Extreme Warrior Turf Monthly September 2022

TURFmonthly

September 2022

THIS MONTH NOHOLME

MAURICE MCCARTEN

FIRST SEASON SIRES FOR 2022

THE GENE POOL

EXTREME WARRIOR A CHOICE FOR THE FUTURE

Extreme Warrior represents an exciting new prospect for the emerging stallion powerhouse of Rosemont Stud. He is one of three sons of his sire, Extreme Choice, to go to stud this season along with Tiger Of Malay and Golden Slipper winner, Stay Inside. Oddly, the three look to be quite different prospects, although all largely are early sprinting types, their dams have varied pedigrees. But whatever the others do, they do not impact this stallion who offers Victorian breeders their first look at a son of Extreme Choice, one of Australia’s hottest stallions.

Extreme Warrior was not the best performed racehorse to go to stud this year. He had his first start in the Debutante Stakes at Caulfield in October 2020, running an impressive second behind Fake Love, a filly by I Am Invincible. Another excellent run in the Blue Diamond Preview saw him run a close second to General

Beau. Extreme Warrior then ran fifth to that colt and Anamoe in the Blue Diamond Prelude before heading out for a spell. He returned for an easy win in a Echuca 3yo Maiden before beating Profiteer in the Group 3 Blue Sapphire. A tenth behind Home Affairs in the Group 1 Coolmore saw the colt back in the paddock. A win in the Listed Bel Esprit beating It’sourtime on return was followed by a disappointing run in the Goodwood before his retirement.

We often overestimate the importance of racetrack performance in the future success of a stallion. Unfortunately race performance ensure opportunity for a stallion, and opportunity is often the difference between success and failure. Having Rosemont behind Extreme Warrior with their impressive broodmare band is a plus, but is it enough to overcome the shortfalls in his performance? The answer of course lies in the pedigree. As we have mentioned, Extreme Warrior is a son of boom sire, Extreme Choice. That stallion has had quite a remarkable career to date. He served 118 mares in his first season in 2017. Fertility issues saw his first crop number only 48 live foals. His second season dropped from a fee of $22,000 from his first season $38,500 and he attracted only 68 mares for 29 live foals. 2019 saw 65 covers for 41 love foals, but the impressive nature of his youngsters saw an increase in numbers again in 2020 to 105 with 45 live foals. Out of his first crop he sired

six stakes winners including a Golden Slipper winner which saw his fee skyrocket although his numbers remain small. No doubt owners are hoping that his sons can continue his success, but with improved fertility. Extreme Choice is a son of Not A Single Doubt out of the unraced Hussonet mare, Extremely. She was out of the imported US mare, Going To Extremes by Nasty And Bold who won 11 races from 1200-1600m including the Listed Woodbine Royal North Handicap. Interestingly, the US nature of his pedigree sees that Extreme Choice has a pedigree that is almost a total outcross. It is a family that has not generally seen great success outside of the US, but it is surprisingly the family of the great champion Kingston Town.

The pedigree of Extreme Warrior is very different to that of his sire. His dam is Heart Of Thrills by Show A Heart who produced the stakes winning Thrillster by Starspangledbanner as her first live foal. Heart Of Thrills was a winner at 1200m and a three-quarter sister to Gotta have Heart who won the Group 3 Sandown Stakes and Victoria Handicap, and Crossyourheart who was the top filly on the 2006/07 NZ 2yo Free Handicap. Crossyourheart was the dam of Swear, a stakes-winning son of Redoute’s Choice who went to stud in 2017. An important part of Extreme Warrior’s pedigree is a duplication of Danehill through his sons Redoute’s Choice and Danewin. We also see crosses of Bletchingly, Nijinsky and Raise A Native, all of which may play a role in the stallion’s future.

Because of the frequency of Danehill in the local pedigree, there is certainly the likelihood that adding additional lines of that stallion may not be out of the question. Caution should naturally be taken when introducing these, and it would

be recommended to push this influence as far back in the pedigree as possible. An example of this would be a stallion like All Too Hard who we see traces to Flying Spur in his sire line. Importantly in a mating with a daughter of that stallion, we also see the presence of Snippets who was a daughter of Easy Date and closely related to Not A Single Doubt. We have seen mixed success with the duplication of Easy Date, but with this mare now being pushed much deeper into the pedigree, it is a strategy that could really pay dividends with Extreme Warrior.

It is not often that we see Danewin in particular in pedigrees and being a grandson of Eight Carat brings in some added depth to the stallion. No doubt this factor will attract some broodmare owners with mares from Octagonal lines, and daughters of Pierro may well be highly sought after. A local stallion who might be an interesting match for breeders on a budget is O’Lonhro who has been a regular source of winners for many years.

Being based in Victoria, Extreme Warrior is unlikely to see as many daughters of the Hunter Valley based stallions as those sons of Extreme Choice based in NSW. While many of these will be Danehill line mares which will likely be suitable, it also opens up some different prospects for the local breeders. Top Victorian stallions like Nicconi, Toronado, Written Tycoon and even Americain all will have daughters that will match well with the stallion. A proven old stallion who has a lot

of daughters in the State is Bel Esprit, and again he is another who may find success with Extreme Warrior through the presence of that often forgotten champion in Nijinsky.

While the stallion looks like he will suit a range of mares, there is interestingly a word of caution that relates directly to a Rosemont stallion. Their standout stallion is Shamus Award, a son of Snitzel, and it is Snitzel and his sire Redoute’s Choice that potentially offer a line that must be used with caution. It may be especially tempting with Snitzel because of the presence of Easy Date, but it is likely a strategy that will have little success. All things considered, Extreme Warrior looks like he may well be a son of Extreme Choice that will step up in both the breeding barn and sales ring. Providing he can attract good numbers of quality mares, Extreme Warrior might just help Rosemont Stud further increase their influence in years to come.

EXTREME WARRIOR at 8.20% is only moderately inbred compared to some pedigrees we see this month. The closest duplication as we have discussed is the male cross of Danehill through his sons Redoute’s Choice and Danewin. Danewin is an interesting son as he was not a huge success at stud, but his pedigree had the presence of Eight Carat who has been such an important broodmare in Australasia. We see same sex crosses of Bletchingly and Nijinsky which again bring in some interesting prospects for the future. Perhaps one of the most notable features in the pedigree is the sex balanced cross of Raise A Native. The sire of Mr Prospector is one that we regularly see duplicated through sons, and the presence of him through a daughter could prove important into the future.