World Champion Bernardini, Champion sprinter Henny Hughes and dual G1-winning miler Librettist will be returning to Australia in 2008. They will be joined by Any Given Saturday, one of America’s best three-year-olds of 2007; Hard Spun, an undefeated two-year-old and conqueror of America’s hero of 2007, Street Sense; Manduro (pictured), the best horse in the world in 2007; and Street Sense himself, the Eclipse Champion two-year-old who went on to rewrite history by winning The Run for the Roses.
Announcing Darley’s first-season stallions, general manager Oliver Tait said, “Our seven new stallions for 2008 are the best-credentialed and most exciting line up of first-season stallions we’ve ever offered. Sheikh Mohammed’s goal is to stand the world’s best stallions and we’re thrilled Bernardini, Henny Hughes and Librettist, who will already be familiar to many Australasian breeders, will be joined in Australia by an additional four of our outstanding young stallions from around the world this year.
"Any Given Saturday, Hard Spun and Street Sense were fantastic racehorses being three of the top four American three-year-old colts of 2007. Manduro retired as the best horse in the world last year. Fees for our new stallions are yet to be set but our clients can be certain the Darley stallions will be priced to make breeding with us as rewarding as possible.”
New to Darley Australia in 2008 are:
Bernardini (AP Indy – Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American)
Bernardini illuminated American racing in 2006 with six consecutive dominating victories including three Championship Group Ones. He won the G1 Preakness Stakes by five-and-a-half-lengths, the G1 Travers Stakes and against his elders, the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Henny Hughes (Hennessy – Meadow Flyer, by Meadowlake)
Henny Hughes was the World Champion sprinter of 2006. He was brilliantly fast at two, winning his first three starts before finishing runner-up in three of America’s best juvenile G1 races. At three, Henny Hughes became the first three-year-old ever to win the 1400m G1 King’s Bishop and the 1200m G1 Vosburgh double.
Librettist (Danzig – Mysterial, by Alleged)
The exceptional Librettist was Europe’s highest rated G1 older miler of 2006. He was a top-class Godolphin two-year-old, winning two of his three starts. After injury saw him miss his three-year-old season, Librettist returned to his winning ways as a four-year-old in 2006 with a run of five increasingly impressive front-running victories, including two of Europe’s most competitive G1 mile races: the Prix Jacques le Marois and the Prix du Moulin. He is a Danzig half-brother to fellow Darley stallion Dubai Destination who sired a G1-winning juvenile in his first European crop last year and whose first Australian two-year-olds are impressing trainers around the country.
Any Given Saturday (Distorted Humor – Weekend In Indy, by AP Indy)
A million dollar yearling and by Distorted Humor, one of the stallion finds of the decade, Any Given Saturday was one of America’s best three-year-olds in 2007. He recorded five wins, two seconds and a third in nine career starts and earned over US$1million. As a two-year-old, Any Given Saturday won his first two starts and was second in a G2 over 1700m at Churchill Downs. After winning a Stakes race at his first start as a three-year-old by two-and-three-quarter lengths he battled Eclipse Champion two-year-old Street Sense in a record-breaking G3 Tampa Bay Derby missing out by the bob of a head. Any Given Saturday’s defining victory came in the G1 Haskell Invitational over 1800m where he glided away from top-notch adversaries Hard Spun and Curlin to win by four-and-a-half lengths.
Hard Spun (Danzig – Turkish Tryst, by Turkoman)
A magnificent son of renowned sire of sires Danzig, Hard Spun was the best three-year-old sprinter in the world in 2007. He was an unbeaten Stakes winner at two, winning his three juvenile races by a combined 21-and-a-half lengths. At three, Hard Spun set red-hot fractions to finish second in Street Sense’s Kentucky Derby, then with ears pricked, Hard Spun reveled once again back over the sprint distance in an unforgettable G1 King’s Bishop, America’s premier 1400m race.
Manduro (Monsun – Mandellicht, by Be My Guest)
Coming to Australia for the first time from Europe, World Champion Manduro concluded 2007 as Timeform’s top-rated horse. Manduro was an unbeaten Champion two-year-old in Germany and went unbeaten again last season in taking five Group races from 1600m to 2400m, including a hat trick of Group Ones. He won the G1 Prix d’Ispahan by five lengths before conquering Dylan Thomas in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and then went on to lift Europe’s richest Group One mile, the Prix Jacques le Marois, by three lengths. France’s 20-time champion trainer Andre Fabre said of Manduro, “He’s the best I have trained and the best by a good margin.”
Street Sense (Street Cry – Bedazzle, by Dixieland Band)
One of the most thrilling horses of his generation, Street Sense is the only horse ever to win the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby double. He was a record-breaking two-year-old and an Eclipse Champion two-year-old who took the Juvenile by ten lengths. In a remarkable three-year-old career his wins included the Kentucky Derby and the G1 Travers Stakes.Press release, 28 February 2008
