He’s only won a restricted maiden at Kranji after two of the favourites were withdrawn but the way this son of Darci Brahma dispatched his rivals in that event last Sunday suggests that he’s well above average. NZ Thoroughbred Marketing devoted an article to him in their 28 August edition; he clearly has some upside if his jockey and trainer are to be believed.
Metallocene was bred by long-time client Terry Archer out of the winning Galileo mare Glam Girl. Do feel free to research the purchase price: you’ll discover that Terry found himself an extreme bargain. If Australians have a fault (OK, I am just being polite) it’s that they under-rate world-class bloodlines if they haven’t set the world on fire on their own rock-hard tracks. Galileo was not rated by Australians when Terry made his purchase; which was just as well, I suppose.
Anyway, I did the mating for Glam Girl’s second foal, the Jimmy Choux mare Chambon, and when Terry intimated that it would be a good idea to spend some more serious money on his Galileo mare, I immediately thought of Darci Brahma.
I have always rated the potential of the Darci Brahma – Sadler’s Wells cross. Apart from the huge success of Danehill x Sadler’s Wells, The Sir Tristram strain in Darci’s pedigree has a strong affinity with Miswaki. Many years ago I urged Donna Logan to buy a filly bred on this Danzig x Miswaki x Sir Tristram cross; she developed into the Group2 winner Focal Point so I was confident that the Darci mating was worth trying from this point of view.
However, what about the 3×3 inbreeding to Zabeel that sending Glam Girl to Darci Brahma would produce? Would it make the progeny too dour or too temperamental? I remember talking to Terry about the risks but the mare really did need a big horse at that point in her breeding career and, at the end of the day, if you don’t take a few risks in life, where do you end up?
