A view from Europe: Artorius can spark the revival of Australian shuttle stallions

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This is an extract from yesterday’s Racing Post Good Morning Bloodstock article by Martin Stevens. Get GMB delivered to your inbox every Monday-Friday for free by signing up at racingpost.com/goodmorningbloodstock 

Like charity wristbands, fidget spinners and flossing, the practice of shuttling Australasian sires to Europe is an early 21st century phenomenon that appears to have fallen out of fashion.

Several had been tried – with not much success, it has to be said – in Britain, Ireland and France around the turn of the millennium, such as Baryshnikov, Commands, Danzero, Flying Spur, Hurricane Sky and Octagonal, but they really started coming in their droves after Choisir’s ground-breaking double in the King’s Stand and Golden Jubilee Stakes in 2003 and the subsequent Aussie invasion of Royal Ascot.

Choisir himself, his son Starspangledbanner, Exceed And Excel and Fastnet Rock were the best of the bunch, supplying numerous Pattern winners and promising to leave lasting legacies, although Australian sire doyens Encosta De Lago and Redoute’s Choice made surprisingly little impact during their brief cameo appearances on European rosters.

The likes of Brazen Beau, Danbird, Epaulette, Foxwedge, Helmet, Reset, Sepoy, So You Think, Starcraft, Testa Rossa and Viking Ruler enjoyed their days in the sun but not enough to receive sustained support, and in recent years it became abundantly clear that breeders had grown wary of new visitors from Australasia.

Pride Of Dubai, a champion son of Street Cry from the family of Invincible Spirit and with the might of Coolmore behind him, sired just two crops in Ireland, a number matched by Hallowed Crown at Kildangan Stud. Divine Prophet, Exosphere, Shooting To Win and Spill The Beans each delivered only one crop in Europe, while Merchant Navy and Tivaci didn’t even report for duty in the northern hemisphere despite having been announced as on their way.

It says a lot about how the shuttle market has evolved that the few stallions with an AUS suffix standing in Britain and Ireland today – besides Ballyhane Stud-based bargain sire extraordinaire Elzaam, who is an exception as a son of Redoute’s Choice bred down under to southern hemisphere time and always campaigned in Europe – had to prove themselves with progeny to earn their positions there.

Starspangledbanner, still doing sterling service at Coolmore, lasted only two seasons in his first stint in Ireland due to subfertility but was recalled from Australia and had his problems fixed when it became apparent he was a brilliant source of two-year-olds and sprinters (and more recently those who mature and stay further, like Aristia, California Spangle, Rhea Moon and State Of Rest, which opens up exciting new possibilities).

Kuroshio, a son of dual-hemisphere shuttle star Exceed And Excel, meanwhile received a general thumbs-down when he first stood at Overbury Stud in 2015, producing a crop of just 22 foals that unsurprisingly meant his ticket back to Australia was not a return one.

However, that small cohort contained a high ratio of winners and some quality performers too – including Group 3-winning sprinter Kurious, Vintage Stakes runner-up Dunkerron and Marygate Stakes second Daphinia. 

The display of strength in depth earned Kuroshio an invitation back to Europe, and he has been a popular budget option standing under the Compas Stallions banner for the past five seasons. His first Irish-conceived crop contains the exciting three-year-olds Gozen, Legend Of Leros and Panic Alarm.

Then there is Zoustar, the poster boy for standing Australian sires in Europe in the 2020s, although he arrived at that status a little by accident, perhaps.

The son of Northern Meteor travelled to Britain as a leading fancy for Royal Ascot in 2014, having won two Group 1s at home that southern-hemisphere season, but he had to sit out the meeting due to a small ligament injury and returned home to start his stallion career at Widden Stud instead.

His part-owners Qatar Racing, cognisant of the fact that he had missed his chance to showcase his talents in front of European breeders, and likely also that he wouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt by them due to his unfamiliar sire, didn’t shuttle him to their stallion base at Tweenhills in 2015, instead waiting until he had put his capabilities as a sire beyond doubt at home.

Zoustar was given a hero’s return to Britain in 2019 and his first northern-hemisphere crop contains last year’s Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Lezoo and a host of other promising types, giving connections every reason to hope that he can take his place alongside Choisir, Exceed And Excel and Fastnet Rock as one of the modern Australia-to-Europe shuttling greats.

That seems to be the state of cross-hemisphere stallion commerce at present, but fashion tends to operate in cycles, and I’m hoping there might be a revival in bringing exciting Australian prospects to Europe at the outset of their second careers in time for the retirement of a colt who has really endeared himself to me lately.

Artorius was a top-class two-year-old, taking the scalp of future eight-time Group 1 winner Anamoe when successful in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield, and finished third in the Caulfield Guineas and Coolmore Stud Stakes at three, before travelling to Europe to take on our best sprinters last summer.

He acquitted himself extremely well in each of his three starts up here, his trademark turn of foot carrying him to third in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes (beaten less than a length after finding trouble in running), third in the July Cup (having lost a few lengths at the start) and sixth in the Prix Maurice de Gheest (not all that far behind the winner Highfield Princess despite pulling hard early).

Artorius’s lightning acceleration was seen to awesome effect in the Canterbury Stakes at Randwick on Saturday, on his first outing after a long break and with assistance in the saddle from Hong Kong champion jockey Zac Purton, who was targeted as having the best chance of getting the habitual slow starter to jump from the stalls.

The top New Zealand filly Imperatriz had gone clear of her rivals in the Group 1 contest, with victory looking all but a certainty, only for our hero to burst out of the pack and collar her in the shadow of the post for his first success since the Blue Diamond. It’s worth watching the race on Youtube; seeing is believing.

Artorius is set to contest the TJ Smith Stakes back at Randwick next month, before returning to Royal Ascot to settle some old scores. Plans then call for him to retire and join the stallion roster of his co-owner Newgate Farm in the Hunter Valley this year.

Fingers crossed that he achieves enough during his second foray into Europe to put him in the picture for a shuttle role in 2024, although it could be argued that his efforts last year have already qualified him for the job. After all, he was beaten the width of cigarette papers at Royal Ascot, and found only two top-notchers in Alcohol Free and Naval Crown too good at Newmarket – no mean feat after travelling halfway around the world.

As well as being in possession of that ironclad form, toughness and lethal turn of foot, Artorius also offers something a little different on pedigree, but not so exotic that it should put off European breeders who find comfort in seeing familiar names on a page.

He is a son of Flying Artie, a Group 1-winning sprinter by Artie Schiller, who in turn is by Sadler’s Wells’ influential son El Prado. If you think that sounds like an improbable conduit of class in Europe, remember that Zoustar is by Northern Meteor, who had no prior history of achievement to speak of in this part of the world, and ask yourself whether you honestly ever envisaged the likes of Royal Applause or Havana Gold playing the role of kingmaker.

Artorius’s dam is Gracie’s Lass, a Redoute’s Choice half-sister to Group 1-winning sprinter Delectation, and she is out of Grace And Power, a US Grade 1 runner-up by the king of US-Australian shuttling, More Than Ready. This is also the family of last year’s Curragh Listed winner and Irish 2,000 Guineas fourth Wexford Native.

A fresh face from Australia in the British and Irish stallion ranks next year, bringing some diverse bloodlines to two countries cluttered with sons of the same few sires, would be a welcome throwback to the first two decades of the new millennium. Fidget spinners and flossing can stay in the past, though.