Classic in every way

Cover image courtesy of Sportpix

The Coolmore Classic, a trailblazing race as the first event restricted to fillies and mares to be granted Group 1 status in Australia, has lived up to the billing, with its honour roll of winners going on to be very good producers themselves.

Saturday will mark the 52nd running of the race, which was originally registered as the T. A. D. Kennedy S. This year's running will mark 40 years since it was promoted to a Group 1 event.

Fittingly, the great Emancipation (Bletchingly) won the race the first year it was granted that Group 1 status in 1984 (then known as the Rosemount Wines Classic).

It was one of 19 race wins for the grey mare, who was crowned Australian Horse of the Year that season.

At stud, Emancipation produced only seven foals, five to race, of which three were winners.

Her first foal was Royal Pardon (NZ), who was a G2 Frank Packer Plate winner and runner-up in the G1 AJC Derby.

While the three winners alone don’t scream outstanding success at stud, Emancipation’s daughters did do mum proud and the family has lived on, most notably by the Caulfield Cup winner Railings (Zabeel {NZ}) and fellow Group 1 winners Virage De Fortune (Anabaa {USA}) and Stratum Star.

Gallery: Some of Emancipation's Group 1-winning descendants, images courtesy of Sportpix

That tradition of Coolmore winners and their descendants winning black type races continues to this day.

Democracy Manifest (Flying Artie), the unlucky runner from last year’s G1 Epsom H., runs in the G3 Ajax S. on Saturday. He descends from the 1986 Coolmore winner Satin Sand (Buena Shore {USA}).

Recently retired multi-million-dollar earning sprinter Eduardo (Host {Chi}) also has a Coolmore winner to thank for his way in the world, being from the line of the 1985 winner Avon Angel (NZ) (Avon Valley {GB}).

The 1989 running was taken out by Red Express (Sovereign Red {NZ}), who gave us the Cox Plate and Australian Cup winner Dane Ripper at stud.

Prolific stakes success

It’s a theme that continues right through to this day.

If we look at the last 30 Coolmore winners, their consistency in the breeding barn has been quite remarkable.

It starts with Skating (At Talaq {USA}), who took out the race in 1993 before winning that year’s Doncaster. She produced 10 winners herself, headed by Magic Millions 2YO Classic hero Bradbury’s Luck and the G3 Skyline S.-winning, dual Group 1-placed Murtajill.

Gallery: Skating, winner of the 1993 Coolmore Classic, had two sire sons to stud, images courtesy of Sportpix

Skating’s daughters though did even better, with the Golden Slipper winner Vancouver the standout, along with G1 Sangster S. winner Juste Momente (Giant’s Causeway {USA}). Both are from the Danehill (USA) mare Skates.

If we consider the Coolmore winners between Skating in 1993 and Ofcourseican (Mossman) in 2012, no less than 12 of them produced stakes winners themselves.

In total, those 19 mares produced 112 individual winners! Each and every one of them produced at least one winner.

Since 2013 the race has been less prolific in the breeding barn, although that may change over the course of time, with the latest few winners only in the infancy of their stud careers.

Gone too soon

It’s a sad anomaly that the two least prolific producers of the Coolmore winners through that golden 20-year era were probably the two best horses to win the race in that time.

Sunline (NZ) (Desert Sun {GB}) perhaps did enough on the racetrack to surpass Emancipation as the race’s greatest ever winner. A three-time Australian Horse of the Year and dual Cox Plate winner, she sadly died in 2009 after producing just four foals. Among them were two winners, including the NZ$2 million yearling Sun Ruler.

Gallery: Prolific winners of the Coolmore Classic whose stud careers were cut short, images courtesy of Sportpix

Typhoon Tracy (Red Ransom {USA}) was also named Australian Racehorse of the Year for her racetrack feats, which followed the season after she was able to win the Coolmore from barrier 14 in 2009.

Her stud career was tragically cut short after foaling for the very first time in 2012. The foal was able to be saved and he raced as Last Typhoon, winning two races.

Group 1 producers

Between 1997 and 2008, no less than four Coolmore winners were able to produce Group 1 winners themselves.

Assertive Lass (Zeditave) was the dam of six winners, with the Group 3 winner So Assertive (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) the first of them.

But it was Assertive Lass’ 2000 foal Reset that really stamped her as an outstanding producer.

He remained unbeaten in a brilliant 3-year-old campaign that was crowned by taking out the Australian Guineas and Futurity S. at Group 1 level.

At stud, Reset sired 33 stakes winners, headed by three-time Group 1 winner Fawkner, Cox Plate victor Pinker Pinker and fellow Group 1 winners Rebel Raider, Set Square and Hauraki.

A year after Assertive Lass’ Coolmore win, the race was taken out by Shindig (NZ) (Straight Strike {USA}), who went on to produce seven individual winners.

These were headed by the Group 1 winner Shinzig. Shinzig’s full siblings Strada and Fiammarosa (Danehill {USA}) were stakes winner and stakes-placed respectively.

In 2008, Eskimo Queen (NZ) (Shinko King {Ire}) showed her versatility by coming back from an Oaks success the year before to land the zippier Coolmore.

At stud, she’s had six winners, headed by the G1 George Ryder S. winner Dreamforce (Fastnet Rock).

Global reach

But perhaps the most significant breeding feat of Coolmore Classic winners belongs to Danny O’Brien’s 2001 winner Porto Roca (Barathea {Ire}).

She produced no less than 10 individual winners in a breeding career that had a true global reach.

After spending her first four years at stud in Australia, Porto Roca was exported to Europe in 2005.

Two years later she produced Monterosso (GB), a son of Dubawi (Ire), that would win seven races for Godolphin, highlighted by the 2012 G1 Dubai World Cup.

More recently, Porto Roca’s Australian-bred granddaughter Silent Sedition (War Chant {USA}) took out the G1 William Reid S.