I read with interest that former leading bookmaker and thoroughbred breeder Bruce McHugh is challenging in the courts the validity of the ban on the use of artificial insemination (AI) in Australian thoroughbred breeding – his argument is based on restraint of trade.

McHugh’s call for a change came only a few days after the death of one of the pioneers of the introduction of artificial insemination in standardbred (harness racing) in Australia, Bernie “B.J” Ahern.

Ahern, stood two of the great pacing stallions of the late 1970s and 1980s, Kentucky and Hilarious Way, at his B.J. Lodge at Goornong, near Bendigo, before becoming a leading administrator and overseeing a period of great change in Victoria. Incidentally, Ahern’s property, with its imposing mansion (purposely built by Ahern in the Kentucky style) recently was put on the market by its current owner, singer John Farnham, who used it as a base for his quarter horse breeding operation. But that’s another story.

As expected leading thoroughbred breeder John Messara, principal of Arrowfield Stud, was quick to respond to McHugh’s action, condemning the practice of AI in thoroughbreds, and outlining the ramifications to the industry if the AI was to be introduced in Australia. Thoroughbred Breeders’ Australia CEO Peter McGauran followed up with his support.

My experience of similar arguments in the courts is that McHugh has a strong case and Messara and McGauran have good reason to be concerned – the restraint of trade argument often holds up in this commercial world that we live in. The same happened in harness racing about 20 years ago when New Zealand studmasters bucked regulation and won.

If I remember, New Zealand’s harness racing studmasters, arguing restraint of trade, were successful in forcing the lifting the restrictions on 120 mares (plus returns) on standardbred stallions in New Zealand (first) and then Australia, a few years after the introduction of AI. The limits were imposed to stop the leading stallions covering massive books of mares to the perceived detriment of the breed.

After an initial flood of mares to some stallions – I remember Vance Hanover, in New Zealand, covering more than 400 mares one season – the issue eventually became a non-event. Why? Simple economics. When all those Vance Hanover foals had to compete at the yearling sales, there were so many of them that the prices were diluted. Studmasters and breeders soon realised that more is not better.

In North American in recent years, some of the leading standardbred stallions are back to covering small books of 120-150 mares to protect the value of the yearlings at sale time – this is countered by the fact that the stallions, because of the smaller numbers and greater commercial viability, can stand at a significantly higher fee.

In 2008, a study was done in the UK by pre-eminent equine fertility expert, Professor William “Twink” Allen on the differences in mare coverings between the thoroughbred industry and the standardbred industry, both in Australia and worldwide. His research shows that in the US that the mean coverings of the 10 busiest stallions in the United Stakes (AI standardbreds) has dropped from a peak of 250 in 2002 to 190 in 2008, compared to the top 10 covering stallions in the thoroughbred industry in Ireland and the UK in the same period – in 2002 the thoroughbred stallions were covering (mean figures) also of around 260, but since then has dropped very little below 250.

Profession Allen’s research found that in the same period, comparing the top 10 busiest stallions in Australia, that while there was a big gap between numbers a few years ago in the favour of the standardbred stallions, that now the gap had narrowed to both breeds covering the same numbers, around 250 mares, in the last two years.

Professor Allen’s research goes a long way to debunking the theory that AI use will result in stallions covering more mares than they would by natural means. The chart makes for interesting viewing CLICK HERE

I am not advocating for the introduction of AI in thoroughbred breeding because that’s for others to decide, but some of the arguments put forward by the anti-AI lobby require discussion in the context of what has happened in harness racing.

Let’s look at some of Messara’s arguments in his press release on November 18:

Rather than creating more competition it would concentrate stallion power in the hands of the few farms who control the proven stallions at the top of the list, Messara said.

My comment: Wait on, doesn’t that already exist in the world of thoroughbred breeding, where in the last 20 years, the leading studs with the top stallions have dominated the scene – and will continue to do so. With natural breeding, there are now fewer studs, fewer stallions and a serious polarisation at the top end.

JM: “To date, conception by natural means has placed a lid on the number of mares each stallion can serve but if that lid is lifted through AI the consequences could be dire for the industry.

“With breeders flocking to proven horses, huge numbers of mares would be inseminated by a small number of the most commercially desirable stallions and in this way there would be less competition rather than more competition amongst stallion owners.”

