What a year 2009 was for racing... So You Think (NZ) bursting onto the scene racing away to his first memorably soft win in the G1 WS Cox Plate at just his fifth outing.
And in the Northern Hemisphere something special was happening as well - a horse who had shown such good promise during his 2-year-old season was back in action and in one of the best campaigns in racing history Sea The Stars was able to make a clean sweep of every race he contested.
Six starts from May through to October, six wins - all at the elite level; becoming the only horse to claim the G1 2000 Guineas, the G1 Epsom Derby and the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the same year.
Sea The Stars (Ire) | Standing at Gilltown Stud
Add in the G1 Eclipse S., the G1 York International S. and the G1 Irish Champion S. and it was little wonder that Sea The Stars was able to earn as many accolades as he did - such as European Horse of the Year, European Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and Champion GB and Irish Colt amongst others.
He was rated on top of the World Thoroughbred Rankings and gained inclusion into the British Champions Series Hall of Fame, that latest honour bestowed upon him just recently.
And, he has taken his racetrack form to stud - 113 of his sons and daughters being stakes winners, 19 of those in Group 1 company. Proving to be an international force, Sea The Stars has been represented by stakes winners in England, France, Ireland, Germany, Dubai, Italy, America and Australia.
Of course, horses exported are likely to have shown talent, leading purchasers to chase them, but it is still interesting to compare Sea The Stars' 6.4 pet cent stakes winners to runners and his 13.4 per cent stakes winners to winners Irish strike rates to his figures aboard.
And when you do that, you see that he shines in Australia where 27 of his 42 runners are winners (at 64.2 per cent just a touch below his overall strike rate of 66.8 per cent) with 12 of those being stakes winners... that's 28.5 per cent stakes winners to runners and 44.4 per cent stakes winners to winners.
The former figure is Sea The Stars' highest in the world (Germany at 21.6 per cent is second) and the latter the second with half of his 12 winners in the UAE being stakes winners.
An impressive start to spring
Saturday saw Sea The Stars represented by five runners in Australia and two of those recorded impressive victories at stakes level - Uncle Bryn (GB) at Caulfield and Cepheus (GB) at Rosehill.
With his runaway win in the G3 Naturalism S., Uncle Bryn earned automatic entry into the G1 Caulfield Cup, a race he did not contest last year having run second in the Naturalism before claiming two country cups from his next three starts - the Listed Sale Cup and the Listed Cranbourne Cup.
Meanwhile in Sydney The Big Dance-bound Cepheus (GB) was game getting up along the inside of his rivals and getting clear late to take out the G2 Shannon S. It was his second Australian stakes success on the back of his G2 Ajax S. win in March.
Also at Rosehill, Al Aabir (Ire) and Desert Icon (Fr) ran great races filling the placings in the G3 Colin Stephen Quality and both look set to enhance upon their already good local records; Al Aabir the winner of this year's Listed Winter Cup and Desert Icon last year's G3 JRA Cup.
Sheraz (Fr) is yet to taste local success but at big odds at just his second run back from a lengthy break he was finishing off nicely behind Uncle Bryn in the Naturalism yesterday. And his form lines last spring read quite well including a second to subsequent G1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Emissary (Kingman {GB}) in the Listed Heatherlie H. and in April last year he was second in the G1 Sydney Cup.
The previous weekend was also a good one for Sea The Stars in Australia with his son Just Fine (Ire) impressive after taking over with 400 metres to go in the G3 Kingston Town S., making it two wins from as many local starts.
An affinity with Australia
It was a member of Sea The Stars' debut crop who would be his first son to race in Australia - after a couple of wins at Goodwood in August 2014, Tall Ship (Ire) making his way to Victoria where he was quickly into winning form, at his second start here winning at Geelong before going on a country cup spree with wins in the Stawell Cup, the Terang Cup and the Listed Warrnambool Cup - later in the year adding on the Listed Werribee Cup.
Sea The Stars' next Australian winner would be his first Group 1 horse in this part of the world - the 2021 G1 Australian Cup hero Fifty Stars (Ire) who never actually raced in the Northern Hemisphere, purchased by John Foote on behalf of Gerry Ryan at Tattersalls for 110,000gns (AU$219,400) as a yearling.
Fifty Stars (Ire) | Standing at Sunnyhill Stud, image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
There are 11 imported Sea The Stars stakes winners in Australia and there has also been a visiting feature winner - Oceanographer (GB) having three 2016 spring carnival starts, finishing a closeup third in the G3 Geelong Cup before winning the G3 Lexus S. and starting 8-1 in the G1 Melbourne Cup only to finish unplaced, pulling up lame.
With his career going from strength to strength in the Northern Hemisphere with big wins this year for Hukum (Ire) and Emily Upjohn (GB), Sea The Stars has earned a rise in service fee from €150,000 (AU$248,400) to €180,000 (AU$298,000).
One person watching the weekend's racing with great interest was Pat Downes, manager of the Aga Khan Studs in Ireland.
