March 17th, 2008

Highly credentialed young Danehill stallion, Kempinsky, will relocate to Independent Stallions Victoria following the recent sale of the Alteri family’s Newlands Stud, at Seymour.

Kempinsky was recently represented by his first yearlings at the Melbourne Premier Sale with all 10 yearlings selling at an encouraging average of $60,000.

“We are delighted that Kempinsky will move to Independent Stallions following our decision to sell Newlands,” said Walter Alteri. 

“He will not be forced to move far and is still very accessible for the loyal band of broodmare owners who have provided him with an outstanding opportunity at stud”.

Hailing from the famed Eight Carat family, Kempinsky showed he was well above average in his short eight start career.

He showed his class with a third in the Gr 1 Caulfield Guineas, in which he beat home Elvstroem and Exceed and Excel, before defeating Elvstroem in the Gr 2 AAMI Vase, at Moonee Valley.

Kempinsky then ran a game second to Elvstroem in the VRC Derby and was later found to have chipped a bone in his knee during the race.

The handsome colt was retired when he failed to recapture his form following surgery and met immediate success at stud with strong demand for his services at his generous $8800 fee.

"I have stayed out of the race to stand a son on Danehill until now,” said ISV Manager Mike Becker. 

"It seems that every stud has one but until now I had not been able to find a son of Danehill to excite me as much as Kempinsky and I am naturally happy to have been asked by the Alteri family to stand the horse.”

“Like the buyers at the Melbourne Premier, I was very impressed with the types he is leaving and now we are seeing his progeny going into all the major stables which is a huge advantage for his stud future

“With the numbers of foals he has from his first three seasons at stud, he will have every opportunity and I think he is a very live chance to succeed.”

February 25th, 2008

STALLIONS take a look at the outstanding array of talent among the sires with first crop yearlings for sale in 2008. 

This week STALLIONS looks at Kempinsky’s credentials. 

Kempinsky is by super sire, Danehill (Danzig) from a descendant of the marvellous mare, Eight Carat, Tristalove. 

Tristalove (Sir Tristram – Diamond Lover by Sticks and Stones) was a group one winning juvenile and breeders don’t have to look far to find talented performers anywhere in his pedigree, and that’s hardly surprising because this family was producing champions long before Eight Carat branched off with her own remarkable youngsters like Horse of the Year Octagonal, Kaapstad, Mouawad, Marquise and Diamond Lover (all Group 1 winners).

Kempinsky’s ninth dam is the flying grey filly Mumtaz Mahal (The Tetrarch), rated by Timeform as the fastest filly of her time - her descendants include notable sires Nasrullah, Royal Charger, Mahmoud, Abernant, Migoli and Kalamoun.

Although Eight Carat is a half-sister to Habibti (Habitat), winner of the Royal Ascot King’s Stand Stakes and July Cup, she showed none of the family talent on the track but more than made up for that as a broodmare par excellence.
Eight Carat has many stakes winning descendants her daughter Diamond Lover (Kempinsky’s grandam) won eight races including the ARC Railway Handicap-Gr.1, and her progeny include the Group I AJC Derby hero Don Eduardo (Zabeel), winner of $1.6m and successful sire; Group 2 winner Peruzzi (Zabeel) who is the dam of the stakes winner Lucida and group one placegetter Flora Danica; Listed winner Antwerp (Sir Tristram), dam of Champion Australasian Two Year Old Viscount (Quest for Fame), a multiple Group 1 winner and successful sire; and the Listed winner Helsinborg and Group 1 placed sire Dangerous, both by Danehill.

Diamond Lover is by the dashing sprinter Sticks and Stones who won five races and a son of Faringdon (Star Kingdom), a brother to Golden Slipper winner Todman and Cox Plate winner Noholme, both successful sires.

Kempinsky’s dam Tristalove was very good indeed. She won 11 races (1200m-2040m) from 28 starts and the Group I AJC Sires’ Produce (1400m) and SAJC Australasian Oaks (2000m). She has had eight foals to race and all are winners: Love a Dane; stakes-placed Chimeara (dam of Rosehill Guineas-Gr.1 winner De Beers, by Quest for Fame); Spring Champion Stakes-Gr.1 winner Viking Ruler; Listed winner and Gr.1-placed Diamond Like; Gr.2 winner Kempinsky and Love Diamonds – all by Danehill; Lovetrista (by Rock of Gibraltar) winner of two listed events in New Zealand and Grand Statesman (Grand Lodge) also a winner in New Zealand.

