Turf Monthly New Season Stallions 2023 Cape Of Good Hope

September 2023

THIS MONTH

PRINCE CORTAULD NEW SEASON STALLIONS

SIR ERNEST LEE-STEERE

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

WELL RELATED INTERNATIONAL

Cape Of Good Hope is an intriguing prospect this year at Bombora Downs in Victoria. There are obvious factors that will count against him from a commercial aspect, but there are some factors that will certainly have smaller breeders looking closely at his pedigree.

F irstly, let us look at his racetrack performance, and this is the first of the intriguing factors. His first start was as a 2yo in Ireland over seven furlongs finishing unplaced. He broke his maiden at his third start over 7.5 furlongs at Tipperary before heading to Newmarket to run second to Quorto in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes. After an eleven-week break, Cape Of Good Hope ran third in the Group 3 Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket over a mile. He was off the scene for over six months, returning to win the Listed Blue Riband Trial at Epsom over 10 furlongs. The colt then finished fourth behind Sottsass in the French Derby before returning to the UK for an unplaced run in the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes.

Cape Of Good Hope was then sent to the US where he was eight in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby and third in the Saratoga Derby. He then came to Australia where he narrowly defeated a crack field in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes. Black Heart Bart was second while they were followed by Harlem, Avilius, Humidor, Homesman and Gailo Chop. It was sadly to be the stallion’s last success as he failed to run a place in his next eleven starts. He was to have over eighteen months off between October 2020 and March 2022. Cape Of Good Hope returned for only two starts with the last being on 2 April 2022 meaning that he missed last season at stud. In all, he retired with three wins from 22 starts and over $1 million in prizemoney. While naysayers may point to the number of starts that Cape Of Good Hope had, and the fact that his form deteriorated later in his career, there is no denying that at his best, he was an outstanding galloper. It is hard to imagine a better field at the time than the one he beat in the Caulfield Stakes, and had he retired then, he would have commanded attention from most studs in Australia.

The pedigree of Cape Of Good Hope is no doubt another enigma for Australian breeders. He is a son of Galileo, the champion UK stallion who is the sire of the champion racehorse Frankel among over 100 individual stakes winners. Others include Cox Plate winner, Adelaide, Derby winners like Australia, New Approach and Intello, Arc de Triomphe winners in Waldgeist and Found, and even a Stradbroke winner in Linton. His sons have gone on to success at stud including Frankel, New Approach, Teofilo, Nathaniel and Churchill. Another of his sons is Highland Reel who won the HK International Vase, US Breeder’s Cup Turf, and GB Prince of Wales's Stakes, Coronation Cup and King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes all at Group 1 level. Highland Reel stood in Australia from 2018 to 2022 and is the sire of VRC TAB Trophy winner, High Approach. He is a full brother to Cape Of Good Hope being out of the mare Hveger by Danehill.

Hveger is a quality broodmare producing not only these two Group 1 winning brothers but also another full sibling in Our Idaho who won the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes and Hardwicke Stakes. The mare was bred in Australia and is part of local royalty being a daughter of the legendary stallion, Danehill out of the champion mare, Circles Of Gold by Marscay who won four stakes races in the AJC Australian Oaks, Adrian Knox Stakes, VATC Coongy Handicap and SAJC Ansett Australia Stakes. She was also the dam of three stakes winners in Coroebus by Choisir who won the 2022 GB St James's Palace Stakes as well as the champion Australian horses Haradasun by Fusaichi Pegasus who won six races including the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes, Doncaster Handicap and GB Queen Anne Stakes and Elvstroem by Danehill. Elvstroem was among our most popular racehorses having his first major win in the 2003 VRC Derby. In the Spring of 2004, he won the Group 1 Underwood Stakes, Turnbull Stakes and Caulfield Cup in successive starts. The following Autumn saw him win the Group 1 CF Orr and he beat Makybe Diva in the Group 2 St George Stakes before finishing fourth in the Australian Cup behind that great mare. He then was sent overseas to win the Dubai Duty Free and was later placed in the Group 1 D’Ispahan in France and the Prince Of Wales Stakes in England.

This raises some very important points that will both no doubt influence breeders. Firstly, Cape Of Good Hope is a full brother to a proven stallion in Highland Reel. Although he is only in the early stages of his career, Highland Reel has hardly set the world alight. He covered good numbers of mares in his first four seasons with 148, 96, 161, 89 before falling to only 22 last year so we could suggest that he had his share of opportunity. Connections of Cape Of Good Hope would no doubt be ecstatic if they could achieve similar numbers in his early seasons. As always though, the question will remain whether numbers or compatibility is a more important factor for stallions. With full siblings, we can also ask whether the same mares will suit both brothers, or if the stallions will bring something different to the table. We have seen quite a few full siblings at stud, and the story of Danehill and his siblings is one that many will remember. This of course can extend to half-brothers which we see in the family with Haradasun and Elvstroem where arguably the lesser performed racehorse performed better in the breeding barn. One recent example of two top quality siblings is the case of Danewin and Commands who both were successful stallions. Another aspect of this question is whether success or failure of one stallion in a family should be considered in any way a portend for success or failure of a later descendant. In my view, it is important to see that a family includes successful stallions, and in recent times the top stallion Dundeel has clearly shown that this family can produce a top line stallion. This family incidentally traces to a wonderful mare called Eulogy who was imported to NZ in the early 1900’s. For the record, she was to produce five individual stakes winners, and we include an article released upon death in 1934.