My comment: In the last 20 years, the mares covered by natural means by individual stallions have more than doubled, in some cases tripled to numbers well beyond 200, for example: Bel Esprit (2007, 266 mares); Fastnet Rock (2007, 257 mares; 2008, 251 mares); Encosta De Lago (2005, 245 mares; 2008, 227 mares); Redoute’s Choice (2006, 224 mares). These figures are on a par with the AI coverings of the most prolific harness racing stallions. And in some cases, thoroughbred shuttle stallions are covering between 350 and 400 mares worldwide in one year.

I would say the consequences of over-breeding stallions already is having an adverse effect on breeders at yearling sale time – try marketing a Bel Esprit yearling in 2010.

JM: “Then you have the impact on the gene pool. The few thousand mares that comprise the active band in Australia will be served by a handful of stallions; logic dictates that AI would be harmful to the diversity of the breed.”

My comment: This sounds right in theory, but not in practice. When AI was first introduced into harness breeding, there was one dominant sire line, that of Meadow Skipper, his sons and grandsons. It was prolific in both hemispheres and inbreeding to this stallion line was rife. He was the Northern Dancer of his time.

But the opposite exists today – and it has from the mid-1990s – with many more different sire lines at the top of standardbred breeding spectrum. The diversity of sire lines hasn’t been greater, and the harness breed has never been better for it.

This following link to harness.org.au will confirm this.

On the other hand with natural breeding worldwide, we have seen thoroughbred breeding dominated by only a couple of sire lines, but particularly Northern Dancer. In Australia, it is Northern Dancer’s grandson and close relation, Danehill, that dominates a very narrow gene pool. I would say that the thoroughbred gene pool in the world has not ever been narrower.

With AI comes semen transportation and with semen transportation comes diversity. Smaller breeders, who cannot afford to travel out of their own districts, can avail themselves on new and different sire lines other than those dominant on their doorstep. Tasmania is a typical example of a close gene pool that will benefit from access to the mainland stallions by semen transportation.

Breeders using AI and semen transportation would be able to select a stallion on genetic merit and not be restricted to what is available nearby because of the huge and increasing cost of sending the mare away from sometimes three or four months at a time.

On the other hand, legendary North American breeder John Gaines, of the famous Gainesway Stud in Kentucky, who has bred both standardbred and thoroughbreds, had the view that AI did make it harder for first-season and unproven young sires to compete against the established, proven stallions, but he didn’t regard it as necessarily a bad thing.

Of course, worldwide AI and semen transportation exists in the greyhound world to no detriment to the breed, and certainly there is no polarization of the gene pool

JM: “Of course, if AI were ever to be introduced into Thoroughbreds in Australia, horses produced by means of AI and their progeny would not be regarded as thoroughbreds in other parts of the world and would not be able to compete internationally and would therefore be useless for breeding purposes internationally as well.”

This is where John Messara and I are in total agreement. It must be one in, all in. Any move to AI must be done on an international basis, because if Australia goes it alone, then the Australian thoroughbred breeding industry will become an isolated island.

Messara agrees that there are benefits to AI but that the benefits don’t outweigh the disadvantages.

One of those benefits sidetracks the enormous insurance costs of travelling the best stallions, for example, Redoute’s Choice would be available to the world and our renewed interest in the stock of Montjeu (now a non-shuttler) could be satisfied.

The chief benefits are the protection of both mare and stallion; the reduction in injuries to travelling mares and foals; the saving of travel and agistment costs for broodmare owners, who are having to send mares long distances to stallions (there are additional veterinary cost to broodmare owners); and the saving of costs for stallion owners in a reduction in required land and staff.

Maybe the last word should go to legendary North American harness racing figure Stan Bergstein, a writer and administrator, who wrote in on this subject in 2002 in his column in the Daily Racing Form, in which he concludes: “The answer, it seems, is that logic does not spend much time in the breeding shed, while hidebound, stubborn tradition hangs out there round the clock.”

Read Bergsteins’ article in full. CLICK HERE.

Ortensia’s dynamic win in Saturday’s Group 2 Winterbottom Stakes (wfa 1200m), at Ascot, was very timely for trainer Tony Noonan, who is in the throws of setting up a satellite stable in Perth.

