Article for Inside Breeding May 2001

We will know in a week or two's time whether the stallions will be able to come in from the Northern Hemisphere after the outbreak of foot and mouth in England and Europe and after the foal disasters in Kentucky.

The major commercial studs have played down the situation maintaining a unified and confident line that all the stallions would be coming out. Perhaps a glimpse of the underlying concern could have been seen when the contingency plan meant getting the stallions into New Zealand!! Of all the places in the world where an outbreak of the disease would be even worse than an outbreak here. One thing for certain is that without the Danehill yearlings the commercial environment for breeders will be very different to what it is now.

How disastrous would it be to the Australian breeding industry if the shuttle stallions don't manage to get out here this season?

Historically Australia, New Zealand and America built their thoroughbred industries in much the same way. A handful of good mares here and a small select group of well bred but often under performed stallions made up the backbone of all three industries. Through careful breeding and the gradual infusion of other imports resulted in a breed ideally suited to the prevailing conditions in each country developed.

The world has now changed and breeders have been encouraged to adopt a more international perspective when breeding their mares and if the results of the Sydney Easter sale are any guide then the shuttle stallions have been enormously successful, with Danehill leading the way to globalization and the lucrative international markets.

When Danehill first came out as a stallion prospect it was hoped that he would straddle both the international and local markets, his pedigree would attract attention from the international buyers and his horses would perform well in Australia. He managed to do awfully well at both and many international commentators thought it was a reflection on the shallowness of the Australian genepool that a middle ranking stallion prospect from Europe could do so well here and it encouraged the belief that other well bred and performed stallions would do even better.

With his fifth Golden Slipper winner under his belt Danehill is now considered the equal of the fabled Star Kingdom as the best stallions to have come to these parts and he has answered his critics by showing many better bred rivals out the door. Not only that but in England he has taken the challenge right up to Sadler's Wells' barn door showing that he wasn't just a southern hemisphere fluke but the best international stallion in the book.

Ironically having ushered in the shuttle stallion era, he may have a hand in its diminishing popularity with Australian buyers. His influence is extending through both sides of the pedigree page and his sons are now swelling the ranks of the colonial stallions who are enjoying a resurgence of popularity from buyers wanting performers in Australia. The internationalization of racing has become a double edged sword; there is good money for the right pedigrees but often the animals struggle to find their feet in conditions diametrically opposed to the ones their illustrious ancestors thrived in. It is the adaptability of a strain which is the key and it is why I believe that the marvelous mare Fall Aspen will play such a dominant role in the international pedigrees of the future.

Adaptability to our racing conditions plays such an important part in the success of a stallion that those who have performed at the top level of racing here have a compelling edge when it comes to getting their stock to the racetrack. Of course it isn't a case of one type of stallion being better than another, but rather it is about how successful the blend performs and no better example of that can be found by this years Golden Slipper winner Ha Ha. A daughter of Danehill from a sister to Rory's Jester.

The resurgence of interest in proven stallions at Easter must have come as a surprise to William Inglis who seemed to have arranged the catalogue with the international buyer in mind. The ten stallions who had the highest averages of the sale were evenly divided between shuttle stallions and local stallions. This is remarkable in light of the numbers of horses representing either camp. The catalogue of 505 listed yearlings comprised 143 who were sired by locally bred stallions, and 341 who were yearlings by shuttle stallions[1].

The highest averages for the Sydney Easter sale included Sunday Silence, Danehill, Marauding, Marscay, Zabeel, Dehere, Peintre Celebre, Octagonal, Flying Spur and Desert King. Although progeny of the colonial stallions were outnumbered by the shuttle stallions 2/1 they were amongst the strongest performers in the ring with stock by Marauding, Marscay and Zabeel all averaging over the $200,000 mark which in the case of Marauding is quite a return on his $22,000 service fee. Octagonal's yearlings also sold very well showing an average of around $180,000 which again was a nice against a service fee of $30,000.00 and Flying Spur's average was also solid at around $174,000 for a service fee of $35,000.00.

While the first season shuttle stallions didn't dominate the overall averages they completely outclassed the colonial stallions in the first season sire division. Only Encounter showed up in 8th place well behind Peintre Celebre with an average of $185,000, Desert King, Fuji Keseki, Hellissio, Belong to Me, Spinning World and King of Kings. Showing that marketing and overseas racing form still gives new stallions an unassailable edge when it comes to the sale ring.

Although proven stallions had a strong following there were some who sold comparatively cheaply such as Grand Lodge whose average of $125,769.00, Viscount's sire Quest for Fame also had a fairly modest average while Spectatorial's sire Spectrum doesn't seem to attract a lot of attention in the marketplace, although that is likely to change with Golan's win in the English Two Thousand Guineas. Another curious thing about Sydney Easter was that there were no yearlings by Assertive Lad's sire Zeditave, or Diatribe's sire Brief Truce and only single offerings by Miss Bussell's sire Danzero and Ashkaleta's sire the French import Ashkalani.

If none of the shuttle stallions come out it will be in the sale ring that they will be missed the most, they have generated a lot of international interest for the Australian breeding industry which is great. For racing purposes here though Danehill still remains the outstanding success. Shuttle stallions routinely serve large books of very well credentialed matrons over several seasons yet the good ones only managed to get a handful of Group performers. This Easter the tide looked to have turned with local buyers taking their lead from the stallion tables.

Of course if there is anything certain in the breeding game it is that a stallion's inaccessibility guarantees the success of his stock. If the doors close in two weeks time - watch them win!

[1] The progeny of the shuttle stallions were the most represented with pride of place going to Danehill who sired 56 yearlings on offer, he was followed by Woodman (33) yearlings, Unbridled's Song (20) Entreprenur (21) and Royal Academy with 15.