International Thoroughbred Xtra with Weatherbys Stallion Scene Season 1, Part 2: Week 5
By Jocelyn de Moubray | Weatherbys pedigree references in red.
DESPITE ALL of the achievements of Wootton Bassett as a sire so far, Almanzor still holds the honours as his highest-achieving son on the racecourse.
As a stallion, though, things had not really gone to plan for the 12-year-old ... that is until now – through this first half of June, Almanzor's progeny results have been outstanding.
Almanzor was trained by Jean-Claude Rouget to win the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) and then the Irish and British Champion Stakes (G1), a rare and outstanding achievement. In each victory, he showed a wonderful turn of foot to come from behind and beat high-class rivals.
His four-year-old career was a non-event due to a rare illness, so when he retired to Haras d’Etreham in 2018 at a fee of €35,000 many expected him to be an excellent stallion. Things did not turn out as expected.
Almanzor's first three crops included several horses who initially looked as though they would become top class, but they didn’t live up to expectations. He has had two Group 1 winners in Australia – the 2019 Australian-bred, 2022 Victoria Derby winner Manzoice, from his first southern-hemisphere crop, and the 2024 Sydney Cup winner Circle Of Fire from his second European crop, but he has not returned to stand at Haras d'Etreham since 2023 and is now a permanent resident at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand.
When this year’s three-year-olds were offered for sale his yearling average had dropped from over 100,000gns to around 50,000gns.
However, the stallion's fourth crop is by far his best to date, and of the highest quality.
The White Birch Farm-owned Gezora, who is out of the Silver Hawk mare Germance and bred by Haras d'Etreham, was an excellent winner of the weekend's Group 1 Prix de Diane to become the sire's first European Group 1 winner. The filly was backing up her success in May when she won the Prix Saint Alary (G2).
As a two-year-old she ran for her breeder, and was bought by her current owner Peter Brandt after her last race as a juvenile.
Brandt said after the Diane: “Michel Zerolo spotted this filly when she was two and told me about her. She’s from a beautiful Niarchos family and had good performances, so I bought her. I’ve had a lot of success with French fillies, like Sistercharlie, who might have won this race with a bit more luck. Gezora will continue her career in France.”
Almanzor's Zuckerhut, who won the Group 2 Union-Rennen at Cologne on June 9, is currently the leading three-year-old in Germany, while another colt, Molveno, won the Group 2 Derby Italiano on June 2.
The Marco Botti-trained Molveno is out of the Listed-placed Dubawi mare Clotilde and was a 32,000gns purchase by Enrica Baragiola Sagam SRL at the Tattersalls October Book 3 Sale from breeder Chasemore Farm, while Zuckerhut was bred and retained by Gestut Hachtsee. He is out of the Group 2 winner and Preis der Diane (G1) runner-up Zamrud (Samum).
By the time of a stallion’s fourth year at stud, breeders have been able to examine his progeny and adapt the type of mares they send – Almanzor's progeny were often bigger than would have been expected and stayed further than he did, and maybe this evidence led to some adjustments.
And they have also shown a marked preference for good or firm ground and All-Weather tracks, so perhaps this uptick in fortunes is due, more than anything else, to Europe’s long dry spring and early summer.
Whatever the reasons, and it could just be a quirk of genetics, Almanzor is clearly a better stallion than he first appeared to be.
XTRA WINNER
SIRIUS A
2023 colt
Palace Pier-Night Of Light (Sea The Stars)
Owner: Team Valor LLC & Gary Barber
Trainer: James Horton
Breeder: Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd
https://x.com/LeicesterRaces/status/193393876792188133
If there are still some people out there who believe the market is always right, they need to start looking at the facts.
The Federal Reserve chairman was proved to be wrong back in
2008, and the bloodstock market is in this respect no different – sometimes, or perhaps often, it is not at all a good guide to future events.
Darley's stallion Palace Pier was a brilliant racehorse, the winner of nine of his 11 starts, including five Group 1 races, and the son of Kingman was retired to stud for 2022 at a fee of £55,000.
And yet his first crop of yearlings were not hitting the heights in the market last autumn.
Things may prove to be a little different when his second crop hit the sale ring this autumn as, from just eight runners to date, Palace Pier he has had three impressive winners.
They are all colts – the Clive Cox-trained A Bit Of Spirit won over six and a half furlongs at Newbury last week on his racing debut, Morris Dancer was victorious over 7f at Haydock at the end of May for John and Thady Gosden, while Sirius A won well over 7f at Leicester for James Horton on June 14 after making a promising debut over 6f at Newbury.
The first two colts are out of mares by Dubawi – A Bit Of Spirit is a first foal out of Tanaaghom, a granddaughter of Khulood, a Group 3-winning half-sister to the Group 1 July Cup winner Elnadim and the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Mehthaaf, while Morris Dancer is the third foal out of Menuetto, a half-sister to the Group 3 and Listed-placed Franz Schubert. Menuetto's granddam is Allez Les Trois, a half-sister to King's Best and Urban Sea, and daughter of Allegretta.
Sirius A is also a well-bred colt – his dam Night Of Light (Sea The Stars) was not far behind the best of her age in France winning a Listed race and finishing Group-placed several times. She is from a high-class family that has been developed by the Niarchos family for generations, yet Horton Racing was able to buy this colt for just 45,000gns in the Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale.
In 2024, Palace Pier covered his mares at the reduced fee of £45,000 and this spring at £32,000, those who used him in these two years will be feeling optimistic now.