Delaware Turf Monthly November 2022

DELAWARE

FRANKEL IN VICTORIA

Delaware stands at Woodside Park in Victoria and becomes the first son of the remarkable Frankel to go to stud in Australia. That alone should ensure some interest in his progeny as his sire continues on from his brilliant racetrack career to an outstanding stud career.

We cannot even touch on the prospects of Delaware without mentioning Frankel, the unbeaten British champion rated by many as the world’s greatest racehorse. Of course Australian’s query this assessment with our own Black Caviar appearing at Royal Ascot at the same time as Frankel. Frankel won fourteen starts with an amazing record of ten of these being Group 1 races. In fact, his last nine wins were at the highest level and included races like the Juddmonte International, Queen Anne, Queen Elizabeth and 2000 Guineas. He won from a mile to 2000 metres which is a little unusual in the UK and means that he did not run in races like

the Derby or venture to Europe for the Arc de Triomphe. He was the highest rated Timeform horse in history, and currently stands for a fee of £200,000 at Juddmonte Stud. Frankel has sired over 70 stakes winners including international stars like Cracksman, Adaya, Nashwa, Alpinista and Inspiral. In Australia he is already known for his runners like Hungry Heart, Converge, Miss Fabulass and Rostropovich. We perhaps should also mention that a three quarter brother to Frankel in Bullet Train stood in Australia for five seasons with only limited success.

Delaware started his racing career as a 2yo in France, finishing fourth beaten a little over four lengths in a maiden over 1200m at Maisons-Laffitte. Two weeks later he broke his maiden with an impressive two length win over the same distance at Deauville. Stepping up to the 1400m of the Group 3 Prix La Rochette at Longchamp, Delaware finished fifth in a blanket finish less than two lengths from the winner, The Black Album. He started favourite in the Listed Criterium De Lyon at Lyon Parilly but was a well beaten fifth behind Certain Lad. Back over 1300m at Deauville, Delaware finished his 2yo season with a close second to Shaman before heading for a spell.

As a 3yo, Delaware again raced in France but only ever started over a mile. He was placed in three straight runs before winning the Listed Prix de Tourgeville at Deauville beating Dan by three lengths. Next up it was another victory in the Group 3 Prix Daphnis at the same track beating another oddly named runner in Dave by an impressive four lengths. He then stepped up to the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp but found the class too strong finishing ninth behind Circus Maximus, a son of Galileo who is now at stud in NZ. The colt had been bred by Juddmonte Farm and he was sent to the US to race the following season. His first attempt in that country saw him run eighth, beaten only five lengths on the turf at Belmont over 7 furlongs. Delaware then finished a good second over the same course and distance before starting favourite in the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes at Woodbine in Canada over a mile, again on turf. He finished a disappointing fifth behind March To The Arch, a son of Arch out of a German mare again underlining the importance of breeding in that country. After two more unplaced runs, Delaware broke through over a mile on grass in the Listed Danger's Hour Stakes at Delaware beating Rinaldi by Posse. He then finished third to that horse, beaten only three quarters of a length in the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple Stakes at Saratoga. He then changed stables for his 2022 campaign that saw him run in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile Stakes at Santa Anita behind Count Again by Awesome Again. His last start before coming to Australia was on 1 May 2022 in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile Stakes, beaten five and a half lengths in finishing tenth.

Delaware is certainly not the best racehorse among our Freshman stallions, but he was also no slouch. His 2 and 3yo performances in France were top quality and we often underestimate the quality of US turf racing. We need to also note that it does not suit all horses, as the US turf tracks are usually inside the main tracks, resulting in small turning courses that can be difficult for many. At the end of the day, racing performance plays no factors in stud success apart from in opportunity. This can also be a double-edged sword in that racing performance can lead to unsuitable mares going to a stallion on a preconception that their progeny will replicate their own racing patterns.

