Let me be a little self-indulgent. When Encosta De Lago retired to stud in 1997, I was in the early stages of a bloodstock agency business after leaving trainer Lee Freedman’s employ as stable manager.

Freedman trained Encosta De Lago and I was keen to be involved when the son of Fairy King went to stud in 1997. I took six bookings per season in a two-year deal with Blue Gum Farm and on-sold the service fees for a nice discount for the broodmare owners and “an earn” for myself.

Most of resultant foals from the matings were sold as yearlings, either privately or through the sale ring, and most achieved a good return on investment, turning the about $8000 outlay into an average sale price of around $30,000. Of course, these days few of us can afford to go to Encosta De Lago now that he stands at Coolmore Stud at a fee of $220,000 (inc. GST).

One of the mares sent to Encosta De Lago was the Crested Wave mare, Light Wave (NZ), owned by a close friend from Adelaide, Terry Dickson, who was just starting to get involved in the breeding industry.

He had bought Light Wave on my recommendation for only $5000. The mare was trained by Lee Freedman for Tasmanian neuro-surgeon Dr. Stan Siejka, who had bought her dam, Marimekko (IRE), in foal with Light Wave from Ra Ora Stud in New Zealand. Light Wave’s third dam was the champion 1965 Melbourne Cup winner Light Fingers (ch m 1961, Le Filou (FR)-Cuddlesome, by Red Mars (GB)) – Light Fingers’ daughter Nimble Fingers (1973, by Alcimedes (GB)) was sent to Ireland where she produced Marimekko to champion sire Habitat (USA). Light Fingers is pictured beating Ziema in the Cup.

Freedman liked Light Wave, who showed natural ability on the track, but took a week to get over any gallop. She was a frail, lightly-framed mare who didn’t take to city life too well. Freedman sent her back to Siejka in Tasmania where he expected her to win races. Unfortunately, wet tracks hindered her training and Siejka retired her after a two placings at Launceston and Hobart from a handful of starts.

When Siejka decided to sell the mare, I moved on behalf of Dickson, as I thought she was a mare that might give him some fun as he learned more about the thoroughbred breeding caper.

Light Wave’s first foal was by Umatilla (by Miswaki (USA)), a big, strong, heavy-boned stallion that was a contrast to the mare and a good match. Life as a broodmare appealed to Light Wave as she blossomed into a beautiful mare – her first foal was an attractive, athletic colt, a nice first foal.

The Umatilla colt was a little too immature for a yearling sale, but we sold him out of the paddock to Terry Henderson’s OTI Racing group, who raced him as Lightuma (under the care of Peter Hayes and Tony McEvoy at Lindsay Park). Lightuma went on to win the 2002 Benalla Cup (2300m) in record time and he was bolting in front on the turn in the 2002 Geelong Cup, won by Media Puzzle, when he broke down. He may not have beaten Media Puzzle, who went on to win the Melbourne Cup, but he certainly would have finished second, and he would have been competitive in the Cup at Flemington.

Light Wave missed to Encosta De Lago in 1998, but produced a lovely brown filly by him in 2000. Henderson had no hesitation on buying her from the paddock on the strength of the promise shown by Lightuma.

The filly, named Café Del Mar debuted at Murray Bridge in January 2003 and charged home from last to win comprehensively over 1400m. Trainer Tony McEvoy believed the filly was to be the stable’s South Australian Oaks contender that year. But her career was cut short at her next start at Victoria Park, when, in a winning position on turn, she was galloped on by another runner. The injuries were so severe that she was retired to stud.

I was reminded of this story when Café Del Mar produced her first winner at Geelong last week. Sunset Café, trained by Leon Corstens, improved on his first start placing to win impressively over 1418m – there are more wins in store for this 3YO son of Bianconi (by Danzig (USA)) with the family link to Bart Cummings’ first Melbourne Cup winner.

Dickson continued to do well out of Light Wave – five of her six foals have won races – before he sold her in 2007. The old mare, now 19, has a 2YO filly by Untouchable (by Danehill (USA)) and she was covered by Southern Halo (USA) in 2009.

Back in 2004, during the Adelaide yearling sales, I sat down to dinner with a group of Victorian and NSW breeders and farm owners, one of which, a Victorian, was on the search for a new stallion.

Debate flowed about the merits of different horses that could come onto the market and the value of different sire lines on the Australian market.

