America, Rienzi (March 9th, 2010) - Pedigree advisor Alan Porter continues his series of pedigree profiles and this week he takes a look at the family behind Wanted.
It was quite a week for Fastnet Rock. First it was announced that he would cover a stellar book of mares in his first European season, and then his son, Wanted gave him his second group one winner from his freshman Australian crop.
The son of Danehill is set to cover at least 21 group winning or stakes producing mares in Ireland this year, including English Oaks (gr. I) victress Alexandrova; Irish Oaks (gr. I) captress Moonstone; Damson, heroine of the Phoenix Stakes; Sea the Stars classic placed half-sister, All Too Beautiful; and the dams of such as Araafa, Clodovil, Thewayyouare, Westphalia, Peeping Fawn, Johannesburg, King Charlemagne, and Rumplestiltskin.
Fastnet Rock’s pedigree, race-record and early promise as a stallion make it abundantly clear why he has earned that sort of book. A son of Danehill, Fastnet Rock is out of the group stakes winning Royal Academy mare, Piccadilly Circus. One of the best of his crop at two, Fastnet Rock progressed the following season to earn honours as Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and Champion Sprinter. He picked up six graded stakes during the 2004-2005 campaign, and in a particularly outstanding spell captured in succession the Rory’s Jester Stakes (gr. II), Linlithgow Stakes (gr. II), Lightning Stakes (gr. I) and Oakleigh Plate (gr. I).
With his first crop he established himself as the leading second crop sire standing in Australia (he’s actually dueling for the outright title with his Irish stud mate, High Chaparral, who shuttles to New Zealand). He’s sired seven stakes winners in his first crop, headed by group one winners Wanted and Irish Lights, and graded scorers Curved Ball, Lovemelikearock, and Dino Mak.
For a while it looked as if Wanted was destinied to be a perennial bridesmade when it came to group one competition. The A$800,000 yearling won the Kindergarten Stakes (gr. III) at two. Early in his three-year-old career, he took second in the Rory’s Jester Stakes (gr. II) and a third in the Schillaci Stakes (gr. II). As summer approached, Wanted really hit form, running second in three consecutive grade one events, the Victoria Racing Club Stakes; the Lightning Stakes, in which he was only denied by a freakish performance from Nicconi, and William Reid Stakes (gr. I), again missing by a head. Turned back out for the Oakleigh Plate (gr. I), he took fourth, but beaten just ½ length for it all. For the Newmarket Handicap (gr. I), different tactics were adopted and Wanted lead throughout to gain those all important grade one laurels.
Wanted is out of the speedy Snippets mare, Fragmentation, winner of four races, including the Australia Cup Carnival Stakes, and second in the C.S. Hayes Stakes (gr. III). Fragmentation is off to a flying start as a producer as her first two foals are Wanted and the Charge Forward juvenile, Sharpnel, winner of the Breeders’ Stakes (gr. III) this year. The grandam, Southern Sprinter is a daughter of the imported In Reality line stallion, Southern Appeal, a grade one winning juvenile in the U.S. she is a sister to In the Mist, a versatile mare who won 10 races from 1006 to 2250m., five of them black-type, and also ran second in the Sedgwick Classic (gr. II) to Encosta de Lago subsequently produced the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (gr. II) and SAJC Breeders’ Stakes (gr. II).
In tail-female line the family goes all the way back to Lady Wayward, an English-bred mare who was imported into New Zealand in early part of the last century. She owned an extremely strong pedigree, as she was by Ladas, winner of the Derby and 2,000 Guineas, out of Vane, a sister to Triple Crown winner Flying Fox.
Wanted will retire to stand Widden Stud, who have done remarkable job of secure hot young speedsters lately, Wanted being preceeded last year’s first year horses Sebring and Northern Meteor. He brings with him an intriguing pedigree pattern, which appears to be based around Northern Dancer (and particularly his dam, Natalma) with the Menow/Bull Dog combination.
He’s a Northern Dancer line horse via Danehill, but Danehill’s grandam, Spring Adieu, is by Buckpasser (by Tom Fool, a Menow/Bull Dog cross) out of Natalma. Fastnet Rock’s dam, Royal Academy, is Nijinsky II (whose dam, Flaming Page is a Bull Dog/Menow cross). Finally, Snippets is by a grandson of Tom Fool out of a mare by a son of Northern Dancer.
As far as Wanted’s stallion career is concerned, In addition to the standard Danehill fare there are going to be several interesting ways of building on the Natalma/Menow/Bull Dog background. Any inbreeding to Buckpasser, Tom Fool or Nijinsky II is going to be beneficial.
The Mr. Prospector/Buckpasser cross, found in Woodman, Seeking the Gold and Miswaki, who all have representatives in Australia looks promising. Royal Academy is very closely related to Storm Cat, and tellingly, Fastnet Rock, has sired grade one winner Irish Lights out of a mare by Storm Cat’s son, Hennessy. In addition to Storm Cat line horses, it could pay to bring in Storm Cat’s sire, Storm Bird (broodmare sire of Thunder Gulch) a genetic relative to Royal Academy’s sire, Nijinsky II, and The Minstrel, a three-parts-brother to Nijinsky II (with Zafonic, out a mare by The Minstrel looking particularly interesting). Playing on a theme, Blushing Groom is potentially very useful here, as his sire, Red God, is out of Spring Run, a three-quarters relative to Tom Fool, and a horse with a tremendous record with Nijinsky II.