Delaware is out of an Oasis Dream mare called Zatsfine who won one of her six starts in France. Interestingly she did not start past 7 furlongs, the distance

at which she won as a 3yo. Zatsfine has also produced the stakes winning filly, Environs by Dansili who won three of her eight starts in France and US. Her biggest win came in the Listed Prix de Bagatelle at Maisons-Laffitte over a mile as a 3yo. Her dam was Binche by Woodman who was an outstanding broodmare producing five stakes winners including the Grade 1 Diane Stakes winner at Saratoga in Proviso by Dansili. She also produced Byword by Peintre Celebre who was the Champion Older Miler in France and winner of the Group 1 Prince of Wales’ Stakes at Royal Ascot. Perhaps the most interesting in terms of our interest in Delaware though are the full brothers by Frankel in Baratti and Finche. Baratti is a highly promising type having run second in the Group 1 Grand Prix at Saint-Cloud in July 2022. Finche is much better known to Australian readers having arrived in Australia in September 2018. He had won three races in France before coming here including the Group 2 Grand Prix de Maisons-Laffitte and Group 3 Prix de Reux. At his first run in Australia he was third in the Geelong Cup before going on to run fourth in the Melbourne Cup behind Cross Counter. After a long spell Finche returned to run fifth in the Chelmsford at Randwick before winning the Group 2 Kingston Town over 2000m. In Melbourne he was a close second to Kings Will Dream in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes before a close fifth behind Mer De Glace in the Caulfield Cup. Finche then ran seventh behind Vow And Declare in the Melbourne Cup beaten less than a length and a half. Finche returned again the following Spring running third in both the Chelmsford behind Mister Sea Wolf and the Turnbull behind Verry Elleegant. A fifth behind that champion mare in the Caulfield Cup followed with his last start being fittingly in the Melbourne Cup. In 2020 he ran ninth behind Twilight Payment but was far from disgraced finishing a little over 4.5 lengths from the winner. Binche interestingly is a half-sister to Foreign Language

by Distant View who is the granddam of Desert Crown by Nathaniel who won this year’s Epsom Derby.

The family is an important one tracing to the original Bruce Lowe number 1 family. There have been many branches of this family over the years, and it is interesting to note that one of the recent stars of this branch was a horse called Horse Chestnut who was a star in South Africa winning their Triple Crown, Champion 3yo and Horse of the Year for the 1998/99 season. He was to stand at stud at the historic Claiborne Stud in Kentucky for a decade before returning to his native South Africa to end his career, passing away in 2015. An interesting feature of the pedigree of Delaware is the list of stallions in his female line. We see horses like Nijinksy, Klairon, Mossborough, Precipitation and Hyperion all of which have had great success in Australia. It is the pedigree of Delaware though that is the key to his success or otherwise. We cannot ignore the close inbreeding with Danzig, Rainbow Quest, Northern Dancer, and Mr Prospector all duplicated within five generations. All are notably through same sex duplications, but it does not seem to have negatively impacted this particular family with horses like Finche showing similar close inbreeding. We often see that patterns like this repeat within families and there are lots of instances of families having greater success with one type of pedigree than another. Overall though it is not unsurprising that most families sit in a far more moderate level of inbreeding. The question is as to how this will impact the prospects of his progeny.

The first key factor to be considered is the presence of Danehill in the pedigree of Frankel and Delaware. We see that legendary stallion appear through a daughter in Kind, and naturally there will be a temptation to breed to that sexbalanced cross. It will certainly have attractions, but the best lessons are often ones from the past, and in this case the lessons of Frankel should be noted. If we look at the pedigree of some of his best progeny like Hungry Heart and Cracksman, we do not see the presence of Danehill through their dams. Instead we see the presence of a duplication of Danzig, the sire of Danehill and we see those duplications being pushed back to the fourth and fifth generations. The lesson that I suggest should be taken from this is to look at pushing the presence of Danehill back to at least similar positions in pedigrees. This would mean looking at mares by the grandsons and great grandsons of the stallion, and fortunately we have lots of these like Snitzel, Not A Single Doubt, Smart Missile, Starspangledbanner, Your Song and a host of emerging stallions. Another of the key points to be taken from some of Frankel’s best progeny lies in his sireline. He is a son of the great Galileo by Sadler’s Wells. More recently in Australia it is the Sadler’s Wells line through High Chaparral that has been more successful. Nevertheless, we see that Sadler’s Wells is a son of Fairy Bridge, a daughter of Special. Frankel has had good success with daughters of Pivotal, a stallion we do not see all that often in Australia. Pivotal is a grandson of Nureyev who we see is a son of Special. In Australasia we see Nureyev regularly in pedigrees especially through Zabeel, and the likes of Thorn Park and Starcraft. The presence of Nureyev in a pedigree may well be an interesting factor in the future of Delaware and of course the great Lonhro is a wonderful source of these lines.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are not that many stallions that represent an outcross to the pedigree. One interesting stallion who may have suitable daughters is one called Ilovethiscity who might be one of our most underrated stallions. His best daughter was El Dorado Dreaming who was out of a Zabeel mare, and mares like this would seem to be ideal types for Delaware. Written Tycoon is

