Tiger Of Malay Turf Monthly October 2022

TIGER OF MALAY

A BUDGET CHOICE

Tiger Of Malay comes to Newgate Farm to stand alongside his sire, Extreme Choice. This makes Tiger Of Malay the third son of that stallion that we are looking at in 2022 as part of our Freshman series. He also stands alongside Stay Inside, the Golden Slipper winner but at a fee of $16,500 compared to the $77,000 of Stay Inside, Tiger Of Malay is unlikely to get the same quality of mare as his better performed colleague.

That is not to say that Tiger of Malay was poorly performed. In fact, it is quite the contrary but nonetheless his performances will inevitably draw comparison with Stay Inside. Tiger Of Malay started his career by winning the Kirkham at Randwick on 20 October over 1000m. He settled midfield but finished strongly to win by a half-length from Cerda, a Snitzel filly. The first five in the race finished within a length and a half. A spell saw him return in the Silver Slipper in February where he ran into Home Affairs, finishing fifth. This time over the 1100m, Tiger Of Malay settled well back and was taken to the outside in the straight but was baulked

at a crucial stage in a fairly roughhouse affair. He finished powerfully to finish a little over a length and a half from the winner. In the Pago Pago, Tiger Of Malay again settled midfield and chased strongly in the straight, eventually failing by a narrow margin to haul in the Magic Millions winner Shaquero to miss a start in the Golden Slipper. He started in the 1400m Sires Produce and was taken to the lead which proved his downfall, finishing a well beaten seventh behind Anamoe. On to Brisbane in the Winter, Tiger Of Malay ran fifth behind Prince Of Boom in the 1200m Champagne Classic before winning the Group 2 Sires Produce over 1400m. A third in the Group 1 JJ Atkins over 1600m behind Converge followed. The colt had settled well back and finished strongly but Converge was to prove himself a standout on the day.

A colt’s three-year-old season can be the make or break time and Tiger Of Malay came back to racing with high hopes. He lined up with three other Newgate owned runners in the Group 3 Up and Coming Stakes at Kembla Grange over 1300m. He settled fourth on the rail and got a run on the inside in the straight to win in a close photo from Coastwatch and Construct. Tiger Of Malay settled second in the Listed Dulcify over 1500m and went to the front early in the straight. He was headed by Giannis soon after but held on strongly to be beaten a neck. Back to the 1400m of the Group 1 Golden Rose he ran a good race finishing fifth beaten a little over two lengths by In The Congo with Anamoe second. Tiger Of Malay then went to Melbourne to finish eighth behind Anamoe in the Caulfield Guineas. A spell saw him have only one run in the Autumn, a disappointing seventh in the Expressway before retiring.

We have spoken at length about Tiger Of Malay’s sire in Extreme Choice who now stands for some $275,000 despite, or perhaps because of, poor fertility. Extreme Choice is a son of Not A Single Doubt by Snitzel. The female line of Tiger Of Malay though is another thing that sets him apart from Extreme Warrior and Stay Inside. He is a son of the More Than Ready mare, Sambar, a Sydney winner who had also produced Samovare by Savabeel and Samizdat by Not A Single Doubt. Both had won at Group 3 level in WA. In a bit of an odd twist, both More Than Ready and Sambar both died this year. Sambar was out of the Bluebird mare, Am Crazy who in turn is out of the Red Anchor mare, Red Spice, also a Sydney winner. This time of the year, it is always good to remember the remarkable Red Anchor who was arguably one of the greatest 3yo’s we have seen who won the Caulfield Guineas, Cox

Plate and VRC Derby in the Spring of 1984. Red Spice was a half-sister to the full siblings by Baguette in the Golden Slipper winner, Dark Eclipse and Bagalot. Dark Eclipse was a top broodmare and her line has included the good son of Lonhro and good sire in Denman, and another Golden Slipper winner in Kiamichi. Their dam was Marjoram who was herself a half-sister to another outstanding 3yo in Taj Rossi who we have written about at length in a previous edition. The family arrived in Australia through a mare called Cymbala who arrived in Australia at the end of WW1. Among the wonderful sires that Tiger Of Malay sees in his female line are Law Maker, Manitoba, Rossendale and Coronation Boy giving the stallion a real traditional colonial depth to his pedigree.

