THE AUTUMN SUN

REDOUTE’S CHOICE TODAY

TURF MONTHLY APRIL 2022

Standing at Arrowfield Stud for a fee of $66,000, The Autumn Sun is one of the most exciting stallion prospects in recent times. A Group 1 winning 2yo and the champion 3yo of his year, The Autumn Sun is arguably the best son of his champion sire to ever go to stud. If there is a query about his potential, it is the European nature of his female family. While knockers may point out that it is not a family of early 2yo’s, it is also possible that this factor may allow The Autumn Sun the versatility to become a true breed shaping stallion like his famed sire. No assessment of the stallion can ignore his spectacular racing performances, and this is where we will start.

A$700,000 purchase for Hermitage Thoroughbreds, The Autumn Sun was trained by Chris Waller and made his first official racetrack appearance in a 2yo trial on 8 December 2017. It was a debut that could hardly have been more impressive for a youngster even though oddly, the runners behind him were never to win a race in their careers despite some expensive breeding. Still, that takes little away from his performance. Eleven days later he won another trial, this time in a field where every

runner was to later win multiple races. Connections must have been excited for the future as The Autumn Sun went for a break. He returned with an eye catching third in another trial at Rosehill and then won a Randwick trial in preparation for his first race start. This was perhaps appropriately on Anzac Day when he appeared in a 2yo maiden over 1200m when ridden by Kerrin McEvoy at Randwick. Despite getting back in the run, he was clearly a class above the opposition strolling to a 1.5 length victory. A month later he was to win again at the same track over 1400m this time starting at odds on. His first real test was to come two weeks later when he travelled to Brisbane for an ambitious bid at the Group 1 JJ Aitkins over the 1600m at Doomben. He beat another very good Waller trained galloper in Zousain who had won the Champagne and run second to Lean Mean Machine in the BRC Sires Produce at his two previous starts. The David Hayes trained filly Fundamentalist was to run third.

After a brief spell, The Autumn Sun was back for the Spring with his first engagement the Group 2 Stan Fox over 1500m. He had a torrid run but flashed home for third on the heavy 8 at Rosehill. Next up was the million-dollar Golden Rose back over 1400m at the same track two weeks later. Settling last, The Autumn Sun looked in an impossible position when Zousain kicked clear within the last 200m. In a stirring effort, the champion colt hit the front in the shadows of the post to record a memorable victory. At only his sixth start, it was then to Melbourne for the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas. Ridden much closer to the lead, albeit three wide for most of the race, The Autumn Sun stamped himself the outstanding colt of his year by demolishing a strong field in the time honoured event. Deservedly, the colt was sent to the paddock to await the Sydney Autumn.

On 23 February, The Autumn Sun won first up in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes, so long a great guide for the rest of the season. Over the 1400m, The Autumn Sun again was giving away a big lead inside the 200m, but stamped his brilliance by swamping the handy Vegadaze, winning easily by almost a half-length. Next up it was the Randwick Guineas over 1600m. For many it was the race that took The Autumn Sun from a top class 3yo to a star. The race was run at breakneck speed, and The Autumn Sun was a dozen length from the lead as the field entered the straight. Early leader, Miss Fabulass compounded and Fundamentalist, who had finished third to The Autumn Sun in the JJ Atkins, strode clear, bounding away to almost certain victory. The Autumn Sun though staged a remarkable finish to reel in the leader on the post, with an official margin a clear cut 0.2 lengths such was the power of the colt’s finish. A new star was well and truly born. Sadly, for Australian racing, the colt was to have only one more start, winning the Rosehill Guineas over 2000m from a gallant Arrogant. The mighty mare Winx was to win the following race that day, the George Ryder. She was also to be retired after only one more run which made the retirement of The Autumn Sun an even greater blow to the turf.

