Lessons Learned This Weekend

As Europe's autumn sales' season continues its relentless march, amid the plethora of high prices and fascinating tales it is easy to overlook just how great an era is ending with the dispersal of the Wildensteins' bloodstock. The Goffs November Sale in Ireland last week was a huge event with 1,753 lots in the catalogue, but it would still have been a huge event even if it had only contained lot 1431: the Wildensteins' 2012 G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains heroine Beauty Parlour (GB) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). This 7-year-old celebrity comes from the immediate family of the great Might And Power (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and was sold, believed to be in foal to Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), for €1.6-million.

The Wildensteins' impact on the racing and breeding world has been massive, so it almost went without saying that we wouldn't have to wait long until a feature race somewhere in the world would be won by one of their proteges. As it happened, we only had to wait about 10 hours after Beauty Parlour's sale for the Ballarat Cup to be taken by the Wildenstein-bred Pilote D'Essai (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

A dual winner in Paris in 2015 for the Wildenstein family (in the colours of Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd), Pilote D'Essai was knocked down to Astute Bloodstock at Tattersalls' 2015 Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale for 230,000gns for export Down Under. With the A$180,000 first prize for the Ballarat Cup on top of his previous Australian earnings from a handicap victory at Bendigo and three minor placings in town, he is already looking to have been a good buy. And he is now, of course, the latest stakes winner from one of the best Wildenstein families.

The best horses in Pilote D'Essai's family collectively provide a 'Who's Who' of the Wildensteins' trainers, present and past. He himself was with Andre Fabre when he was in France. His G1 Prix Ganay-winning half-brother Planteur (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and his dam's dual G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly-winning half-brother Policy Maker (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) were both trained by Ellie Lellouche. His third dam, Petroleuse (Ire) (Habitat), was with Henry Cecil when she landed the then-prestigious Blue Seal S. at Ascot in 1980; while Petroleuse's half-sister Pawneese (Fr) (Carvin {Fr}) was trained by Angel Penna to win six consecutive races in 1976 including the G1 Oaks, G1 Prix de Diane and G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond S. at Ascot. Petroleuse's dam, Plencia (Fr) (Le Haar {Fr}), was trained by Maurice Zilber when scoring twice under Yves Saint-Martin at Saint-Cloud in 1971.

No Doubting Single's Offspring…

Saturday was a day of transition as the final day of the Melbourne Spring Carnival (albeit at Ballarat, rather than in the city or suburbs) coincided with the first Group 1 race-day of the Perth Summer Carnival. As the focus shifted westwards, the first major honours of West Australia's principal racing carnival were again taken by a son of the Arrowfield-based stallion Not A Single Doubt (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}). Last year the G1 Railway S. over 1600 metres fell to the Not A Single Doubt 4-year-old Good Project (Aus), and now the 2016 edition has been taken by the stallion's 4-year-old son Scales Of Justice. Good Project, bidding to repeat his victory, finished an honourable second to provide their sire with a notable Group 1 quinella.

The Chris Waller-trained Good Project had headed to Perth after showing good form at the Spring Carnival in Melbourne, but Scales Of Justice, although bred in the east, is locally-trained by Lindsey Smith. Scales Of Justice headed west after being bought by Boomer Bloodstock for A$180,000 at the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale in March 2014, at which he was consigned by Millford Thoroughbreds of Nagambie. He has subsequently worked his way up the rankings in WA since making a winning debut in an 1100 metre 2-year-olds' maiden at Northam 16 months ago. He has now won seven of his 13 starts including his three most recent outings. The middle leg of this hat-trick saw him land his first black-type victory, his success in the G3 R. J. Peters S. earlier this month coming with the added bonus of securing him a berth in the Railway S. line-up.

Scales Of Justice has thus become the fifth individual Australian Group 1 winner for his sire Not A Single Doubt, who stands alongside his sire Redoute's Choice (Aus) (Danehill) at Arrowfield. Not A Single Doubt has had to gain his success the hard way because he did not start out at the height of fashion, never having won above Group 3 level. Even at the outset, though, he was an appealing prospect for the discerning breeder: he had been a high-class sprinter at both two and three, and he hails from the immediate family of one of Australia's most distinguished horses of the modern era, the excellent sprinter and stallion Snippets (Aus) (Lunchtime {GB}).

