With the victory of Lonhro mare Beaded in the G1 Doomben 10,000, along with another nine winners over the past seven days, the 11-time G1-winning Horse of the Year is well on his way to taking Champion sire honours this season, a feat not achieved since Vain was awarded Horse of the Year in 1970 and backed it up in 1983 with the Champion sire tag.
As the sire of 115 winners so far this season, which puts him a few places behind fellow Darley stallion Commands who has 137 individual winners, Lonhro (pictured) is also the equal leader for the number of Stakes winners recorded so far this season in Australia with 12. Headed by multiple Stakes winner Beaded, Lonhro has also been represented by two-year-old Stakes winners Benfica and Euryale; three-year-old fillies Parables, Obsequious, Celts; as well as the older mares Dysphonia, Trim and Tampiko.
Both Beaded and Benfica are headed towards G1 races over the remainder of the Brisbane winter carnival, and a win by either, would assumingly cement Lonhro’s position at the top of the sires' table. Finishing third in the previous racing season on the general sires table, Lonhro’s eldest runners are only rising six, so it would be a brave person to suggest that his stallion career can’t further progress on an upwards spiral.
As the Darley stallions make up seven of the top 28 stallions in the country on prizemoney, an achievement that no other stallion farm in the country can better, taking a closer look at the two and three-year-old sire tables in the country, further note can be taken on the success of the Darley stallions.
Taking a look at the leading three-year-old sires in Australia, Commands leads Lonhro, with fellow Darley stallions Exceed And Excel, Domesday and Street Cry also proving their worth. One to take particular note of is Red Ransom’s G2-winning son Domesday. With just two crops of racing age, Domesday is the sire of G1 TJ Smith Stakes winner Pressday, as well as the G1 Queensland Oaks leading chance Divorces. With a Stakes winners to runners ratio well in advance of many sires on the three-year-old table, Domesday seems incredible value at his current fee.
The two-year-old sires table in Australia once again reflects a positive outlook on the Darley stallions – whichever way you look at it. Former Darley shuttle stallion Elusive Quality has the lead on prizemoney due to dual G1-winning juvenile Sepoy, while Exceed And Excel has achieved 15 individual two-year-old winners so far this season to put him clear by not only winners, but Stakes wins as well. Headed by the dual G1-winning chestnut colt Helmet, the winner of the second and third legs of the Sydney Two-year-old Triple Crown, Exceed And Excel looks to have a handy candidate in Curtana for the remainder of the winter carnival.
First-season sires Ad Valorem and Nadeem rank highly on the their respective sire table, with Ad Valorem looking a serious contender to be crowned the Champion first-season sire as his last start G2-winning son Free Wheeling is headed towards the G1 TJ Smith Stakes in a few weeks time. No stallion from that crop has achieved more winners than the G1 Blue Diamond hero Nadeem. Headed by his multiple Stakes-winning daughter Triple Asset, Nadeem has recorded seven individual winners to date.
All in all, whichever way you look at it, the Darley stallions offer breeders a plethora of opportunities to bred and to race the next Champion. Please click here to peruse the 2011 Darley Stallion Brochure where there is sure to be a stallion to suit your requirements, alternatively click here for the 2011 Stallion fees, or click here to for the Nomination Team contact details.
