search the site
Jumping to a new breed
The recent importation of the stallion Daliapour to stand in Victoria sparked me to think that this is a horse ideal to breed not only capable stayers and, possibly, champion jumpers.
Daliapour (pictured), a son of the great Sadler’s Wells (USA), ticks all the right boxes to produce hardy, sound horses who could make jumpers. Daliapour is from the right sire-line and he was a tough, durable and outstanding racehorse at the Classic 2400m distance – he won the 2000 G1 Coronation Cup (Epsom, 2400m) and the 2000 G1 International Vase (Sha Tin, 2400m) as well as runner-up in the 1999 G1 Epsom and Irish Derbys.
Daliapour also will stand at a fee of $3000 at Woodside Park, Tylden, so he’s in the right price range for breeders with patience.
Dalipour’s arrival also had me thinking that the jumping industry should be trying to breed horses to jump. The state government’s decision to boost jumps racing with a $2 million handout is very welcome, but does it go far enough to help resurrect this maligned section of the racing industry?
I believe that for long-term survival of jumps racing we need to breed horses for that specific purpose. I don’t believe that the current model of using failed flat horses is a sustainable long-term model for the industry to prosper, although horses such as Capecover, Our Aristocrat and Cats Fun competed well at the highest level on the flat before switching to the “up and overs”.
There is little hope of Victoria having a commercial jumps breeding arm –as Ireland has with its National Hunt Stud – but it is possible that with assistance from Government and Racing Victoria a breeding program could be fostered. I see no reason why the equine education colleges that have a breeding emphasis, such as Northern TAFE and South West (Glenorminston) College, couldn’t be encouraged to stand stallions for the specific purpose of breeding strong, athletic stayers for the jumping.
I see such a breeding scheme also taking the resultant jumps-bred foals right through the education process, including teaching them to jump, before they are made available to the wider community as three-year-olds – humans and horses learning together. Only the sound and capable horses would make it through the system to become the backbone of the next generation of jumpers.
This scheme would take six to 10 years before the fruits of such an ideal would ripen, but if the general racing industry and the minister, Denis Napthine, who is an enthusiastic jumps supporter, are serious about preserving jumps racing, a breeding/education scheme is worth considering.
The key to the success of such an idea is to breed very sound horses with enough turn-of-foot to be competitive over hurdles before switching to the bigger jumps. We have the suitable stallions, but they need to be matched with the right, sound and strong-boned mares to produce the ideal foals. The cost of this scheme is to invest in the right mares.
In Ireland, it is the depth of the breeding that gives the National Hunt its pool of horses. Interestingly, most of the champion jumps sires of the past 20 years have been quality flat racehorses at 2400 metres – these stallions include Denman’s sire Presenting (by Mtoto (GB), a son of Epsom Derby (2400m) winner Busted), who was third in the 1995 Epsom Derby, and Old Vic (by Sadler’s Wells (USA)), winner of the 1989 Irish Derby and French Derby (2100m), and more recently another Sadler’s Wells son King Theatre, winner of the 1994 King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m).
The famed Coolmore Stud cut its teeth in the stallion game with its National Hunt stallions, headed by Supreme Leader (by Bustino (GB)), who was placed third in the 1985 Irish 2000 Guineas before his fourth in the 1985 Epsom Derby.
An exception to the flat horses becoming the best hunt sires is the champion French-bred Roselier (by Misti IV (FR)), who stood with great success in Ireland until his death in 1998. The grey stallion only raced once on the flat before switching to jumping and winning the French Champion Hurdle.
There are three important things these sires passed onto their progeny – courage, soundness and the ability to jump.
The only sire-line in Australia that could be developed for producing jumping stallions is the Sir Tristram/Zabeel line. Zabeel has sired some outstanding jumpers including the champions Marlborough and Zabenz. One of his Victorian-based sons Tully Zeal (fee is only $1650) is leaving a few handy runners from limited opportunities for his owner Peter White, so he fits the profile.
Some of Australia’s most influence jumps sires of the past included Solar Bear (by Solario (GB)), Ottoman (by Blue Peter (GB)) and Zamazaan (by Exbury (FR)).
Mornington trainer David Brideoake, a former top equestrian rider, is not sure Australia is ready to breed its own stayers, but he conceded that it is worthy of consideration. “For the way that we race, National Hunt is probably breeding horses that are too slow,” he said.
Brideoake stands Oh Oklahoma (by the Sadler’s Wells grandson, Singspiel (GB)), runner-up in the 2006 G1 Rosehill Guineas, who he said was one a number of horses in Australia ideally suited to producing stayers for jumping.
Brideoake is right; we need to produce a faster, more athletic jumper than they do in Europe, but that should be part of a well-planned, well-executed process. Jump to it.
There’s no reason why jumpers cannot be bred from existing lines, except that in Australia jumps racing is novelty racing. Britain has a whole season devoted to it: here we have 70 races spread over a short winter season. Take a look at the number of jumps races horses will complete in their first season here – often eight or more, because the trainers know the horses won’t last long. This is a racing culture that wants speedy two-year-olds, not long distance horses, whereas the reverse applies in Europe. The owners find they have a promising horse, and hey presto, its suddenly a National horse. Zendi was aiming at the National after just two jumps races. Why? “Well, you never know how long you’ve got them for” comes the answer.
Zabeel and his sire each bred male and females winners of the Melbourne Cup. In yesteryear we had David, Solar Bear etc, so it’s not the bloodlines that are the problem.
The problem is the actual conduct: each year we need a new champion. In 2009 it was Pentiffic. In 2010 it was Tarawera. In 2011 it’s Vindicating. They just don’t last. tarawera ran in a restricted hurdle at Oakbank in the March, and was topweight for the Gran d national Steeplechase by Ausgust….during which he fell, twice. And consider this: where in Europe would a jumper run in a 3200m steeplechase one day, and a 5000m steeplechase two days later? Yet that occurs at Oakbank and Warrnambool each season….and we wonder why the horses fail. Some are Bent won the Brierly easily, yet two days later he fell heavily in the Grand Annual when only halfway through the race.
Jumps racing will never be accepted in Australia because of the excessive injuries and fatalities. Warrnambool has conducted sixteen jumps races this season, and three horses are dead. The track has a record that can only be described as miserable, and last year the Sirrocean Storm incident where a course attendant kept pulling a fataly injured hores to his feet remains the worst incident ever seen on an Australian racetrack.
The very reason we should breed horses to jump – it’s a cultural change that will take six to 10 years, as I said in the article. Breeding and educating horses to jump will hopefully help overcome some of the things you highlighted.