It was concluded by two of the group, myself included, that the trend was swinging sharply in favour of Australian-bred stallions in contrast to northern hemisphere shuttle horses. More debate continued, as one of the diners represented a farm that stakes its existence on shuttle stallions.

Even that person was in support of the suggestion that Thorn Park (ch h 2001, Spinning World (USA)–Joy, by Bluebird (USA)) – pictured – was the perfect fit for the Victorian stud owner. The subsequent Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap winner (a couple of months later) was on the market for a price I believe was close to seven figures.

Thorn Park, the stud owner was told, ticked most of his boxes – Australian bred, an outstanding looking horse, a brilliant 2YO who trained on to win at Group 1 level, possessed a tremendous female family (direct descendant of the great Denise’s Joy) and he was by a sire line (by Spinning World, a son of Nureyev) that should nick with most bloodlines in Australia, and would be especially compatible with Danzig/Danehill  and Encosta De Lago/Fairy King mares.

The stud owner scoffed at the suggestion – “The day I stand a son of Spinning World is the day I give the game away,” he said. The fellow wouldn’t have a bar of any conclusion that Thorn Park, at the time a four-time Group 2 winner, was a commercial stallion prospect.

Needless to say Thorn Park was snapped up; not for an Australian stud, but for New Zealand. Since he retired in the spring of 2004, he has covered healthy numbers of commercial books of mares at Nelson Schick’s Windsor Park Stud, Cambridge.

On Saturday, Thorn Park’s exciting 2YO son Jimmy Choux (c 2007, ex-Cierzo, by Centaine), with all the good looks and talent of his sire, won the Group 2 Wakefield Stakes (1200m) at Trentham, running down Dubawi’s Stakes-winning son Cellarmaster in a thrilling finishing; the pair streeted their rivals.

Thorn Park has now nine Stakes winners – his oldest progeny are only four, and include the VRC Derby Day winner Centennial Park – and he is one of the up-and-coming sires in New Zealand. Thorn Park has 36 yearlings catalogued for New Zealand Bloodstock’s Karaka Yearling Sale (Premier and Select), which begins next week.

As for the Victoria farm owner – he spent his money in the northern hemisphere for no result and is now out of the stallion-standing game.

Black Caviar is fast becoming to her sire Bel Esprit what Alinghi was to Encosta De Lago.

The unbeaten Black Caviar (br f 2006, ex-Helsinge, by Desert Sun (GB)), an easy first-up winner of last Friday night’s Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley, is from Bel Esprit’s third crop from his base at Eliza Park Stud, Kerrie, Victoria.

In fact, Bel Esprit’s stud career is starting to mirror the early career of Encosta De Lago (by Fairy King (USA)), who stood at Blue Gum Farm, Euroa, when he retired in 1997, until Coolmore Stud bought out their partners and the stallion was relocated to Coolmore, Jerry’s Plains, NSW, in 2004.

Bel Esprit has sired eight Stakes winners – his sole Group 1 winner is Bel Mer (2009 Robert Sangster Stakes at Morphettville) – from his first three crops; his oldest progeny are now 5YOs.

Alinghi (b f 2001, ex-Oceanfast, by Monde Bleu (GB)) came from Encosta De Lago’s fourth crop, and when she won the Group 1 2004 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m, Caulfield), she became his 13^th Stakes winner. Encosta De Lago had previously sired two Group 1 winners – the Tom Hughes-trained pair Titanic Jack (2003 Emirates Stakes) and Delago Brom (2003 Australian Guineas). It was a stellar 12 months from the autumn of 2003 to the autumn of 2004 that really launched Encosta De Lago’s career, which started off a lowly service fee of $8500 and now is set at $220,000, the highest in Australia.

Encosta De Lago now boasts 59 Stakes winners.

Both Bel Esprit and Encosta De Lago were Victorian-trained horses who started their careers at stud in Victoria, covering good-sized books of mares. Like Encosta De Lago, Bel Esprit has been a consistent sire of winners from the day his first crop stepped on to the racetrack. They have had to prove themselves without the support of bloodlines-rich Hunter Valley (NSW) breeding stock.

Bel Esprit, the fastest son of Royal Academy (by Nijinsky II), retired to stud in 2003 after a brilliant racing career – he was the star juvenile of his year, winning the 2002 Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m, Caulfield) before training on at three to win the 2003 Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1350m) at Doomben.

