July 7th, 2009 — News
Firstly, many thanks to subscribers for reminding me that an update is indeed due, if not overdue. I’d hoped that Tinseltown would win the Brisbane Cup and hence provide a headline but a meritorious third after not the best of runs doesn’t quite cut it in terms of snappy headlines. I’d also hoped that Sunshine One would win his fourteenth race in Macau, but with advancing age he appears to have turned into a consisent placegetter and although you’d have to be pleased with his steady advance towards NZ$500,000 in stakemoney, “consistent progress” is hardly likely to grab too much attention out there.
Anyway, the recession does offer an opportunity for comment, largely because it doesn’t seem to have had as much impact on the thoroughbred industry as one might have supposed – at least insofar as New Zealand is concerned. The demand for nice colts at the Festival Sale has to be compelling evidence of this. However, stud fees have come down and that can’t be bad news for breeders who aren’t stallion owners.
In this article, I’d like to focus on four first-season stallions which seem to offer outstanding value: Sir Percy, Librettist, Danfive and Mettre En Jeu. I’m not arguing that these are the best value stallions on the market but it seems difficult to argue that they aren’t worth very serious consideration.
Sir Percy didn’t just win the Derby; he was also a top-class 2YO and in his career beat several horses currently standing at significantly more than NZ$15,000. He’s also got a good pedigree and, most importantly, a pedigree which should suit many of our leading bloodlines. He may well perform better than those shuttle horses which have not had this advantage.
Librettist has a superb pedigree, especially for mares with a strong Mr Prospector influence. It’s rare that a stallion comes back to form after missing his 3YO season and this speaks volumes for his enthusiasm for racing, in my opinion. I’ll be extremely surprized if this horse doesn’t make it; at $13,500 he’s huge value.
Danfive was very, very fast and very fast sons of Danehill out of strong families tend to succeed. Danehill x Sadler’s Wells is doing very nicely and the Lalun duplication in Danfive’s dam should reinforce this bloodline which is present in so many of our mares. Incidentally, linebreeding to Riverman has been successful – especially in France, where racing conditions are similar to ours.
Finally, Mettre En Jeu. If you think he was a one-paced stayer, forget it! He was happy racing on the pace but he was certainly capable of settling back and unleashing a powerful finish. Montjeu is one of the best stallions on the planet and this horse has been successful in New Zealand and Australian conditions. He’s also from a brilliant female family.
I’d be happy to develop my ideas on the above stallions; just drop me an email or give me a call (after 14 May).
May 2nd, 2009 — News
The well-endowed Rotorua Cup (Gr 3) is fast becoming Cloughmore’s favourite event on the New Zealand racing calendar. Following earlier successes by All In Fun (1998) and Bodie (2002), Tinseltown today scored a courageous win in this year’s renewal.
Cleverly ridden by Craig Grylls, the Pentire gelding was too strong in the final stages of the 2200 metre contest and his victory certainly franked the form he showed in winning the Avondale Cup (Gr 2) last December. His chances of winning at Group 1 level had subsequently been hampered by the muddling pace set in both the Auckland and Wellington Cups and today looked very much a case of deja vu with the moderate tempo appearing to disadvantage him. In spite of this he managed to accelerate when it mattered and he fought on to narrowly defeat the equally brave I’m Isaac. The latter’s paternal half-brother Ginga Dude ran on strongly from well back to claim third place, with the favourite All In Black – another Cloughmore product – also covering much extra ground to earn fourth money.
Tinseltown’s breeding is covered in an earlier article posted on this site and, given the circumstances of today’s win, we are hopeful that he has the potential to continue his success at Group level.
April 18th, 2009 — News
All In Black’s strong win in yesterday’s 2200 metre contest was a landmark for Cloughmore in several ways. The Don Eduardo mare’s victory capped off an excellent ten days for the advisory business, was another step forward for the All In.. family and also provided further evidence for our belief in staying – bred sires.
All In Black began the roll with her victory at New Plymouth on Thursday of last week. Carrying 59kg in her first attempt over ground, she accelerated when she needed to and cruised effortlessly to the line. Friday saw Sunshine One run a game second in Macau to take his earnings within a breath of M$2.1 million and on the following day we recorded our first ever “double” at a Premier meeting with Showcause and Align to Infinity both winning at Ellerslie. Yesterday’s Group 3 victory of All In Black was backed up by another game performance by Align to Infinity on ground which did not suit him and a fast-finishing fourth by Aussieaussieaussie in the Group 3 Easter Cup at Riccarton.