The affable, and much-travelled Noonan, who is based at Mornington, has always rated Ortensia (b m 2005, Testa Rossa – Aerate’s Pick by Picnicker) very highly, but until Saturday luck has deserted the daughter of Testa Rossa (pictured at Vinery Stud) this spring.

It was a brave decision by Noonan to back up the mare in seven days after her fading sixth behind Sniper’s Bullet in the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Ortensia didn’t run out a strong 1600m, and seven days is not a long time to freshen her up for the shorter trip.

Importantly, jockey Craig Williams rode the mare quietly, and took her very wide – she is best when not squeezed between horses – to make her run. She ran over the top of Idyllic Prince – winner of his previous four starts – to grab victory in the shadows of the post.

Ortensia’s sire Testa Rossa is a stallion on the rise and she is likely to be his next Group 1 winner. Read our story on Testa Rossa – “Testa Rossa & life in the valley of stallions” – in the 2009 autumn issue of The Thoroughbred magazine.

Noonan also trained an impressive winner at Moonee Valley, the 5YO mare Belscenica, who in contrast to Ortensia was stepping in distance to 2040m for the first time. Belscenica, the winner of five of her 13 starts, had scored impressively over 1600m at her previous start, also at Moonee Valley, 12 days earlier.

Belscenica, ridden by 3kg-claimer Jarrod Fry, worked wide for the first 700m before going forward to sit outside the lead. The mare kicked clear on the turn for a decisive win. It was a clever ride and an excellent training performance.

As much as Noonan is infatuated with his stable star in Perth, he has a sentimental attachment to Belscenica, who is closely related to Noonan’s only Group 1 winner, Piavonic (b or br m 1995, Scenic–Piave Girl, by Brave Salute), the dam of the enigmatic Von Costa De Hero (by Encosta De Lago).

Piavonic came with a storming run – a bit similar to Ortensia’s Winterbottom effort – to run down the great mare Sunline in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (wfa 1200m) at Moonee Valley in 2001.

Belscenica also is by Scenic (by Sadler’s Wells (USA)) from the same female line as Piavonic. Her granddam Belle Uno (by Delgado (USA)) is a half-sister to Piave Girl – both are out of the fast mare Black Serenade (by Black Opaque), who is bred 3×3, sire line over sire line, to the great Star Kingdom (IRE).

Those who are old enough will remember Black Serenade’s granddam La Paz (ch m 1964, Coronation Boy (IRE)- Peacefire, by Pipe Of Peace (GB)) as being a tough and fast race filly for leading trainer Angus Armanasco, around the same time he also trained the flying Biscay (ch h 1965, Star Kingdom (IRE)–Magic Symbol, by Makarpura (GB)).

The win of Mark One at the Sunshine Coast last Friday reminded me of a story I wrote this time last year on The Thoroughbred website about his sire Markane, a Red Ransom stallion who is leaving a few winners from his Queensland base.

It is the connection between Markane (pictured) and his half-brother Just Awesome that initial aroused my interest to write the story.

Mark One is a 4YO from the imported mare Lady Smytzer, by Spectrum. Lady Smytzer comes from the direct family that produce the sensational dual Oaks winning filly Pawneese (b m 1973, Calvin (FR)–Plencia (FR), by Le Haar (FR)), bred in Ireland of all French stock. Pawneese won the 1976 Epsom Oaks and Prix Diane (French Oaks) and the King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Pawneese’s dam Plencia is the fourth dam of Mark One.

Markane, who was raced by Tony Santic of Makybe Diva fame, has now sired 17 winners from 47 starts. Most of his best winners are from Santic’s supply of good-class mares.

For readers of The Breed, I reproduce that November 2008 story:

Just one cruel cut

In 1995, Lee Freedman took the call from the manager of a spelling farm in Queensland anticipating one of his regular updates on a team of outstanding horses wintering in the sun following the Brisbane carnival in 1995.

One of the group was the promising stayer Doriemus (Ch g 1990, Norman Pentaquad (USA)-Golden Woods (NZ), by Zamazaan (FR)) who Freedman was “hiding” away from the handicapper in preparation for an assault on the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups after three sprints runs in Brisbane. Doriemus would go on to win the Cups double.

