Pedigree Insights: Speed Weighted Above Stamina

Champ Elysees | Juddmonte

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On the afternoon of Arrogate's dominant display in the GI Pegasus World Cup, it was easy to overlook Juddmonte's other graded victory at Gulfstream Park, by the ex-English Suffused in the GIII La Prevoyante H.

I have to declare at this point that I am not entirely impartial where Suffused and her dam Scuffle are concerned. Although this branch of Juddmonte's Monroe family has a tendency to plainness–and Scuffle certainly couldn't be described as pretty–I have always liked her and her daughter Suffused. As a weanling it was obvious that Suffused had plenty of scope and she also stood out as a very good, easy walker. As a yearling it was clear that this daughter of Champs Elysees had no significant physical flaws, and her good limbs have since allowed her to build a record of 15-6-4-1. Her La Prevoyante success was her second at Grade III level and it was by only a nose that she failed to take last year's GI E.P. Taylor S., in which she was desperately short of room at a crucial stage.

Suffused is by no means the only progeny of Champs Elysees to do well in the U.S. The Juddmonte-bred Renown progressed to win the Laurel Turf Cup and the GIII Sycamore S. last year, while the fillies Xcellence and Eastern Belle experienced a few near misses at graded level. It is hardly surprising that Champs Elysees' progeny are at home on American turf, as it was as an inmate of Bobby Frankel's stable that Champs Elysees made his name. Having won at Group 3 level in France, he developed into a triple Grade I winner over a mile and a half on turf and also acquitted himself well when second in the GI Santa Anita H. on Pro-Ride.

Returned to Banstead Manor Stud at Newmarket for his stallion career, Champs Elysees joined his brothers Dansili and Cacique as a Group 1 sire when his tough son Trip To Paris won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. However, he attracted only around 60 mares in 2016 and the then-13-year-old son of Danehill was sold. His future now lies as a sire of jumpers, at a fee of €6,500 as part of Coolmore's National Hunt team.

His sale prompted comment in the media, including a perceptive letter to the Racing Post by Peter Stanley, manager of the New England and Stanley House Studs. Hopefully he won't mind my reproducing it here:

“The sale of Champs Elysees, sire of 17 stakes performers so far this year, is another indictment on our breeding industry. This follows on from the loss of Mount Nelson, who is currently the sixth leading sire by percentage of stakes winners to foals.

“Both horses have departed to Ireland to embark on new careers as dual-purpose horses.

“What a depressing thought that these two worthwhile stallions have suffered from a lack of support. Breeders are all looking for proven horses who upgrade their mares and yet we have turned our backs on two proven stallions who have achieved exactly that.

“We should be under no illusion that this underlines the grave crisis in our breeding industry and the future of the breed itself.

“As commercial breeders we are all guilty of following this terrible need for speed the markets dictate, but it will come at a terrible price in the long term. Those of us who enjoy the splendour of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting must understand that in years to come we will be watching a bunch of jumpers competing not just in the Queen Alexandra, but also the mile and a half races as well.

“What a shame our Derby winners get forced to compete over a mile and a quarter immediately after victory to prove they are not purely stayers.

“If action is not taken very soon we will find ourselves in the Australian situation where their most prestigious race has had only one homebred runner each year for the last five years.

“It is the reality of the commercial market that forces us breeders to send our mares to ever more precocious stallions. It is therefore a commercial approach that will be needed to cure this travesty. If owners are to be encouraged to buy middle-distance horses we must make the rewards for those races significantly greater.

“If our levy hopes are realised and there finally is more money then that is where it must be directed, not just in the prestige races but all the way down to the lower levels.

“Dramatically higher prize-money and owners' premiums for seven furlong and mile 2-year-old races, as well as for mile and a quarter and mile and a half races for the Classic generation is the way forward. We need to act before more proven stallions are sold abroad.

“The recent trend of retiring 2-year-olds to stud is another tragedy for the whole industry.

“We must move to protect the magnificent diversity of British and Irish racing–there must be no subsidies, just incentives for owners to race middle-distance and later-maturing horses.

“When owners want to buy them, breeders will surely respond by producing them and we will create a virtuous circle of greater soundness, stamina and a continuation of the wonderful variety of races contested at different distances at our festival meetings.

“The sale of these stallions is a warning to us all of just how far we have gone with the need for speed.

“How frightening it is that this year's Brocklesby winner should be standing for only marginally less than this year's Derby winner.”

In an attempt to illustrate some of the points made by Stanley, I have used the Return of Mares to compile a table of the British and Irish flat stallions which in 2016 were bred to at least 120 mares–at least double the number sent to Champs Elysees.

The table contains 48 stallions. Remarkably, only 10 of them were successful over a distance longer than a mile, and of these only seven were winners over a mile and a half. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Coolmore, which has exerted such a powerful grip on the longer European classics, is home to four of them–Australia, Camelot, Galileo and Kingston Hill (as well as the 2013 Derby winner Ruler of the World, who covered 94 mares in 2016). For the record, Darley's 2017 roster for Britain and Ireland, which totals 29 stallions, features just two horses–New Approach and Golden Horn–which won over a distance as long as a mile and a half.

My table of busy stallions features 13 horses which won only at two years, including six which did not race after that age. Breeders–especially those operating at the cheaper end of the market–clearly have no objections to this type of horse. Indeed, they seem to positively prefer them, no doubt on the basis that their speed and precocity make their youngsters attractive to trainers and owners hoping for a quick return. Consequently, we saw 194 mares head to Anjaal, a first-season sire whose best official rating was 111, and 142 to the second-season sire Alhebayeb, whose best official rating was 103. The latter is a son of Dark Angel–whose success has arguably been the driving force for this increasing demand for precocious speed–and so is Gutaifan, a dual Group 2 juvenile winner who attracted a whopping 203 mares in his first season.

Of course, these horses stand a chance of hitting the bullseye in one of the richly endowed races which often carry prize-money disproportionate to the talent of the contestants.

For example, Sir Prancealot's daughter Stormy Clouds collected nearly £150,000 in winning the Goffs Premier Yearling S., even though her official rating is no higher than 93. Arcano's son Mubtasim collected a similar prize in the Weatherbys Hamilton £300,000 2-Year-Old S., while Helmet's son Orewa earned nearly £110,000 in the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale S. It was a similar story in the Totepool 2-Year-Old Trophy, in which Wick Powell–officially rated 85–earned £110,000.

Although I will concede that races of this sort are useful for attracting new owners and syndicates, I have never been able to reconcile their prizemoney with that carried by many of the group races for 2-year-olds. For example, Rivet earned £42,532 for his victory in the G2 Champagne S. and £113,420 for his triumph in the G1 Racing Post Trophy.

I am not for a moment suggesting that the stallions mentioned here will not sire some good winners. However, I would suggest that many of the mare owners show a remarkable lack of imagination in simply following the trend–a trend which proved expensive for many of them at last year's Irish foal sales.

 

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