Duporth to Kitchwin

Kitchwin Hills has taken a clever and calculating decision to secure Duporth for stud duty in 2010.

Duporth (br h 2005, Red Ransom (USA)–Staging, by Success Express (USA)) was retired by owners Peter and Wendy Moran after his sixth behind Hot Danish in last Saturday’s Group 2 Canterbury Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill.

Duporth will complement Kitchwin Hills’ resident young sire Dane Shadow (br h 2001, Danehill (USA)–Slight Chance (NZ), by Centaine), who has emerged as one of the most exciting young stallions in the country.

The Kitchwin Hills team has been on the search for the right new stallion for Kitchwin Hills, near Scone, NSW, for some time, and Duporth has been on the radar since he won the Group 2 $1m Golden Rose (3YOs, 1400m, Rosehill) in the spring of 2008.

At the time, the handsome son of Red Ransom was touted as the best young sire prospect in the country, particularly because stallions free of Danehill blood – in this case Duporth is free of Danehill and virtually free Northern Dancer blood (x6) – are worth their weight in gold in the current situation in Australia where Danehill’s sons and grandsons continue to dominate.

Duporth earned himself a place at a leading Hunter Valley stud by following up his Golden Rose win with a win in the Group 1 BTC Cup (wfa 1200m) at Doomben during the 2009 winter carnival. It was a typical powerful finish that took him to victory over a crack field of older rivals, including the champion sprinter Apache Cat.

While Duporth has been competitive this season at the highest level, trainer Peter Moody has struggled to regain the stallion’s zest for racing. The Morans and Kitchwin Hills would have loved to be able retire the horse on a high note, but the timing of the retirement is just right.

Duporth is an exceptionally good-looking horse – almost jet black, he is more powerfully built than his Group 1 winning half-brother Excites (by Danewin), who stands at Vinery, and younger Group 2 winning half-brother Tickets (by Redoute’s Choice) (Tickets was win the G2 Phar Lap Stakes later on the Rosehill card) – and he possesses a very good galloping action. He ticks a lot boxes for broodmare owners.

Duporth joins two other Group 1 winning sons of Red Ransom to go to stud this year – All American (Arrowfield Stud) and Onemorenomore (Vinery).

It’s worth noting that Duporth is the only one of this high-class trio to win a Group 1 at the 1200m-sprint distance. All American won last year’s Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington, while Onemorenomore won the 2009 Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick as a 2YO.

That extra speed factor puts Duporth apart from them in what shapes as one of the most cut-throat competitive stud seasons we have seen for some years, with a wealth of proven, up-and-coming and new stallions for breeders to mull over as the breeding season approaches.

The addition of these three new sons of Red Ransom to the stallion ranks follows the recent stud success of Red Ransom’s sons Charge Forward (last year’s leading first-crop stallion from his Arrowfield base) and the Darley-owned Domesday, who has been a surprise-packet with his first-crop 2YOs this season.

Other Red Ransom sons at stud in Australia include Typhoon Tracy’s recently retired dual-hemisphere Stakes-winning brother Red Element (Glenlogan Park, Qld), Face Value (Lindsay Park Stud, SA) and Red Dazzler (Eureka Thoroughbreds, Qld) and in New Zealand Ekraar is the sire of the Group 1 winner Ekstreme.

There is nowhere else in the world where the blood of Red Ransom his held in higher esteem than in Australia, and it’s the plethora of Danehill blood that provides the nick.

Pedigrees:

Red Ransom (USA) (b h 1987, Roberto (USA)–Arabia (USA), by Damascus (USA)), died in November 2009.

All American (b h 2005, Red Ransom (USA)–Milva (USA), by Strawberry Road).

Onemorenomore (b h 2006, Red Ransom (USA)–Palia (NZ), by Last Tycoon (IRE))

Charge Forward (b h 2001, Red Ransom (USA)–Sydney’s Dream, by Bletchingly)

Domesday (br h 2002, Red Ransom (USA)–In The Mist (GB), by Zafonic (USA))

Red Dazzler (b h 2002,  Red Ransom (USA)–Vain Hill, by Vain)

Red Element (b h 2004, Red Ransom (USA)–Tracy’s Element, by Last Tycoon (IRE))

Face Value (b h 2000, Red Ransom (USA)–Freckled face, by Polish Patriot (USA))

Ekraar (b h 1997, Red Ransom (USA)–Sacahuista (USA), by Raja Baba (USA))

Note: The Slattery Media Group supplies media services to Kitchwin Hills.