Successful N.Z. example in purchase of stallions

Press, 26 May 1979, Page 21

Successful N.Z. example in purchase of stallions

New Zealand is held up as a supreme example of a successful exercise in the purchase of stallions in an article written recently by Peter Willett for the English magazine, “Horse and Hound.”

Willett was discussing problems for the buyer of yearlings, in an article that posed the question whether more attention should be made to conformation or pedigree.

In one respect, he wrote, the question was nonsensical because unless a yearling was basically sound and well-made it had no chance of racing at all. In order to bring the question closer to the realities of yearling buying, Willett said the question should be rephrased: If a yearling is basically sound, should the decision whether to buy or not be influenced by a study of its pedigree? The question was suggested by a recently published book by John Rickman in which several English trainers W’ere asked about yearling buying policy. The most original reply was that of Barry Hills, who stated that he never opened

the catalogue before he went to the sales, and only looked at the pedigree when he liked a yearling so much that he had been back to take a second look.

John Dunlop, Mick Easterby and Bruce Hobbs all took an uncompromising stand on the importance of make and shape. Bruce epitomised that point of view with the comment: “In my opinion conformation is 99 per cent of the business. The Stud Book does not matter -as much as people think.”

Peter Walwyn thought it was a lot of both. “The thing is you can get out of a horse with a good pedigree, if he is a reasonable racehorse, better than you can get out of a winning racehorse with no pedigree,” Walwyn argued. “Obviously the useless horse with no pedigree is useless to sell.”

A well-bred filly needed only to win the smallest of races to retain her value as a potential broodmare, Willett commented. “As for colts,” he added, “it is true that some thoroughbred breeding countries without much money to invest in stallions prefer the moderate racehorse with good pedigree to the better racehorse with poor pedigree.

“New Zealand is the supreme example of the successful exercise of this preference,” Willett adds

“Two of the leading stallions in New Zealand in the last decade have been BattleWaggon (by Never Say Die out of Carrozza) and Mellay (by Never Say Die out of Meld). Battle-Waggon’s ration of success on the racecourse was one victory in a maiden race over U miles as a three-year-old, and Mellay never ran.

“Battle-Waggon and Mellay are most people’s idea of well-bred, furthermore clas-sically-bred horses. They were by a winner of the Derby and St Leger who was also a champion sire. “Battle-Waggon was out of a winner of the Oaks, and Mellay’s dam won the 1000 Guineas, the Oaks, and St Leger. “Delving a little deeper into their pedigrees, we come up with the facts that the males in the generation of Battle-Waggon’s greatgrandparents were the unbeaten racehorse and champion sire, Nearco (twice), the Derby and St Leger winner and champion sire Hyperion and the American ” Triple Crown winner War Admiral. “The male great-grand-

parents of Mellay were Nearco, War Admiral, the Italian Derby winner Donatello II and the brilliant miler and champion sire Fair Trial.”

Willett writes that the term “well-bred” began to lose credibility when applied to members of so-called fashionable families without the evidence of genetic merit that comes from a high-class performer in the last two or three generations, even in collateral branches of the family. It was common knowledge that a large proportion of yearlings that realised high prices at the sales proved disappointing racehorses. Attention to conformation and pedigree was most thoroughly co-ordinated in the kind of operation conducted by Vincent O’Brien and various patrons of his Irish stable, notably Robert Sangster. Their method concentrated on the Keeneland July and other leading sales and depended on the selection of colts of top-class pedigree that must also pass the most rigorous examination for looks and conformation. In 'that way the odds against [success were significantly reduced.