When
two champion sires work well together it makes life a lot easier for commercial
breeders.
A Sunday stakes win at Sha Tin for talented gelding Thewizardofoz highlighted a
successful nick between his champion sire Redoute's Choice and Encosta de Lago,
who is the sire of his dam.
Set to be crowned Champion Australian Broodmare Sire for 2016/2017, Encosta de
Lago has become a powerful presence in a pedigree and while his daughters work with
a wide range of sires, they do particularly well with Redoute's Choice and his
sire sons.
Thewizardofoz is the 16th stakes-winner bred this way and is one of
140 winners from 233 starters representing 60.1% winners to runners.
Group I winners bred this way are current season horses Invader and Summer Passage
as well as Zoustar, Peeping and Musir.
The stakes-winners per runners for the nick is 6.8% and there is a high level
of opportunity to experiment with the nick given the prevalence of Redoute's Choice
line sires and Encosta de Lago mares.
The nick in reverse will also hold significance going forward with a number of
Encosta de Lago sires coming online via his ill-fated son Northern Meteor,
albeit this does not apply to his best son Zoustar, who is from a daughter of
Redoute's Choice.
Full brothers Shooting to Win and Deep Field will have their first yearlings on
sale next year and on pedigree appeal as perfect foils for Danehill blood and in
particular Redoute's Choice.
On the topic of nicks that click, it's hard
to go past Redoute's Choice and Hussonet (USA), who have achieved some great
things this racing season.
The nick runs at 68.9% winners to runners with 18 stakes-winners – six of them
this season – Extreme Choice, Gunnison, Frolic, Pariah, Karacatis and Selenia.
The stakes-winners to runners statistic for the nick is a staggering 17.4% ,
which can't keep going at that rate, but is nevertheless a powerful incentive
for breeders pondering their options.
If you are lucky enough to own a Hussonet mare, there's no prizes for guessing
what sort of sire you'll be going to this spring!
Another well-known nick that continues
to flourish and achieved recent Group I success with Stradbroke Handicap winner
Impending (image Steve Hart) is that which involves Lonhro and Canny Lad.
Initially both with Woodlands Stud and later with Darley, Lonhro and Canny Lad
have combined to produce 68.9% winners to runners.
The 15 stakes-winners bred this way are headed by Group I winners Impending and
South African based The Conglomerate with the overall stakes-winners to runners
coming in at 11.3%.
The number of Canny Lad mares are now clearly on the wane, but it's always
worth remembering Redoute's Choice is from a daughter of Canny Lad so it's easy
to pick him up in a pedigree in this way.
All statistics were sourced from Arion.