There are three factors I look for when recommending a first-season sire to clients: racing class, toughness and a pedigree that is complementary to that of the relevant mare. Any Suggestion passes the first two tests with flying colours and his pedigree seems to suit a significant cross-section of our broodmare population.
Any Question had blazing speed, running quick times when winning nine times from 900m to 1200m in his home state of Queensland, including one event at Listed level. What impresses me about this is that he wasn’t just a one-paced sprinter, a stallion type which I have learned to avoid. Instead, he showed the ability to quicken off a fast pace; this was particularly evident in his second placing to Miss Andretti in the Group 1 MVRC Australia Stakes. Certainly the great mare went past him to win convincingly, but he too was drawing away from a top class field.
Secondly, I have a strong preference for stallions which have shown their resilience by competing in more than a handful of races. True, some of our most successful stallions of the past have had extremely limited careers, but now that the breed seems to be losing some of that traditional hardiness, it seems logical to prefer a sire whose racetrack performance extended over a number of seasons.
Finally, it makes it a lot easier for a stallion to succeed if he has a pedigree which is complementary with a significant number of mares. For example, Cinna is a name which occurs frequently in New Zealand pedigrees for the simple reason that her descendants have been phenomenally succesful. Not only does Any Suggestion trace directly in tail female to this great mare, but one of the key sires in his pedigree, Vice Regal, is inbred to Cinna via Illustrious and Whistling Wind. Breeding back to such a dominant influence is worth serious consideration. Another pedigree feature of note is Any Suggestion’s inbreeding to Ribot. New Zealand breeders are sometimes unduly suspicious of this great sire, largely because some of his worst-performed and worst-looking offspring found their way to our stud farms. However, there is no doubt that he is one of the planet’s greatest stallions; inbreeding to him can be spectacularly successful.
I have already recommended Any Suggestion to several of my clients; if you would like to discuss him with me, please feel free to get in touch.
