Pedigree Insights: Waldgeist

To describe Monsun as the Sadler's Wells or Galileo of the German bloodstock industry may be overstating it a little, but this son of Konigsstuhl dominated the German Thoroughbred to a highly impressive extent. He was champion sire on four occasions and sired three winners of the G1 Deutsches Derby. One of his sons, Samum, sired another and Monsun's daughters also got into the act, producing three consecutive Deutsches Derby winners in Pastorius, Lucky Speed and Sea The Moon.

Monsun's overall statistics are the kind for which stallion owners would figuratively donate their right arm. From 757 foals, Monsun is credited with siring 15% black-type winners, but I am more impressed with his total of 65 group winners (8.6%), which included 21 Group 1 winners (2.8%).

It was announced last week that the latest of those Group 1 winners, Vadamos, is to spend his Northern Hemisphere seasons at Tally-Ho Stud. This is particularly interesting because the Tally-Ho clientele are rich in the type of speedy mares which Vadamos may need if he is to pass on his ability to shine at around a mile. Breeders will surely appreciate his pedigree, which is free of the ubiquitous Sadler's Wells and Danehill.

All too many of Monsun's sons have been dismissed by breeders as having too much stamina for the flat, but there were three top-class milers among his sons. The G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Manduro got off to a disappointing start, which sent his fee falling from an initial €40,000 to €7,000, but he has enjoyed Group 1 success with the likes of Ribbons, Ultra and Vazirabad in recent seasons.

The extremely well-connected Maxios was fast enough to post a five-length victory over Olympic Glory in the G1 Prix du Moulin–a race won by Vadamos this year. It will be fascinating to see how Maxios' first crop shapes over the next couple of years.

It will also be interesting to see how big an impact Monsun's broodmare daughters are destined to make outside Germany. Monsun's fee didn't rise as high as €40,000 until 2005, before rapidly climbing to €120,000 and €150,000. Therefore the chances are that it is going to be his daughters from these later crops which will prove to be his most valuable legacy.

The Japanese certainly think so, as a sizeable proportion of Monsun's 30 group-winning daughters are now registered in the Japanese Stud Book. Among them are the Group 1 winners Stacelita, Anna Monda and Floriot, the Group 2 winners Noble Stella, Quelle Amore, Royal Fantasy and Selkis and the Group 3 winners Pirika, La Boum, La Luna de Miel, Mimetico and Vallera. That's 12 altogether, a figure which underlines the buying power of Japan's breeders and also, perhaps, their willingness to put more emphasis on performance than the fashionableness of a mare's pedigree.

Needless to say, the majority of Japan's Monsun mares have been visiting sons and grandsons of the great Sunday Silence, including Deep Impact. Maybe a stallion from this type of cross will one day prove to be the solution to the increasingly urgent search for outcross pedigrees in Europe.

Incidentally, the top-class Stacelita has a 2016 filly by Deep Impact, but this champion racemare arrived in Japan in foal to Frankel. That foal is the unbeaten Soul Stirring, who must be a leading candidate for the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies on Dec. 11. This championship event could also be on the agenda for another very promising daughter of Frankel in 'TDN Rising Star' Mi Suerte.

Waldlerche, another of Monsun's group-winning daughters, hit the target two days ago when her Galileo colt, fellow 'Rising Star' Waldgeist outpaced several more experienced rivals to land the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in very encouraging style.

This mile-and-a-quarter race is, of course, Europe's longest Group 1 race for 2-year-olds, so it was no surprise to hear winning trainer Andre Fabre describe Waldgeist as a mile-and-a-half horse in the making. He nominated the G1 Derby and the G1 Irish Derby as the colt's likely targets, rather than the shorter G1 Prix du Jockey-Club.

It's fair to say that the Criterium de Saint-Cloud generally hasn't thrived since the reduction of the Jockey-Club's distance from a mile and a half to 1 5/16 miles after the 2004 race. The reduction made the shorter Group 1 juvenile races a more likely stepping stone to Jockey-Club success. However, the recent tweaking of the distances of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International may well have redressed the balance. This year's Criterium de Saint-Cloud had the appearance of a true Classic trial, with several previous group winners in the line-up, headed by Galileo's highly regarded son Capri. Perhaps its winner will have a future as bright as that of Fame And Glory, who numbered the Irish Derby among his four further Group 1 successes.

Whichever way you look at it, Waldgeist has a Classic pedigree which should see him shine over a mile and a half or even further. He is the first foal of Waldlerche, who won the G3 Prix Penelope over 1 5/16 miles in April, 2012. She was unbeaten at that stage but managed only two more starts. Waldlerche also has a 2015 filly by Galileo's son New Approach and a 2016 colt by Galileo's half-brother Sea The Stars.

More importantly, Waldlerche is a half-sister to Masked Marvel, the Montjeu colt who broke the course record in defeating Brown Panther in the 2011 G1 St Leger. Masked Marvel's career later took him to Australia but he now stands at Haras d'Etreham.

Waldgeist's second dam, Waldmark, is herself a half-sister to Waldpark, the Dubawi colt who won the G1 Deutsches Derby in 2011. A daughter of the G1 2000 Guineas winner Mark of Esteem, Waldmark proved most effective over a mile, as she showed when an unlucky loser of the G2 Falmouth S.

It is in Waldgeist's favour that Mark of Esteem mares have an excellent record with his sire Galileo. This partnership has 13 foals, including the G1 Irish Derby winner Treasure Beach, the G1 St Leger second Kite Wood and the versatile Group 2 winner Mikhail Glinka, who numbered the two-mile Queen's Vase among his successes.

Stamina is surely never likely to be a problem for Waldgeist. The 2-year-old's third dam, Wurftaube did very well in 1996, when her victories included the G2 Deutsches St Leger, and she shared the title of champion 3-year-old filly. One of her sons was third in the Deutsches St Leger.

Wurftaube's half-sister Wurfspiele has added another Group 1 winner to the family's collection, as she is the dam of Wake Forest, the 2016 GI Man o'War S. winner who was sired by Mark of Esteem's Derby-winning son Sir Percy.