Kiwi bred King’s Stand winner’s Aussie maternal breeding
20 Jun 2012 | By Brian Russell European horses this week have been again vanquished by the southern hemisphere breed in the run for sprint glory in the King’s Stand Stakes (five furlongs), one of three Group1 races on the opening day of the Royal Ascot carnival. A difference this time is that, instead of the winner being a visitor from Australia, it has been taken out by a Hong Kong sprint star bred in New Zealand.
Earlier winner of nine of 19 starts, all in Hong Kong and including two each at Group 2 and 3, he is Little Bridge, a 6-year-old by Faltaat, an American bred son of Mr. Prospector who won 13 races and champion sprinter honours in Dubai. He stands at Westbury Stud, Karaka.
Ridden at Ascot by Hong Kong based Australian Zac Purton, Little Bridge is the only runner from the four living foals out of Golden Rose, a winner at 1200m at Wellington, New Zealand, who changed hands at a sale in 2008 for $1,000.
Although New Zealand bred, Golden Rose has some Australian bloodlines. She is by the prematurely deceased Gold Brose, a dashing performer bred by Anne Raymond at her Sledmere Stud, Scone, and from Enrichment, a Straight Strike winner from Concord, a Victorian produced daughter of Century and Grable, a Showdown winner of one race, a1000m event in Melbourne at two.
Grable supplied 15 foals for 13 winners, all her runners, and Lady Grable, the unraced third dam of the flying filly Karuta Queen. Karuta Queen’s sire Not a Single Doubt has a lot of the same genes as Bated Breath, the runner up in the 2012 running of 22 starter King’s Stand Stakes.
A 5-year-old England bred colt, Bated Breath is by one of the best Danehill sires in Dansili and from Tantima, a grandaughter of Didicoy, a Danzig product of Monroe, a sister to Show Lady, the third dam of Not a Single Doubt’s sire Redoute’s Choice.
Two sons of Dansili available at stud in Australia in the 2012 season are Champion’s Gallery (GB) (third season), a winner in England (Ascot) and Hong Kong and Hong Kong Derby third at Neville Bell’s Kilto Park Stud, Caboolture, Qld, and Coolmore, Hunter Valley new shuttler Zoffany (Ire).
Zoffany was one of Europe’s leading juveniles in 2010 and a three-quarter length second to Frankel in the St James’s Palace Stakes at last year’s Royal Ascot carnival.