Circles Of Gold AJC Oaks

Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 17 November 1934, page 6

Eulogy Dies In New Zealand

By the death of the Cicero mare Eulogy, New Zealand has lost probably its most celebrated stud matron. Imported to the Dominion by Mr. G. M. Currie, Eulogy was of as great value to the Koatanui Stud as the stallion's Absurd or Limond. She was a perfect gem as a brood mare, as in successive years she produced to Absurd, Humbug, Fulsome, Epitaph, and Homage. They were all first-class racehorses, Epitaph being regarded as the fastest two-year-old ever known in New Zealand. At the stud she was responsible for the dashing Tea Trader, who afterwards did well in America. Homage, another daughter of Absurd and Eulogy, gave Honour, a Derby winner, and Episode, a smart two-year-old. Eleven winners produced by Eulogy won £29,075 in stakes. Then her daughters Pennon (eight winners of £19505) and Homage (five winners of £13,060) carried on the Eulogy line successfully. When Limond arrived from England one of his first mates was Eulogy, and the result of the alliance was that good horse Commendation, who won both Derbys and St. Legers, also the Awapuni Gold Cup as a three-year-old.

Bid for Honour

Mr E. E. Jolly, Adelaide owner, was a keen bidder at the ringside for Eulogy's colt Honour. It started at 500 gns., and Mr. Jolly went to four figures, but Mr. G. D. Greenwood, owner of Gloaming, had expressed his intention of owning the colt, and he paid 2,300 gns, which was a record price for a yearling in New Zealand. Mr. Jolly then cast his eye round for another Absurd youngster, and he gave 1,075 gns. for a filly from Rose Queen. Known as Rose Glow, the filly won a race at Morphettville, and was then put to the stud. She was mated with Windbag, and in a few weeks her colt, named Beamish Boy, will be seen out on the racecourse. He is a handsome youngster.

Eulalie (Absurd x Eulogy) winning the 1926 Gimcrack Stakes

While we can speculate on all of these theories, the only measure for Cape Of Good Hope will be his success in the breeding barn. We need to look at what mares may well suit the stallion and we can look at his family members to see if they may offer a clue. In the case of Highland Reel, we also confuse the waters by considering that he shuttled to Ireland for much of his career to date. In this day and age of shuttle stallions, it is easy to forget that there are only a small number of stallions who succeed in shuttling. The fact that Cape Of Good Hope is not shuttling could easily be a major advantage in his career. Highland Reel has had more success in the Northern Hemisphere than locally where his only stakes winner is out of an Encosta De Lago mare. Interestingly though, the second dam of High Approach was imported from Ireland. We would be foolish not to consider that overseas bloodlines may well be more suited to this branch of the family than colonial lines. Given the international lines that we see pervading breeding, it is interesting to note that one of the stallion’s best overseas runners in Inverness is out of a mare by Arch, who sees Danzig as his damsire. His second dam is a mare by El Gran Senor who is a son of Northern Dancer and a grandson of the famed mare Best In Show.

Going back to the pedigree of Cape Of Good Hope, we see that it is quite inbred at 11.33% with the closest duplication being that of Northern Dancer through both tail male lines. It is only the tail female line through Circles Of Gold where we find colonial influences. The presence of Danehill through a daughter will no doubt influence a lot of breeders. However, while this could work from time to time, it is a high-risk strategy that should be carefully considered before pursuing. If a breeder wanted to consider this, perhaps the presence of Redoute’s Choice who traces to the Best In Show family may be more successful than many other sons of Danehill.

Similarly with the presence of Sadler’s Wells in the stallion’s pedigree, this is another strategy that should be considered carefully. If breeders insist on close inbreeding, perhaps introducing another line of Danzig could be a sounder strategy although not one that would be recommended in all cases. A stallion like I Am Invincible could fit this bill as may Testa Rossa. In looking at close inbreeding though, the attraction of a mare by Haradasun might offer a unique prospect.

The outcross style pedigree may ultimately prove the most successful with Cape Of Good Hope. Considering Eulogy had such success in NZ, stallions from that country are likely to be interesting matings. In particular, the presence of Zabeel whether it is through a daughter or his sons like Octagonal and Savabeel might be interesting despite an apparent lack of speed likely in some of these matings. The strength in the family of Cape Of Good Hope is certainly not the early speed types, and again this is another factor to consider. Colonial speed lines like Star Kingdom are becoming harder to find, but a stallion like Ilovethiscity could be another with daughters who would be compatible matings. The Queensland bred stallion Sequalo and his son in Spirit Of Boom may be hard to source in Victoria but again could represent an interesting opportunity. Bel Esprit is a local Victorian stallion who may have nice daughters for the stallion, as may Written Tycoon.

In the end though it is likely to be overseas families that will see the success or otherwise of the stallion in the long term. Hopefully there are enough breeders who are looking towards more of a classic type of horse that will support the stallion and if there are, stallions like Deep Impact and Shamardal as well as Storm Cat lines may be among the best options. Cape Of Good Hope looks to be something of a niche stallion, but for those breeders who are patient, they may well be rewarded into the future.