The deeds of the All In.. family are well documented but All In Black became Bonnie’s Delight first female stakeswinning descendant with yesterday’s success. Her dam, the Prized mare All In Grace, had previously been represented by the brilliant juvenile All In Brawl, winner of last year’s CJC Champagne Stakes in 1:07.48. All In Black, her dam’s first foal, also has good tactical speed but clearly it was her staying ability which was a key component in her Gold Cup victory. Certainly she was at an advantageous position in the weights, but the manner in which she finished off the race should give her connections hope for further success.
All of which brings me to the recent performance of Don Eduardo. He has always been well-priced and the recent announcement by Haunui that he will stand at $7000 this coming season has to be good news for breeders. To date his fillies and mares have outshone his colts and geldings but he does appear to have some handy males which are getting better with age. In 12 months time he could well be regarded as a proven horse; the toughness and genuineness of his offspring provide further evidence that breeding successful racehorses is not simply a matter of finding the fastest stallion around.
April 3rd, 2009 — News
On the racing front 2009 has started encouragingly with 9 winners to date. Two runners look to have especial promise: All In Black (Don Eduardo – All in Grace) and Showcause (Giant’s Causeway – Showella). Also of note is our first ever winer in Japan – Earth’s Gravity (Galileo – Star Affair).
Mentioning the latter two stallions provides a neat link to this year’s yearling sales and the central theme of the fickleness of the market. Galileo is one of the very best stallions on the planet and yet down here his progeny have gained little recent recognition in the salering. Sure, Sadler’s Wells sons are not the easiest horses to mate with our commercial broodmare population but when a nicely-bred yearling by one of his major sons steps up to be sold, buyers seem unable to judge the quality of what is in front of them. A case in point is the Galileo – Star Affair colt passed in at only $150,000. Last year his full-brother made A$550,000 at the Sydney Easter Sale; both were outstanding types.
Another example of fickleness is the comparison of prices paid for well-bred and conformed K2 (and in some cases K1) fillies as opposed to the cheques written out for well-made K3 colts. Buyers had a wide selection of very acceptable fillies in the $20,000 to $25,000 range, but it was very difficult to purchase a nice K3 colt for similar money.
However, I was certainly very pleased with the quality of the lots which Cloughmore clients were able to purchase. These included the K1 Pins – American Cash filly and the K2 fillies by Savabeel – Montreal Gold, Southern Image – Ringside, Storm Creek – All In Grace, Postponed – All In Time, O’Reilly – Caught Kanudling and Shamardal – Carnegie Belle. As a further measure of the market, I had excluded some of these fillies from my original list of recommendations on the grounds that they were very likely to be too expensive; fortunately clients were able to receive further feedback by phone during the course of the sales. I had originally valued the Pins filly as being likely to make around $100,000; when I saw her go through the ring and be passed in for around half that figure I was able to recommend to a client that she was worth serious consideration.
The only A+ rated horse purchased by clients was the Pentire – Cabella colt. I rated him as one of the best two likely value for money colts in the Select Sale.
At the Festival Sale, clients were able to secure another four lots: colts by Thorn Park – Class Mistress and Falkirk – Durham Walk and fillies by Gold Mine – Super Wench and Zenno Rob Roy – Valentine Red.
In addition to the above lots, I also had a strong interest in following the fortunes of a number of yearlings bred as a result of my recommendations. Apart from the Galileo colt and fillies by Postponed and Storm Creek mentioned above, these horses included the Pentire – Our Tristajet, No Excuse Needed – Little Gem, Tale of the Cat – Superjet, Faltaat – All In Magic and Captain Rio – Golden Lights colts. The Keeper – Copper Flame and Spartacus – Oblige fillies rounded out the “draft”.
January 20th, 2009 — News
Readers of this site will be aware that each year I compile a buyers’ guide for our series of yearling sales. For each sale, I select and grade yearlings which seem to me to have something special about them from a pedigree point of view. Often, this special quality may not be at all obvious from a straightforward reading of the catalogue page.
The grading system is on a likely value for money basis. In other words, to gain an A+ rating a yearling must not only have a very strong pedigree, but must also have something about it which may make it undervalued by bidders. In the case of fillies, they must also have a stong likelihood of retaining a significant residual value to be given an A+.
In 2008, I identified five Select Sale colts and five fillies which possessed the above qualities. Of these ten yearlings, three have gained selection for Sunday’s Karaka Million 2YO. They are Veldt (Volksraad – Jumble, by Kaapstad), Mexican Rose (Volksraad – Down View, by Gone West) and Bewitch (Bachelor Duke – Star of Flight, by Marscay). In addition, King’s Ransom (King’s Chapel – Joan, by Colonel Collins) was an A selection.
