Mambo In Seattle’s Same Jurisdiction won the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes
Standing a new stallion at stud is a bit like taking on the All Blacks rugby team at Eden Park- the odds are stacked against you. Unlike a rugby match, however, where the result is known after 80 minutes, it takes four years after covering that first mare for the first crop season results to be revealed, writes Peter De Beyer.
Even then the game is not yet over- it is premature to judge a stallion on his two year old runners alone. A good set of first year two year old results is equivalent to scoring a try in the opening 5 minutes of the rugby game- exciting, but not decisive.
The dozen or so hopefuls who joined the sire ranks in SA in 2010 could be a very special vintage. Sadly, both Fort Beluga and Scarlet Letter are prematurely deceased, and both have enjoyed successful first seasons.
Lateral’s Bilateral won the Gr1 Golden Slipper
Possibly the most remarkable achievement in the 2013/14 season by the freshman sires is that they produced an astonishing three individual winners of grade one races for 2 year olds. The enormity of this feat by the trio of Lateral, Mambo in Seattle and Seventh Rock is clear when we consider that Var and Judpot were alone in their respective freshman years in achieving the same, and in most years, no freshman sire has a winner at the highest level.
The strike rate of winners to runners is also impressive for many of this group of sires. For those with 10 or more runners, the results were:
Elusive Fort 36.4%; Brave Tin Soldier 35.7%; Ideal World 35.3%; Lateral 30.4%; Fort Beluga 25%; Seventh Rock 20.6%; Mambo in Seattle 18.2%. ( Scarlet Letter achieved 42.9% from 7 runners).
Seventh Rock’s Guiness – won the Gr1 Tsogo Sun Medallion
When one considers that the majority of these young sires were best over a mile or further, and were not really expected to produce two year old performers, then the prospects for this group is truly exciting.
The next big test for these sires will be their first crop’s performance in the 2014/15 season classic races for three year olds.
It is very encouraging to see that in the first few weeks of this season, most of the above mentioned sires have continued to feature regularly in the winner’s box.