Kempinsky had one unplaced run at two and was then put away until the spring, resuming with a strong third to Delzao in the MRC Hymettus Handicap (1200m). He won his maiden at Mornington where he beat the smart Noble Red. His trainer Mick Price then asked him to step up to group one company at his next outing, his fourth race start. 

Kempinsky acquitted himself well when third in the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) to In Top Swing and Face Value. 
Kempinsky then defeated Elvstroem in the Group 2 MVRC Moonee Valley Vase; they matched strides at his next start in the VRC Derby-Gr.1 (2500m), with the former prevailing by 1-1/2 lengths.

Retiring to Newlands Thoroughbreds at Seymour, Kempinsky was rushed off his feet in his first season in 2005, covering 136 mares he was just as popular the following season, covering 129 and another 126 last spring.

Kempinsky has 15 yearlings on offer at the William Inglis Premier Yearling Sale (March 1st-6th) in Victoria. Two yearlings are on offer at the Adelaide Magic Millions (March 10- 12th) and he has two yearlings catalogued for the Gold Coast Magic Millions Premier sale (March 24 - April 2nd) and the Inglis Classic Yearling sale (April 3rd – 11th).

October 3rd, 2007

Kempinsky's half sister won the Listed Soliloquy Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday in stunning fashion when sent out as one of the favourites. Lovetrista (Rock Of Gibraltar - Tristalove) won the second leg of the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series.

In just her second race start, the John Sargent trained three-year-old from the Group One winner and grand producer Tristalove was all class as she finished one-and-a-half lengths ahead of Seachange's sister Keepa Cruisin and Boundless.

Lovetrista is likely to run in the Listed Sarten Memorial on October 22 before a clash with Octagonal filly Diamond Deck in the G1 One Thousand Guineas at Riccarton.

Tristalove is a daughter of Diamond Lover (Sticks And Stones) and grand-daughter of famed dynasty founder Eight Carat (Pieces of Eight).  Tristalove, who died in 2005, was very good indeed, this daughter of Sir Tristram winning 11 races including the AJC Sires’Produce-Gr.1 and SAJC Australasian Oaks-Gr. A very good two year-old she won four of her five starts at that age and was second in the Magic Night Stakes-Gr.2 to subsequent record-breaking Golden Slipper-Gr.1 winner Bint Marscay in the other.

Tristalove has had eight foals to race and all are winners, including: Gr.1 winner Viking Ruler, Gr.2 winner Kempinsky, stakes-placed Chimeara (dam of Rosehill Guineas-Gr.1 winner De Beers), Listed winner and Gr.1-placed Diamond Like; and up and coming WA sire, Love a Dane.

Kempinsky was well supported in his first season in 2005, covering 136 mares and was just as popular last season, covering 129 mares. He has had a fertility rate of 90% over his first two seasons and in the start of 2007, he has proved to be just as fertile with 19 of 21 first scans positive.

“We believe Kempinsky has, arguably, the best female pedigree of any stallion in Australia and we couldn’t be happier with the horse since he was retired to stud two years ago,” Robert Alteri said.

“His first foals are exceptional, very much leaning towards the Danehill side of his pedigree, being compact types who are very strong and well-boned with beautiful heads.
“He is shaping up to have another very good book of mares this year, and we feel at a service fee of $8800, he represents great value,” Alteri continued.

For all inquiries about Kempinsky, please call Robert Alteri on 0429 321 402

July 25th, 2007

This week the Australian Bloodhorse Review editor, David Bay, looks at the pedigree of Kempinsky.

Breeders throughout Australasia owe a debt of gratitude to Eight Carat (GB) as the marvellous mare’s descendants continue to dominate on the turf and at stud. One of this family’s most popular recent recruits to the breeding barn is the royally bred Kempinsky.

Kempinsky qualifies as “Aussie Royalty” - in the thoroughbred world at least – with a pedigree combining the most successful bloodlines and a race record to match.

This son of supersire Danehill (USA) (Danzig) and the Gr.1-winning juvenile Tristalove (Sir Tristram (IRE)) met and defeated talented performers like Elvstroem, Hasna and Exceed and Excel in an eight-start career and is one of the illustrious descendants of Eight Carat (GB), his third dam.

