May 17th, 2006

As Danehill zones in on another championship, this time in the northern hemisphere, it’s certainly not going to hurt the commercial prospect of another of his sons who retires to stud this spring, Oratorio.

Oratorio was a fantastic racehorse he won at the highest level of competition on three occasions and he is line-bred to the families of Northern Dancer and Alydar.

On the track, Oratorio has victories over Starcraft, Motivator, Alexander Goldrun, Azamour and Grey Swallow, some of the very best horses to have raced in Europe over the past few seasons.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien described Oratoria as a horse who had it all.
“He is an amazing horse. He has everything, speed, stamina and a big heart,” O'Brien said.

Nor was rider Kieren Fallon any less complimentary. “I had a lot of confidence in this horse”, he said after winning the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes.

“He has an electric turn of foot and really quickened up when I wanted him to.”

Motivator’s connections were adamant that the son of Montjeu was at his best at the Cox Plate distance of 2000m. And so he undoubtedly was. But he had the misfortune of running into Oratorio — first in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes and then in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, both races over 10 furlongs (2000m). Oratorio beat him both times, in the process establishing him as one of only four horses in the past 30 years to have won both of these races.

As a juvenile Oratorio won his maiden over 1200m at the Curragh he then stepped up to stakes company at the same course and took out the Group 2 Anglesey Stakes. Stepping up a notch again at The Curragh, Oratorio won the Group 2 Futurity Stakes (1400m) by two lengths. He then capped off his juvenile year with victory in the Group I Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1400m) at Longchamp in France.

Oratorio also recorded two seconds at the elite level in his juvenile year in the Group I Phoenix Stakes (1200m) and the Dewhurst Stakes (1400m) at Newmarket.

In his classic year, Oratorio finished second in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas (1600m) at the Curragh and third in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) at York. He capped off his classic year with wins in the Group 1 Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes.

Oratorio’s pedigree is full of black type and is also one that doubles up on two of the greatest female lines in thoroughbred racing and breeding history - the female lines of Northern Dancer and Alydar.

Oratorio stands in the Hunter Valley at Coolmore Stud and his fee has been listed as $33,000 (inc gst).