Unfortunately, none of the purchasers of Cloughmore’s buyers’ guides were able to secure these horses although I understand that one client was the underbidder on Mexican Rose. However, it is certainly encouraging that the guides are helping to identify lots which do indeed offer significant value for money.
It’s worth pointing out that the guides are not targeted at the Karaka Million, or indeed at any other race; they simply attempt to identify significant genetic potential. Many of last year’s selections have yet to get anywhere near a racecourse.
Returning to the matter of the Karaka Millions field, it’s interesting that 9 of the 14 qualifiers are from the 2008 Select catalogue, the remaining 5 being Premier yearlings. Even allowing for the difference in numbers of lots catalogued ( Premier – 494, Select – 658), K2 still seems to be the place to be if you are looking for an athletic thoroughbred which matures reasonably early. On the other hand, it appears that buyers of Festival yearlings are going to be battling to discover horses which can compete as 2YOs with their Select and Premier counterparts.
I have little doubt that this is the year to be buying yearlings. Although the 2009 catalogues do not seem quite as strong as last year’s, it has still been a difficult job to sort out this year’s selections and I am sure that the current economic conditions will weaken demand, especially as regards staying-bred yearlings.
If you would like advice of any sort regarding the yearling sales, please feel free to contact me using the information given elsewhere on this site or by mobile 021 0455855.
December 28th, 2008 — Winners
Professional Man (4g Royal Academy – Mi Signora by Mi Preferido) – the product of a Cloughmore recommended mating – scored an easy win in yesterday’s Yang di Pertua Negeri Gold Cup.
According to the report posted on www.turfonline.com , the Kevin Coetzee trained runner failed to settle early in the 2200m event but after running midfield was too strong for his opposition in the straight. This latest success was his fifth from only six starts and was his first attempt at a distance in excess of 1700m.
Professional Man was bred by Terry Archer and his success represents a welcome change of fortune for Mi Signora. A very useful SP sprinter, her earlier fillies by Zabeel and Stravinsky both failed to win and a Stravinsky gelding, Stravar, won one race in the South Island. The Royal Academy mating was something of a last resort as the mare was clearly not passing on her own speed even when mated to one of the best sprinters of his generation. The attraction of Royal Academy was his consistency and his ability to sire runners at a variety of distances, my theory being that if the mare couldn’t leave sprinters she just might be able to produce a decent horse which could run over ground. I was aware that Royal Academy had done well with some mares strong in Bold Ruler, but in this case I wasn’t at all sure what Mi Signora was throwing to.
This black type victory has rounded off a pleasing year, being the 40th win and the third stakes success for Cloughmore. Promising performers for the future include Align to Infinity, Leica Scotch, Cadonna and the South Island based fillies Kay’s Dream and Brown Eyed Grace so let’s hope luck goes our way.
December 22nd, 2008 — News
As we approach one of the most problematic yearling sales series for many years, recent 2yo results have reinforced the value of our buyers’ guides.
I selected five fillies in the 2008 Select Sale as A+ prospects. To gain this rating yearlings require an outstanding overall pedigree and also have some significant value as broodmare prospects if things do not go as hoped for on the racetrack. To date, two of the five fillies have raced: the Bachelor Duke – Star of Flight filly Bewitch (SP in the WRC Wellesley S.) and last Saturday’s impressive Awapuni winner Mexican Rose (Volksraad – Down View).
My comment on the latter filly in the sale analysis was as follows. “Both sire and dam are bred on the same Danzig – Secretariat – Never Bend – Turn-to – Princequillo – Abernant cross, so we have a classic ‘mirror’ pedigree with no fewer than six elements, which is extremely rare. In my opinion, this pedigree mix is highly likely to be effective given that these six stallions have a record of being compatible. Whatever she does on the racecourse, this filly appeals as an outstanding broodmare prospect.”
Unfortunately, none of my clients were able to purchase this particular filly but it is certainly gratifying that she has shown above-average ability.
I expect that the 2009 buyers’ guides will be available in early January and welcome any enquiries about them that readers may have.
December 12th, 2008 — Winners
It’s always a great feeling when a horse which you have had a significant input into wins a major race, but Tinseltown’s dominant victory in this year’s renewal of the Avondale Gold Cup raises some interesting pedigree issues which go well beyond the conventional considerations of why he is as good as he is.
As a breeder, it is hard to avoid becoming increasingly concerned with soundness issues. The horses we are producing today seem to be a lot less resilient than their forebears of even 40 years ago and one has to wonder why. Veterinary science has advanced considerably, the development of equine nutrition is impressive and training and racing surfaces are undoubtedly much improved. Is it simply a question of owners needing a quick return and consequently putting too much pressure on immature animals? Or has our fascination with inbreeding also played its part?
