Caulfield Pedigree Insights: Camprock

The O'Callaghan family of Tally-Ho Stud has every reason to believe that history does indeed repeat itself. One of Tally-Ho's current inmates, Kodiac, has been transformed from a run-of-the-mill €5,000 stallion into a champion sire of 2-year-olds commanding €45,000. This remarkable transformation has taken place even though this hugely popular son of Danehill retired without a stakes success during his 20-race career. Kodiac did, though, once finish second at Group 3 level.

The inspiration to stand Kodiac no doubt stemmed partly from the successful makeover that Tally-Ho had fashioned with Danetime, another son of the extraordinary Danehill.

Brisnet's catalogue-style pedigree summarised Danetime as a “black-type placed winner of three races,” but that description certainly told nothing like the whole story.

Danetime showed plenty of potential in winning one of his three juvenile starts, in the process impressing his connections–owner Michael Tabor and trainer Neville Callaghan–as the type to thrive in valuable handicaps. Brought along steadily as a 3-year-old, Danetime was the subject of a huge gamble in the six-furlong Wokingham H. at the 1997 Royal Ascot meeting. This time the gamble failed, but Danetime showed how talented he was. Much nearer last than first approaching the final furlong, he made up at least eight lengths in the closing stages, failing by only a head to snatch victory.

After beating the future Group 1 winner Elnadim in a handicap at Newmarket the following month, Danetime headed to Goodwood for the Stewards' Cup, one of Britain's most competitive six-furlong handicaps. Tabor, a former bookmaker, set out to recoup his Wokingham losses and reportedly collected “a bit more than £200,000” when Danetime scored by a neck.

With Danetime's subsequent career taking place entirely at stakes level, further victories eluded him. He did, though, prove good enough to finish second behind Royal Applause in the Group 1 Haydock Park Sprint Cup and third behind his old rival Elnadim in the G1 July Cup.

Despite earning a Timeform rating of 121 and an official rating of 117, Danetime started his stallion career at a fee of only IR£3,000 in 1999. By then Danehill was already well on his way to stardom, having bagged two titles as champion sire of 2-year-olds and he had also gone very close to beating Sadler's Wells to the general sires' title in 1997.

Unfortunately for Tally-Ho, Danetime was to die aged 11, before his talent as a stallion had become fully apparent–his fee was still no higher than €6,500 when he covered his last mares in 2005.

Had he lived, you can be sure that his fee would have undergone a Kodiac-like rise. His four juvenile stakes winners in 2006 included the G2 Champagne S. winner Vital Equine, who was to finish second in the G1 2000 Guineas. Another very smart 2-year-old emerged in 2007, when Danetime's son Myboycharlie defeated that fine filly Natagora to take the G1 Prix Morny, a race which was also won by a son of Danetime in 2008. This was Bushranger, who went on to become a dual Group 1 winner in the Middle Park S.

Danetime was also very ably represented around this time by the sprinter Utmost Respect, and his name cropped up several times last week via his stallion sons and broodmare daughters, one of which produced Godolphin's high-class miler Toormore.

Danetime's Prix Morny winners Myboycharlie and Bushranger both began their stud careers in 2010, with Bushranger bidding to step into his sire's shoes at Tally-Ho. For once the Tally-Ho magic doesn't seem to have worked with Bushranger, who is now based in Turkey, but Myboycharlie is busily proving that he has plenty to offer.

Myboycharlie's prospects as a stallion can't have been helped by the anti-climactic nature of his racing career. He didn't win at three until he was switched to the U.S., where he took an optional claimer over a mile at the Fair Grounds. The next step on Myboycharlie's itinerary was Australia, where he began stud duties at Vinery in 2009. By the time he made his Northern Hemisphere debut at stud, memories of his juvenile exploits were beginning to fade.

He began his career with two seasons at the National Stud at Newmarket, standing at around £5,000. He wasn't swamped with mares in either year, siring 61 foals in his first crop and 50 in his second. He was promptly switched to Haras du Mezeray, where he has been based during the Northern Hemisphere season since 2012. French breeders clearly hadn't forgotten his fine win in the Morny and they have supported him more strongly. He has 74 foals in his first French crop, now three years of age, and 114 in his fourth.

That first French crop has made an excellent start, with the colt Cheikeljack winning the G3 Prix Djebel on Apr. 7 and the filly Camprock improving her career figure to a perfect three for three when she took the G3 Prix Penelope last week. These successes come in the wake of numerous very smart displays by Euro Charline, an inexpensive member of Myboycharlie's first crop. Her efforts include a victory in the GI Beverly D. S. and a fine second to the Japanese raider Real Steel in last month's G1 Dubai Turf.

In addition to these three group winners, Myboycharlie has been represented by Salai, a group-placed listed winner in France, and the French Listed winner Art of Raw. That adds up to five stakes winners, with the possibility of more to come, from the 185 foals in his first three crops. Taking into account the modest nature of his fee, Myboycharlie promises to develop into a worthy successor to his sire.

Of course his success hasn't been limited to the Northern Hemisphere. Even though his fee for the 2016 Australian season has been set no higher than A$11,000, he has made his mark via the likes of Charlie Boy, a Group 2 winner from his first Australian crop; Peggy Jean, a Group 1 2-year-old winner from his second crop; and the group winners Jameka and Blueberry Hill from his third.

Jameka has won three group races, with her finest moment coming when she landed the G1 Crown Oaks last November. An interesting and rather surprising aspect of Myboycharlie's record is that three of his best daughters–Euro Charline, Jameka and Camprock–have scored over a mile and a quarter or more.

It isn't so surprising that Camprock is thriving at around a mile and a quarter, as she is out of Camporese, a winner of the G3 Prix Corrida over 1 3/8 miles and runner-up in the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville over 1 9/16 miles.

Camporese, who was bred by Danetime's owner Michael Tabor, was one of the successful representatives of the prolific Sadler's Wells-Alleged cross. Equineline credits this partnership with eight black-type winners–a tremendous 20%–from 41 foals. Six of the eight were group winners, headed by Brian Boru (G1 Racing Post Trophy and G1 St Leger), Dream Well (G1 Prix du Jockey-Club and G1 Irish Derby) and Linda's Lad (G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud). This cross also produced Soviet Moon, the unraced dam of Derby and Arc winner Workforce.

Although Camporese was a fine racemare, she was sold for only $23,000 in Louisiana as a 14-year-old in 2007, in foal to Lydgate. She was then returned to Europe, where she produced Camprock as a 20-year-old. Camprock's third dam, Field Dancer, was a talented daughter of that fast filly Sookera. This means that Field Dancer was a half-sister to Kerali, the mare who found considerable fame as the second dam of such as Dansili, Banks Hill, Cacique, Champs Elysees, Intercontinental, Heat Haze, Promising Lead and Leroidesanimaux. In other words, Camprock has a tremendous pedigree for a filly who was conceived at a fee of only €4,500.