Also spelling was the classy sprinter, the handsome Just Awesome (b h 1990, Last Tycoon (IRE)-Kew Gardens (FR), by Kenmare (FR)), who was sent to Freedman earlier that season in an effort to try and win a Group 1 race to enhance his stallion prospects. Just Awesome, after a succession of Group placings, had finally won an elusive Stakes race – the 1994 Listed Concorde Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill.

Just Awesome won first-up for Freedman at Caulfield on April 15, 1995, over 1000m, but he failed badly when 13th in the Group 1 Goodwood Handicap (1200m) at Morphettville in May, a race that had looked perfectly suitable for the 4YO entire. Freedman sent him to Brisbane to finish a promising and luckless seventh in the Group 3 B.A.T.C. Sprint (1350m) at Doomben, a run that didn’t transfer to the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m at Eagle Farm) when Just Awesome raced on the pace before tiring for 16^th behind Rouslan. Freedman sent both runner-up Schillaci (Gr g 1988, Salieri (USA)-Biscarina, by Biscay) and Just Awesome for a spell in the sun.

The phone call from Queensland, in the days before trainers could be easily contacted by mobile phone, came into Freedman’s Flemington office, accompanied by a tone of voice that immediately alerted Freedman something was amiss. “Just Awesome has been gelded by mistake,” came the panicked voice on the other end of the phone.

I was sitting in the next office to Freedman. As his racing manager of two years, I was well accustomed to a Freedman outburst. This one was a monumental, Hall Of Fame performance. “What do you mean gelded by mistake?” “What do you mean half-gelded?” were just two of Freedman’s demands that can be repeated.

It transpired that a vet had arrived with an authority to geld a colt, but a staff member had misdirected the vet to a yard containing Just Awesome. Just Awesome had the required impressive physical equipment for gelding, and the vet, who broke all the rules by not checking the horse’s brands, set about his task. He had removed one testicle when the farm manager spotted what was happening and halted proceedings as the knife was being raised to complete the job. Just Awesome was left a rig (a stallion with one testicle).

And if the vet wasn’t in enough trouble, Just Awesome was part-owned by Brian Agnew, who apart from owning Wakefield Stud in Scone, also happened to be one of Sydney’s leading litigation lawyers. The vet, and the farm, faced the prospect of a financial “gelding” as the stallion value of Just Awesome had – apparently – been considerably devalued. The case was settled out of court.

Just Awesome recovered from his “operation” quicker than those associated with him, and returned to racing in the spring. His best efforts in five starts were seconds in the Listed Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington and the Group 3 Schillaci Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield. In all, he had eight starts as a rig before retiring to stud in 1997. Ironically, it was back to Queensland for the son of Last Tycoon as Fred Brown’s Glen Avon Stud, on the Darling Downs, took him on, despite the risk of a lower than normal fertility.

Thanks to Brown’s good management, Just Awesome’s physical limitations had little effect on his breeding capabilities. He served 56 mares in his first season, with 47 live foals resulting. The following year he had 48 foals from 68 matings. Unfortunately, Just Awesome’s luck ran out in the winter of 1998 when illness took his life. As so often happens, the stallion became a posthumous sensation. He sired six Stakes winners from those first two small crops, including the New Zealand Group 1 winner Sound The Alarm and the Group 2 Missile Stakes winner Pompeii.

My memory of the Just Awesome story was sparked by the results of the Ascot races in Perth last Saturday. The impressive juvenile winner on debut, Bronze Bullet (Ch g 2006, Markane- Smytzer’s Fury, by Rory’s Jester), is a son of Just Awesome’s half-brother Markane (B h 2000, by Red Ransom (USA)-Kew Gardens (FR), by Kenmare (FR)) who was retired a five start maiden, after a knee injury in 2004. The obvious person to snap up Markane for stud duties was Fred Brown, who immediately promoted the horse’s connection to Glen Avon’s sadly missed Just Awesome.

Then on Tuesday, Brian Mayfield-Smith produced a promising first start winner Tinking (B f 2005, Markane-Gold Anthem, by Made Of Gold (USA)) capped off a big four days for the young stallion. Tinkling, jointly owned by Tony Santic’s Emily Krstina (Aust) Pty Ltd Syndicate and Fred Brown, is a half-sister to Santic’s very promising Starspangledbanner (Ch c 2006, by Choisir), who impressively won the Inglis 2YO Classic (1000m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day.

