Dawn Approach is one of those horses whose racing career unfolded as it was supposed to, and his stud career is showing good signs of following the same pattern.
A member of the first crop of the 2008 Derby winner New Approach, who had been a winner at his first five starts, Dawn Approach was successful at his first seven.
In one respect, he improved on the record of his sire, winning the 2013 Group 1 Two Thousand Guineas by five lengths, avenging New Approach’s narrow defeat of five years earlier.
It was a performance anticipated by Jim Bolger, the man who trained both horses.
“When Dawn Approach first came into the stable his action and his demeanour indicated that he was going to play a big role in the best races,” Bolger said.
“If he can produce yearlings like himself, I have no doubt that he will be heralded as a top sire very early in his career.”
The success of his first crop, some positive sale results already in Australia this year and the prospect of more at the coming Inglis Classic Yearling Sale suggest Dawn Approach is on the way to justifying his trainer’s opinion.
Dawn Approach retired at the end of the 2013 season as the winner of eight of his 12 starts, beginning his new career at Kildangan Stud in Ireland in 2014 and at Northwood Park in Australia later the same year.
Again, he has done what was expected of him.
Dawn Approach’s first northern hemisphere crop includes winners in Ireland, England, France and Japan while his first Australian crop has produced Gongs, who is Godolphin’s top-rated juvenile so far this season, and Condemned.
His presence in the sale ring has also been welcomed with his colt from the Exceed And Excel mare Very Discreet fetching A$450,000 at January’s Magic Millions Gold Coast sale (pictured below) after his brother sold for $360,000 at the 2017 Inglis Easter Sale.