perhaps the most high-profile of stallions that sit in this range. His daughters are a little of a mixed bag as the stallion started at such a moderate level. Nevertheless, these mares would look to be suitable in many cases with this stallion, especially bringing in such strong colonial lines. Delaware raced in the US and one of our highest profile shuttlers in recent years has been American Pharoah whose daughters are now getting to a stage that some will be heading to stud. Again this could be an interesting match with Delaware.

We have mentioned the mare, Special and Sadler’s Wells but perhaps this stallion in particular needs a little closer look in terms of Delaware. We see him often through his grandsons in So You Think and Dundeel who both offer interesting matings through their daughters. So You Think brings in a line of Nijinsky as well and he is a stallion that we have mentioned who appears in the tail female line of the stallion. When we mention Nijinsky, the may be no better source of that stallion in Australia than Bel Esprit who has had great success in Victoria in particular. It would be quite fitting to see this stallion who was the sire of Black Caviar have success with a son of the other great unbeaten star of the time in Frankel. Returning to Sadler’s Wells we see that Dundeel brings in a line of Zabeel who we have noted through the presence of Nureyev. This brings us to the mare Special who we see prominently in the pedigree of Encosta De Lago and no doubt this line would be of interest. He can be found especially through his son Northern Meteor and more recently his son Zoustar and again these are lines that may suit the stallion. Another interesting line of Sadler’s Wells may prove to be the stallion Flying Artie who again is getting to the stage of his career when his daughters will be attempting to make their name in the breeding barn.

Two lines though that deserve a special mention to be wary of though I think are Woodman and Blushing Groom. Both have been wonderful stallions, but both have perhaps not been at their best under local conditions. A stallion like More Than Ready has had great success in Australia but sending his daughters to Delaware may bring in another line of Woodman that might not be the most successful strategy. Blushing Groom represents a very different prospect especially as the likes of Shamardal, who is a son of Giant’s Causeway with Blushing Groom as his damsire, has had significant success with Frankel. They key to success with the presence of Blushing Groom will be again to push that stallion further back in the pedigree which is where he is commonly placed in the modern era. A stallion like Street Boss who sees Blushing Groom in his tail female line may well be placed to revitalise this great influence locally.

Delaware is a bit of an enigma in our list of Freshman stallions for the season. His race performance and direct female family probably place him at the lower end of those standing for the first time. With him being the first son of Frankel at stud locally, it certainly offers something different for breeders, as does a distinct stamina feel to his pedigree. Victoria is no doubt much better placed to take advantage of this stallion, although clearly his own family and performance suggest that there is enough speed to make him a versatile option for the early 2yo breeders. Delaware is the type of stallion that has plenty of challenges to overcome, but he has enough positives to suggest that he will have some youngsters who will see that he finishes above a few of the more fancied stallions in the sires table in the first couple of years.

here was the Woodlands stallion Quest For Fame who was rather noted as producing youngsters with bad legs. No doubt many breeders will be considering that factor when looking at breeding to Delaware. We should also note the same suggest that Delaware might produce consistent types, although the big question is as to whether these will be suitable in Australia.