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29.
Arrowfield secures top
trio of stallions
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06/02/2003 |
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Arrowfield
Stud announced today the acquisition of three world class stallions to stand at
their Scone-based thoroughbred breeding operation in the 2003 Southern
Hemisphere breeding season. These stallions comprise ORIENTATE, the Champion
Sprinter of the World in 2002, HUSSONET, the most dominant son at stud of Mr.
Prospector, and FRENCH DEPUTY, one of Japan’s most valuable stallions.
ORIENTATE (USA)
1998 16.1hh dark bay, Mt Livermore-Dream Team by Cox’s Ridge
Orientate, the best sprinter on the planet in 2002, has been purchased in a
joint venture of Arrowfield Stud and the famous Kentucky-based farm, Gainesway.
The stallion will shuttle between the two farms from 2003, following his
retirement from racing after his Breeders’ Cup Sprint victory last October.
Named World Champion Sprinter of 2002 on the International Classifications (with
exactly the same rating as Australian Champion, Northerly) and winner of the
prestigious Eclipse Award in the same category, Orientate (USA) is the first
Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner to enter stud in Australia. Eclipse Award winning
sprinters retired to stud that have become successful sires include Cherokee
Run, Rubiano, Housebuster (by Mt Livermore), Gulch, Ack Ack, Dr. Fager, Bold
Ruler and Tom Fool. Orientate’s stud success therefore looks assured.
A brilliant winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint G1 and also the Forego Handicap
G1, Orientate won 10 of his 19 starts from 6f to 8½f on both dirt and turf.
While he started his career as a miler and did win a stakes race over a mile on
the turf, he finished his career with an undefeated streak of five sprint stakes
races.
“I am thrilled with the acquisition of Orientate. This is a horse for the
times in Australia. He has got everything that we look for, and most
importantly, he will provide the outcross which has succeeded so well with the
Northern Dancer blood now prevalent in this country,” said Arrowfield’s John
Messara.
Orientate (USA) is a representative of the speed branch of the Blushing Groom
sire line via Mt Livermore, who himself is an international sire of considerable
repute. Mt Livermore is the sire of over 50 stakes winners worldwide including 8
millionaires and 6 Champions, and successful sire Housebuster (sire of Hong Kong
star Electronic Unicorn). Orientate (USA) is out of the 2YO Grade One winning
mare Dream Team, a daughter of the Champion Cox’s Ridge, and hails from the
direct family of the Champion European racehorse and sire Ormonde.
Orientate will stand at an Australian fee of A$33,000 inc GST and this compares
with his U.S. fee at Gainesway this season of US$25,000.
HUSSONET (USA) 1991 15.3hh chestnut, Mr. Prospector-Sacahuista by Raja Baba
One of the best-bred stallions in the world, Hussonet (USA) is - and has been
since 1998 - a Champion Sire, providing remarkable figures of 24% stakes winners
to runners, including 12 Group 1 winners to date, as well as 10 individual
Champions and stakes winners in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
Peter Brant, breeder of champion sire Gulch, bred Hussonet (USA). He was
purchased privately by Sheikh Mohammed and was sent to America to be trained by
leading conditioner Bill Mott. Having won or placed in all his 6 starts, he
retired after an injury in the Count Fleet Stakes LR and was sold to stand at
Haras de Pirque in Chile.
Starting at a lowly fee, Hussonet stamped himself as an exceptionally dominant
stallion being named Champion 2YO Sire of Chile with his first crop in 1998 and
going on to win the General Sires title every year since then. In 2002 he
commanded the highest fee of any stallion ever to have stood in Chile and served
the largest book (146 mares) of any commercial stallion standing in Chile.
His 10 Champions include the 2000 Champion Chilean 3yo Filly Printemps, who has
since gone to America to win at G2 level and place in a G1 behind Horse of the
Year Azeri, the G2 winner Seinne who has also won G2 races in California, and
Wild Spirit, the Champion Chilean 3yo filly of 2002, who was recently relocated
to the Bobby Frankel stable in California to race in North America in 2003.
