‘Everyone who’s seen Pinatubo loves him’ – Darley confident son of Shamardal can hit the ground running
Two months out from the first official two-year-old trials, the question of who will be among the country’s next boom sires is a canvas coloured only by the hopes and dreams of studmasters around the country.
But as his first season of Australian runners approaches, Darley has cause for a high degree of optimism surrounding Pinatubo (Shamardal).
The eight-year-old – who welcomed his first Group winner on Sunday in France – has a couple of hard acts to follow in the Darley barn.
Fellow shuttler Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) has become a sensation, with performers like Group 1 star and imminent sire Broadsiding among ten Australian stakes winners to have sparked a service fee rise to $275,000 for the stallion’s return to shuttling this spring.
Harry Angel (Dark Angel) continues to impress, with three elite victors in Tom Kitten, War Machine and Private Harry pushing him to seventh on the general sires’ list in just his third year of runners, and with the third season sires’ title sewn up.
Blue Point (Shamardal) – who’s off the shuttle this year – was slow out of the gates but has risen to third behind Too Darn Hot on the second season sires’ standings. He’s also tantalisingly close to second after his son Scampi scored at Caulfield on Saturday and Lano won in metro class in Bunbury.
Now looming up behind this trio is Pinatubo, a stallion with arguably a more attractive racetrack record than the three of them, from an Australian breeding perspective. The stallion’s early results through performers in Europe – and at Australian yearling sales – have Darley confident he can prove the next winning choice among the nation’s fertile field of shuttlers.
Pinatubo had his Group breakthrough on Sunday when Qilin Queen took Longchamp’s Prix de Malleret (Gr 2, 2400m).
The three-year-old filly is one of three stakes winners for her sire after two colts also from his first crop. Croquis was successful in a 2400-metre Listed event in Toulouse in May, while Tipinso won a 1600-metre Listed event, also at Toulouse, as a late two-year-old in November.
Among Pinatubo’s 92 European runners so far, the trio sits alongside six other first croppers who have been black type placed, including Hallelujah U, who ran third in a 2600-metre Group 3 at Newmarket last week, to help show their sire is rapidly building momentum.
A former European Champion 2YO Colt, Pinatubo is a year behind in the south compared with the north, since he missed his possible first year on the shuttle due to an eye infection.
But Darley are hopeful the imposing stallion – who won three Group 1s and was placed in three more while achieving a top rating of 122 – will quickly make up for lost time once his Australian stock hit the track.
“He’s got a great bunch of rising two-year-olds out there – great looking, and they’re always big, strong, forward looking horses,” Darley’s head of stallions Alastair Pulford told ANZ News.
“We’ve had good reports from various people about the Pinatubos they’ve bought or broken in.
“Everyone who’s seen Pinatubo loves him, and he’s a horse most people feel will be perfectly suited to Australia. He leaves fantastic types, and he’s a big strong typical Shamardal, although he’s got more quality than most Shamardals probably, and obviously he was such a dominant racehorse.”
Pinatubo was unbeaten in six starts at two, taking the Curragh’s National Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) and Newmarket’s Dewhurst Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) back-to-back.
At three, he had a win and three placings from four starts before going to stud. He took Deauville’s Prix Jean Prat (Gr 1, 1400m) – meaning he would remain unbeaten at that distance or shorter – while his two seconds and a third all came in Group 1 events over 1600 metres.
While Pinatubo’s three stakes winners so far have come over 2400 metres and 1600 metres, Darley believe his own early precocity, coupled with the speed-oriented Australian broodmare band, will position him well for results among two-year-olds and over shorter trips in this country.
“He’s got a bit of stamina in his pedigree. Shamardal won up to 2100 metres and Pinatubo’s mother was a 2000-metre winner, and he’s got quite a bit of stamina in his female line,” Pulford said.
“But I would imagine that because he was so fast, the English breeders would have sent him mares they wanted to put some speed into.
“So the fact he’s got two stakes winners over 2400 metres is probably a function of the mares that he’s covering in Britain more than anything else. His 2400-metre winner on the weekend was out of a Sea The Stars mare, for example. There’s lots of stamina in the UK.
