The High Chaparral (IRE) sireline is rapidly emerging as one of the most progressive in the country with his champion son So You Think set to follow in his footsteps through his exciting Group I winning son D’Argento.
Grey and gorgeous, D’Argento sported the famed purple and white stars of Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds and has been a crowd pleaser since winning his first two starts for the Chris Waller stable as a juvenile.
That obvious potential came to fruition at three when he won the Group I ATC Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and was fourth to Happy Clapper in the Group I ATC Doncaster after drawing 15 in the field of 16.
D’Argento returned at four to contest the Winx Stakes (G1), Theo Marks (G2), Epsom Handicap (G1), Caulfield Stakes (G1) and W.S. Cox Plate (G1), enhancing his reputation with another two seconds and a third behind the likes of Winx, Hartnell and the internationally revered Benbatl.
His luckless run in the Epsom, when beaten half a head by Hartnell, but finishing in front of top class Group I winners Unforgotten and Shillelagh would be seen by many as just about his best performance.
“When you consider he probably should have won a Doncaster and Epsom it certainly would have made him into a high-profile stallion, but we just came up short… I will certainly be supporting and helping to promote him as a stallion,” said Chris Waller.
One of six Group I winners sired by So You Think, D’Argento is poised to take the blood of Epsom Derby winner High Chaparral through another generation.
High Chaparral has enjoyed success as a sire of sires not only through So You Think, but also Dundeel, with both stallions finishing in the Top 20 sires last season, while another son Toronado (IRE) has emerged as one of the best young stallions in Victoria with his oldest progeny just turned four.
On the female side of his pedigree, D’Argento ticks every box being from a stakes-winning juvenile by Redoute’s Choice while his next two dams are by champion sires Kenmare (Fr) and Without Fear (Fr).
The diverse speed of his Black Type female family coupled with the classic qualities of So You Think, hit the jackpot in D’Argento, who retired with earnings of $1.1million.
He’s the horse we all aspire to produce, precocious enough to win at two, blessed with enough stamina to win over a middle distance at three and classy enough at four to run in the best races in the country.
Priced at $16,500 at Bowness Stud this spring, D’Argento is a serious horse for the serious breeder.
