Is it not curious that a particular sire line can fade into obscurity in many parts of the globe yet continues to thrive in another?
MJ Byleveld (blue cap) sends One World for home in the 2019 Gr3 Matchem Stakes as Donovan Dillon brings Search Party from the clouds (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
A case in point is that of English Derby winner Roberto, the only horse to defeat the mighty Brigadier Gerard in the inaugural running of the Benson and Hedges God Cup.
This American bred son of Hail To Reason became a fine stallion, yet his sire line has virtually disappeared in both his birth country and Britain.
In the States, it clings on by a thread via Clairborne-based great-grandson Blame, who incidentally, ended the great mare Zenyatta’s historic winning streak in the 2010 Breeders Cup Classic.
The beginning! Al Mufti – Roberto (USA) ex Lassie Dear by Buckpasser (Pic – Supplied)
Based at the historic Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, he has to date sired six Gr1 winners, amongst which the filly Fault, who happens to be out of a stakes winning daughter of our own champion Horse Chestnut.
Blame is a son of Arch, sire also of the Beck-raced champion Overarching and Canadian Horse of the Year Arravale. Arch in turn was sired by Roberto’s son Kris S., a massive, course, big-boned horse.
Amongst the leading American stallions, he sired a good number of sons who went to stud, the most successful of which has proven to be Arch.
Remarkably, the Roberto sire line is still active in Japan via Ephiphaneia, a son of the Kris S horse Symboli Kris S.
A descendant of the Oaks winner Pia and a winner of the Japan Cup, Ephiphaneia sired undefeated Japanese Triple Tiara winner Daring Tact in his first crop.
In South Africa, Kris S was represented by the former Drakenstein-based chestnut Philanthropist, who initially stood in Canada, where he sired the champion Pender Harbour, while his best local runner proved to be the dual Gr1 winner Golden Ducat.
If success in the breeding shed was anything to go by, the best son of Roberto destined to perpetuate the sire line in America should have been Dynaformer.
No oil painting, he was a coarse and angular individual who was also aggressive and highly dominant (no surprise, since he was out of a Ribot mare), yet he forged his own path to stud success siring 131 stakes winners and was a noted source of stamina, bone, scope, and soundness.
Sadly, none of his sons have risen to similar heights as stallions, the best of which probably being Point Of Entry, a five-time Gr1 winner, who to date has sired 32 stakes in his first seven crops and now stands in Canada.
The champion! Captain Al – Al Mufti ex Off To War by Complete Warrior (Pic – Jeremy Nelson)
Another son of Roberto, the classic performer Silver Hawk, proved himself a better than average stallion and primarily made his mark as a sire of staying grass runners across the globe, notably English Derby winner Benny The Dip, St Leger hero Mutafaweq, French Oaks victress Lady In Silver and Yorkshire Oaks winner Magnificent Star.
His best American runners included the Gr1 winners Wonder Again, Memories Of Silver, Silver Ending, Zoonaqua and Hawkster. Two sons, Fahal and Albarahin, both did stallion duty in South Africa, with moderate success.
Red Ransom, by Roberto out of a Damascus mare, was arguably his sire’s most precocious colt. A sensationally fast juvenile, he set a new course record over 1000m at Saratoga but sadly, his career was confined to just three starts due to injury.
Initially retired in his birth country, he eventually stood at Dalham Hall Stud in Britain, and also shuttled to Australia.
In Britain, his champion son Intikhab sired three exceptional Gr1 winning fillies in Snow Fairy, Paita and Red Evie (who subsequently became the dam of the champion racemare and Arc winner Found).
Another of his sons European Champion Sprinter Red Clubs, prematurely died at age ten, thus robbing the industry of arguably a promising young stallion, considering he left the Gr1 1000 Guineas and Gr1 Moyglare Stud Stakes victress Sky Lantern.
