Colt-heavy San Domenico a window to future stallion market

Cover image courtesy of Sportpix

Across the calendar, there are a number of races that can boast their stallion-making potential. If the Caulfield Guineas and Cox Plate are among them, so too are the Blue Diamond, Golden Slipper and Golden Rose.

However, there are also more obscure races that may not have been strategically planned to become stallion-making contests, but for one reason or another they’ve become just that. In Sydney at the very end of winter, the G3 San Domenico S. might be one of them.

A quick glance through the race’s recent history shows its last six winners are in the stallion barn or on their way.

Last year’s winner was In The Congo (Snitzel) and, in hand with his win in the G1 Golden Rose, it’s very likely he’ll have a career at Newgate Farm. Before him, the San Domenico’s winners were Anders, who is now at Widden Stud, Exceedance, who is at Vinery, Graff, now standing at Kitchwin Hills, Pariah, who is at Arrowfield, and Star Turn, also at Vinery.

Gallery: San Domenico S. winners in recent years that are now sires to stud

In 2004, Charge Forward was a winner and, in 1999, Testa Rossa.

The honour roll back to the race’s first edition in 1980 also includes General Nediym, Our Maizcay and the Golden Slipper winner Sir Dapper.

In a nutshell, the San Domenico is 42 years old this Saturday and it’s been won by colts on 25 occasions and, in terms of recency, eight of its last 10 winners have stallion careers.

O’Shea’s stars

Randwick trainer John O’Shea has one of the best records in the modern San Domenico S.

In 2011, he trained the Fastnet Rock winner Foxwedge, who later embarked on a stallion career at Newgate Farm before moving to Woodside Park Stud. In 2004, O’Shea sent out Charge Forward after the Red Ransom (USA) colt went down in a photo finish to Dance Hero (Danzero) in the Golden Slipper.

“The San Domenico has always been a target race, and it’s a good race,” O’Shea said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “Because of the conditions of the race it’s a good horse’s race and, ideally, if you can run well in it you can lay the foundations of a good spring.”

The San Domenico has always come up early in the spring careers of 3-year-olds. As such, it can’t really lay claim to being a stallion’s race, so does that mean its past success as a future sires’ race is incidental?

“It’s a race that’s only a month out from the Golden Rose, so it’s a good base to go around in,” O’Shea said. “If you want to have two runs going into the Golden Rose and you’ve got a good horse, this is where you end up. Traditionally, it’s always been a really good race.”

For O’Shea, the San Domenico was, indeed, the start of a good spring for both Foxwedge and Charge Forward.

Foxwedge won the San Domenico first-up from an unplaced effort in Sepoy’s Golden Slipper, and he then won the G2 Roman Consul S. before a classy argument with Sepoy for the G1 Coolmore Stud S. He lost by 0.2l, then returned to win the G1 William Reid S. at Moonee Valley.

For Charge Forward in 2004, his San Domenico win was his first-up victory as a 3-year-old. He later won the G1 The Galaxy before retiring to the Arrowfield stallion barn.

“The San Domenico was a different race when Charge Forward won it,” O’Shea said. “It was 1000 metres at Randwick and it was probably a little earlier in the season. Now, it’s a little later and 1100 metres at Rosehill, so it’s a different race to what it was and you need a different horse to win it.”

The San Domenico was stepped up to 1100 metres in 2013, the year than Va Pensiero won it.

“The pattern of the racing has to be taken into account,” O’Shea said. “At Rosehill, 1100 metres is a lot different to 1000 metres at Randwick. You can find a horse to sit back over that distance at Randwick and win, but at Rosehill over 1100 metres, sitting back is not for the faint-hearted. It’s certainly not for me.”

For O’Shea, it’s been 18 years since Charge Forward won the race at Randwick, but the trainer can still recall the details. The good ones do that.

“Charge Forward was the best horse I ever put a saddle on going into the Golden Slipper,” he said. “I couldn’t believe he was beaten, but then when they broke the track record you realise how good Dance Hero was. And that was a vintage year too with the likes of Fastnet Rock, Alinghi and Dance Hero, so he did a really good job to win the San Domenico and beat those horses.”

Charge Forward’s San Domenico was, as O’Shea recalled, in early August. It was a concise field of just five, but the finishing order was Fastnet Rock for second, Dance Hero for third, then Savabeel and Braveheart (Mossman) in that order.

Fastnet Rock became one of the greatest sires of modern times, Savabeel too, while Dance Hero was all manner of success during his five years on the turf.

