Danehill still atop his throne but challengers closing in
Danehill’s (Danzig) prevailing dominance of the Australian stallion ranks since the mid 1990s can only be described as a racing dynasty scaling Habsburgian proportions, however the winds of change swirling beneath the sireline’s throne have blown that bit more profusely this week on the Gold Coast.
Of course, a yearling by a Danehill-line stallion sits atop the leading lot charts. But by close of play yesterday the chasing pack consisted of ten yearlings by stallions emanating from lines away from Danehill’s now four-generation dominance.
At $1.7 million, the sale’s leading lot is a colt by Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice). This year is the last time you’ll hear that.
The Arrowfield stallion’s final crop is, as expected, highly sought after, with his three yearlings to have sold thus far averaging an incredible $1.025 million.
The late Redoute’s Choice, to whom the baton was passed by the imported Danehill and had this century been imperious across auctions, saw his final-crop yearlings pass through the ring last year, while his three-time champion sire son Snitzel seamlessly ascended the throne.
Indeed, following Redoute’s Choice’s $2.5 million Inglis Easter sale topper in 2005, one or both of the Arrowfield greats has filled a slot on the sales podium at Magic Millions or Easter in each year since, while the likes of Fastnet Rock (Danehill), Exceed And Excel (Danehill), and Flying Spur (Danehill), among others, have played their role in maintaining the status quo.
That trend does not look like ending. At least not yet. However, this more profound demand for the progeny of the likes of Widden Stud’s Zoustar (Northern Meteor), who derives from the Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) line, and Yarraman’s I Am Invincible, a son of former shuttler Invincible Spirit (Green Desert), looms ominously.
And it’s both sexes, too. The desire for fillies by I Am Invincible has been a notable trend of recent yearling sale seasons – the sire has boasted the leading filly at the Magic Millions sale in two of the previous three years, and top filly at Easter the last twice – and Tuesday’s opening session, in which the top four lots were fillies by non-Danehill line stallions, could have been deemed a continuation of that desire for outcross females to match to the Danehill-dominated stallion landscape. That is until the colts’ syndicates plied in for the boys later in the sale.
And ply in they did, with Rosemont’s Victorian Alliance, James Harron and China Horse Club-Newgate Farm all flexing their might on day two. Yet of the 16 purchases on the opening two days from the above-named three big hitters, just three derive from stallions of the all-conquering Danehill line.
Colts by Zoustar and I Am Invincible, in a similar fashion to their filly counterparts, take top honours, with James Harron expending $1.1 million on behalf of his syndicate for a colt by the latter, while the Victorian Alliance partnership, who through the likes of Rosemont’s Ryan McEvoy and Tweenhills David Redvers have close connections with Zoustar, snapped up a $1.3 million colt by the stallion from the Sledmere draft.
Written By (Written Tycoon), Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo), Savabeel (Zabeel), Justify (Scat Daddy), Deep Field (Northern Meteor) and Capitalist (Written Tycoon) have all been targeted by the heavy-spending colt buyers.
Since 2005, and in each resulting year with the exception of 2012, at least half of the top ten colts sold at Inglis Easter have been from Danehill line stallions.
So, a changing of the guard? Not quite yet. Snitzel will no doubt make his mark this year with Easter a dominant sale for him, while what could be the strongest pretenders for a claim on his mantle from the Danehill line, The Autumn Sun and Trapeze Artist, have just their first yearlings on the ground this year.
But with it being the appetite of buyers doing the huffing and puffing, this wind of change will show little sign of abating.