Danzig Dominant at Flemington

Breeders love to talk up the outcross and why we need it and why we should try this stallion and that, but from 25 stakes races run at Flemington last week, 11 were won by the progeny of Danehill (USA) line sired horses and a further five from the Danzig sireline, four of them through Green Desert.

The Danehill line Group I winners were Awesome Rock (Fastnet Rock), Lasqueti Spirit (Beneteau) and Malaguerra (Magnus), while additional Danzig line Group I winners were Le Romain (Hard Spun (USA) and I am a Star (I Am Invincible).

Danehill featured in the pedigrees of seven of the eight Group I winners with Prized Icon from a daughter of Danehill and Almandin (Ger) from a grand-daughter of Danehill, leaving Flying Artie as the only Group I winner free of his blood.

The Sadler's Wells line was next best with four stakes-winners headed by Group I Flying Artie (Artie Schiller (USA).

The most successful sires with three stakes-winners each were Coolmore's established champion sire Fastnet Rock and Yarraman Park's up and comer I Am Invincible.

Fastnet Rock hit the mark with Awesome Rock, Comin' Through and Anaheim, while I Am Invincible did the business with I Am a Star, Illustrious Lad and Invincible Star.

We expect results such as this from Fastnet Rock, who has long been acclaimed as one of the very best sires in the country, but for I Am Invincible to match him is ground-breaking stuff.

This is a stallion who stood for his first four seasons at a fee of $11,000 and his first yearlings conceived from a more expensive fee ($27,500 in 2014) will only be sold in 2017.

His racetrack results to date have been achieved from some very modest mares highlighting just what a remarkable stallion I Am Invincible really is.

Danehill might be the current dominant branch of the Danzig line for now, but I Am Invincible may well mark the beginning of something special for the Green Desert branch if he can project his impressive genes into the next generation.