There is no doubt that The Autumn Sun was one of the best colts to grace a racetrack. The question today though is his future at stud. The first argument from knockers will be that he did not win one of the pre-eminent 2yo races. He did not start racing until relatively late in the season, but does that really matter? He was clearly a standout performer in his early trials, and this is where patience comes in. With a different owner and trainer, no doubt The Autumn Sun could have pushed on to race early. Personally, I have little doubt that he would have been competitive

in any race just on sheer talent alone. How that would have impacted his later performances we will never know, but history has shown us that champions can do things that ordinary horses cannot. When he did reach the track, his form was franked against horses that had performed against the top level making this rather a moot point. The next step in this argument against the racetrack performance is that he was not exactly a speed type. In fact, it is possible that he could have gone on to win a Derby. The biggest reason as to why he did not is likely that in the modern era, a Derby win in Australia is often seen as a kiss of death to a stallion career. It is simply nonsense in terms of breeding principles. Race performance is not a genetically inheritable trait. The best we can say is that there are certain characteristics that are related to the ability to race over particular distances. We cannot say which of these will be transmitted by any potential stallion, although experience does tell us which may be most likely. The fact remains that The Autumn Sun won as a 2yo over 1200m and even won a trial around 800m.

The best clues as to the success of The Autumn Sun are in his pedigree. His sire line needs no introduction to any even casual racegoer. His sire is the great Redoute’s Choice who in turn was the best sire son of the incomparable Danehill. Redoute’s Choice produced over 150 stakes winners in his career, and he has outstanding sons like Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt who in turn are proving their continued influence through emerging sons of their own. There are clues to the future of The Autumn Sun in their success, but before we get to those, let us look at the other important factor, the stallion’s female line.

The Autumn Sun was the second named foal of the imported Galileo mare, Azmiyna. She was an unraced daughter of the stakes winning Lear Fan mare, Asmara. She had won a Listed race over 2000m at Leopardstown in Ireland. That makes Azmiyna a half-sister to Azamour by Night Shift who was a champion racehorse in his own right, and champion older horse in Europe in 2005. He won four Group 1 races in the Irish Champion Stakes, King George VI and Queen

Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, Prince of Wales Stakes and the St James Palace Stakes at Ascot. The family is one of the Aga Khan’s great thoroughbred lines, and Azamour sadly died at the age of only thirteen as he was establishing his name as a sire. He was to shuttle to New Zealand for only one season in 2005. We actually see the evidence of his potential through the good filly, Hungry Heart. His best locally bred runners were Aloisia who won the Group 1 One Thousand Guineas and Polly Grey who won the 2021 ATC Epona Stakes. He also sired the imported Best Of Days who won the Group 1 VRC Cantala Stakes, MRC Coongy Handicap and TS Carlyon Cup. The family traces to the great mare, Alice Hawthorne of the Bruce Lowe number 4 family. This line in more recent times is best known for the underrated stallion Quest For Fame who stood at the Ingham Brothers Woodland Stud. Among his best progeny were Dracula, Viscount and the ill-fated champion Unworldy. Another interesting stallion from the family is Huntingdale, an Irish bred horse who won the Group 1 Dewhurst and stood in Australia where he had limited success outside of producing the brilliant Gold Brose. Another stallion from the family was Green Tune who won two Group 1 races in France including the 2000 Guineas. We know him best in Australia as the damsire of the 2012 Melbourne Cup winner Green Moon.

The list of good stallions from the family does not stop there. Storm Bird was a Canadian bred son of Northern Dancer who won the Group 1 Dewhurst in the UK, and was to prove an influential stallion producing the likes of Storm Cat, Bluebird, Summer Squall and Prince of Birds. We also see Ile De Bourbon by Nijinsky who won the Coronation Cup and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before producing multiple Derby winner, Kahyasi who we know best in Australia as the sire of the champion jumper Karasi who was a three time winner of the Group 1 Grand Jump in Japan. The European champion Falbrav who won eight Group 1 races internationally including the Japan and Hong Kong Cups is still another from the family. He shuttled briefly to Australia with some success including producing the QTC Sires Produce winner, Fravashi. Puissance was an underrated shuttle stallion at Eureka Stud in Queensland who also hails from the same family and was a regular source of winners in that State. While we can suggest that many of these had something of a stamina bias, it was an Australian bred member of the family that is bound to be well known to most readers. The 1987 Golden Slipper winner Marauding proved to be a top line stallion producing the champion filly, Burst, Oakleigh Plate winner, Drum, and another Golden Slipper winner in Prowl. It is hard to imagine more of a speed family than this one. The son of Sir Tristram was out of a Biscay mare and this strong colonial focus is something that we should take note of when we consider the future prospects of The Autumn Sun.

