Ocean Emperor to Stand at Weowna Park

Media Release - Tuesday June 18

Three-time Group Two winning son of Zabeel, Ocean Emperor, has been retired to Gary and Jenny Hennessy's Weowna Park ahead of the forthcoming breeding season, where he will stand for a fee of $7,000+GST.

Ocean Emperor will be the last Group winning son of Zabeel to retire to stud and boasts a strong pedigree, with his dam the Group One-placed Pins mare Tootsie.

Ocean EmperorA $450,000 yearling purchase at Karaka from the draft of Waikato Stud, Ocean Emperor was raced by his trainer Hennessy in partnership with Andrew Wong and Stephen Yan – the same team that owned the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) winner, Horse of the Year and now Waikato Stud stallion Ocean Park.

Ocean Emperor had 28 starts for nine wins and five placings, headed by the Gr.2 Japan-NZ International Trophy (1600m) and back-to-back editions of the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m). He contested last year's Kranji Mile (1600m) in Singapore, finishing seventh.

His final start was a fourth placing in the Gr.1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham last December.

"He's a beautifully bred horse and had a massive amount of ability," Hennessy said.

"He was a drop-dead gorgeous looking yearling from day one and that is how we aim to promote him," Hennessy said.

"If you listen to the race call of Tony Lee, he referred to him as the good looking boy and that is exactly what he is."

Hennessy said Ocean Emperor came to hand early, but had a set-back during his three-year-old season.

"He won a two-year-old trial by five lengths over 800m and sons of Zabeel just don't do that. That is the brilliance that he has got in his pedigree and what he possessed himself," he said.

"He had a hiccup in his three-year-old season where he had a hoof abscess and he was off the track for 20 months. The hoof was cut right back to the coronet band.

"In his two Tauranga Stakes wins, the horses that finished second to him (Miss Wilson and Nicoletta) went on to win the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha later in that same season. He really was a top-class horse and he beat 30 stakes winners of which 12 were Group One performers."

Ocean Emperor is closely related to quality juvenile Probabeel and dual Group One winner Savvy Coup and Hennessy believes he will be a successful outcross for many breeders.

"It is a pedigree that Garry Chittick has fostered over many generations. It is a very strong family that Waikato Stud have bred a huge number of stakes winners from.

"There are plenty of proven crosses with Zabeel, with a number of the Danehill-line stallions nicking well, in addition to Tavistock and Stravinsky here in New Zealand, so I think he will suit a range of mares."

The Hennessys have developed the 50 acre Weowna Park in recent years and intend to support Ocean Emperor with a number of quality mares of their own, while their Hong Kong partners will also be supporting the horse.

"Weowna Park we bought courtesy of Waikato Stud buying Ocean Park. We have 14 in-foal mares there and probably another eight or nine empty mares," Hennessy said.

"We take foals through until they're ready for a sales preparation and send them off to other people to prepare.

"With the enquiries we have had already regarding Ocean Emperor, we have 20 mares lined up for him."

Hennessy has supported emerging sire Ocean Park with up to ten mares a season and believes a number of his broodmares will also suit Ocean Emperor.

"I've bought mares that I have identified that will cross well with Zabeel, given Ocean Park is out of a Zabeel mare, and in the back of my mind has been Ocean Emperor all along," he said. – NZ Racing Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
Knights Choice a True Underdog Story
Punters were left stunned when the Queenslander Knight's Choice and Japanese visitor Warp Speed (JPN) emerged from the pack to fight out a dramatic finish to the $8,560,000 Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington.
Rosemont and Partners Stakes Quinella on Cup Day
Written Tycoon posted his second new stakes-winner on Melbourne Cup Day when promising three year-old gelding Catoggio took out the Listed VRC Amanda Elliot Stakes (1400m)  for Rosemont Stud and partners, who also race the second horse Bosustow.
More Stakes Success for Air Assault
Group I placed last season in the SA Derby, talented gelding Air Assault kept the winning run going for Victoria Derby winning trainer Andrew Gluyas when taking out the Listed SAJC John Letts Cup (1800m) at Morphettville on Melbourne Cup Day.
Kiwi Bred Gringotts Wins $3million Big Dance
Talented New Zealand-bred gelding Gringotts(NZ) (Per Incanto) delivered a big payday for his connections with victory in Tuesday’s A$3 million Big Dance (1600m) at Randwick.
Kiwi Bred Grey Wins Subzero for OTI at Flemington
New Zealand-bred gelding Cloudland proved a handful for James McDonald at Flemington on Tuesday, but the champion jockey was in a forgiving mood after they had claimed top honours in the Subzero Handicap.
Sires With Winners - Tuesday November 5
Here is the full list of 145 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
$6million Frankel Mare Tops Fasig -Tipton November Sale
The Fasig-Tipton November Sale, billed as the World’s Premier Breeding Stock Event, was held Monday at the company’s Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Kentucky. Twenty-five offerings sold for $1,000,000 or more, led by a trio of Grade/Group 1 winners with international appeal.
Written Tycoon's Ocean Emperor Prevails on Debut
Striking Written Tycoon colt Ocean Emperor lived up to his impressive barrier trial form when leading all the way at his career debut over 1100 metres on the Kensington track at Randwick on Wednesday.
El Vencedor wins G3 Balmerino Stakes
El Vencedor is making a habit of picking up major victories at Ellerslie, adding the Gr.3 Balmerino Stakes (2000m) to his burgeoning record at Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup Day meeting.
All Too Hard's Arran Bay Brave in the Furphy Plate
Phillip Stokes admitted his preference was to run Arran Bay in the Listed John Letts Cup at Morphettville but was overruled by the owners, who made the correct decision in favouring the Listed Furphy Plate (1800m) at Flemington.