West Australian based breeder Trevor Delroy has achieved some outstanding success in recent years having bred Group I winners Cedarberg, Ethiopia,Zabeelionaire and Gondokoro, his results the envy of many.
Much of the success achieved by Mr Delroy in the past has been through his
Victorian Derby winning sire Helenus, who produced Ethiopia and Cedarberg as
well as his stakes-winners Ulundi and Durnford.Helenus started his stud career in WA before transferring across to Wattle Grove Thoroughbreds on the Southern Highlands, but just when he was starting to get a foothold in NSW, the son of Helissio (FR) died prematurely earlier this year.
With Helenus out of the picture, Mr Delroy will now concentrate all of his attention on his new stallion Crowded House (GB), who makes his debut at Wattle Grove Thoroughbreds this spring at a fee of $11,000.
"I bought him about 18 months ago and had the thought to race him out here and set him for a Cox Plate, but he developed a sesamoid issue so we decided not to pursue that and just retire him to stud," Delroy revealed.
Winner of the Group I Doncaster Racing Post Trophy at two, Crowded House is by proven sire of sires Rainbow Quest from Wiener Wald, who comes from the family of champion sires Storm Cat and Royal Academy.
His immediate family features US Group I winner Ticker Tape and last year's brilliant European juvenile Reckless Abandon, who won the Group I Newmarket Middle Park Stakes and Deauville Prix Morny.
"I love his pedigree. It's such a great female family and a very active one
still with Reckless Abandon coming along last year," Delroy said."For stallions to succeed they need a superior turn of foot and Crowded House had that. He was the top rated TIMEFORM two year-old in Europe for 2008 with a rating of 124p - well clear of the next best in Mastercraftsman at 120."
Mr Delroy has plenty of faith in Crowded House and given the results he has achieved as a breeder to date, many broodmare owners will take a good hard look at Crowded House, who is a strikingly marked chestnut standing 16 hands.
"You should watch the Racing Post Trophy video, he had a turn of foot to die for!," Delory enthused.
Mr Delroy isn't the only one that was impressed by that performance.
Winning rider Jamie Spencer declared after the win, "Very rarely do you ride a horse with the explosive turn of foot Crowded House gave me in winning."
Timeform described it as, "The best performance of the year by a two year-old in Europe"
"He was a superb horse, all class, with a lovely temperament and easy to train, he is as good a horse as I have trained," said his trainer Brian Meehan.
Crowded House is the last Group I winning son to go to stud for Arc de Triomphe hero Rainbow Quest, who was 25 when he was born in 2006.
A son of Blushing Groom, Rainbow Quest sired over 100 stakes-winners including English Derby winner Quest for Fame (GB), who proved a most successful sire here in Australia for the Ingham family's Woodlands Stud.
Rainbow Quest has shown a real affinity with champion sire Danehill to produce 71 stakes-winners, 10 of them Group I winners including Australian stars such as Skilled, Erewhon, De Beers and Unworldly.
Other notable Australian stakes performers bred this way include the likes of Sidestep, Ambidexter, Lamasery, Rekindled Interest and Torio's Quest, so for owners of Danehill line mares, Crowded House is an option well worth considering.
For more information contact Ian McPherson on Mobile Phone 0404 839 453 or 02 4877 2333 or email wattlegrovetbreds@bigpond.com .