In the past month, Bel Esprit has supplied three feature sprint winners in Victoria – Beltrois (Listed Cleary Stakes), Silver Bullion (Listed Kensington Stakes) and Black Caviar. The results are timely as Bel Esprit’s largest batch of yearlings are going under the hammer in 2010 (192 foals from 266 mares) in the wake of the support he received in 2007 when equine influenza hit during the NSW and Queensland breeding season.

Many of those who bred to Bel Esprit were stunned when it was announced the stallion have covered such a large number of mares. But the worry about such competition by weight of numbers has been offset by Bel Esprit’s growth as a commercial stallion, despite the fact there are some risks breeding to him because of his toed-in front legs, and many of his offspring have his unusual, but effective, wide, swinging action.

The good news for Victorian breeders is the fact that Bel Esprit is an all-Victorian boy, and it is very unlikely Eliza Park will let him go to the Hunter Valley, as Encosta De Lago and Testa Rossa have done.

Across Bass Strait, the most exciting 2YO of the season that has emerged is a son of Bel Esprit, the brown gelding Strike The Tiger, who is unbeaten after effortless wins at Devonport (January 6) and at Launceston on Sunday. Strike The Tiger is from the Straight Strike mare Bonnie Lassy, who traces back to the outstanding New Zealand broodmare Dulcie (Bonnie Lassy’s third dam), the dam of four Stakes winners – the wonderful gallopers Balmerino, Fileur, Fulmen and Gay Filou. Bonnie Lassy, unplaced from nine career starts, has had only one previous winner from six foals of racing age, is a half-sister to the Stakes winner and Group 1 placed mare Orange Walk (by Spectacular Love).

Strike The Tiger was passed in by his Devonport-based owner Vu Van Tu at the 2009 Tasmanian Yearling Sale after failing to reach his $30,000 reserve.

Incidentally, for the pedigree buffs, Bel Esprit’s two new sprint Stakes-winners, Beltrois and Silver Bullion, come from mares with almost identical bloodlines. Beltrois is from the Noalcoholic (FR) mare Vaingt Trois, from a Comeram (FR) mare by the great Showdown (GB) out of an Orgoglio (GB) mare. Silver Bullion is from the Desert King (IRE) mare Silver Barbie, from a Noalcoholic (FR) mare from a Showdown (GB) mare, also out of an Orgoglio (GB) mare.

Four of Bel Esprit’s other Stakes winners – Bel Mer and her brother Mooring, Black Caviar and Belcentra – have an extra dose of champion sire Vain (by Wilkes (FR)) on their dam’s side, matching with Bel Esprit’s dam Bespoken, a daughter of Vain.

Bel Esprit is yet another example of my “fastest sons” theory making good stallions – as he easily is the fastest son of his sire Royal Academy – which is another similarity he has with Encosta De Lago, who certainly is the fastest son of Sadler’s Wells’ brother Fairy King. Others that quickly come to mind that fit this category include Danzig (Northern Dancer), Red Ransom (Roberto), Testa Rossa (Perugino) and the current star Lonhro (Octagonal). It also can be argued that the exciting Fastest Rock is the fastest sprinting son of Danehill – he is the highest rated sprinting 3YO colt by that great sire, and Snitzel, who is doing well with his first crop of 2YOs, is probably the best sprinting son of Redoute’s Choice we have seen so far.

It’s often in my spare time that I make a quick fish through the thoroughbred classifieds on the web, just in case a bargain has slipped through the net, so to speak.

Last night an advertisement caught my eye – for a young mare by the champion racehorse, but moderately successful stallion Peintre Celebre (pictured at Coolmore Stud) – priced at only $2000. The ad read simply: Pretty mare, red bay, star, snip and two sox (sic), quiet to ride and handle. Unraced.

The mare, 16hh, born in 2004 and based in Queensland, is named Panorama Bliss.

I tapped in her name into the Stud Book to check her pedigree.

First impressions were not good. The mare’s dam Peliom – by moderate Seattle Slew son White Bridle – had won three provincial races from 1600m to 2000, and has produced only one winner, the five-time bush winner Vexing, by Mind Games, a son of Puissance.

The second dam Midrift, by Star Kingdom’s good racehorse and underrated sire-son Rajah, also was unraced, and left only two winners from six foals. $2000 was starting to look dear for this non-commercial family, and the obvious reference to being quiet to ride indicated that the young mare’s owner saw a future for her as a hack rather than as a thoroughbred broodmare prospect.

