Of all the numerous high class athletes and sires descended from the great tap root mare Almahmoud (Mahmoud), few have enjoyed more influence worldwide than the famously evil tempered Halo, writes Sarah Whitelaw.
A son of Roberto’s sire Hail To Reason and Broodmare Of The Year Cosmah, Halo (who following a moderate career on dirt, which switched to turf) was a top class racehorse with his victories including the Gr1 United Nations Handicap of 1974.
On The Dirt
Despite being a Gr1 winner on turf, however, it was through his top class dirt performers Sunday Silence, Devil’s Bag, Sunny’s Halo and Glorious Song, that Halo largely made his mark –a mark potent enough to score Halo a pair of US Sires Titles (in 1983 and 1989) and both Sunny’s Halo and Sunday Silence won the Gr1 Kentucky Derby.
Sunday Silence – grace on the dirt
Halo’s 60 plus stakes winners included a string of champions, and his son Sunday Silence was named US Horse Of The Year in 1989. Other champions sired by him included Devil’s Bag and Glorious Song, while his daughter Goodbye Halo surely rates as one of the best horses never named a champion –she won 11 races, with her 7 Gr1 victories including the Kentucky Oaks.
Sunday Silence, whose Triple Crown winning son Deep Impact currently leads the Japanese General Sires List, was exported to Japan at the end of his racing career, due to lack of interest from US breeders. Sunday Silence became the dominant stallion in Japan, and headed the General Sires List on no fewer than 15 occasions, with his successful sires including Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe –both of whom headed the Japanese General Sires List. (Another son of Sunday Silence, Fuji Kiseki, left his mark in South Africa –he sired former Equus Champion Sun Classique and is the broodmare sire of former unbeaten Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas heroine Rumya (Red Ransom).
Hear The Silence
Remarkably, currently eight of the top ten on the Japanese General Sires List are sons of Sunday Silence!
Sunday Silence proved equally outstanding as a broodmare sire –with his daughters having produced (according to Blood-Horse statistics) over 150 stakes winners thus far, including former G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile hero, and young Gainesway Farm sire, Karakontie (Bernstein), and Horse Of The Year, and Gr1 Japan Cup hero Admire Moon (End Sweep).
2005 Dubai World Cup – Roses In May (photo: Dubai Racing Club)
Halo’s champion son Devil’s Bag (who was syndicated for $36 000 000) proved a successful sire –the unbeaten Two-Year-Old Champ of 1983 left behind more than 40 stakes winners including Gr1 winners Devil’s Orchid (Santa Monica Handicap), Twillight Agenda (Meadowlands Cup), Taiki Shuttle and Devil His Due (sire of Gr1 Dubai World Cup hero Roses In May).
Devil’s Bag also enjoyed successful as a broodmare sire –his daughter Bonita Francita producing G1 Prix Morny hero Orpen to the cover of Lure and Gr3 Nashua Stakes hero Jules to Forty Niner. Both Orpen and Jules enjoyed success at stud- Orpen’s 90 odd stakes winners (19 Gr1 winners) including South African stars Private Jet, Rocks Off and War Artist, as well as French classic heroine Torrestrella, while the ill-fated Jules left behind triple Gr1 winner Peace Rules in an all too brief innings at stud.
Champion Sire
Ironically, while Devil’s Bag enjoyed success at stud, it was his lesser regarded own brother Saint Ballado who became Champion Sire.
Saint Ballado, who died at the young age of 13, was Champion Sire in the USA in 2005, and his top performers included US Horse Of The Year Saint Liam –who himself died after just one full season at stud but left behind another Horse Of The Year in the shape of Havre De Grace.
Remarkably Glorious Song –the full sister to Devil’s Bag and Saint Ballado-became equally, if not more successful at stud. The great racemare and champion (her 17 wins included four at Gr1 level) produced successful South African sire Rakeen (sire of seven times Champion SA Sire Jet Master), outstanding sire and broodmare sire Rahy (grandsire of outstanding French sire Le Havre and damsire of triple US Champion Sire Giant’s Causeway) and world champion racehorse Singspiel –whose numerous top class performers include world champion Solow and Breeders’ Cup heroine Lahudood.
Treble Gr1
Glorious Song was by no means the only daughter of Halo to leave behind a top sire son –Halo matriarch Coup De Folies produced three Gr1 winners, including Champion 2YO Colt and outstanding sire Machiavellian (Mr Prospector).
The ill-fated Kahal
Machiavellian left behind a host of top class performers including world class sires Medicean and Street Cry, as well as South Africa’s very successful sire Kahal.
Broodmare sire of once beaten champion and outstanding sire Shamardal, Machiavellian appears twice in the pedigree of Gr1 Prix Du Jockey Club winner and red hot young Irish sire Lope De Vega (Shamardal). Machiavellian’s half brother Mogok (Storm Cat) is a proven Gr1 sire in South Africa, where his top runners include the Equus Champions The Apache and Wild One.
The latest chapter in the Halo success story can be seen in South Africa –thanks to the exploits of last season’s Leading First Crop Sire Gimmethegreenlight.
More Than Ready
The latter, like former Equus Champion Entisaar, is a son of outstanding shuttle sire More Than Ready (himself a son of the Halo stallion Southern Halo).
Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready – Yes She Can Cancan)
Gimmethegreenlight, who has made a superb start to the 2016-2017 South African racing season, dominated the recent BSA Bloodstock SA Million races, with his offspring Hack Green and Green Pepper fighting out the finish to the BSA Sprint, while another son, Legend, landed the BSA Million Sprint.
More Than Ready has been a marvellous flagbearer for the Halo male line, with his 160 plus stakes winners including Gr1 winners the world over, including the very successful Australian sire Sebring, and US G1 winners Buster’s Ready (Mother Goose Stakes), Daredevil (Champagne Stakes), Regally Ready (Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint), Room Service (Ashland Stakes), and Verrazano (Haskell Invitational, Wood Memorial).
No doubt plenty more chapters will still be written in the story of this remarkable male line!