Markane, whose career under trainer David Hall and owner Tony Santic began promisingly with a second behind Scaredee Cat (now a promising young sire in New Zealand) in the 2002 Listed Debutant Stakes (900m) at Caulfield, served 77 and 74 mares in his first two seasons. The attraction of the Just Awesome link was working, and the numbers also were boosted by mares sent by Santic to Queensland, under a share arrangement with Brown.

The quality of the Markane foals were such that they were surprisingly popular as yearlings, selling for as much as $70,000 off a $4,400 service fee. Santic was so impressed that he sent 34 mares to the young stallion in his third season in 2006, boosting the horse’s harem to 107. In 2007, Brown sold Glen Avon, and Markane was moved to the nearby Eureka Stud, and his fee was raised to $5,500. Last year he covered 82 mares.

Tuesday’s very impressive debut winner at Sale, Tensig, has an interesting and topical international pedigree.

Tensig is a son of champion New Zealand stallion Zabeel (NZ) – pictured – from the imported Danehill mare Kerkira (IRE). The 3YO gelding, who scored a dominant win over 1400m, is trained by Rodney Douglas for prominent and prolific Melbourne owner Jonathan Munz.

Munz’s Pincecliffe Racing Syndicate paid a whopping $600,000 for Tensig, through the bid of agent and advisor Dean Hawthorn at the 2008 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Premier Yearling Sale from the draft of Beltara Stud.

It was the equal fourth highest price for a Zabeel yearling at the sale, which was topped by the $900,000 paid for a colt by Zabeel from La Quinta Gold by David Ellis of Te Akau Bloodstock. The colt races as the promising young stayer Heir Apparent. Heir Apparent, during the spring carnival, finished second in the Listed Geelong Classic (2200m, Geelong) before his ninth behind Monaco Consul in the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m, Flemington).

Tensig’s granddam Kotama, by 1985 Epsom Derby winner Shahrastani (by Nijinsky (CAN), was bred by The Aga Khan and won the Listed Leopardstown One Thousand Guineas Trial; she is a half-sister to Kasora (by Darshaan (GB)), the dam of the champion stayer and now exceptional young sire High Chapparal (by Sadler’s Wells (USA). Of course, High Chapparal, who shuttles to Windsor Park Stud, Cambridge, is the sire of the Derby winner Monaco Consul, and also the brilliant Group 1 Cox Plate winning colt So You Think.

The third dam of Tensig is Kozana (by Kris (GB)), the joint top filly in France in 1985, whose wins included the Group 2 Prix de Malleret at Longchamp, but her best performances were her second behind Rousillon in the 1985 Group 1 Prix du Moulin and third behind Rainbow Quest in the 1985 Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The Zabeel-Danehill cross has provided the champion Hong Kong star Vengeance Of Rain (ex-Danelagh) and his high-class sister Group 1 AJC Oaks winning sister Dizelle, although Zabeel hasn’t covered Danehill mares in great numbers and certainly not the best of the Danehill daughters, who are generally based in Australia.

Tensig’s pedigree has a triple cross of Northern Dancer (4×4x5) and, of course, Danehill is inbred to Northern Dancer’s family.

By nature the Zabeel breed are late developers; the fact that Tensig, with his stout international pedigree, was able to debut with a win against some fast opposition over 1400m, gives owner Munz a lot to look forward to.

Few people would begrudge Munz a good horse after his considerable buying and breeding of horses in the last 10 years so without the racetrack results to match. His best runner in that period was the ill-fated Group 1 Champagne Stakes winner, Meurice (by Strategic).

View Tensig’s pedigree.

Life’s all about timing, and All American’s win in the Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m, Flemington) on November 7 was timely in that it came about the same time as the death of his sire Red Ransom, and it also ensured him a possible seat at the table of Arrowfield Stud stallion roster.

But was the timing right for Arrowfield?

Arrowfield Stud, in fact, is left with a dilemma. Retiring All American immediately, with nearly 10 months to the 2010 breeding season, obviously wasn’t an option for the owners of the horse, including Arrowfield as a major shareholder, but continuing to race him is risky, as we have seen from All American’s disappointing performance (11^th) in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot.

Every similar performance to his Railway flop in his autumn 2010 campaign will dilute the horse’s stallion value. Nobody will be more aware of that than Arrowfield supremo John Messara. All American will need to be handled with care.

