Hong Kong Breeders Club Very Satisfied With Results Of New Zealand-Based Stallions

07/29/2008

The Hong Kong Breeders Club is very satisfied with the Group 1 results achieved by the progeny of its New Zealand-based stallions during the 2007/08 racing season.

Hong Kong-based club co-founder Peter Yip, who is due to visit New Zealand next month, said the benchmark for any stallion’s success is gauged by the results achieved by their progeny at Group 1 level.

And in that regard each of the HKBC’s New Zealand-based stallions – Danroad, Align and Towkay - had managed to achieve a high level of Group 1 success in the past season.

Danroad, who is 100 per cent owned by the Hong Kong Breeders’ Club, made a brilliant start to his stud career when his first-crop representative, Rockdale, was a superb winner of the A$505,000 Group 1 TJ Smith Classic (1600m) at Brisbane’s prestigious winter racing carnival.

Rockdale is now being set for major 3yo races such as the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) in Melbourne during the spring. His achievements in the current season have seen him allocated the fifth-highest Timeform rating in Australia of 118 – the same achieved by New Zealand champion galloper Darci Brahma in his 2yo season which also saw him win the TJ Smith Classic.

Rockdale’s efforts have seen Danroad climb to fourth position on the Australian 2yo sires table. In addition Danroad is the leading first-season sire in New Zealand for 2007/08 based on progeny earnings in Australasia.

Danroad, who is owned by the Hong Kong Breeders' Club, has a very impressive strike rate of four individual winners and two placegetters from only nine starters in Australasia this season.

Danroad's New Zealand winners this season have been the stakes performer, Amazing Sky, Worthing and Kerilla.

As a result of Rockdale’s win there has been very strong interest from breeders in sending mares to Danroad this year. The fast Group 2 winning son of Danehill stands at Highview Stud, near Hamilton.

For the second consecutive year Align sired a Group 1 winning two-year-old – making him the only sire in Australasia to have sired back-to-back Gr. 1 2yo winners in the past two seasons. This came with the win by Fully Fledged in the Group 1 Ford Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie. Fully Fledged also has major 3yo racing assignments in the pipeline with his major target being the Group 1 New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas at Riccarton in November. The HKBC purchased a one-third earlier this year in Align who also stands at Highview Stud.

Align’s Group 1 winning 2yo of the previous season, Nightlign, has already made a favourable impression on the Hong Kong racing scene. He scored a stunning first-up win in class one company at Sha Tin which earned his owners a major bonus into the bargain. He then went on to record a meritorious third placing in Group 3 company in Hong Kong.

Towkay, owned by the HKBC in partnership with Little Avondale Stud where he stands, has been to the fore as the sire of Group 1 winners Special Mission and dual Group 1 runner-up Armada.

Three-year-old filly Special Mission posted her outstanding win in the Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Te Aroha run under weight-for-age conditions. This is the only Group 1 race restricted to fillies and mares in New Zealand.

Armada was runner-up in the Group 1 Yasuda Kinen run at Tokyo Racecourse in June which followed on from his second placing in the Group 1 Hong Kong Champions Mile at Sha Tin in April. However, he did win the Group 2 Chairman’s Trophy in Hong Kong early April.

In addition to its New Zealand-based stallions the Hong Kong Breeders’ Club also owns interests in a number of Australian-based stallions including Starcraft, Snitzel, God’s Own, Danbird, Lucky Owners and Southern Image along with the Northern Hemisphere-based stallions Motivator, Rakti and Whipper along with significant interests in the South African-based stallions Stronghold and Way West.