Monks Hood – dazzling winner of the Gauteng Guineas (Pic – JC Photographics)
One of six July Cup winners by Danzig, Green Desert, the sire of at least four official sprint champions, established a thriving male line through his sons, Invincible Spirit, Cape Cross and Oasis Dream.
Green Desert (photo by Shadwell)
Green Desert left behind 2 July Cup winners, with another son, Tamarisk, finishing second in 1998 – to Danzig’s son, Elnadim! Remarkably, Invincible Spirit, Cape Cross and Oasis Dream have each sired over 100 stakes winners, and all have left their mark through sons and daughters at stud.
The success of the Green Desert male line can be seen in the fact that inbreeding to the deceased bay has already resulted in a string of group winners, highlighted by Barraquero (Richmond Stakes), Havana Grey (Molecomb Stakes) and dual Meydan Sprint winner Ertijaal (Oasis Dream). Querari’s debut winner The Highway Man (whose damsire, Kahal, is out of a Green Desert mare) is another inbred to the sire.
Invincible Spirit, whose sire sons include the very successful I Am Invincible and Lawman, has a host of Gr1 winning sons at stud yet to be represented by runners, with this number including Horse Of The Year, Kingman – a ¾ brother to Oasis Dream – and fellow Gr1 winners, Charm Spirit, Shalaa, and Territories, and it is hard not to see his legacy and influence extending considerably in future.
Kingman -champion
Cape Cross, sire of a top class sire son in the form of Sea The Stars, also has a number of young stallion sires yet to be represented on the racecourse, headed by Derby/Arc winner, Golden Horn, and Irish 2000 Guineas winner, Awtaad. Cape Cross is also broodmare sire of the regally bred dual Derby winner, Australia (Galileo), whose first crop race in 2018.
Green Desert was also sire of multiple times New Zealand champion sire, Volksraad, an outstanding broodmare sire, while his July Cup winning son, Owington, showed signs of becoming a top class stallion, but died after leaving behind just a single crop.
Cape Cross (Green Desert – Park Appeal)
Green Desert’s son, Oasis Dream, a Gr1 winner at two, and champion sprinter at three, has been one of the main flag-bearers for Green Desert, both as a racehorse and as a stallion. One of his sire’s very best runners, Oasis Dream won the Middle Park Stakes at two, and both the Gr1 July Cup and Gr1 Nunthorpe Stakes at three.
To date, Oasis Dream has had 110 black type winners, with a further 69 stakes placed runners. While he has sired runners capable of staying further than a mile, for example the Breeders’ Cup winner, Midday, Oasis Dream’s influence, as could be expected, looks to be as a stallion whose best runners by and large tend to be high-class sprinters or sprinter-milers.
Oasis Dream is also now making his mark as a broodmare sire and he is damsire of 2017 Gr1 Phoenix Stakes winner, Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy). Daughters of Oasis Dream produced six group winners last year, a tally which also included Gr3 Musidora Stakes winner, Shutter Speed (Dansili).
Querari during his racing career
Outside of Querari, Oasis Dream’s best sire son, to date, has been Gr2 Mill Reef Stakes winner, Showcasing, whose best runner to date is the now retired dual Gr1 winning sprinting filly, Quiet Reflection.
The former sprint star is yet to be represented by a truly outstanding sire son in the Northern Hemisphere. This could well change, with Oasis Dream’s four time Gr1 winning son, and champion sprinter, Muhaarar, being exceptionally well received, with Oasis Dream’s Gr1 Middle Park Stakes winning son, Charming Thought, another young sire placed to make a splash at stud.
Monks Hood, latest star to represent this formidable male line, is inbred to Danzig.
Not only is the latter sire of Green Desert, but Danzig is also broodmare sire of Monks Hood’s own damsire, Camden Park. Inbreeding to Danzig, not surprisingly given the prolific nature of his sons, grandsons, and great grandsons, has proved hugely successful, with Gr1 winners the world over carrying this cross.
Among the notable stars inbred to the unbeaten son of Northern Dancer are Kentucky Derby winning champion, I’ll Have Another (Flower Alley), four time Gr1 winner, All Too Hard (Casino Prince), St James’s Palace Stakes winner and new Darley sire, Barney Roy (Excelebration), dual Gr1 winner and sire Bushranger (Danetime), the outstanding Champion Stakes winner, Cracksman (Frankel) and Blue Diamond Stakes winning filly, Catchy (Fastnet Rock).
With a number of top sires, including Frankel, Siyouni and Teofilo, produced by Danehill mares, this number should continue to grow substantially in years to come. A case in point is the 2017 Gr1 Fillies Mile winner, Laurens, by Siyouni out of a mare by Cape Cross.
Green Desert and his sire sons and grandsons have also enjoyed notable success through Danzig inbreeding. This pattern has resulted in the likes of Gr1 winners, Able One (Cape Cross), Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) and the remarkably durable gelding, Gordon Lord Byron (by Green Desert’s son Byron).
Monks Hood is not the only high class performer sired by Querari to be inbred to Danzig. Others include Listed Darley Arabian winner, Maximizer, promising but ill-fated runner, Dynamic Speed, and Bauhinia Handicap runner up, Spring Wonder.