“Sea The Stars’ progeny have done very well in Australia with his impressive strike rate and his progeny are a good illustration of the stallion's versatility,” Downes told The Thoroughbred Report.
“Sea The Stars’ progeny have done very well in Australia with his impressive strike rate and his progeny are a good illustration of the stallion's versatility.” - Pat Downes
“He has not covered many mares on Southern Hemisphere time and they are mostly European imports and we have noticed that when they are good in Europe, that success tends to replicate in Australia.
“Sea The Stars produces tough racehorses who can have lots of class and also age well.
“And these are attributes which seem to suit Australian racing.”
Pat Downes | Image courtesy of Aga Khan Studs
High up in the betting for this year's Cox Plate is the wonderful WA mare Amelia's Jewel whose sire Siyouni (Fr) has been represented by 39 Australian runners, 20 of whom are winners - four at black-type level. Like Sea The Stars, he is a member of the Aga Khan Studs' stallion family - standing at Haras de Bonneval.
Both are available for Southern Hemisphere cover.
Quality European blood
Watching Sea The Stars and Siyouni fare so well with their Australian runners reminds us of other Northern Hemisphere-based stallions who have done a good job down here without leaving home.
Frankel (GB) (by Sea The Stars' high-achieving half-brother Galileo {Ire}) is the obvious starting point - a star on and off the track, he has had 84 runners in Australia and of his 60 winners 16 are stakes winners including the Group 1 winners Hungry Heart, Converge and Mirage Dancer (GB).
Frankel (GB) has had 84 runners in Australia for 60 winners | Standing at Juddmonte Stud
The first two were bred by Australians sending mares to Juddmonte where Frankel covers a select group of mares to Southern Hemisphere time whilst the latter was an import.
Frankel's stud mate Kingman (GB) is also faring nicely with 16 winners from 23 runners, three of whom are stakes winners including the G1 JJ Atkins S. winner King Colorado who was closeup in yesterday's G1 Golden Rose as well as last year's Cup runner-up Emissary (GB).
Also a Juddmonte success story is Dansili (GB), the regally bred son of Danehill (USA) and Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) who died in late 2021. Fifty-two of his 64 runners in Australia were winners - 17 of those being stakes winners including the Group 1 gallopers Foreteller (GB) and Grand Marshal (GB).
Dansili (GB) has had 64 runners in Australia for 52 winners
Dansili's brother Champs Elysees (GB) sired five stakes winners from 12 winners (18 runners) in Australia including the dual G1 Australian Cup winner Harlem (GB) and the G1 Sydney Cup winner Selino (GB).
Sunday Silence (USA) rarely served outside mares but Arrowfield and Shadai Stud did team up in the late 1990s with Strawberry Hill also breeding a couple by him. The result was 25 named foals, 12 of whom made it to the track, all but one being a winner.
Two of those were stakes winners - the Arrowfield and Strawberry Hill-bred Sunday Joy (Sunday Silence {USA}) who took out the 2003 G1 AJC Oaks and the Arrowfield and Gainsborough Stud-bred Keep The Faith who showed plenty of speed winning the Listed Schweppes Cup. He went onto sire the dual Group 1 winner Trust In A Gust whilst Sunday Joy produced the eight-time Group 1 winner More Joyous (NZ) (More Than Ready {USA}).
Sunday Silence (USA)
Sunday Silence's 2006 Melbourne Cup-winning grandson Delta Blues (Jpn) is the sole Australian runner for Dance In the Dark (Jpn) whilst his 2019 G1 WS Cox Plate-winning granddaughter Lys Gracieux (Jpn) is by Heart's Cry (Jpn) who has eight runners here - five winners with Admire Rakti (Jpn) successful in the 2014 G1 Caulfield Cup.
There has been other Japanese success in Australia - such as Lord Kanaloa (Jpn); 12 winners from 18 runners including Yulong's G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Tagaloa. And Sunday Silence's best son Deep Impact (Jpn) - 32 winners from 46 runners; six stakes winners including the Group 1 winners Fierce Impact (Jpn), Tosen Stardom (Jpn), Profondo, Real Impact (Jpn) and Glint Of Hope (Jpn).
German star Monsun (Ger) is another to make his mark locally with 11 winners and six stakes winners amongst his 18 Australian runners. Remarkably amongst that tally are three G1 Melbourne Cup winners - Almandin (Ger), Protectionist (Ger) and the late Fiorente (Ire) who has a Cup candidate this year in the shape of the dual Group winner Lunar Flare.
Monsun (Ger) has had 18 runners in Australia for 11 winners | Image courtesy of Racingfotos.com
Twelve of the 18 Scat Daddy (USA) horses to line up in Australia have been winners, five of those stakes winners including the dual Group 1-winning mare Con Te Partiro (USA). And Mizzen Mast (USA) has had all but one of his seven local runners in the winner's circle with his two stakes winners including last year's G1 Coolmore Classic winner Lighthouse (USA).
The wonderful chestnut Pivotal (GB) had 21 Australian winners out of 28 runners and of the four stakes winners two - Avilius (GB) and Addeybb (Ire) are multiple Group 1 winners.
