On another top class Saturday of Autumn Carnival racing featuring five Group I races in Australia and New Zealand, not one of those elite winners was foaled in Australia.
The $5million ATC Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) was won by UK raider Dubai Honour (IRE) beating Mo’Unga (NZ) and Anamoe, who are both likely to be standing at stud here this spring, click to read about the race.
It was the second G1 win in Australia for Dubai Honour and he’s a horse that will have a lot of Australian breeders wondering whether they didn’t understand Pride of Dubai as a stallion. The blue-blood son of Street Cry was a brilliant dual Group I winning two year-old and most expected he would also get precocious juveniles.
He was the Champion Australian First Season sire with 11 winners that included one stakes-winner Tanker (who failed to train on) and the promising Bella Nipotina. He was then leading second season sire by winners, but was edged out on earnings by Headwater and was leading third season sire last year by earnings and stakes-winners.
All of that sounds positive, but breeders still felt he had not done enough and as a result he’s struggled for numbers the past two seasons, but what is surfacing now is that Pride of Dubai does better with stoutly bred mares, barring the anomaly of Bella Nipotina and his best progeny are better with maturity.
Of his 12 Group winners, nine are from mares by sires we would see as classic or staying type stallions. From his progeny in the Southern Hemisphere where he has covered loads of speedy Danehill line mares, he runs at 3.9% SW to runner, whereas in the Northern Hemisphere where he got more staying bred mares he is 6.5% SW to runner.
Food for thought!
The $1million Group I ATC Australian Oaks (2400m) was won by the NZ Oaks winner Pennyweka (NZ), read about her here.
We’ve covered her before and she is the fourth SW for Rich Hill Stud’s Satono Aladdin and comes from a stout Kiwi female family and is the fourth G1 winner among 21 SW’s for Pentire as a broodmare sire.
The $2million Group ATC Sydney Cup (3200m) was won by the Australian Derby winner of two years ago in Explosive Jack (NZ), read about him here.
He is the only Group I winner and best of four stakes-winners by Jakkalberry (IRE) and is from a stakes-winning sprinter by Ekraar, who is also sire of the dam of another Australian GI winner in Yearning.
The $1million ATC Coolmore Legacy (1600m) was won by Atishu (NZ), a new G1 winner for her sire Savabeel, read about her here.
Atishu is the third G1 winner at The Championships for Savabeel and all of them are new G1 winners, the other two being I Wish I Win and Major Beel. She is his 31st G1 winner and is the second as a broodmare sire for No Excuse Needed (GB).
She caps a remarkable few weeks for Savabeel, whose overall SW to runner strike rate is 11%, compare that to our leading Australian sires.
The Group I New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (1600m) at Pukekohe was won by Belclare (NZ), read about her here.
Belclare is the seventh G1 winner for Per Incanto and is the 24th G1 winner for O’Reilly as a broodmare sire. That nick has produced 32 winners from 47 runners so 68% winner to runner and with four SW’s has 8.5% SW to runner, which is notably higher than Per Incanto’s 5.3% overall SW to runner.