I suspect that All American’s autumn campaign will be very select and that we won’t see him chasing Group 1 races for the sake of it, because that will be a very risky policy with a horse that already has a history of inconsistency that is of concern some broodmare owners.

All American needs a big track and a fast tempo to produce his best. A race like the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap (1600m, Randwick) is a perfect fit.

Breeding lines:

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

Red Ransom (USA) (b h 1987, Roberto (USA)-Arabia (USA), by Damascus (USA))

I doubt there is a better value stallion in Australia than Danzero (by Danehill USA)).

The Arrowfield Stud stalwart, who stands in 2009 at a fee of only $22,000 (incl. GST), hit the headlines again when his sensational son Happy Zero (br g 2004, ex-Happy Love, by Canny Lad) won the Hong Kong Sprint Trial (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.

This triumph comes after another son Niconero (b g 2001, ex-Dubai Lass, by Scenic (IRE)) won three Group 1 races in the 2008-09 season – to add to his career tally of five – and his impressive colt Extra Zero (b c 2006, ex-Extra Bubbly, by Bellotto (USA)) ran a bottler of a race for second behind Monaco Consul in the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington.

Danzero, the 1994 Group 1 Golden Slipper winner, is the sire of more than 30 Stakes-winners worldwide, including the extraordinary juvenile Dance Hero (b g 2001, ex-Gypsy Dancer (NZ), by Dance Floor (USA)), who last week was voted by Herald Sun experts as the Australian 2YO of the decade.

Danzero is an ideal proven stallion for young mares to kick off their breeding career, but he’s not for everyone. Danzero, big and heavy with a boofy head (although he matured into an imposing horse), has his physical flaws, so he needs an attractive mare, maybe even light of bone, with some athleticism to achieve the right foal for the sales market.

Happy Zero’s dam, the precocious Stakes-placed Have Love (third 1995 Listed Gimcrack Stakes), was sold, in foal to Danzero, at the 2004 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale for $140,000 to Leung Kai Fai. She produced a strapping colt, who was sold at the 2006 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale from the Widden Stud draft, to the Hong Kong-based trainer John Moore’s Surefire Limited for $425,000. (Happy Zero is pictured as a yearling).

It was an extraordinary price for a Danzero colt with a limited pedigree (one so thin that it normally wouldn’t make it to an Easter Yearling Sale) and a reflection of the colt’s quality. (View the pedigree page)

Danzero had only three yearlings in that Inglis sale and the $425,000 for the Have Love colt is the second highest price ever paid for a yearling by Danzero, who has had only three yearlings sell for more than $400,000 – in 2005, at Easter, a brown colt from the top producer Professionelle (who raced as Hoystar, a triple Stakes winner) sold to Norma Ingham for $400,000 and in 2008 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast, a filly from the fast filly Hustle Bustle sold for $450,000 to the bid of Lindsey Williams. That filly, named Better Choice, is unraced.

Obviously, Moore was attracted to Happy Zero for more than his pedigree shortfalls – four dams on the page and you need to go off the page to the fifth dam, the New Zealand Listed (1000m) winner Starophelia (by Beau Repaire), to find Happy Zero’s first direct female descendant to produce a Stakes winner. Starophelia produced trainer Meggsy Elkington’s tough staying colt Epidaurus (by Forearmed (GB)), winner of the 1970 VRC St Leger (2800m) when the race (now Listed) had a bit more clout that it does today, as it was probably rated at Group 1 level.

Moore also would have been attracted to the fact Happy Zero’s brother, Triumphant Unicorn (born in 2002), was already a successful horse in Hong Kong, winning four races at the time of the sale.

Happy Zero’s fourth dam, Petine (NZ) (by Persian Garden (GB)), is a half-sister the fine producer Mary (NZ), by Hermes (GB), who is best known as the dam of the outstanding half-brothers Cossack Prince (by Sir Tristram) and Cossack Warrior (by Bletchingly) – both multiple Group 2 winners and both placed in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).

Happy Zero was an exceptionally good-looking colt, and very much in the image of his sire (view Danzero to see what I mean), although with a much more attractive head, which obviously appealed to Moore and his bloodstock advisers (a team that can include seriously good judges John Hutchinson and Alan Bell), who select very wisely for the Hong Kong market. Like most Danzero colts, he was a powerful unit, and gelding has been the making of him, as it is with most of the best Danzero colts, including his headliners Dance Hero, Fairway, Niconero and Hoystar.

