Legendary shuttle sire Danehill’s remarkable success in Australia’s premier 2yo race continued in no uncertain terms on Saturday, when his grandsons Not A Single Doubt (Farnan) and Snitzel (Away Game) and great grandson Wandjina (Mamaragan) supplied the first and third home in the Gr1 Longines Golden Slipper.
The Danehill male line’s success was not confined to the Golden Slipper – Danehill horse Fastnet Rock is the sire of Saturday’s Gr1 The Agency George Ryder Stakes winner Dreamforce, while Snitzel’s daughter I Am Excited captured the same day’s Gr1 City Tattersalls Club Galaxy.
Not A Single Doubt’s son Farnan
Sarah Whitelaw writes that both Not A Single Doubt and Snitzel were sired by Danehill’s multiple champion sire son Redoute’s Choice, while Snitzel himself is the sire of Wandjina.
Danehill’s dominance in Australia can also be seen by the fact that his name occurs in the pedigrees of no fewer than 14 of the 16 runners to have contested Saturday’s Golden Slipper.
It is by no means the first time that Danehill or his sire sons have left their mark on the Slipper. The last three Slipper winners were sired by a Danehill line sire, with 2019 heroine Kiamichi is a daughter of Exceed And Excel (by Danehill) horse Sidestep, while 2018 Slipper winner Estijaab is a daughter of Snitzel.
Since 1994, the Golden Slipper has been won by 14 horses descended in male line from Danehill, with Danehill also broodmare sire of Slipper winner Sepoy (Elusive Quality) and his Slipper winning son Flying Spur the damsire of once beaten Golden Slipper winner Sebring (More Than Ready).
Danehill sired five Golden Slipper winners, in the form of Danzero, Flying Spur, Merlene, Catbird and Ha Ha, while his sons Exceed And Excel, Flying Spur, Danzero, and Redoute’s Choice have all sired at least one Golden Slipper winner.
Farnan, however, is the first Slipper winner who carries multiple lines of Danehill in his pedigree.
The Not A Single Doubt colt is not only by one of Danehill’s best grandson sires, but Farnan’s G3 Vanity Stakes winning dam Tallow is out of a mare by Danehill’s G1 Galaxy runner up son Lion Hunter.
A first Slipper winner for Not A Single Doubt, Farnan is the 12th individual Gr1 winner for his sire.
Danehill
In landing the Golden Slipper, Farnan became the 16th G1 winner inbred to Danehill following the likes of Alizee (Flight Stakes, Queen Of The Turf Stakes, Futurity Stakes), Amphitrite (VRC Thousand Guineas), Astaire (Middle Park Stakes), Beat The Clock (Hong Kong Sprint), Bivouac (Newmarket Handicap, Golden Rose), Danzdanzdance (Captain Cook Stakes, Zabeel Classic), Guelph (VATC Thousand Guineas, AJC Flight Stakes, Sires’ Produce Stakes, ATC Champagne Stakes), La Pelosa (Natalma Stakes), Prompt Response (TRC Tatttersall’s Tiara), Seabrook (ATC Champagne Stakes), Southern Lord (Levin Classic), Sunlight (Newmarket Hcp, Ascot Vale Stakes, William Reid Stakes), The Mission (Champagne Stakes), Verry Elleegant (Australian Oaks, Storm Queen Stakes) and Wonderment (Criterium De Saint-Cloud).
Horses inbred to Danehill went close to capturing a pair of Gr1 races on Saturday with Verry Elleegant narrowly beaten into second place in the Gr1 Ranvet Stakes.
Danehill’s grip in Australasia seems unlikely to falter anytime soon, with Danehill’s name found in the pedigrees of nine of the top stallions on Australia’s first crop sires list for 2019-2020. He is also broodmare sire of Australia’s current leading first crop sire Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry), and his son Rock Of Gibraltar is broodmare sire of Rubick (Encosta De Lago), currently Australia’s Leading Second Crop Sire by earnings.
Danehill is found in the pedigrees of five of the current top sires in Australia by earnings, while his sons Redoute’s Choice, Flying Spur and Fastnet Rock are currently first, third and fourth respectively on Australia’s Leading Broodmares Sires List.
Inevitably following the Golden Slipper, Danehill descendants also fare well on Australia’s Leading 2YO Sires, with Not A Single Doubt leading Snitzel, with another Danehill descendant, Starspangledbanner, in fifth spot.
Redoute’s Choice
Danehill’s remarkable influence can also be felt that inbreeding to his champion son Redoute’s Choice has already produced a high-class performer in the form of Gr2 VRC Rose Of Kingston Stakes winner Haut Brion Her (whose sire Zoustar is out of Redoute’s Choice mare Zouzou and whose dam One In A Million was sired by Redoute’s Choice himself).
The Danehill influence is not limited to his male line however, with Danehill and his sire sons also appearing in the names of a growing list of high-class stallions such as Frankel (Galileo), Teofilo (Galileo), Siyouni (Pivotal), Camelot (Montjeu), and Zoustar (Northern Meteor) to name but a few. It is surely only a matter of time before Frankel sires a high-class runner out of a Siyouni mare or vice versa, while Camelot is already the sire of a Gr1 winner inbred to Danehill in the form of Wonderment.
With the Danehill sire line remaining a potent force in Australasia, it appears unlikely that Farnan is the last Golden Slipper inbred to the mighty sire.