But it’s a amazing what you find with a little more digging. A click further on in the pedigree to the fourth dam unearthed Midwise – I thought to myself, I know this mare.

Midwise, by the terrific stallion Midstream was a brilliant race filly who won the Gimcrack Stakes as a 2YO; she didn’t produce a Stakes winner but she is prominent in the pedigree of Victoria’s well known “Draw” family – she is the dam of Long Draw who in turn produced three Stakes winners, including the outstanding racemare Better Draw (by Better Boy), whose wins included the 1975 Group 2 Sandown Guineas, although she is well remembered for finishing third behind Surround in the 1976 Group 1 Cox Plate.

Midwise also is a sister to the 1955 Group 1 Sydney Cup winner Talisman.

It’s funny how some strains of a family just die away, while another may prosper and continue to develop. Is it the intrusion of a stallion that doesn’t work, or is that Midwise’s daughter Midship, by Faubourg II, had a physical issue that she passed on to her offspring, whereas her sisters took a different, more commercial path. Who knows?

Further study of this pedigree found some more familiar and famous names. Recently, I have been researching and writing a article on the early breeding influences on the Melbourne Cup for a book that will be launched in August 2010, commemorating 150 years of the great race, and the $2000 Peintre Celebre mare, who may finish up as a kid’s pony, is a direct descendant of one of the great mares of the Australian Stud Book – the imported Juliet (GB) (1851, Touchstone–Lancashire Witch, by Tomboy).

Juliet was imported by the Fisher brothers, Hurtle and C.B., who at the time had built a farm close to Flemington, Maribyrnong Stud, on which grazed some of the most influential bloodlines of Australia’s fledgling and growing racing industry.

Juliet, the “Eight Carat” of her time, produced nine named foals, five Stakes winners, including four classic winners – the 1873 AJC Derby winner Benvolio, the 1869 Victoria Derby winner Charon and the fillies Sylvia (1867 VRC Oaks) and Chrysolite (1864 SA St. Leger). Another son, The Hook, won the 1879 Doncaster Handicap.

Sylvia, by the Fishers’ top import Fisherman, is the mare that founded the line to the Peintre Celebre mare and the “Draw” family. Sylvia also was a super broodmare in her mother’s mould, leaving the sensational 1983 Melbourne Cup and Victoria Derby winner Martini-Henry, the 1875 Victoria Derby winner Robin Hood and Goldsbrough, winner of the 1874 AJC St. Leger, who would go on to be one of Australian’s greatest sires of the 19^th century.

Sylvia’s half-sister Chrysolite, by Stockwell, left four Stakes winners of the highest quality, led by the champion Robinson Crusoe, winner of 10 Stakes races, including the 1876 Victoria Derby for trainer Etienne de Mestre, the 1873 Victoria Derby winner Lapidist and the filly Vaucluse, who won the 1882 Victoria Oaks. One of Chrysolite’s daughters, Aureola, left the 1887 Victoria Oaks winner Dainty, while another, Onyx, produced Nordenfeldt, winner of the 1885 Victoria and AJC Derbys, and Sardonyx, who won a Doncaster, before leaving her mark as a foundation broodmare in New Zealand.

Chrysolite also is the granddam of the 1880 Adelaide Cup and SA St. Leger winner Firstwater and the 1883 AJC All-Aged Stakes winner Off Colour – both out of The Gem.

As you can see, this is one incredible family that virtually dominated the first 30 years of racing in Australia.

The Fisher brothers got themselves into a bit of financial trouble, which forced them to disperse their thoroughbred interests for a short time, and Sylvia was one mare snapped up by the Auckland Stud Company. Sylvia’s four New Zealand-bred fillies, all by Carbine’s sire Musket, went on to produce Stakes winners.

Auckland Stud Company farm was named Sylvia Park, and it was there that Carbine was bred, by Musket from the imported Knowsley mare Mersey.

The farm and stock were dispersed in 1902, and Sylvia Park, in the shadows of Mt. Wellington, is now the Auckland’s business and shopping district, and retains the name.

I wonder whoever buys Panorama Bliss, the pretty red bay mare from Queensland, will ever know what history runs through her veins. Perhaps now they will.

Lloyd and Nick Williams look to have found themselves another promising stayer, the Galileo (pictured) gelding Linton, who was most impressive making his debut at Flemington on Saturday.

