His name is Sioux Nation and he’s a stallion that promises to bring so many different layers to the Victoria breeding industry.
Standing at Adam Sangster’s Swettenham Stud at Nagambie, Sioux Nation has a CV that makes impressive reading for any breeder looking for early speed in their youngsters and beyond.
He is the only Group 1 winning two year-old turf sprinter - by world class sire Scat Daddy - to retire to stud in Victoria this year.
Already he his living up to his magnificent looks with the imposing stallion showing that he can back up his physical attributes in the breeding barn where it counts.
His fertility rate at Swettenham Stud so far this season is almost 90 percent which nearly mirrors the more than 90 percent he had in Ireland where he covered 241 mares.
The outcross Sioux Nation brings to the local population of mares should not be under estimated, with his “new blood” mating up incredibly well with the Australian broodmares who will benefit from his proven global bloodlines.
Sioux Nation is the first son of the ill-fated speed sire Scat Daddy to stand in Victoria where he will provide for those breeders searching for precocious two year-olds at a time when the commercial market for quality youngsters with genuine speed has never been stronger.
The quality of Scat Daddy’s other sons are reflected in the feats of his 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify, unbeaten two year-old Caravaggio and the record breaking, No Nay Never, who like Sioux Nation won the Norfolk Stakes (1000m) at Royal Ascot.
Sioux Nation’s victory in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes’ gave him claim to one of the best sprinters of his generation when he downed a star-studded line up headed by US Navy Flag and Romanised.
What really impressed Adam Sangster when he saw Sioux Nation in Ireland was his physical presence.
He described the stallion, which stands at an imposing 16.1 hands, as truly magnificent, strong, and masculine, with raw power and importantly is built like a true Australian speed horse.
All of Sioux Nation’s wins were on turf where he excelled on the fast tracks. He also trained on as a three year-old winning the Group 3 Lacken Stakes over 1200m and was placed in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes (1000m).
He comes from a European speed-focused pedigree and is free of Danehill and Galileo blood which Sangster describes as a “brilliant outcross” for Australian mares.
Not all the speed Sioux Nation displayed can be attributed to Scat Daddy. His broodmare sire was champion sprinter and leading sire, Oasis Dream, and his second dam, Catch The Blues (Bluebird), won the 1000m Group 3 Ballyogan Stakes and was Group 1 placed in the 1200m Haydock Sprint Cup.
Trained by Ballydoyle’s Aidan O’Brien, the Irishman said Sioux Nation was “pure Scat Daddy raw speed’’ when he won at Royal Ascot.
Champion jockey Ryan Moore said he could not have been more impressed with Sioux Nation’s win in the Phoenix Stakes and at Royal Ascot and believes he has got a big future at stud. - copy Daryl Timms
