Mr P’s staggering influence
When Mr Prospector’s name is first mentioned, the first thought I usually have is of what a great sire, sire of sires and broodmare sire he was. It is interesting, however, to note what a impressive influence Mr Prospector’s daughters are having as producers of world class stallions.
Pulpit, Mineshaft, Malibu Moon, Silver Deputy, Flying Spur and Tale of the Cat were produced by Mr Prospector mares, and all have had considerable influence on the modern day breed in various major racing nations. Pulpit himself is the sire of the outstanding young sire Tapit – a horse inbred to Mr Prospector. Silver Deputy was not only a leading sire, but is the broodmare sire of Roman Ruler (another inbred to Mr P) – sire of this year’s Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice.
The latest hot young stallion produced by a Mr P mare is Scat Daddy. By the somewhat disappointing sire, Johannesburg (he was exiled to Japan by Coolmore), Scat Daddy is a son of the Mr Prospector mare, Love Style. Scat Daddy himself is inbred to Mr Prospector – Johannesburg’s granddam, Yarn, is by the great Claiborne sire.
Scat Daddy is currently leading the first crop sires list in North America. His 16 2yo winners include seven stakes horses (of which 3 have won group/graded races) including leading Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf hopeful Finale, G3 Arlington Futurity winner Shared Property and Saturday’s G2 Royal Lodge Stakes winner Daddy Long Legs. Scat Daddy’s G3 placed daughter Force De La Nature is inbred 3×3 to Mr Prospector.
Another horse produced by a Mr Prospector mare is Congrats. Currently third on the second crop sires list in the USA, Congrats (by A P Indy) had two G1 winners in his first crop, namely Wickedly Perfect and Turbulent Descent.
Yet another horse produced by a Mr Prospector mare to hit the headlines this year is the slightly less well known Philanthropist (Kris S). He is the only sire in North America to be represented by a dual classic winning colt this year – his son Pender Harbour won both the Breeders Stakes and Prince of Wales Stakes in Canada.
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Identity Crisis
It was interesting to see that two horses named Flowers Of Spring won feature races last Saturday. The local Qui Danzig filly won the Listed Banyana Handicap in South Africa, while in Ireland Celtic Swing’s filly, Flowers Of Spring, picked up the G3 Denny Cordell Lavarack & Lanwades Fillies Stakes in Ireland.
Plenty of horses racing in different countries at similar periods share names, but it is hard to think of another recent incident when two identically named horses won feature races on one weekend!
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Danehill’s finest
Danehill was one of history’s great stallions. And, unlike a number of other great sires, he left behind many fine stallion sons, who are much sought after. This can clearly be seen in the fact that five of Australia’s most expensive sires are sons or grandsons of the mighty stallion.
But which one is the most successful, both by statistics and overall stud record?
Four of Danehill’s sire sons, namely Flying Spur, Redoute’s Choice, Dansili and Danehill Dancer, have been champion sires in one or another country, while other highly successful sire sons include Rock of Gibraltar, Danzero, Fastnet Rock, Commands, Exceed And Excel, Tiger Hill and Danetime. Another of Danehill’s sons, Mozart, looked to be a very promising sire, but unfortunately died after producing just one crop.
So which one was best? In terms of straight sires championships, Redoute’s Choice is number one. He has been champion sire twice in Australia, while Flying Spur (Australia), Danehill Dancer (UK) and Dansili (France) have only accumulated one premiership apiece to date.
While Dansili and Danehill Dancer have both achieved great things in the arguably tougher Northern Hemisphere, Flying Spur and Redoute’s Choice have both built up legacies “Down Under.”
On stakes winners to foals Danehill’s top sire sons figures are as follows:
Danehill Dancer 4%
Dansili 8%
Redoute’s Choice 8%
Flying Spur 3%
Rock of Gibraltar 4%
Exceed And Excel 5%
Fastnet Rock 3%
These stats should be taken with a pinch of salt, however, as all the stallions above have covered huge numbers of mixed quality mares, which can’t have helped their overall statistics.
All of Redoute’s Choice (Stratum), Dansili (Strategic Prince) and Danehill Dancer (Choisir, Monsieur Bond) have produced G1 producing sire sons. Flying Spur himself is the sire of Jet Spur, a useful Queensland sire.
Judged by percentages and overall records, clearly the title of Danehill’s best sire son lies between Dansili and Redoute’s Choice. And while Redoute’s Choice has proven a superb champion in Australia, Dansili perhaps deserves the nod, having achieved huge success in the Northern Hemisphere. This year alone, Dansili has been represented by 20 individual stakes winners and has clearly established himself as world leading sire. He has also proven a remarkably versatile stallion (much like Danehill himself) and is capable of siring horses ranging from the five furlong top juvenile Requinto to the outstanding 12 furlong performers Harbinger and Rail Link.
Dansili is an own brother to champion Banks Hill (dam of young South African sire Ideal World). His son, Strategic Prince, has made a promising start to his stud career, with his first crop of 2yos including the G1 winner La Collina (Phoenix Stakes).
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Great double for versatile sire
There can be few more versatile stallions in South Africa than Kahal. The son of Machiavellian has sired G1 winners from 1000 to 3200 metres (Noble Heir and Desert Links respectively), and his versatility was confirmed over the past weekend.
The Summerhill veteran was represented by a stakes double when his sons The Mouseketeer and Sun City won the G2 Emerald Cup and Settlers Trophy on Saturday. What made the double more impressive is that while the Emerald Cup is run over 1450 on dirt, the Settlers is a turf race run over 2400!
Needless to say, his weekend double has pushed Kahal up to second place on the general sires list, where Jet Master, yet again, reigns supreme.
The Mouseketeer is one of ten stakes performers produced by Kahal when mated to Northern Guest mares. This mating has resulted in some of Kahal’s most talented runners, horses such as Galant Gagnant and the Dubai performer Art of War, as well as champion Bold Ellinore and her ill-fated brother Emperor Napoleon.