Hussonet is the leading son (by stakes winners to runners) of the legendary Mr.
Prospector. He is out of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Sacahuista, who was
also the Champion 3YO Filly of her generation in the USA. Sacahuista comes from
the great Bourtai family, that of Levee, Royal Gunner, Shuvee, etc.
Arrowfield has purchased 100% of Hussonet from his Chilean owners and the
stallion will arrive at Arrowfield in early March after being in quarantine in
California. His 2003 Southern Hemisphere fee will be A$24,750 inc GST.
FRENCH DEPUTY (USA) 1992 15.3hh chestnut, Deputy Minister-Mitterand by Hold Your
Peace
By arrangement with Shadai Stallion Station, Arrowfield has just signed an
agreement to shuttle the internationally successful stallion French Deputy (USA)
to Australia. French Deputy (USA) has “made it” in both the USA, where he
started his career as a stallion, and in Japan where he now stands at Shadai
Stallion Station after being purchased in late 2000.
French Deputy (USA) was a brilliant racehorse, winning 4 of his 6 lifetime
starts. Veteran observers took notice from the very first time he took to the
track. As a two year old he broke his maiden at Hollywood Park in devastating
fashion running 6 furlongs in a blistering 1:08.84 and winning by five widening
lengths; that time was just 0.6 seconds off the best time posted at Hollywood
Park that year for a horse of any age!
At three he won his first two starts back by a combined 13¾ lengths in
allowance company and then set about trouncing the top flight racehorse and now
leading sire Mr Greeley by 4 lengths in the time honoured Jerome Handicap G2 in
the time of 1:33.53. In so doing, French Deputy (USA) ran the fastest mile
recorded at Belmont Park that year and posted a Beyer Speed figure of 119 –
the highest figure awarded to any three year old in 1995.
Once he retired to the breeding shed, those same observers heralded his future
sire success - and their predictions proved correct. With his oldest progeny now
just six year olds, French Deputy finished in the top 20 Active Sires in North
America in 2002 and has sired 16 stakes winners, 3 at Gr 1 level. Among these
are the Japanese Champion 3yo colt Kurofune as well as the ill-fated Eclipse
Award winner (Champion Older Male) American Sprinter-Miler Left Bank.
French Deputy’s stud fee in Japan last season of ¥10m (approximately
A$150,000) is testament to his worldwide popularity. Following the recent death
of Sunday Silence, French Deputy (USA) and this year’s Kentucky Derby winner
War Emblem are the highest priced Shadai stallions in Japan.
French Deputy is by Deputy Minister, who is also the sire of the highly
successful shuttle stallion Dehere (USA). He has the hallmark of all good
stallions, consistently upgrading his mares with his average earnings index of
2.18, much higher than his comparable index of 1.76.
“French Deputy is a magnificent looking stallion who gets very good looking
horses that can really run. On what he has achieved in the Northern Hemisphere,
he will get progeny that will be very well suited to Australia and importantly
will be very well liked by yearling buyers,” said Arrowfield’s John Messara.
French Deputy (USA) will stand at an Australian fee of A$44,000 inc GST.
“The vitally important aspect of our new stallions Hussonet and Orientate is
that they are totally free of Northern Dancer blood. They’re gorgeous
individuals and are both from sire lines which have nicked well with Northern
Dancer, so they’re going to be very helpful to breeders in Australia where
Danzig blood is predominant,” said Arrowfield boss, John Messara. “Our third
new horse, French Deputy, is the most valuable Japanese-based stallion to come
to Australia so far and is proven on the international stage and is from a sire
line that has tasted success in Australia; we’re very lucky to have access to
such an animal,” added Messara.
These developments will give the Australian-owned Arrowfield Stud a powerful
stallion roster comprising both local and international bloodlines. Arrowfield,
which is renowned as an original owner of Danehill, stands his best-known sons
at stud in Australia, in Flying Spur, Danzero and Redoute’s Choice.
Arrowfield News Release
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