Profiteer Turf Monthly October 2022

PROFITEER

ANOTHER NEWGATE STAR

Profiteer is the first commercial son of Capitalist to go to stud making him an interesting proposition for many breeders. Capitalist, the 2016 Golden Slipper winner went to stud in 2017 with an immediate impact. Himself a representative of a new sire line in Written Tycoon, Capitalist hit the headlines producing Champagne Stakes winner, Captivant and Black Opal winner Kalashnikov in his first crop. As a result, Capitalist who also stands at Newgate has seen his fee rise to $99,000 to rate among our most expensive and perhaps most promising young stallions.

The colt made his debut at Flemington over 1100m on 21 December 2020 in a 2yo handicap. Profiteer led and easily extended to dominate the race, winning untroubled by almost three lengths from a Winning Rupert colt in Ranveer. Having made $165,000 at the 2020 Inglis Classic sale, Profiteer went to the Inglis Millennium at Randwick in February. He started at $1.75 and again showed his speed to lead easily. When Hugh Bowman increased the tempo as the field entered the straight, he cruised away to win by five lengths untroubled. Next up was the Todman where he again started favourite, although drifting from $1.95 to $2.20 as support came for a promising Darley colt in Anamoe. Profiteer again led and was only run down by the impressive Anamoe in the closing stages, with another promising colt in the Coolmore owned Home Affairs running well to finish third just over half a length

from the winner. On to the Golden Slipper and Profiteer again showed his abundant speed by leading the field into the straight. The 1200m was beyond him though as he faded to finish seventh, almost six lengths behind winner Stay Inside who is also joining Profiteer at stud at Newgate this season.

R eturning as a 3yo in the Spring, Profiteer again led in the Group 1 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley before running sixth behind Wild Ruler, who rather surprisingly is another stallion to join Newgate this season. A second behind another Freshman stallion this season in Extreme Warrior in the Blue Sapphire followed before winning The Schweppervescence Plate on Melbourne Cup day in November. Another break saw him return to racing in the Group 1 Lightning, but he found Home Affairs and Nature Strip too strong, finishing sixth. He was to have only one more run, a fifth in the Listed Fireball Stakes at Randwick before retiring with earnings of over $1.5 million from his nine starts.

His sire Capitalist as mentioned is one of the country’s hottest sires. By Written Tycoon, he is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare, Kitalpha. His second dam is the Danehill mare, Compulsion who was out of the champion Luskin Star mare, Bold Promise who won the 1991 Magic Millions. Profiteer’s dam is the stakes placed Snitzel mare, Athena Lass. She was to win two of her ten starts and was third in the Listed Quezette Stakes at Caulfield over 1100m behind I Am A Star. She was in turn out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare, Meduesa who also produced the Listed Gibson Carmichael winner by Lonhro in Euryale. Her dam was the very good Danglissa who won the Group 1 Flight Stakes and was a daughter of another Golden Slipper winner in Danzero. Danzero was a son of Danehill, and of course Snitzel is a son of Redoute’s Choice by Danehill. We have also mentioned that Capitalist sees the Danehill daughter in Compulsion in his female line. This also brings us to the close female duplication of Fusaichi Pegasus which becomes more problematic. Fusaichi Pegasus was by Mr Prospector and shuttled to Australia with mixed success. He was the sire of Haradasun but his Australian performances did not match his overseas results. For those who do not remember the fanfare that surrounded the stallion, he was one of the first Kentucky Derby winners to travel to Australia, and the horse had also won the time-honoured Wood Memorial Stakes in the US. The stallion had a pedigree that featured a daughter of Danzig, and this may well have been to his detriment. Many breeders sought to use this inbreeding to Danzig as a feature of matings with Fusaichi Pegasus and this particular strategy proved largely unsuccessful. As with many instances of inbreeding, the further back we can push some of these influences the much better it is. Perhaps we could see the presence of a daughter of Danzig through these two lines of Fusaichi Pegasus may now be a strength for Profiteer.

A nother interesting line breeding opportunity exists with the stallion Zoustar whose daughters are now at stud. He sees Redoute’s Choice as his damsire, and that stallion also appears as the sire of Snitzel in the pedigree of Profiteer. With the right daughters, this could make for an interesting match. For those breeders looking at Profiteer as an outcross to their mares, they are likely to be disappointed. As a son of Written Tycoon, no doubt many will view the stallion as an option for Danehill line mares, but this is not likely to be a strategy that will meet with a good strike rate. Having said that, there will be granddaughters of Snitzel that may have attraction should close inbreeding be called for. With a growing number of the sons of Snitzel at stud, there might be some opportunities with damsires like Shamus Award, Invader and Sooboog as examples. While talking of closer inbreeding, other interesting options include Casino Prince and his son, All Too Hard who both could offer some suitable daughters for the stallion.

By and large though it is likely that those stallions which offer more of an outcross pedigree may be the most suited to the stallion. Given the pure speed nature of his pedigree, mares that offer some stamina lines may be among the best of these. Two emerging broodmare sires appear to fit the bill nicely here with Dundeel and So You Think potential lines that are worth pursuing with Profiteer. Importantly both stallions offer significant stamina influences within their pedigrees. Both are by High Chaparral, and while this stallion has fewer daughters now, he will continue to play a role. In turn, High Chaparral is by Sadler’s Wells and he is another influence that may well work in a range of pedigrees with Profiteer. Dundeel is out of a mare by Zabeel, and the value of that stallion in our thoroughbred should not be forgotten. Xtravagant is an emerging stallion that features Zabeel in his pedigree and he is starting to get to the stage in his career where his first daughters are going to stud. Other descendants like Lonhro and Pierro are both potential broodmare sires that could suit the stallion. There is of course here the biggest elephant in the room, and that is the presence of Mr Prospector. It is unlikely to be a major issue in many cases, although multiple lines of that stallion may become problematic. Still, stallions like Street Boss and Shamardal are important sources of Mr Prospector and we would not be discouraging many of their daughters visiting the stallion. In fact, the presence of Encosta De Lago who sees Mr Prospector in his pedigree through a daughter may well give breeders the opportunity to take advantage of this great influence.

Overseas influences will play a role in the success of Profiteer. Medaglia D’Oro is another US stallion who well may have success with Profiteer through his daughters. Flying Artie is another we can extend to being by the US influence Artie Schiller and he is a stallion that also stands at Newgate Farm. We are starting to see more Japanese influence and many of these might well suit the stallion. Lord Kanaloa, Deep Impact and more are starting to make their mark. We have mentioned Snitzel appearing in the pedigree of Profiteer which means that we see a female line of Storm Bird. We often forget just how important an influence he was because many breeders talk exclusively of his best son, the great US stallion, Storm Cat. Mares that carry Storm Cat may well be worth pursuing with Profiteer. An interesting extension of this is the stallion Churchill whose oldest local progeny are only now 3yo’s. Breeding is a long game though, and when some of the daughters of Churchill enter stud, they could prove successful with a stallion like Profiteer. Not only does Churchill see the presence of the great son of Sadler’s Wells in Galileo, but also the presence of Storm Cat.

W

hile on face value Profiteer looks to present some challenges to broodmare owners, it seems that there is a distinct niche that could well be filled by the stallion importantly through stallions who have stood in the Hunter Valley and are readily accessible. Profiteer certainly had no shortage of speed on the track and if he can impart that to his youngsters, there is no doubt that the sales ring will embrace his early crops with relish.