The pedigree also has a wonderful mix of what has been great about Australian breeding in modern times – Danehill (USA) and Sir Tristram (IRE) (the sire of grand dam Madam Tristo) and a double cross 4×5 of Star Kingdom (IRE) through the dams of Danzero (Kaoru Star) and Have Love (Canny Lad).

Danzero, aged 18, is covering his 15^th book of mares in Scone after starting has career in 1995 at Chatswood Stud, Seymour, Victoria – as did his barn mate Flying Spur. Danzero’s stud fee peaked at $35,000 (inc. GST) in 2001 on the back of his brilliant Group 1 winning 3YOs Fairway and Danglissa, and it has fluctuated since. It is noticeable that his fertility as dropped a little, below 80 per cent (Ref: studbook.org.au) in 2007 and 2008, which is natural for a horse of his age. In 2008, his popularity was high as he covered 134 mares, his third highest number behind 167 (2004) and 158 (2005) in the wake of the deeds of Dance Hero.

The Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale catalogue has arrived on my desk. The sale has been moved earlier than usual, starting on Wednesday, January 27.

A quick peruse of the 630 lots (sold over four days) and I couldn’t help but notice that the former smart Melbourne sprinter Due Sasso has 47 yearlings in the catalogue, a healthy number from 76 foals born in his first season. Due Sasso (pictured) stands in 2009 at Mungrup Stud for a fee of $5500 (inc. GST) – he stood for $9900 in his first two seasons (he only has 36 foals from crop two).

Ironically, as Due Sasso is about to launch his stud career at the yearling sales, his former trainer Brian Mayfield-Smith is about to bow out from training at the end of this month.

Due Sasso has a lot going for him that appeals to West Australian buyers – he’s a son of Scenic (IRE) (by Sadler’s Wells), a stallion that had an amazing impact on WA, and Australian, racing after he moved there from Victoria in 1999. Scenic covered three seasons in WA before returning to Victoria in 2003. Scenic, who died in March 2005, sired the outstanding WA gallopers Scenic Blast, Scenic Shot, Marasco, Idyllic Prince and Grand Nirvana – and of course, the 2007 Melbourne Cup winner Viewed.

Due Sasso is listed as one of Scenic’s fastest sons, which is a tick for his stallion potential – it’s amazing how many times a fast son of a leading sire, even if not Group winner of note, can emerge as a good/champion stallion. Think Danzig (Northern Dancer), Red Ransom (Roberto) and even Due Sasso’s barn mate at Mungrup Oratorio (by Stravinsky).

Due Sasso was a precocious juvenile, winning the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m, Caulfield), beaten subsequent Group 1 winners Nadeem (Blue Diamond Stakes) and Wonderful World (Caulfield Guineas).

Mayfield-Smith described Due Sasso, after that win, as a brilliant colt with natural speed at both ends of his races. He retired after only eight starts.

Due Sasso is out of the Rubiton mare Scarlet Bird, so he defied this part of his pedigree known for producing late maturers. He inherited his speed from his third dam, Sleepyhead, a slick daughter of the fast import Daybreak (IRE) (by Golden Cloud), although Sleepyhead’s dam Mintaway won the Group 1 VRC Oaks (2400m). Sleepyhead is best known as the granddam of the freakish juvenile Rancher (by Bold Lad (IRE), who was also a good sire for Arrowfield Stud.

Three other first season sires have big drafts in the Perth sale – the Fusaichi Pegasus stallion Flying Pegasus (54 yearlings), the stout Danehill son Saxon (34 yearlings) and Catbird’s brother Bearcat (27 yearlings).

Flying Pegasus (b h 2002, ex-Cashier, by Danehill (USA)) won the Group 2 Royal Sovereign Stakes (1200m) as a 3YO and the Group 3 Kindargarten Stakes (1200m) at two. His dam Cashier won the Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m).

Bearcat (b h 1999, Danehill (USA)–Fitting, by Marscay) did his racing in Hong Kong where he won four races from 1200m to 1400m.

Saxon (b h 2001, ex-Jeanetta Cochrane (IRE), by Sadler’s Wells (USA)) won four races including the Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m).