“Whereas here, he’s covered mares with speed in them, like lots of Fastnet Rock mares, so I’d imagine he will get a bit more speed here.
“In Europe, his stock have taken a little while, and they seem to appreciate a bit of distance, but I think here with the speed in our mare group, and most of Australian breeding centred around speed, I have a feeling we’re going to know a lot quicker here.
“But obviously we’re still very pleased he has the ability to sire horses over all distances.”
Pulford noted Pinatubo had 24 two-year-old winners from 66 runners in Europe last year, when he finished third on the British first season sires’ table, by earnings and winners.
“He had a lot of winners as two-year-olds without having a big stakes winner, but now that they’re three, they’re bobbing up in more and more stakes races,” he said. “Having a Group 2 winner at Longchamp is very important.”
Pinatubo’s first crop was well received at Australian yearling sales this year.
His top seller was a colt first foal out of quadruple stakes winner Fiesta (I Am Invincible), bought by Lindsay Park from Rosemont Stud’s draft at Magic Millions Gold Coast for $700,000.
Reflecting strong interest in Pinatubo from Hong Kong, his colt out of city winner Parraay (Excites) was the sixth-top lot at Inglis Classic, bought from HP Thoroughbreds by Magus Equine on behalf of Hong Kong interests for $380,000.
And Pinatubo topped the Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale, when his colt out of city winner Of The Day (I Am Invincible) sold from KBL Thoroughbreds’ draft to trainer Tony Gollan and associates for $290,000.
Darley itself has seven well-bred offspring of Pinatubo set to hit the tracks next season.
They include a half-sister to triple Group 1 winner and current Darley sire Bivouac (Exceed And Excel), a half-sister to dual Group winner and subsequent sire Encryption (Lonhro), out of outstanding four-time Group 1 heroine Guelph (Exceed And Excel), and a half-sister to top-tier winners Alizee (Sepoy) and Astern (Medaglia D’Oro).
There’s also a half-sister to elite winner Kementari (Lonhro), a half-brother to dual two-year-old Group winner Tempted (Street Boss), and a daughter of Group 3 winner Pin Sec (Lonhro).
Pinatubo stood his first three Australian seasons for $55,000 (inc GST), covering 131, 130 and 90 mares, and has been dropped to $38,500 (inc GST) this year while the market awaits his first runners.
“His bookings for this spring are very positive,” Pulford said. “He’s got a long way to go yet, but it’s always encouraging when trainers and people connected with stables start booking mares in, and that’s happened. He’s going to be popular enough.”
Another son of Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway) – Blue Point – is not shuttling this spring, with Darley envisaging a one-year break while he stays put in Europe. There, he’s been a runaway success, with 18 stakes winners in Britain, France and Ireland from 198 runners. In Australia, he’s had two stakes winners, and 49 victors overall, from 102 runners.
“Blue Point has probably been slightly disappointing here compared to what he’s done in the northern hemisphere, but by the same token he’s getting plenty of winners – he just probably needs that break-out Group 1 horse really,” Pulford said of the ten-year-old.
“He’s getting some decent horses, but they probably want a bit more time than people expected.
“He’s having a year off this spring. He’s covering a whole lot of mares at €100,000 in Ireland.
“We envisage just a one year break. The horse will tell us that, but similar to Too Darn Hot, these shuttle horses do work very hard. If they’re telling us they need time off – whether it’s mentally or physically or whatever it might be – we’re happy to go with what they tell us.”
The first son of Too Darn Hot to go to stud in Australia, Broadsiding, has been “enormously popular” for bookings for this spring, Pulford said.
Standing his first season at $66,000 (inc GST), Broadsiding already has a full book of 140-150 mares, Pulford said.
“He’s been very popular,” he said. “He’s the best Australian son of Too Darn Hot, who just keeps getting classy winners in both hemispheres. That’s a great drawcard for Broadsiding. Plus, he’s out of a Street Cry mare, which is always a plus, and he’s got a great pedigree.”
Pulford said Broadsiding’s fellow rising four-year-old newcomer Traffic Warden (Street Boss) was also full with roughly the same sized book, standing for $22,000 (inc GST).