Pendragon (NZ) $9,900

 

A super talented dual winner at Group Three level against the best of his peers, it can be safely said that Pendragon is one of those horses we just never saw the best of.

A $180,000 yearling purchase for DGR Thoroughbreds on behalf of hugely successful owner Dato Tan Chin Nam, Pendragon kicked off his career with a close second in the Listed Kembla Grange Two Year Old Classic over 1200 metres and was immediately sent for a spell by master trainer Bart Cummings.

Brought back in the spring, Pendragon chased home subsequent Group One winners Racing to Win and Paratroopers in his first three runs back and then broke through for his first victory in the Group Three STC Gloaming Stakes.

He followed with a second to Hotel Grand in the Group One STC Spring Champion Stakes and then traveled to Melbourne where he defeated AJC Australian Derby hero Headturner in the Group Three MRC Norman Robinson Stakes.

Pendragon ended his spring campaign with a brave fourth in the Group One VRC Victoria Derby over 2500 metres, a distance that proved a shade beyond him.

Subsequently sidelined with a tendon issue, Pendragon attempted a comeback in 2007 but had just one more start after suffering a recurrence of the injury.

Pendragon is a son of Elnadim (USA), a blue-blooded Group One winning sprinter by Danzig from a daughter of legendary broodmare Fall Aspen.

He shuttled to New Zealand for just two seasons and Pendragon is the best of his locally bred offspring.

Pendragon hails from a fabulous female family being from the 1996 New Zealand Filly of the Year, Alacrity, a daughter of champion sire Grosvenor. A half-sister to stakes-winners The Bullfighter and Sympose, Alacrity won five races including the Group One New Zealand Oaks.

She comes from a prolific Black Type family most notable for producing breed shaping sire and Golden Slipper winner Marscay.

Pendragon was a top class racehorse and has a top class pedigree, so his full potential may yet be realized in the breeding barn.