Having already produced umpteen fast sons and daughters including the dual Group 1 winners Miracles Of Life (Aus) and Extreme Choice (Aus), Not A Single Doubt is clearly one of the best stallions in Australia, a status which tallies with the fact that he is now the third-most expensive sire on the Arrowfield roster at an advertised fee of A$71,500, behind only his paternal half-brother Snitzel (Aus) and their father (both A$110,000).

Tycoon Mentioned In Dispatches…

While Not A Single Doubt has clearly been one of Australia's most progressive stallions of recent years, another who comes into that category is the 2005 G2 Todman S. winner Written Tycoon (Aus) (Iglesia {Aus}), who retired to Eliza Park Stud in Victoria in 2007 at a fee of $8,250 and who is now commanding a fee of $49,500 at Woodside Park Stud in the same state.

Woodside Park bought Written Tycoon for A$3-million in 2013, which was good business for the stallion's initial shareholders, who had bought their shares for A$15,000. It now transpires that it was similarly good business for Woodside Park. Written Tycoon had spent his final season on the Eliza Park roster at that stud's offshoot in Queensland, which made sense as his dam Party Miss (Aus) (Kenmare {Aus}) had been a popular sprinting filly in Queensland in her youth, and the horse's proven ability to sire fast horses was of obvious appeal to breeders in the north, where the racing programme is dominated by short-distance races. That season in Queensland saw the conception of Capitalist (Aus), who turned out to be Australia's leading juvenile of the 2015/'16 season, completing the coveted Magic Millions 2YO Classic/G1 Golden Slipper S. double. The same crop also included Luna Rossa (NZ), winner in her homeland of the G1 Manawatu Sires' Produce S.

It now looks as if Written Tycoon's current batch of juveniles is going to help the stallion to make further progress. It is still early days for this season's 2-year-olds, but it was encouraging to see his son Despatch (Aus) make a splendid winning debut when leading home a Tony McEvoy-trained quinella in the A$200,000 Magic Millions 2YO Clockwise Classic at Ballarat. Despatch, who cost A$195,000 when consigned by Baramul Stud at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, will now head for the A$2-million Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast in January.

Scenic Souvenirs…

Thanks to his superstar son Galileo (Ire), as well as the El Prado (Ire) horses Medaglia d'Oro and Kitten's Joy, the sire line descending from Sadler's Wells remains the height of fashion. 'Twas not always thus, however: although he retired to stud in 1985, Sadler's Wells did not fully convince as a sire of sires until the 20th century was behind us. He was, however, an outstanding sire of racehorses from the outset, not least because he sired two G1 Dewhurst S. winners in his first crop, courtesy of his two-year-old sons Scenic (GB) and Prince Of Dance (Ire) dead-heating in Britain's premier juvenile race in 1988. Sadly Prince Of Dance died the next year, but Scenic lived to the age of 19 before dying in 2005.

For much of his stud career, the fact that Scenic was a son of Sadler's Wells was not a particular selling point for him, but his consistently good results during a peripatetic stud career were one of the factors which helped his father to establish his sky-high reputation as a sire of sires. Scenic started out shuttling between Coolmore in Ireland and Lindsay Park Stud in South Australia before enjoying different Australian postings, including at Durham Lodge Stud in West Australia and Collingrove Stud in Victoria. His Lindsay Park-conceived offspring included G1 VRC Derby winner Blevic (Aus) and G1 AJC Derby winner Universal Prince, while the star product of his final seasons at Collingrove was G1 Melbourne Cup, G1 Caulfield Cup and G2 Brisbane Cup hero Viewed (Aus). His term in WA, however, was at least as productive as he sired some of the state's best horses including Scenic Blast (Aus), Scenic Shot (Aus) and Marasco (Aus).

Scenic's former Western Australian home at Durham Lodge Stud now stands as a tribute to his legacy as the property was re-named Scenic Lodge in his honour in 2012. Scenic was Durham Lodge's foundation sire, and he brought it into sharp focus by becoming Western Australia's champion sire for seven consecutive seasons. His Group 3-winning son Universal Prince subsequently joined the roster, but the stud's best stallion since Scenic has been 1999 G1 VRC Derby winner Blackfriars (Aus) (Danehill) who, like Scenic, has been a multiple champion sire in WA. Blackfriars looks set to enjoy another good Perth Carnival, with his 4-year-old son Chocolate Holic (Aus) having doubled his tally of stakes victories by taking the Carbine Club of W.A. S. at Ascot on Saturday.