Down Under, Red Ransom sired the Gr1 winner Charge Forward, the leading 2YO sire in New Zealand in 2010. Incidentally, he was out of Sydney’s Dream, who raced with distinction in South Africa, winning the Gr1 Allan Robertson Championship. Charge Forward became a Gr1 sire when Headway won the Coolmore Stud Stakes.
From the above, it is clear that the Roberto sire line is very much on the backfoot in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as the Antipodes. In contrast, it is flourishing in South Africa, and all thanks to a single son, Al Mufti.
The beginning! Al Mufti – Roberto (USA) ex Lassie Dear by Buckpasser (Pic – Supplied)
Al Mufti was no slouch on the racetrack. A winner in Britain of his only start at two, he was stakes-placed at three and four and was acquired for stallion duties by the Parkers of Ascot Stud.
After covering his first book of mares in 1990, maestro trainer Terrance Millard persuaded his owners to return the handsome bay to training, a wise decision, as he won three more races and ran the race of his life in the 1991 Rothmans July, where he looked all over but the winner until pipped at the post by Flaming Rock.
Much more refined than his sire, Al Mufti is out of the renowned ‘sire making’ broodmare Lassie Dear, who is also grandam of the influential American sire A P Indy. Al Mufti lived up to his regal bloodlines as the leading freshman sire of 1993; wore the crown of Champion Juvenile sire in 1998 and a year later clinched the General Sires title. Also a wonderful broodmare sire, he led that list in 2013.
For all his accomplishments, perhaps his greatest gift to South African breeders was his son Captain Al.
A classic winner of the Cape Guineas, he made an immediate impact at stud with a record 22 first crop 2YO winners and took the juvenile sires title in 2008 when he smashed his own record by siring a remarkable 30 juvenile winners. A robust, good bodied individual just like his sire, he went on to claim the General Sires title in 2014.
Captain Al currently has five sons doing stallion service, of which Captain Of All and William Longsword are ‘veterans’ so to speak. Both have put together respectable, rather than spectacular records.
In his defence, the former, a champion sprinter, has never received the cream of the Western Cape’s broodmares, yet has sired the dual Gr1 winner Linebacker, whose principal successes ironically came over 2000m, i.e., in the Cape Derby and Daily News 2000.
A handsome individual of the highest quality, William Longsword was rushed back to birthplace Klawervlei in 2017 as a replacement for his illustrious sire, who had been humanely euthanized after complications from laminitis.
Like his sire, he was a winner of the Gr1 Cape Guineas and given his good looks and top pedigree, looked a likely candidate to follow in his sire’s footsteps.
However, given that he had access to Klawervlei’s best mares, he has managed to sire just one top level winner to date, the Cape Flying Championship ace Dyce, who racked up another victory at Turffontein last weekend.
Captain Al currently features as the sire of one of the most exciting young stallions in One World, who took the racing industry by storm as the most dominant freshman stallion in many years.
Captain Al had no peer when it came to siring precocious two-year-olds and he led the juvenile sires list for eight straight years. He seems to have passed on that trait to his Drakenstein Stud-based son, who matched his sire’s feat when siring 30 juvenile winners in his first crop, his six black type performers headed by stakes winners One Stripe and Lion Rampart and Gr1-placed Grand Crescendo.
Rounding out the quintet of stallion sons are Triple Crown hero Malmoos and Gr2 winner Erik The Red, both of which are yet to be represented on the track, the former’s oldest progeny being newly turned yearlings, whilst the latter will have his first runners this season.
For now, One World can lay claims to being the most likely successor to Captain Al. The country’s champion older male of 2019 and a Gr1 winner over 2000m, he has inherited the good body of his sire and has let down into a magnificent animal.
Whereas Captain Al’s best progeny tended to be excellent sprinter/milers, One World is out of a Giant’s Causeway mare from a fine classic female line, which probably accounts for a number of his progeny getting a mile as juveniles.
An infinitely exciting prospect, he looks set to ensure that the Roberto male line continues to exert its influence, at least in this country, if not the world.
