Winners to Runners Can Highlight Success

Tara Madgwick - Monday June 17
The seasonal winners to runners strike rate for a sire, and particularly a young sire, is often a great indication to show he has a wide spread of horses with the ability to win at least one race somewhere.

A five length maiden winner at Bathurst on Monday for Epaulette in the shape of the Gerald Ryan trained filly Martha Heights got us looking at the strike rate of her young sire, who is doing a great job.

EpauletteMartha Heights is the 51st winner of the season for Epaulette and was followed quickly by his 52nd when Pips 'n' Crowns scored at Albury.

He is currently third on the second season sires list by winners to only Zoustar (63) and Spirit of Boom (54).

His 52 winners have come from 90 runners giving him a seasonal strike rate of 57.7% winners to runners, which is better than his peers Zoustar (52.5%) and Spirit of Boom (45.4%).

His five stakes-winners this season also puts Epaulette up there with the better sires in this division, those stakes-winners including three Group winners in Military Zone, Meryl and She Shao Fly.

A dual Group I winning son of Commands, Epaulette has covered books of 95 and 88 mares in his past two seasons at Darley and is priced this year at $27,500.


It's probably worth remembering that Epaulette's sire Commands, was one of those slow burn type sires that almost sneak up on you as being a really good sire without you noticing.

A full brother to fertility troubled Danewin, Commands had no such issues and covered 100 plus books of mares in every year of his stud career starting off at a fee of $10,000 in 2000.

His first two crops produced Group I winners Undue and Paratroopers and his star began to rise, so much so that for his last seven seasons before his death in 2014, Commands stood at either $55,000 or $66,000.

I guess the moral to the story is don't let Epaulette sneak up on you!



Advertisment
More Reading...
Kiwi Vendor Celebrating Sales and Racetrack Success
Vendor Barry Donoghue enjoyed a lucrative two days at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale last week and he’s now celebrated a significant result in another role.
Irish Group Three Winner for Epaulette
A dual Group III winning daughter of Pivotal, Enticing teamed up with Fastnet Rock to produce the dual Group 1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master who ran an excellent second on Saturday in the Group 1 British Champions Sprint at Ascot and now Enticing’s unraced daughter Compostela has struck gold in Ireland with her first foal by Epaulette.
Epaulette Colt Claims More South Africa Stakes Success
The Champion 2YO in South Africa last year, Epaulette colt Soqrat added another feature race win to his tally when taking out the Group III Victory Moon Stakes at Vaal in south Africa on Saturday.
Yulong Announce Sad Passing of G1 Winning Mare
Yulong released a video Tweet last week recapping their sensational spring carnival results and also revealing the passing of their dual Group I winning Frankel mare Hungry Heart.
New French Stakes-Winner for Churchill
Currently finishing his seventh season of shuttling to Coolmore Australia, Churchill has had a productive year and sired his 16th stakes-winner of 2024 when progressive three year-old filly Some Skye landed the Listed Grand Prix de Fontainebleau (1900m) at Chantilly.
Epaulette's Mr Cashman Makes Winning Debut at Moonee Valley
Darley Stud’s Epaulette can sure get a runner and you don’t have to pay a million dollars for them, which makes him very attractive for syndicators like Prime Thoroughbreds Joe O’Neil.
G1 Pedigree Watch - Plus Up and Comers
The spring carnival might be over, but the G1 action is now in Perth and a Queenslander took the top prize and we are also looking at a few other stakes-winners that hold the promise of more to come.
Do Deuce From Last to First in Japan Cup
The visitors were once again humbled by the locals in the 44th running of Sunday’s Group 1 Longines Japan Cup (2400m) at Tokyo Racecourse.
Winx Foals a Snitzel Colt
The owners of Winx have announced the champion mare has foaled a healthy colt by Snitzel early on Monday morning.
Cosmic Vega Breaks Through in Kilmore Cup
A rapidly deteriorating track at Kilmore proved the winning formula for the Irish import Cosmic Vega (IRE) and visiting English rider Saffie Osborne to open their Australian accounts in Sunday’s $200,000 Listed Bet365 Kilmore Cup (1600m).