Each year the stallion ranks are joined by the well bred

FASTHORSES

THE WINNING PEDIGREE

Redoutes Choice and the Best in Show family

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Each year the stallion ranks are joined by the well bred, well performed colts. Last year the multiple stakeswinning Spartacus made a splash with a well publicized retirement to Yallambee Stud where he was visited by an impressive collection of broodmares in his debut season, including the stakeswinners Saloon Rule, Blame, Perfect Bliss, Gold Design Guajira (Arg), Purple Maze (NZ), Sparky Miss, Lusty Habit and Marathon Star.

A very good start to stud by anyone's reckoning, and a similarly illustrious future may await the Blue Diamond winner and Golden Slipper aspirant Redoute's Choice, when he goes to stud.

Maternal strength is a plentiful commodity in Redoute's Choice's pedigree and he is one of the many very good juveniles who have come from the important Best in Show family. Tracing to Torpenhow, Best in Show was the half sister to the stakeswinning Journalist, and her dam was a half sister to the Ladies Hcp winning War Date.

A swag of winners came from her line starting with her three stakeswinners by the English Derby winning Sir Ivor. Malinowski won the Craven Stakes G3, Monroe won the Ballyogan Stakes G3 and Gielgud won the Champagne Stakes G2 before coming to stud in Australia. It is quite curious that these three stakeswinners by the classic winning Sir Ivor should have been better over the short courses, while her filly by the
brilliant juvenile Blushing Groom managed to carry her speed to 1810m when winning the Kentucky Oaks. Having said that it isn't that unusual to find a stallion transmitting differing ability to his own.

Best in Show's daughter by Buckpasser Sex Appeal, produced three unbeaten juveniles. The brothers Try My Best and El Gran Senor both counted the Dewhurst Stakes among their victories while Solar by Northern Dancer's close relative Halo claimed the Park Stakes and Railway Stakes amongst her juvenile wins. While Try My Best won the Vauxhall Stakes G3 at three, all the classic honours went to El Gran Senor who won the Two Thousand Guineas and Irish Derby, and who failed by a short head and bad riding, the ultimate prize - the English Derby. Not a bad effort considering the lack of stamina that the family had demonstrated up to that point.

Although Sex Appeal was the first matron in her line to produce a classic winner for about ten generations, the momentum of stakeswinners from her dam Best In Show was set to continue for some generations. Gielgud sired a number of stakeswinners including Send Me An Angel, Ambala, Imperial Regina and Best Time. Monroe has been a consistent matron of ten
winners including the miler Masterclass, Esquire, Ile de Jinsky, Diese and the spectacular juvenile Xaar; while Minnie Hawke
produced Chief Contender who won the Prix du Cadran, and is the second dam of Imperfect Circle and third dam of Spinning World. Although troubled with fertility problems the star of the clan, El Gran Senor still gets a high percentage of winners to foals ratio.

Show Lady was a sister to this elite gathering and when her daughter Dancing Show was imported her sons Umatilla and Hurricane Sky have ignited this branch of the family in Australia.

Not surprisingly, Umatilla was a sprinter first and foremost winning the Karakatta Plate and being second in the Blue Diamond and the Lightning he was also placed in the Newmarket and the Sires's Produce. At stud he seems to be more transmitting more versatility than pure speed and he has sired a number of good winners including Umrum, Bohemiath, Umah and Special Edition. His service fee is around $8,000.00 (Aus)

Hurricane Sky is by Bletchingly's Golden Slipper winning son Star Watch and he, like Redoute's Choice also won the Blue
Diamond Stakes. While there is plenty of speed throughout his pedigree, the Star Kingdom/Sir Ivor combination should be a
particular bonus in his pedigree. His service fee is $9,000.00 (Aus).

Redoute's Choice is by Danehill and his pedigree is probably the strongest of the three as he has the added advantage of Canny Lad as a broodmare sire. Nearctic, Star Kingdom, Ribot and Danzig all combine background strains of Tracery in his pedigree which is blended rather nicely with the linebreeding to the unraced, but speedy Alibhai. This distant background ties in
nicely with the inbreeding to Two nestled within Triplane's pedigree.

The brilliant Lady Josephine (9) family is also well represented in this pedigree through lines of the influential stallions Fair Trial,
Royal Charger, Nasrullah and Mahmoud while some lesser ranked relatives include Jambo and Coeur Volant.

Although there are two male lines of Northern Dancer in this pedigree there are balancing factors to be found in Sir Ivor, Star Kingdom and to a lesser extent Ribot while threads of unsoundness coming through Danzig, Buckpasser, Turn-To, Tom Fool and the linebreeding to Alibhai should be counterbalanced by the toughness of His Majesty, Star Kingdom, War Admiral, Nijinsky, Sir Ivor and Best in Show.

Astrid Southey TBV November edition 1999