You don’t have to look far to find talented performers anywhere in this pedigree, and that’s hardly surprising because this family was producing champions long before Eight Carat (GB) branched off with her own remarkable youngsters like Horse of the Year Octagonal, Kaapstad, Mouawad, Marquise and Diamond Lover (all Gr.1 winners).

Kempinsky’s ninth dam is the flying grey filly Mumtaz Mahal (The Tetrarch), rated by Timeform as the fastest filly of all time - her descendants include notable sires Nasrullah, Royal Charger, Mahmoud, Abernant, Migoli and Kalamoun.

Mumtaz Mahal was bred by Lady Sykes at Sledmere Stud and was sold in England as a yearling in 1922 for 9100 guineas with the buyer George Lambton acting on behalf of the Aga Khan.

It was the most money paid for a yearling since the sale of Sceptre (also a great filly on the track) at that age for 10,0000 guineas in 1900.

Incidentally, Sceptre and Mumtaz Mahal meet in the pedigree of Kempinsky as Sceptre is the fourth dam of Petition (sire of Danzig’s grandam Peitioner.

The Bloodstock Breeders’ Review, commenting on Mumtaz Mahal’s sale as a yearling wrote: “As an individual she is wonderful, as near perfection as imagination can conceive. Her conformation is ideal and she had both size and quality. This does not necessarily mean she is bound to be a racing paragon. The characters most essential for racing purposes are hidden until they can be subjected to a practical test.”

Well, they were not hidden for long.

The Bloodstock Breeders’ Review of 1923 reported, “In the early months of the year, Mumtaz Mahal showed her trainer (R.C. Dawson) that she was no ordinary filly. It was at the Newmarket Second Spring Meeting that she first revealed to the public what she could do. A week or two before, Mr Dawson had formally tested her capabilities. 

“On April 7 he saddled the two year-old Friar’s Daughter to win the Enfield Plate at Alexandria Park from 13 opponents. Second to her, beaten two lengths, was Golden Knight, who had previously won easily at Nottingham. Friar’s Daughter (who would become the dam of Bahram and Dastur) was, therefore, a useful animal for trial purposes. Mumtaz Mahal was asked to give her 28lb and in the doing beat her half a furlong.

“I was so astounded and excited that I nearly fell of my hack,” said Mr Dawson. “I knew the grey to be an exceptionally good filly, I had no idea she was such a wonder.”

Mumtaz Mahal duly won the Spring Stakes on debut, running a new track record of 57.8 for the 5f, and her seven wins in 10 starts also included the Queen Mary Stakes at Ascot, the National Breeders’ Produce Stakes, Doncaster Champagne Stakes and Nunthorpe Stakes.

Her daughter Mumtaz Begum (Blenheim) is Kempinsky’s eighth dam and she is a three-quarter sister to Mahmoud, another who displayed remarkable speed, but this time over the English Derby distance, running a record 2:33.2 in 1936.

Becoming a sire of international significance from his base in the USA, he features three times in Kempinsky’s pedigree 6f,6fx6m via his daughter Almahmoud (grandam of Northern Dancer and also fourth dam of Danehill) and son Mr Trouble.

Kempsinsky’s seventh dam is Sun Princess (Solario) and her daughter Tessa Gillian (Nearco), a sister to Royal Charger and three-quarter sister to Nasrullah, is his sixth dam.
Fifth dam Courtessa (Supreme Court) is the dam of good sprinter D’Urberville and his sister Klairessa (both by Klairon), Kempinsky’s fourth dam.

Klairessa’s daughter Habibti (Habitat) inherited all the family speed and counted the King’s Stand Stakes-Gr.1 and July Cup-Gr.1 among her wins. Her half-sister Eight Carat (GB) (by the superb Relic-sired racehorse Pieces of Eight) showed none of the family talent on the track but more than made up for that as a broodmare par excellence.

Today we are almost losing count of her stakeswinning descendants as there are so many. Her daughter Diamond Lover (Kempinsky’s second dam) won eight races including the ARC Railway Handicap-Gr.1, and her six winners include the $NZ3.6m yearling and later AJC Derby-Gr.1 hero Don Eduardo (Zabeel (NZ)), winner of $1.6m and now at stud; Gr.2 winner Peruzzi (Zabeel) who is the dam of Lucida and Flora Danica; Listed winner Antwerp (Sir Tristram), dam of Champion Australasian Two Year Old Viscount (Quest for Fame (GB)), a multiple Gr.1 winner who is now at stud; and the Listed winner Helsinborg and Gr.1 placed sire Dangerous, both by Danehill.