Linton (gr g 2006, ex-Our Heather, by Centaine) was fourth, beaten 1.8 lengths, behind Encosta Belief in the Elms Handicap (1410m) and there is little doubt that with a clear run he would have finished second. Jockey Glen Boss protested unsuccessfully against the runner-up Take The Rap (Brent Evans), who was relegated to third when a separate protest by Craig Newitt on Exclusive Choice was upheld.

Linton has similarities to the Williams’ other grey star Efficient – apart from the obvious colour – as they both are big striders with a slightly high head-carriage. Efficient (gr g 2003, Zabeel (NZ)-Refused The Dance, by Defensive Play (USA)), the 2006 Group 1 Victoria Derby winner, who trained on to win the 2007 Group 1 Melbourne Cup, likes to get wide and wind up with plenty of galloping room. Linton looks like a horse with a similar need.

There is nothing similar about their pedigrees.

Linton was bought in 2008 as a 2YO at the Karaka Ready To Run Sale for $275,000 (from the Lyndhurst Farm draft) on the bid of Williams’ former trainer Graeme Rogerson, who was acting as agent.

A few months earlier, Linton’s dam Our Heather (gr m 1998, ex-Melrose (NZ), by Sun And Shine (GB)) was sold by Hong Kong-based owner Dr. Gene Tsoi at the Magic Millions National Broodmare sale to Queensland breeders Kiernan Pastoral for only $42,000, in foal to Reset (Zabeel). Our Heather produced a grey filly by Reset in November 2008, and then missed to Jet Spur (by Flying Spur) that season. She is now in foal to Jet Spur, who has started his stallion career nicely with five first-crop winners this season.

Our Heather, a winner of three races to 1300m, has not produced a winner from three named foals, but that should be rectified when Linton gets into his stride. Her dam Melrose was unraced and has left only four moderate winners, but Our Heather’s third dam is the outstanding producer, the imported Vedo Bay (GB) (by Orange Bay (GB)).

Vedo Bay is the dam of the high-class racemares Balmacara (by Bassenswaithe (GB)) and Vedodara (by Kreisler (GB)). Both mares were black type winners and Group 1 placed. Vedodara is the dam of three outstanding gallopers – the Group 1 winning mare Shavasti (Montjeu), multiple Group 3 winner Bandhara (Zabeel) and the Group 3 Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner Shastri (Stravinsky). Balmacara’s best offspring is the brilliant, but injury-prone Jamieson Valley (Desert Prince), a Listed winner of the Magic Millions 3YO Trophy.

It was earlier on Saturday that I watched a replay of Friday’s barrier trials at Randwick and took notice off an impressive performance by a Savabeel filly in one of the heats. Savodara is an unraced filly from Vedodara, and she looks to have a very bright future for trainer Graeme Rogerson. Savodara cost Rogerson $270,000 from the Little Avondale draft, as agent for Barlow Thoroughbreds, at the 2009 Karaka Premier Yearling Sale. The filly was significantly the dearest yearling by Savabeel at Karaka last year.

Some observations from last week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, which sits as the second leading Australian sale (by average behind Inglis Easter) and is considered by some as the benchmark sale as it is a “type” sale that covers mature, athletic yearlings at all price levels.

Musing 1. Last year the big hype stallion was the first-season sire Stratum (pictured) – thanks partly to some pushing by trainer Gai Waterhouse, who declared his yearlings the best she had seen from a new sire in years. The Golden Slipper winner averaged $110,000 (off a $33,000 fee, same in 2007) last year, but this year his average dropped to $85,000. Most people expected the first crop of Stratums to be up and running as 2YOs, but a NSW provincial winner and a Tassie winner from 23 starters aren’t flattering outcomes. The hype was certainly off the Widden Stud-based stallion at the sale despite him again being represented by some impressive yearlings. It’s too early to knock Stratum as, like his sire Redoute’s Choice, his first crop might emerge later in the season and as 3YOs, but at least Golden Slipper contender in 2010 probably needs to be on his scorecard.

