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his colt started his racing career by comfortably winning a Maiden at Wolverhampton over 1200m. It was then to Epsom where he had another stylish win over the same distance, before heading to the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot over 1400m. Here he set a new course record for his age in winning by over three lengths. Another win in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes, this time at Goodwood, followed. Here the colt saw his winning margin of five lengths earn him a start in
inatubo is another of the outstanding horses that Darley continually bring to Australia. He was an unbeaten 2yo, being crowned Champion of that age in Europe before going on to win at Group 1 level as a 3yo and being placed in the time honoured 2000 Guineas at that age. A champion son of the champion stallion, Shamardal, Pinatubo would not be out of place in any of the great studs of the world. It is truly amazing the quality of bloodstock we now see coming to Australia, yet oddly we still do not see these overseas lines dominating our breeding industry. It would be no surprise to see one of these new Darley stallions though becoming the new Danehill.
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he unbeaten colt stepped out as a 3yo as an odds-on favourite in the 2000 Guineas over 1600m and loomed up to the leaders at the 400m only to peak on his run at his first attempt at the distance, finishing only a little over a length from winner, Kameko. Pinatubo then again started favourite over the same distance in the St James Palace and again was beaten into second behind Palace Pier, another of the Darley newcomers this season. He was then taken to France to win the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat back over 1400m. Pinatubo then had his last start in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp back to a mile and again started favourite but finished almost two lengths from winner, Persian King. His career is certainly an interesting one by Australian standards. He won six from his nine starts, with his three defeats all coming at a mile. Pinatubo remained unbeaten over distances shorter than this, which would have likely made Australian trainers think twice about even starting the colt over the longer trip, let alone persevering over the distance.
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inatubo is a son of the wonderful stallion Shamardal who shuttled to Australia between 2005 and 2010. Despite his outstanding success internationally, locally Shamardal did not meet those standards here although he did sire five local Group 1 winners in Able Friend, a dual G1 winner in Hong Kong, Captain Sonador who won an Epsom, Delectation who fittingly won the Darley Classic, Fine Perfume, a winner of an Oaks and Vinery Stud Stakes, and an SAJC Schweppes Oaks winner, Maybe Discreet. Shamardal has an interesting pedigree being by Giant’s Causeway out of a full sister to arguably Darley’s best shuttle stallion in Street Cry which is something that we often forget. The female line of Pinatubo is not all that well known in Australia in general until we get back a few generations. His dam Lava Flow by Dalkhani was a Listed winner in France. In turn, her dam was Mount Elbrus by Barathea, another former Darley shuttle stallion, and was also a Listed winner in France. The third dam of Pinatubo wass El Jazirah by Kris, a full sister to the Group 1 winning Rafha whose presence in the pedigree is critical as the dam of the top stallion, Invincible Spirit. This relationship will no doubt be a key factor in the success of Pinatubo at stud. It is interesting to ponder if this will be more important in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres. Invincible Spirit had significant overseas success, but when shuttled to Australia did not reach the same heights. That was until his son I Am Invincible went to stud and it could be important that while Invincible Spirit has had sons like Shalaa, Kingman and Lawman, his major influence to date has been through this colonially bred son.
the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh. Pinatubo stunned everyone winning by nine lengths before earning his champion 2yo status by rounding off his season with a two-length win in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
his brings us to I Am Invincible. His daughters may well prove successful with Pinatubo. Not only will we see the close relationship of Pinatubo and Invincible Spirit, but we also see the colonial speed of Canny Lad to the fore. In addition to that, we often see a lot of I Am Invincible’s daughters coming from Danehill line mares that might make for some nice progeny. Overall, we see that Pinatubo is a stallion that looks to offer just about everything Australian breeders could look for. He will prove immensely popular no doubt and looks to be almost foolproof for much of our local broodmare population. Perhaps Pinatubo could be the stallion that finally sees Shamardal overtake his close relation Street Cry as the premier representative of his line in Australia.
he lack of Danehill in the pedigree of Pinatubo makes him a likely mate for the multitude of mares that have that stallion in their sire line in particular. Snitzel mares in particular could be worthwhile with his dam line tracing to a daughter of Storm Cat who we see in the sire line of Pinatubo. His sire Redoute’s Choice might also have daughters that will suit but the real trick with these Danehill line mares is likely the remainder of their pedigrees.
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n that note, it is probably best to suggest what influences we would be best breeding away from. These will largely be some of the stamina lines, and Sadler’s Wells is one that I think may prove problematic. This however may not translate to mares that carry that stallion a little further back in their pedigree. High Chaparral has been a quality stallion and is a son of Sadler’s Wells. As we know, his son So You Think has proven at least his equal in Australia, and importantly in the pedigree of High Chaparral we see a female line of Darshaan which may work well with the presence of his son, Dalakhani in the pedigree of Pinatubo. Again, this comes with a slight word of caution in that while Pinatubo was a champion 2yo, he was not necessarily the true precocious type that we see in Australia. Having said that, I do not see him as a source of stayers which a duplication of Darshaan and the presence of Sadler’s Wells may indicate. In fact, I would be looking to introduce these precocious two year old speed lines in the mares that visit the stallion. One more stallion though that I would be approaching with caution is Mr Prospector. Multiple male lines of that stallion appear in the pedigree of Pinatubo and introducing further male lines of that stallion may prove problematic. Alternatively, a stallion like Encosta De Lago in a mare’s pedigree which shows a female line of Mr Prospector might be able to turn that potential weakness into a positive.
PINATUBO at 5.86% has the least amount of inbreeding of all of the stallions we have looked at this month. This may make it a little difficult for him as far as his future prospects go as we regularly see stallions with higher levels of inbreeding have more success at stud. The idea behind this is that the fewer ancestors in a pedigree, the less variability in characteristics that will be passed on to their progeny meaning more consistency in type and ability. The duplications we do see are Mr Prospector, Northern Dancer and Never Bend, all through sons, and the mare, Natalma. Given that it is a very European pedigree, it will be interesting to find mares that allow for breeders to focus on some of the strengths of the stallion without bringing in multiple same sex crosses.