Less than a length separated Charge Forward, Fastnet Rock and Dance Hero in the 2004 San Domenico. It was, without question, a vintage edition of the great race.

Zoukerino among it

For O’Shea, this Saturday’s San Domenico will feature his smart, undefeated 3-year-old colt Zoukerino (Snitzel), whose last appearance was when winning the Listed The Rosebud on August 13.

It’s a step up, no doubt, but Zoukerino was a winner of his only start as a juvenile back in July, and he has plenty to recommend him in a field that also includes the outstanding Best Of Bordeaux (Snitzel) and equally undefeated Nettuno (I Am Invincible).

“He’s in good form,” O’Shea said. “It will be another raise of the bar, so to speak. He’ll have to be better than he was in The Rosebud, and we hope he is.”

Zoukerino has drawn barrier one in the San Domenico, alongside Cannonball (Capitalist) for James Harron.

“That’s really important at 1100 metres at Rosehill,” the trainer said. “He’s got a lovely draw and he’ll need that on Saturday because they won’t be loafing. Obviously, Best Of Bordeaux will be well-fancied and there are a couple of horses there that are first-up, and those will be well-supported.”

Zoukerino is raced for a syndicate that includes Iskander Racing and Breeding and his breeder, Milburn Creek. It also includes Suman Hedge, who selected the colt from Milburn Creek’s draft at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, bought for $500,000.

The colt’s dam is the Listed winner Walk With Attitude (Hussonet {USA}), making him a brother to the Group 3-placed Spend (Snitzel). The second dam on the page is Hillfa (Danehill {USA}), who was a three-quarter sister to the dam of Pride Of Dubai.

And the fillies?

Zoukerino is one of 12 in Saturday’s race and, remarkably, almost the entire field is made up of 3-year-old colts. Only Ebhaar (I Am Invincible), racing for Emirates Park, is a filly in the San Domenico field.

The fillies’ record in this race is probably not exceptional, but it is notable for the fact of past winners going on to be stakes-producing broodmares.

The last filly to win the San Domenico was Snitzerland (Snitzel), whose 2017 foal is the G3 Maribyrnong Plate winner Hard Landing (All Too Hard), while before her it was the 2010 winner Obsequious (Lonhro), whose stud record includes Ingratiating (Frosted {USA}), a winner of the G3 Vain S. and two Listed races.

The brilliant producer Sliding Cube (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) won in 2007, and her deeds at stud need no explanation. She was the dam of Rubick, and she was equally notable as a half-sister to Redoute’s Choice.

Regimental Gal (General Nediym) won the San Domenico in 2003, and she was later the dam of the G3 Triscay S. winner Lilliburlero (Redoute’s Choice).

In other words, while the San Domenico has been a showcase race for future stallions, it’s also been a remarkable event for future broodmares. Ebhaar, should she win on Saturday as already a winner of the Listed Merson Cooper S., and as a granddaughter of the superb producer Legally Bay (Snippets), would be quite at home among past winners.

Charge Forward keeps on

Up in Wingen, north of Scone, 21-year-old Charge Forward is still kicking along at Murrulla Stud. He was moved there from Arrowfield in 2017 and finds himself in the good care of Tim and Celie Nolan.

“The Esplin family, who bred Charge Forward, decided to buy him and move him on from Arrowfield a number of years ago, and fortunately we were asked to stand him here at Murrulla,” said Tim Nolan. “Of course, we were excited to do that and he’s been here ever since.”

Charge Forward, who didn’t reach the glittering heights of either Fastnet Rock or Savabeel but who has posted a very commendable record as a broodmare sire, will cover only a handful of mares in his advanced years.

“He’s in the twilight of his career obviously, and he’s been such a great broodmare sire,” Nolan said. “We’ve had lots of people wanting to breed fillies to him, but he won’t cover a lot of mares this year because of his age. He’ll probably only get a dozen or 15 mares.

“But he’s still fertile and active, and he’s fit and well. It’s really nice to have him still around because he’s a nice old horse.”

For Nolan, the San Domenico of 2004 was a good measure of Charge Forward’s class.

“He was first-up as a 3-year-old, so to win such a good-class race after a very good 2-year-old season was a mighty effort,” he said. “A lot of horses don’t come back at three after very successful 2-year-old seasons, but Charge Forward wasn’t one of them.

“The San Domenico has always been a very strong race for colts, as it was in his year, and it still is today, by the looks of it.”