choice is out of a mare by Canny Lad (also damsire of DESERT WAR, MNEMOSYNE, MANHATTAN RAIN etc) , who is out of a mare by Nijinsky II, both top broodmare sires. In addition, he is from one of the most prolific stakes producing female families in the world, a characteristic often present in leading dam sires. Members of his tail female line include SPINNING WORLD, GOOD JOURNEY, MASTERCLASS, XAAR, EL GRAN SENOR, TRY MY BEST, HURRICANE SKY, UMATILLA and AL MAHER.
Of only 63 runners to date as damsire, Redoute;s Choice has produced 41 winners (63.1%) and 3.1% stakes winners to runners. His two stakes winners to-date are the New Zealand Group 2 winner EGO (by E Dubai) and the Listed winner SHAMILLION (by Shamardal).
Possibly of more interest however, is one of his two stakes placegetters. Masthead (by Written Tycoon) shows enormous promise, at time of writing, having run second in the Group 1MRC Blue Diamond.
MOSSMAN
This son of successful broodmare sire Success Express is in his infancy as a broodmare sire. Having had only 19 runners to-date, he’s showing great promise, with 10 winners (52.6%) and one stages winner (5.3%).
Unsurprisingly, Mossman’s first winners as dam sire are mainly Queensland based, having spent his first few years at stud in that state. 3 year old grandson BENNY’S BUTTONS (by Refuse To Bend) is a Group 3 BRC Vo Rogue Plate winner in Queensland.
Mossman’s own damsire Twig Moss was also a high class broodmare sire and he hails from one of the Southern Hemisphere’s best known families. His third dam No Relation is a three quarter sister to the dam of EIGHT CARAT. This is the family of KAAPSTAD, OCTAGONAL, COMMANDS, DANEWIN, DON EDUARDO, PERUZZI and MOUAWAD, amongst others.
IGLESIA
Another product of two proven broodmare sires is Iglesia. His sire Last Tycoon is a fixture on the current Leading Broodmare Sires List, his current leading light being TYPHOON TRACY. Iglesia’s damsire is the great Marscay, who is currently still in the Top 20 due to the efforts of grandson DOUBTFUL JACK and company.
Like Lion Hunter, Iglesia is a Queensland based sire who died after only 6 seasons at stud.
Considering that he’s only just dipping his hoof in the water in this role, Iglesia’s off to a promising start. Of only 8 runners, his 2 winners include Big Chance (by Octagonal), who ran 2nd in the Listed Doomben Slipper and Listed BRC Hampden Stakes. The other winner is Power of Ed (by Jet Spur), winner of this year’s Gold Coast Magic Millions 2 Year Old Plate (Restricted).
Like Mossman, More Than Ready, Carnegie and Hussonet, Iglesia is free of Danehill, making his daughters very versatile when it comes to choosing partners.
MORE THAN READY
Having commenced stud duties in both hemispheres in 2001, he has barely cleared the starting blocks as a broodmare sire.
While widely acknowledged as being more successful at stud in Australia than he has to-date in the USA, the current stats give the U.S. a six month advantage at this early stage.
13 of his 21 U.S. grand-progeny to race are winners (62%), with 2 stakes placegetters. In Australia, he has had 12 runners for 6 winners (50%) and no stakes winners at time of writing.
He is the damsire of smart 2 year old winners Offshore Sham (by Shamardal), Ringstrasse (by Redoute’s Choice) and Amber’s Crown (by Excites).
More Than Ready’s sire Southern Halo is a very respectable broodmare sire, having thrown 121 stakes winners (7.7%) per runners in USA and South America.
More Than Ready’s damsire Woodman has an iron clad reputation as a broodmare sire. Apart from More Than Ready, his daughters have produced MISS FINLAND and a further 17 Group 1 winners.
He traces directly to Blue Hen mare LA TROIENNE (also the ancestress of Woodman), giving further confidence that he will indeed step up to the mark as a broodmare sire himself.
CARNEGIE
A very exciting young broodmare sire, Carnegie’s Southern Hemisphere daughters have produced 128 runners for 76 winners (59.5%) and 6 stakes winners (5%).
One of those stakes winners is WHOBEGOTYOU (by Street Cry), a dual Group 1 winner and top of the 08/09 Australasian 3yo Classification (1600m).
Having stood his first few seasons in New Zealand as well as shuttling to Japan, Carnegie has grand-progeny all over the place. In Australia, he has also produced the dams of Listed Tasmanian Guineas winner EXCUSE MY FRENCH (by French Deputy) and stakes placegetters Spirited Eagle (by Not A Single Doubt) and Ankh Morpork (by Fantastic Light).
Why is he shaping up as a great broodmare sire? Carnegie is a son of top broodmare sire Sadlers Wells (think HENRYTHENAVIGATOR, PEEPING FAWN, SERENADE ROSE, DIVINE PROPORTIONS, SAKHEE etc, etc).
On top of that, Carnegie is out of a mare by Riverman (damsire of MAKYBE DIVA, HECTOR PROTECTOR, SPINNING WORLD, BOSRA SHAM, TOLEDO and a host of others).
His tail female line is also very relevant. This is also the family of Zabeel, a Leading Broodmare Sire in our hemisphere.
No doubt there’s a few more sleepers out there – broodmare sires such as SPINNING WORLD, who has a couple of Listed winners here to-date (LITTLE SURFER GIRL and PANIPIQUE) from less than 100 runners, could well step up to the plate. DANEWIN has produced a Group 1 winner in GOLD TRAIL, with 113 runners to-date and his brother COMMANDS shows early promise, with Group 2 winner OBSEQUIOUS to his credit from only 37 runners at this stage.
In order to grab yourself a bargain, the trick is in keeping as close an eagle-eye on the broodmare sire results as most people do to the actual sire results. While there are plenty of effective Danehill line sires who will have good stats as broodmare sires, it may ultimately be the mares by non-Danehill line stallions that prove the most versatile and ‘easy to mate’ with today’s sire line-up.
