The purchase by fledgling breeders Steve Ajax and Charles Palmer of Gr1 Breeders Cup Turf Mile winner Expert Eye as the foundation stallion for their newly-established Paardeberg Stud, probably raised some eyebrows, for the simple reason that the son of Acclamation had already spent a couple of seasons standing at his birthplace Juddmonte Stud.
Expert Eye in stakes winning action (Pic – Dan Abraham)
Breeders will always look askance at a stallion who has already had runners elsewhere, so let’s analyse the performance of his first progeny, the oldest of which are currently three-year-olds.
Expert Eye’s first crop raced in 2022 and with 22 individual juvenile winners to his credit, he ended the season as England’s fourth leading freshman sire.
His second crop, now three-year-olds, yielded 14 individual two-year-old winners, including two very smart stakes winners in Snellen, a Royal Ascot winner of the Chesham Stakes and Juniper Berries, who claimed the Gr3 Dick Poole Fillies. Add to that the colt Witness Stand, a six-length maiden winner who placed second in the Gr3 Horris Hill Stakes at Newmarket.
One can assume that despite his excellent pedigree and race record, plus home support from his owners, Expert Eye had not quite lived up to their high expectations and when the opportunity arose to buy the young stallion, the Paardeberg team wasted no time.
As Charles Palmer stated at the time: “It was imperative for us to secure a distinguished stallion as a testament to our dedication to the stud and the broader South African thoroughbred racing industry. We consider ourselves exceptionally fortunate to have acquired such an exceptional performer to serve as our standard bearer.”
Juddmonte’s loss may well turn out to be Paardeberg’s gain if a flush of recent racetrack success is anything to go by.
Home to Expert Eye (Pic – Paardeberg Stud)
The first week of August saw two third-crop winners strut their stuff on opposite sides of the English Channel.
Juvenile daughter Naina, an impressive three and a half-length maiden winner over 1400m at Brighton, backed up that success over Newmarket’s July course, scoring by almost two lengths. The very next day, Juddmonte homebred Nesthorn stamped himself a useful future prospect when cruising to a smooth debut win over a mile at Deauville.
More was to come. Last week, juvenile daughter Magic Basma made a smart debut at Carlisle in a maiden fillies event over 1200m and after taking the lead two furlongs out, she kept on well to win by the best part of a length.
Twenty four hours later, it was the turn of the year-older Loving Look, who completed a quickfire double for her sire when she shed her maiden tag over 2000m on the all-weather track at Kempton.
“He is certainly doing well,” enthused Paardeberg’s Sally Bruss, who is understandably delighted with Expert Eye’s latest run of success and added: “He is also sire of the smart 2YO colt Rock Hunter, a winner first time out in France before running second in the Listed National Stakes at Sandown third time out.”
Sally made a particularly interesting observation: “It’s more than encouraging that these youngsters all won in good going,” a remark which augurs well for Expert Eye’s future local progeny, considering they will encounter similar underfoot conditions in this country.
Speaking of which, Sally was kind enough to provide details of almost twenty Paardeberg mares penciled in to visit Expert Eye in his first South African covering season and judging by those names, the stud will support him to the hilt.
Expert Eye by Acclamation ex Exemplify by Dansili
(Pic – Melanie Sauer)
The list oozes quality and includes the newly-acquired stakes winners Love Bomb and Marigold Hotel. Successful in the Gr2 Golden Slipper as a juvenile, the former, a daughter of Oratorio, proved an admirable galloper for the Frank Robinson stable and was still earning her keep at age six, while Marigold Hotel, a Gr1-placed winner of the Gr3 Poinsettia Stakes, is a Querari half-sister to Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Maharanee.
Also set to visit Expert Eye is the proven stakes producer Mina Salaam. By Medaglia d’Oro and a multiple stakes-winning daughter of champion racemare Circle Of Live, she is the dam of Gr1-placed Gr3 winning sprinter True To Life.
Another stakes producer on the list is Mrs O, a Gr2-placed daughter of Oratorio, who is already off the mark with her first foal, the stakes-placed Var filly Priscilla Maisey.
Given that Sally spent more than thirty years at Lammerskraal, it is no surprise that a number of mares destined for the court of Expert Eye were born and raised at the revered Ceres stud.
From the famed Nacarat family, Scarlet Chill (What A Winter) and Scarlet Red (Visionaire) are daughters of Chambre, a Rakeen half-sister to Gr1 winners Red Ray and Nania, the Gr2 winners Brutal Force and Bishop’s Bounty, as well as the stakes-winners Adobe Pink and Valor Red.
Another young mare from this excellent family set to visit Expert Eye is the four-time winner Raising Quinn, whose stakes-placed dam Vermillion is an own sister to Red Ray and Nania.
Also on the list is Western Winter mare Izora, a Gr3-placed daughter of champion Icy Air and an own sister to Gr2-placed Icy Winter Air, the dam of Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas and Gr1 Cartier Paddock Stakes winner Make It Snappy. Izora’s first two foals are both winners, one of which is the Gr3-placed William Longsword filly Ice Star.
She will be joined by another Western Winter mare Stormin Cat, a four-time winning own sister to Gr3 winner Bulleting Home and already the dam of stakes-placed Emerald Band. Incidentally, Storm Cat’s Fort Wood half-sister Savannah Cat has produced the Gr3 winners Egyptian Mau and Cymric. For the purists out there, it is interesting to note that Stormin Cat’s dam Kapen Cat is a half-sister to Western Winter.
Expert Eye’s book of mares also includes a number of siblings to stakes performers, notably Whiskey Tango, a daughter of Broodmare of the Year Akinfeet and thus a half-sister to Equus Champion Miler and sire Capetown Noir and to Gr3 winner Across The Ice.
Then there is the regally-bred import Emerald Gal, a winning Galileo full-sister to Irish Gr3 winner Ballet Shoes, from the power-packed family of Nureyev, Archipenko and Jade Robbery, while another new acquisition is the unraced Var mare Moon Guide, whose siblings include Gr1 Gold Medallion ace Ambiorix.
As regards outside mares destined for Expert Eye, Sally added: “Heversham Park Farm have indicated they would like to send Little Fastnet, the dam of Gr2 SA Fillies Nursery winner Little Ballerina.”
The covering season officially opens on September 1 and given that Expert Eye is one of eleven new stallions for 2024, Sally is fully aware that competition in a declining mare population is going to be fierce.
Nevertheless, she has every confidence in the horse: “He is going to be up against it this season, but he is such a good-bodied, beautiful horse. We feel a quality book is of importance and I will be extremely happy if he covers 50 mares.”