Musing 2. There were some mumblings after Darley Australian bought only one yearling (lot 151, a racy filly by Redoute’s Choice from the Group 1 winning mare Covertly) for $470,000, suggesting that Sheikh Mohammed might be pulling in his purse strings after the recent financial troubles in Dubai. But Darley hasn’t been an active buyer at the MM sale in the past – it bought only one yearling last year and two in 2008. Its is more than likely the Gold Coast doesn’t fit the schedule of Darley’s Darley’s international bloodstock manager John Ferguson. Expect Darley and Ferguson to be much more active as usual in Sydney at Easter.

Musing 3. Redoute’s Choice’s average of $343,235 is not a great result for those who paid the $330,000 service fee for the 2007 season. Redoute’s Choice’s fee has dropped to $198,000 in 2009 and Encosta De Lago (who averaged $318,421 off a $220,000 fee) is back to $220,000 after nudging past $300,000 in 2008. It is obvious that service fees are too high and breeders cannot afford in this economic climate (or at any time for that matter) to send anything but high-end mares to these high-priced stallions.

Musing 4. Anyone who supported Darley’s Elusive Quality in 2007 copped a major knock. The stallion, who no longer shuttles south following disappointing results in Australia – despite covering quality books – averaged $60,455 off a fee of $137,500.  Ouch. Let’s hope there were a few foal shares in that result.

Musing 5. Hall of Fame trainer Lee Freedman was surprisingly quiet. Freedman, through stable manager Sam Pritchard-Gordon’s Victorian Bloodstock Agency, successfully bid on only three yearlings, although his stocks will be boosted by the purchases of stable clients. Is it that Freedman doesn’t see the need to chase yearlings as he has the support of Darley to the tune of around 30 horses a year?

Musing 6. Freedman paid $150,000 for a colt from the first crop of his former Group 2 winning sprinter California Dane (by Danehill), who had another yearling sell in the main sale for $30,000. The colt, out of the Irish-bred Cape Cross mare Equatorial, didn’t have a standout pedigree but he was an outstanding individual.

Musing 7. Exceed And Excel is getting a reputation as a Rory’s Jester-style sire of precocious juveniles. He now needs to gets some horses that train on to win at the highest class. His average of $74,167 – at a sale in which his stock are ideally placed – is disappointing off a 2007 fee of $55,000, but scary for those who supported the stallion in 2009 at $110,000.

Musing 8. Hussonet is finding it hard to find his place. His fee rose dramatically (ridiculously?) from $38,500 to $137,500 on the back of Weekend Hussler’s sensational 2008, and went back to $71,500 in 2009, when he covered only 77 mares. His average of $105,715 was a good return on the $38,500 fee of 2007, but concerning for those who jumped in at $137,500 in 2008.

Musing 9. Starcraft is more than holding his own, especially in comparison to Stratum. The Arrowfield stallion averaged $120,000 off a fee of $33,000 (down to $22,000 in 2009). Whereas Stratum was expected to get early runners, most buyers will cut Starcraft some slack as his stock will be better with age and distance. Even so, he has an exciting Moonee Valley winner (Star Witness (ex-Leonie Chiara, by Lion Hunter)) and two placegetters from only four runners in Australia from his first crop.

Musing 10. It was great to see the grand old man of Newhaven Stud, Zeditave, getting good results at the Magic Millions. The 24-year-old stallion had six yearlings sell at an average of $75,833, off a fee of only $13,750. One colt, from the former brilliant mare Candy Vale (by Bubble Gum Fellow) – her second foal – made $130,000 on the bid of Danny O’Brien.

Musing 11. Keith Biggs and partners have had a terrific run buying yearling fillies by Stravinsky from good mares – multiple Group 1 winner Serenade Rose and Group 1 VRC Oaks runner-up Miss Scarlatti are two that come to mind – and he set international bloodstock agent Adrian Nicoll, who bought the above pair, on a mission on the Gold Coast. Nicoll, nicknamed “The King” because he likes to live like one, paid $520,000 for Biggs & Co for an athletic filly by Stravinsky from the classy Stakes-winning mare Irongail (by Canny Lad).

Musing 12. You either love ’em or hate ’em, there seems to be no in-between for Flying Spur. The veteran son of Danehill had 28 yearlings sell at the Magic Millions for an average of $120,179. While Flying Spur had yearlings in great demand, including a colt, ex-Regimental Gal ($400,000) and a filly, ex-Unabated ($300,000), 18 of Flying Spur’s yearlings sold from $100,000 down to $25,000, off a 2007 fee of $99,000.

