The win of Smart Call (Ideal World) in Saturday’s Gr1 J&B Met provided the recently deceased sire Kingmambo with yet another cornerstone in his career, writes Sarah Whitelaw.
Smart Call
She is the first Kingmambo (sire of Ideal World) line descendant to win the Cape’s showpiece, with her victory coming just days after her grandsire’s death.
Another son of Kingmambo, Henrythenavigator, had a smart looking local stakes winner this weekend when Ten Gun Salute justified favouritism to land the Listed Michael Roberts Handicap at Greyville on Sunday.
Kingmambo sons’ success is not limited to South Africa either – his son, King Kamehameha, is currently the leading sire by stakes in Japan.
Horse Chestnut
Interestingly, Smart Call is also the latest star bred on the potent Kingmambo/Sadler’s Wells cross, with her broodmare sire, Horse Chestnut, being a grandson of the mighty Sadler’s Wells himself.
Other notable performers bred on this potent cross include 2000 and 1000 Guineas winners, Henrythenavigator and Virginia Waters, French superstar, Divine Proportions (whose son Eightfold Path is currently standing at the Scott Bros in KZN), Japanese Horse Of The Year, El Condor Pasa, top sprinter, King’s Apostle, and Derby/Arc hero, Workforce, to name but a few.
Last year’s Gr1 Canadian International winner, Cannock Chase, is another top class performer bred on this cross, and he is actually bred on similar lines to Smart Call.
Cannock Chase is a son of Kingmambo’s son, Lemon Drop Kid, and out of the very successful Horse Chestnut daughter, Lynnwood Chase, also dam of Cannock Chase’s Gr2 winning own brother, Pisco Sour.
Kingmambo, who was 26 at the time of his death this year, was a truly exceptional sire and one of the very best sire sons of the legendary Mr Prospector. He had been retired from stud duties since 2010.
The triple Group One winner left behind 95 stakes winners from 894 foals –or nearly 11% of stakes winners to foals.
In contrast other major sire sons of Mr Prospector sported stats such as:
Machiavellian -79 stakes winners from 763 foals (10%)
Gulch – 75 stakes winners from 1,077 foals (7%)
Smart Strike – 116 stakes winners from 1,384 foals (8%)
Fappiano – 49 stakes winners from 566 foals (9%)
Gone West – 101 foals from 1,263 foals (8%)
Seeking The Gold – 92 stakes winners from 935 foals (10%)
Carson City – 100 stakes winners from 1025 foals (10%)
Miswaki -101 stakes winners from 1,154 foals (9%)
Forty Niner – 57 stakes winners from 920 foals (6%)
Clearly, Kingmambo’s stats are right up there with the best of Mr P’s top sire sons and his legacy shows no sign of slowing down.
And, like the sires mentioned above, he has also become an extremely important broodmare sire.
The impeccably bred Kingmambo (whose female line was boosted by the performances of such Breeders’ Cup winners as Six Perfections (Celtic Swing) and Karakontie (Bernstein)) is damsire of more than 100 stakes winners to date, with this total still likely to rise further.
Duke Of Marmalade
This tally includes Drakenstein Stud’s red hot sire, Duke Of Marmalade, (sire of four European classic winners in 2015), as well as the Investec Derby winners, Camelot and Ruler Of The World. The latter pair are yet further examples of how well Sadler’s Wells and Kingmambo have fared together, with Camelot being by Montjeu and Ruler Of The World by Galileo.
The son of Mr Prospector has also built up a good record with Danzig line horses (Ideal World being out of a champion daughter of Danehill), with this combination producing last season’s top class 2yo, Buratino (Exceed And Excel), G1 Australian Cup winner, Super Cool (Fastnet Rock), Gallica (Oaks), Midday (Champion), and the above mentioned Duke Of Marmalade (Danehill).
Kingmambo’s son, Dubai Destination, otherwise a somewhat poor sire, made headlines this year as a broodmare sire when his maternal grandson, Golden Horn, (Cape Cross) became Cartier Horse Of The Year.
Another top performer out of a Dubai Destination mare is 2015 G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, Postponed (Dubawi), while Dubai Destination mare, Eastern Joy, has a pair of group winning fillies to her credit already.
Another son of the sire, Lemon Drop Kid, is another promising broodmare sire. The former US Champion is maternal grandsire of 29 stakes winners, with this tally including the G1 winners, Lochte (by Sadler’s Wells line sire, Medaglia D’Oro) and Elusive Kate (Elusive Quality).
A former French 2000 Guineas winner and conqueror of the mighty Zafonic (Gone West), Kingmambo has also left his mark in South Africa.
His sons have produced a number of high class South African runners, including the above mentioned Smart Call, as well as fellow high class gallopers Rudra, Same Jurisdiction, Virgo’s Babe, Laverna, Priceless Jewel, Sanshaawes, and Pierre Jourdan, among others.
Pierre Jourdan
The beautifully bred Kingmambo mare, Peace Bell, (an own sister to ill-fated four time G1 winner Campanologist and another out of a Sadler’s Wells mare) is the dam of G3 Umzimkhulu Stakes winner Peace Bell (Trippi), while Parade Leader is broodmare sire of G2 KZN Fillies Guineas winner, Alexis (by Sadler’s Wells’ grandson Dynasty).
Kingmambo was one of the few sires whose stock proved capable of winning at the highest level the world over.
His 12 classic winners won in five different countries, and his G1 winners scored at the highest level in Australia, Britain, France, Ireland, Germany, Japan and North America.
It will be interesting to see how Kingmambo’s legacy grows further in South Africa over the years to come.