When I first looked at Tinsel’s pedigree, the first question I asked was – is there anything here that we need to inbreed to? Apart from Tudor Minstrel, the answer was quickly obvious – nothing. I then looked at a range of stallions I liked and tried to figure out which potential mating might involve some successful crosses. Pentire had already produced good results with Marscay and Vain; given that Jetball had not been a raging success as a stallion and that it was thus imperative to find some influences which complemented him, Pentire was not a difficult recommendation to make. Interestingly, Tinsel’s owner, veterinarian Bill Stewart, has since repeated this mating; the resulting yearling was sold at this year’s Karaka sales. Apparently he resembles Pentire much less than Tinseltown does, being a chestnut and significantly bigger at the same age.
In recent seasons I have become a lot more focussed on recommending matings and selecting yearlings which feature a range of crosses; it is also important that those crosses complement each other. Inbreeding has a role in what I do, especially if the priority with a mare is to duplicate a particular strength of her pedigree, but I’ve maintained my suspicion of overdoing things in this regard.
One of the statistics I keep is a wins:winners ratio as this seems to be a valid method of measuring the resilience of horses produced. At the moment it is hovering around 3.1.; one of my goals is to increase this to 3.5 over the next ten years.
September 15th, 2008 — Choosing A Stallion
Royal Gem
Any stallion with a similar genetic make-up to that of breedshaping sire Storm Cat needs to be given more than a passing glance. If one adds in Group 1 form, the ability to accelerate strongly at the end of a race and a pedigree which should complement many New Zealand – based broodmares, then the stallion concerned becomes very interesting indeed.
Royal Academy has been around for a long time now and there’s always a tendency in our industry to underrate the tried and true; novelty and quality are too often seen as synonymous. However, any stallion which has produced nearly 150 SWs is clearly top class and the other bonus of longevity is that there is a heap of evidence to suggest which bloodlines are suitable for mating with such a stallion or his sons. For example, Bletchingly, Shirley Heights and Woodman mares have done very well indeed with Royal Academy and there’s no reason to suggest that Royal Gem will not follow this pattern.
New Zealand breeders won’t often have come across Effervescing – Royal Gem’s damsire – in local catalogues, but he was a multiple Group winner and once distinguished himself by winning a Group 3 and a Listed race on different surfaces in the space of six days. He’s one of the La Troienne tribe but you have to wonder whether, being by Le Fabuleux, he might have gained greater stallion success ( 16 SW including two champions) on the other side of the Atlantic. What is beyond conjecture is that Royal Academy x Effervescing works: the high-class Top Hat (BRZ), winner of two Group 1 events this year, is bred on just this cross.
On the other hand, one thing all kiwi breeders will be aware of is the power of the Nasrullah – Princequillo nick. Royal Gem’s second dam is by Secretariat and his third-dam sire, Ack Ack, has both Turn-to and Princequillo close up; thus these valuable genes are intensified.
All in all, he’s a most appealing package.
August 17th, 2008 — Choosing A Stallion, Value For Money
Thano
Given the outstanding success of More Than Ready, any Group 1 winning son of Southern Halo must be highly rated as a stallion prospect. From a pedigree point of view, however, Thano is rather more than your run of the mill Southern Halo sire.
The affinity between Southern Halo and Danehill is well documented and most breeders with a Danehill line mare will give serious consideration to any son of Southern Halo within their price range. Thano has at least two other strings to his bow apart from his likely affinity with daughters of Danasinga, D’Cash, Cullen….
The first is that he should suit grand-daughters of Mr Prospector particularly well. More than Ready is out of a Woodman mare and Edenwold is out of a daughter of Mining – just two examples of the Southern Halo – Mr Prospector cross. But wait, there’s more. Thano also has Seattle Slew close up in his pedigree and Seattle Slew x Mr Prospector is one of the great nicks of thoroughbred breeding.
The second genetic strength of Thano’s pedigree lies in the similarity of Southern Halo and Seattle Slew: both are bred on a Hail to Reason – Nearctic – Mahmoud – Bold Ruler – Blue Larkspur cross. In other words, we can reasonably expect these major influences to be significant factors in the genes passed on by Thano. All these lines can stand further reinforcement so that mares strong in these influences should suit Thano well. Another approach would be to look for complementary influences for these stallions: Native Dancer, Princequillo and Ribot are three which come to mind.
One of the factors which help a stallion succeed is a broodmare population which suits his pedigree. On the evidence outlined above, Thano would seem to have an excellent chance of becoming a significant stallion.