The pedigree of The Autumn Sun will obviously play a key role in his success. As a son of Redoute’s Choice, we obviously have some potential ideas as to what might suit. On face value though we see that there are two sons of Northern Dancer in Danzig and Nijinsky. It is probably not a surprise that we saw Ile De Bourbon, a successful runner from the family was by Nijinsky. Notably we also see the presence of Canny Lad in Redoute Choice’s pedigree and again, it is interesting to note that Marauding saw Canny Lad’s grandsire in Biscay so prominent in his makeup. Through the dam of The Autumn Sun we see his damsire Galileo is a son of Sadler’s Wells, also by Northern Dancer. Importantly Galileo’s dam is a daughter of Miswaki, a son of Mr Prospector and this could be one of the major dangers in finding the best matings for The Autumn Sun. Further into the stallion’s female line

The Autumn Sun with inbreeding of 8.98% is quite surprisingly has one of the most heavily inbred pedigrees that we see this month. The key to the pedigree is undoubtedly Northern Dancer and it is no coincidence that he appears in both the tail male lines of the sire and dam of The Autumn Sun. These two are Danzig and Sadler’s Wells and these are influences that we have seen had great success in these positions in many pedigrees across the world. It is interesting that the other son of Northern Dancer is the great racehorse Nijinsky. There is also no doubt that much of the success of Danehill traces to the influence of Natalma, the dam of Northern Dancer who also appears in his own female line. The other duplications in the pedigree are Ribot and Buckpasser, again both stallions who appear in the pedigree of Danehill.

we see Lear Fan, interestingly the sire of the excellent HK galloper, Good Ba Ba, who is by Roberto, a stallion who sired another Melbourne Cup winner in At Talaq. We also see in Lear Fan a stallion called Lt Stevens who is a grandson of Nasrullah and out of the wonderful mare, Rough Shod. Further in Lear Fan’s pedigree we also see the great champion War Admiral. Looking further into the female line of The Autumn Sun there is the presence of another champion in Ribot, and interestingly the good stallion Darshaan, a son of Shirley Heights.

It will be relatively difficult to find a huge number of mares that do not have some level of inbreeding. Clearly mares carrying Redoute’s Choice are high risk options. There is also a concern of course over some mares that carry Danehill close up. We have seen this issue for some time now, and although caution must be taken, it is certainly a strategy that may meet with success. Possibly mares by Fastnet Rock might offer some interesting factors, as may daughters of Exceed And Excel. They both are sons of Danehill who produced a different type of progeny really than Redoute’s Choice, and as we saw with Northern Dancer, it is those sons that have that variation that have worked best when appearing through multiple lines. The European lines though are ones that probably will be more hit and miss. One would suggest that The Autumn Sun might well be able to produce progeny that will get over some ground by breeding to some of the stamina influences in his pedigree, but it will have to be done with great caution. Duplicating Sadler’s Wells as an example might not meet with regular success, but it is likely a strategy that may strike gold in the right mating. Another interesting factor in the future of The Autumn Sun is the age of his sire when he was born. Redoute’s Choice was born in 1996, and his best sire sons were born early in his career. They have continued to sire stallion prospects of their own, and in the next few seasons we are likely to see Redoute’s Choice pushed back to the third generation of new stallions. It does beg the question as to whether the breed may have moved on since Redoute’s Choice went to stud. Alternatively, The Autumn Sun is arguably the best performed son of that stallion to go to stud. It is probably not something we have seen before in history. The huge number of mares that stallions now cover mean that we are now in new territory, and The Autumn Sun might show us an ability to reignite some of these older lines in such a rapidly moving breed.

Most likely though it will the local lines that will be make or break for the stallion. The likes of Lonhro and Pierro of course are stallions who should have plenty of suitable daughters. Another stallion who might also find suitable daughters for The Autumn Sun is Written Tycoon. The introduction of this type of speed in particular would go a long way to overcoming any perception of the stallion not being the early 2yo type. With these types of mares at the forefront, it would not be hard to see The Autumn Sun reach the heights at stud that he did on the track.