Risk Turns To Reward As South American Proves Popular At Stud

The Age

Friday July 11, 2008

Andrew Garvey

MARKETING a first-season stallion is rarely an easy business and when the horse has South American form, is by a little-known sire and has a similarly unfamiliar pedigree, the task is even tougher.

For Cathy Webb and Ken Dean, principals of the Victorian Stallion Partnership, the job of marketing Estambul was a challenge, but given his outstanding race record it was worth the risk and four years down the track the rewards are starting to flow.

"We knew it wouldn't be easy, but he was a dual group 1 winner in Argentina and we would have had no hope of buying an Australian horse with the same record so we thought he was worth the risk," Webb said.

Estambul won his group 1 races over 1000 and 1200 metres, running the former in 54.21 seconds. He is a son of the French group 1-winning Nureyev horse Kitwood, who has had a successful stud career in South America, but was an unknown in Australia until his group 1-winning daughter Paraca started winning races locally, in the lead-up to Estambul's first year at stud.

With the current racing season coming to a close, Exceed And Excel is runaway winner of the Australian first-season-sires' premiership but in Victoria, Estambul is fighting it out with higher-profile rivals Statue Of Liberty and Hold That Tiger.

Webb hasn't given up on his chances, but concedes that the weight of numbers favours the other two horses. Estambul led for much of the season, but Statue Of Liberty has just edged ahead and Hold That Tiger is finishing strongly with another winner at Sandown on Wednesday.

"It is going to be difficult because he hasn't had the runners but you just never know," she said.

Standing at a fee of $7700, which would be considered a bargain for an Australian dual group 1 winner, Estambul attracted a good book of 84 mares in his first year, although Webb says the partnership gave him plenty of support.

Despite having 60 live foals from that season, only six have raced to date for three winners, with the best of them being the Robert Smerdon-trained Turquia. Her record stands at two wins, including one at Caulfield, from seven starts.

With a sizeable first crop it might have been expected that Estambul would have had more early runners, even though he did not race at two himself.

Webb believes it comes back to the mares he had in that first year, with many of them being owned by people who were breeding to race. As a result, most have been given plenty of time.

"If you go and spend lots of money on, say, an Exceed And Excel at the sales, you get them broken in straight away and see what you've got, but in situations like ours not many have gone to the sales and as a result aren't pushed early," Webb said.

The first Estambuls might not have been rushed to the races, but there were obviously many breeders happy with what he produced in his early crops because in his fourth season last year he attracted 123 mares.

While Webb is busy promoting other Victorian Stallion Partnership horses such as Seul Amour, Legion and Masterpiece, Estambul has done the job himself and his book was closed in May at 120 mares.

"He's not a big deal yet, but hopefully in a few years' time he just might be," said Webb, who, having dealt with many stallions in the past, is not getting too far ahead of herself.

© 2008 The Age

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