Musing 13. And finally – the service fees of stallions in Australia are still far too high, especially for the ridiculous numbers of mares they are covering. If stallion owners want to keep the fees high, then they must reduce their books.

Note: All fees mentioned are inclusive of GST.

Now let me get this straight – John Singleton and Gerry Harvey want the Queensland Government to put in $5.5 million of taxpayers’ money into prizemoney for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic so the race can have bragging rights as the world’s richest horse race, worth $11 million.

This is a race, run on a provincial racetrack at the Gold Coast, restricted to 2YOs and restricted to horses sold at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale, from which Singleton and Harvey (pictured in 2008) and their partners in the Magic Millions business have gathered millions of dollars in commissions on the sale of yearlings.

The whole suggestion is a nonsense. It’s also a ruse, a publicity stunt that achieved its aim – to put the Magic Millions Yearling Sale, today in its second session, and Saturday’s race day firmly in the public eye, as most major media outlets have lapped it up.

The fact is the Magic Millions is as big as it can get, and increasing the prizemoney will only add to its novelty and not improve its world standing from restricted, and sometimes forgettable, scamper for 2YOs to one of the great – unrestricted – horse races.

Shuttle stallion Trade Fair (pictured) has kicked off his Australian career with his first winner at Ascot, on Perth Cup day.

Absolute Pleasure (br f 2007, ex Magic Puff, by Octagonal (NZ)), trained by Trevor Andrews, was impressive on debut winning the BMW Lifestyle Plate (1100m), beating the favourite Totteridge Green (by Pearl Of Love (IRE)).

The filly is the second starter for Trade Fair, who shuttles to Wendy Liddelow’s Evergreen Lodge, Myalup, WA, south of Perth, near Bunbury. Absolute Pleasure is one of 58 2YOs from Trade Fair’s first WA crop – the son of Zafonic has a promising crop of 3YOs (as of Jan. 1, 2010) in England, including a Derby contender in Fair Trade.

Trade Fair was a winner of five of his 12 starts in England and Ireland, including four wins at Stakes level – the Group 3 Minstrel Stakes (1400m) at The Curragh, the Group 3 Criterion Stakes (1400m) at Newmarket, the Listed Duty Free Cup (1400m) at Newbury and the Listed King Charles II Stakes (1400m) at Newmarket.

As you can see from his racing resumé, Trade Fair was a superior galloper at 1400m; he also was placed third in the Group 1 Dewhirst Stakes (1400m), behind Tout Seul, at Newmarket, as a 2YO.

In 2003, Trade Fair was awarded an international classification rating of 124, making him the second highest 3YO miler in the United Kingdom.

Top jockey Richard Hughes claims that Trade Fair is the best 1400m-1600m horse “on his day” that he has ridden. But he arrived in WA as a virtual unknown to most people in Australia, and remained so until Friday.

Trade Fair is one of many good sons of Zafonic, the Group 1 winning Gone West stallion that tragically died at Arrowfield Stud in 2002 in his first shuttle season in his first week of covering. In Europe, Zafonic is the sire of 53 Stakes winners, including the Group 1 winning fellow WA-based stallion Xaar.

Trade Fair has substantial depth to his pedigree, and appeal to Australians, as his dam Danefair is a Stakes-winning daughter of Danehill. Danefair’s four wins were from 2000m to 2400m in France, and she is a sister to two Group 3 winners Vortex (up ton 1750m) and Prove (up to 2000m). Trade Fair’s third dam Cairn Rouge was a champion filly, who won the Group 1 One Thousand Guineas (1600m) and the Group 1 Champion Stakes, both at Newmarket.

Trade Fair, a big, strong stallion of 16.1 hands, didn’t cover in 2007 because of the equine influenza outbreak, but he covered 91 mares in 2008 and 87 mares in 2009 – his latest season at a fee of $7150 (incl. GST). Unfortunately, there are no yearlings in the upcoming Perth sales by Trade Fair to capitalize on Absolute Pleasure’s success.

His cross of Mr. Prospector line over Danehill makes him close to unique in the stallion world, and a very interesting prospect for breeders if his stock are as good as Absolute Pleasure.

Absolute Pleasure’s dam Magic Puff is out of the imported Diesis mare Dragoncello, who is best known as the dam of the outstanding Sydney Group winner Gallant Tess, by Galileo.

Trade Fair stands the northern hemisphere season at Tweenhills Farm, Hartpury, Gloucester, in England.