Diamond Lover is by the dashing sprinter Sticks and Stones who won five races and was placed in the AJC The Galaxy-Gr.2, Challenge Stakes-Gr.2 and Oakleigh Plate-Gr.1 and is a son of Faringdon (Star Kingdom (IRE)-Oceana (IRE) by Colombo), a brother to Golden Slipper winner Todman and Cox Plate winner Noholme, both successful sires.

Sticks and Stones is from the wonderful producer Winged Beauty (by the speed sire Port Vista (IRE)), who won 10 races including the Carrington Stakes and produced the VRC 1000 Guineas-Gr.1 winner Princess Talaria (Dignitas (USA)).

Kempinsky’s dam Tristalove was very good indeed, this daughter of Sir Tristram winning 11 races (1200m-2040m) from 28 starts and $788,312 including the AJC Sires’ Produce-Gr.1 (1400m, from Justice Prevails and Allez Glen) and SAJC Australasian Oaks-Gr.1 (2000m, from Pindi and Our Mess).

A very good two year-old she won four of her five starts at that age and was second in the Magic Night Stakes-Gr.2 to subsequent record-breaking Golden Slipper-Gr.1 winner Bint Marscay in the other.

She also won the Quezette Quality (1200m) at three, along with the Alister Clarke Stakes-Gr.2 (2040m), Kewney Stakes-Gr.2 (1600m from Swift Falcon and Alcove), Adelaide Guineas-Gr.3 (1800m) to go with her Oaks crown and at four captured the Feehan Stakes-Gr.2 (1600m, from Gr.1 winners Redding and Primacy), was third in the Turnbull Stakes-Gr.2 (2000m), the Chester Manifold-LR and Diamond Jubilee-Gr.3.

Tristalove has had seven foals to race and all are winners: Love a Dane; stakes-placed Chimeara (dam of Rosehill Guineas-Gr.1 winner De Beers, by Quest for Fame); Spring Champion Stakes-Gr.1 winner Viking Ruler (a $1.5m yearling and brother to Kempinsky who stands at Cambridge Stud, NZ); Listed winner and Gr.1-placed Diamond Like; Gr.2 winner Kempinsky (an $800,000 yearling) and Love Diamonds – all by Danehill and Grand Statesman (Grand Lodge (USA)), a winner over 2100m in NZ.

The Cambridge Stud-owned mare also has a two year-old filly by Danehill’s son Rock of Gibraltar (IRE) called Lovetrista (NZ). 

Kempinsky, who was trained in Melbourne by Mick Price, had one unplaced run at two in March 2003 and was then put away until the spring, resuming with a strong third to Delzao in the MRC Hymettus Handicap (1200m) on September 3 that year.

Taken to Mornington for his next start on September 27, he beat the smart Noble Red and Annie La Vie over 1500m and was then asked to step up to Gr.1 company at his next outing on October 11.  It’s a pretty big ask to run in Gr.1 company at just your fourth race start, but Kempinsky acquitted himself well with a third in the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) to In Top Swing and Face Value (Elvstroem fifth). Next up it was Kempinsky’s turn for his major win, beating Elvstroem and Life’s a Bountry into the minor placings in the MVRC Moonee Valley Vase-Gr.2 (2040m in 2:07.14) on October 25. Elvstroem and Kempinsky then matched strides in the VRC Derby-Gr.1 (2500m), with the former prevailing by 1.5 lengths and third and fourth-placed Our Bahare and Noble Red well back. Off the scene until August 28, 2004, Kempinsky was unplaced in the Memsie Stakes-Gr.2 and following another unplaced run in the Feehan Stakes-Gr.2 on September 11 was retired.

Standing at Robert Alteri’s Newlands Thoroughbreds at Seymour, Kempinsky was rushed off his feet in his first season in 2005, covering 136 mares and was just as popular last season, covering 129 mares.

A strong attractive horse, standing 16.1 hands, Kempinsky is bred along similar lines to successful sire brothers Commands and Danewin (sons of Danehill and whose second dam is by Eight Carat) and also to classic winner and sire Nothin’ Leica Dane (by Danehill from a mare by Sir Tristram).

He has the looks, race record and pedigree to make a good sire and it’s a fairly safe bet he won’t remain on his modest fee once his stock get to the track.