T he strength of Tiger Of Malay will no doubt be his colonial heritage. Given that most of our colonial lines though have visited Danehill line stallions in recent times, this is where the sire line becomes problematic. Redoute’s Choice in particular will be an issue and breeders would need to show caution when looking at introducing additional lines of that stallion. That is not to say that there cannot be an advantage to be had in Redoute’s Choice. A stallion like Zoustar who offers Redoute’s Choice through a daughter a little further back in a pedigree could present an option. More likely though, a Redoute’s Choice factor may come through his female line and a stallion like Rubick who also traces to Shantha’s Choice might offer some interesting prospects. With a view to close inbreeding, the presence of More Than Ready in the stallion’s pedigree does offer some attractions. Again, as with most close inbreeding, caution should be taken and a clear focus on what a breeder wants to achieve should be top of mind. There is no sense in duplicating an influence if it is just a name in a pedigree without an understanding of what it is likely to bring to the mating.

Dark Eclipse

Further to this end of inbreeding, we see the presence of the son of Mr Prospector in Hussonet appearing in the pedigree through a daughter. Hussonet has sons at stud who will have daughters who breeders may look to try and complement through this duplication. Hussonet was at home on the dirt tracks of South America, and we also see the presence of More Than Ready and his damsire Woodman, also by Mr Prospector. The dirt flavour of these large segments of the pedigree of Tiger Of Malay must be noted by breeders. This is where the colonial influences in Tiger Of Malay come to the fore. Not only do we see this through his female line, but also through the pedigree of Not A Single Doubt that sees Rory’s Jester and Canny Lad prominent. We have mentioned Dark Eclipse being present in the female line of Denman, and although that stallion is no longer a highly commercial prospect, the level of service fee of Tiger Of Malay may allow owners of Denman mares to seriously consider the stallion. Denman of course is a son of Lonhro, and obviously this female line had an affinity with that stallion at least in the case of Denman who won six stakes races including the Run To The Rose and the Group 1 Golden Rose. This of course may well also be the case with daughters of Pierro.

Unfortunately, Tiger Of Malay will undoubtedly get a lesser quality of mare by and large than Stay Inside. The best daughters of stallions like So You Think are more likely to go to the most commercial option, although these could well be good matches for Tiger Of Malay as well. That stallion and his sire High Chaparral have had good success with colonial lines including Redoute’s Choice in the past

and this compatibility may extend to this stallion. Despite the fact that Tiger Of Malay did not have the blistering early speed that we often equate to good 2yo’s, he was in fact a precocious type, appearing very early in the season. There is a danger in considering that his ability to finish strongly in a race has breeders consider that he somehow possesses some stamina in his pedigree. In fact, it is stallions like High Chaparral that are clear stamina sources that could well help improve on the performances of his progeny. The notion of stamina can be expanded to include the concept of extending speed over longer distances. A horse that can run flat out for 1000m metres is a different prospect than one who needs to be held up for that strong final 400-600m burst. We often hear talk of explosive speed in 2yo’s, but we sometimes forget that this can come in different forms.

Tiger Of Malay’s success will come down to opportunity and the influence of Danehill. There will be no doubt that many of the mares that he covers will carry one or more lines of that stallion. While some success may arise from this, it will likely be through careful analysis of the rest of his pedigree that Tiger Of Malay will have his greatest successes. It is hoped that breeders will spend the time to understand the colonial influences in Tiger Of Malay’s pedigree and reignite some of the legacy of some of Australia’s finest bloodlines.