Sire Records Are made To Be Broken
One of the most remarkable achievements in Widden Stud history early last century was the amazing number of winners produced by resident sire Grafton.
At a time when the birth of 30 or more foals by one sire was rare Grafton supplied the winners in one season of 205½ races from 71 individual winners in 1909-10 and 204½ (81) in 1910-11.
He was the first sire in Australian history to reach double century wins in one year and he also set a new record for individual winners with 86 successful in 182 ½ races in 1908-09.
Grafton held the individual winners record until Smokey Eyes, the Irish bred sprinter by Star Kingdom’s sire Stardust, chalked up 88 winners of 188 ½ races from his use at Lyndhurst Stud in1967-68.
Smokey Eyes set the record again the following year with 90 winners and made him the first sire since Grafton to crack the double century of wins, his progeny succeeding in 204 races include three dead heats
The Smokey Eyes winners record was not surpassed until another Lyndhurst sire Celestial Dancer (Godswalk), supplied 98 winners (195 wins) in 1994-95.
The following season Celestial Dancer (pictured)became the first sire to crack the century of winners,118, in the world in a year and at the same time he knocked off Grafton’s double century wins record with a massive score of 239.
Australia’s leading sire numerically for nine successive years, including 127 winners of 234 races in 1996-97,109 winners 200 races1997-98 and120 winners of 220 1998-99, Celestial Dancer along with Smokey Eyes was one of five sires used at Lyndhurst in the ownership of the Krugers to lead Australia numerically last century.
All imports, the others were Hail to Success twice, Grand Chaudiere three times and Head Over Heels (twice.
Smokey Eyes, the pioneer of the Kruger’s phenomenal success with the sires,, started his stud career in Victoria and his first progeny, 2-year-olds of 1956-57, were starting to race when he moved to Queensland.
Earlier owners of a small stud near Ipswich, the Kruger brothers,Ted and Percy, purchased Lyndhurst following the death at 80 in1955 of James McDougall, the third generation of his family to own the property.
The McDougalls called Lyndhurst home from1875 and commenced thoroughbred breeding in1886 with Australian bred Archie, a winner of the VRC Ascot Vale Stakes and AJC All Aged Stakes, as foundation sire. One of his daughters won the1894 Queensland Derby.
Sires that followed early last century included Syce, Ladurlad, Seremond and Chantermerle, all sources of Queensland Derby winners. Syce, Seremond and Chantermerle also had Brisbane Cup winners.
The greatest sire used by the McDougalls was the good English stayer The Bastard, who won fame as a sire as The Buzzard.
Folklore has it that James McDougall, the buyer of this third generation male line descendant of Carbine related to Heroic, shocked the girl in the cable office when in 1930 he asked her to send a message to England saying he would take The Bastard.
The Buzzard was Australian Champion Sire twice and runner up five times. His progeny included winners of two Melbourne Cups, four Brisbane Cups, two Caulfield Cups, two Sydney Cups, four Queensland Derbys, three Queensland Guineas , the Doncaster and AJC Derby.
Tommy Smith was the owner and trainer of Playboy, a gelding by The Buzzard who broke his maiden status winning the 1949 AJC Derby. Playboy was the first of more than 30 Derby winners trained by Smith.
Good performers by The Buzzard raced by James McDougall included Auto Buzz (Queensland Derby, Guineas), Blue Slipper (Queensland Derby, Guineas ), Blue Boots (Brisbane Cup),Tragopan (Brisbane Cup), Auto Buzz (Queensland Guineas) and Blue Vest (Queensland Cup).
Lyndhurst since it came under the stewardship of the Krugers has not claimed the Australian Champion Sire on earnings, but they have made the stud one of the most successful sources of winners in world history.
Four times third on the national sires’ earnings list, Smokey Eyes left more than 460 winners of more than 3000 races.
Among the best Smokey Eyes performers were the Kruger raced Eye Liner, the champion 2-year-old filly whose wins included the AJC Champagne Stakes and Queensland Oaks winners Eye Shadow and Bright Shadow (both won the Queensland Oaks).
It is estimated that Lyndhurst sires have supplied an aggregate of over 3500 winners of 15,000 races with principal contributors being Smokey Eyes (460 winners, 2885 wins); Celestial Dancer ( 713 winners, 2885 wins); Grand Chaudiere (456 winners, 2163 wins); Head Over Heels ( 280 winners, 910 wins); Hail To Success (259 winners,1223 wins); Canadian Silver (348 winners, 1032 wins); Zephyr Zing (223 winners, 719 wins); Sequalo (590 wins, 2050 wins); and Hidden Dragon (162 winners, 390 wins).
Easy Date, a Grand Chaudiere mare, went to Lunchtime at Widden Stud and produced champion racehorse and influential sire Snippets; Zephyr Zing sired the dam of Falvelon, a champion sprinter and current prolific winner getter; Sequalo is a 23-year-old still at Lyndhurst and is consistently one of Queensland’s leading sires; and Hidden Dragon’s oldest are only six-year-olds.
Sequalo and Hidden Dragon were in the leading 20 by winners in the national statistics for 2012-13 and each of them is among the 20 leaders by earnings, winners and wins after the first two months of 2013-14.
Last racing year saw these two sires, taking in overseas representation as well as Australian runners, wrack up 96 winners of 156 races and $3,251,616 (Sequalo) and 97 winners of 152 races and $2,696,655 (Hidden Dragon).
In 2013 Lyndhurst is also standing Drumbeats and Rash Action.
Drumbeats (Redoute’s Choice) is from Delicate Choice, a mare by Last Tycoon from Arborea, a winner of the VRC Oaks, Caulfield Thousand Guineas, Wakeful Stakes and Phar Lap Stakes. She is by Imperial Prince from a mare by two times Arc de Triomphe winner Alleged.
An interesting feature of the breeding of Drumbeats is that the parents, Sir Ivor and Best in Show, of Show Lady, the fourth dam of Redoute’s Choice, also appear in the bottom half of the pedigree.
