There can be a lot of change between what happens at the end of one season and the unfolding of the next and this young stallion has had two stakes-winners in the past three days, which may be a small taste of what’s to come.
The progress of second crop sires during the spring is a big watchpoint for their respective studs as the emergence of a good horse equates to mare bookings.
Everyone has seen the stallion that started spring luke warm and ended it red hot with a flurry of racetrack success generating popularity in the breeding barn.
Who will it be in 2020?
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Coolmore’s Golden Slipper winner Vancouver was making news on the weekend with exciting filly Night Raid winning the Listed MVRC Atlantic Jewel Stakes (read about her here), while in North America his unbeaten filly Madone won the Listed Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes (read about her here).Vancouver finished last season with 10 Australian winners plus his South African Group II winner Mount Pleasant, but the overall impression seemed to suggest optimism that his stock would improve at three.
His leading stake earner last season was the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained filly Vangelic, who returned from a spell in the Group II ATC Furious Stakes over 1200m last Saturday.
She led all the way before being overhauled by Dame Giselle and place-getters Hungry Heart and Forbidden Love to hold fourth place, beaten just on two lengths in a pleasing return that will have connections eyeing further Black Type assignments.
Vancouver has so far produced six stakes horses from his first Australian crop as well as five metropolitan winners giving him sufficient ammunition to make a real impression over the next few months and beyond.
If he is the stallion in this group of second crop sires to take the quantum leap this spring, Vancouver has probably put the writing on the wall.
