Best On Breeding

Mark Smith - Friday September 20

Some families experience a period of fame then disappear just as quickly but one family that has stood the test of time is that of the Sir Dane mare Sasha whose only claim to fame could easily have been as the first metropolitan winner for Malcolm Johnston.

Purchased by trained Theo Green for 1,700 guineas on behalf of John Bradshaw and his brother Garry, Sasha was a fair enough racehorse winning seven and placing in seven of 37 starts.

In a long and fruitful career at stud, Sasha had 14 foals, the best of which was the champion two and three-year-old filly Shaybisc.

The daughter of Biscay made a spectacular start to her race career with a seven length win under apprentice David Green in the Widden Stakes. 


She smashed the highly-touted Fiancee by nearly five lengths in the Reisling Slipper, with John Duggan coming back to scale in tears as David Green, who would have ridden the diminutive filly, had died in a race fall at Rosehill a week earlier.

Shaybisc had no luck in the Golden Slipper but bounced back to win the Group 1 AJC Sire’s Produce Stakes with ease.

She became an influential broodmare for Woodlands Stud. Like her dam she had 14 foals the best of which were stakes winners Asarka, Bradshaw, the dual Group II winner Sashed (the dam of triple Group 1 winner Freemason and stakes-winner Santissima), and the dams of Group 1 winner Mental, multiple Group II winners Debrief and Tarzi.

Shaybisc’s unraced half-sister Neensie is the dam of Rosehill Guineas winner Solar Circle while Shaybisc’s three-quarter sister Influence (Bletchingly) is the dam of the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate and Group 1 Doomben 10000 winner Undue (Commands) and the Listed winner Absurd (Crown Jester).

Influence’s seven time city winning daughter Subtle (Night Shift) is the dam of the Group 1 Doomben 10000 winner Beaded (Lonhro) and the Group III winner and Group 1 runner-up Rarefied (Commands).

Placed in seven Group 1s before her breakthrough at Doomben, Beaded (image Mark Smith ) won 10 and placed in 13 of her 27 starts while banking $1.6 million for Godolphin.

The gorgeous daughter of Lonhro had just three foals before her tragic death.

Her first foal was the stakes-placed Street Cry gelding Bezel, followed by the stakes-placed Exceed And Excel mare Resin who has won five and placed in four of her 16 starts with earnings of over $277,000.

Resin came back from a spell to finish midfield in the Group II Bobbie Lewis Quality at Flemington last Saturday.

Resin’s three-year-old sister Lesage contests Saturday’s Super Vobis 3-Y-O Plate at Caulfield.

The daughter of Exceed And Excel was brave when winning on debut at Cranbourne on May 17 before being run down late when second to St Edward's Crown at Flemington on June 8.

Off the scene since then, Lesage faces a field of promising three-year-olds on Saturday including the Group III Blue Diamond Prelude winner I Am Immortal so it will be a good test to see what level she could reach this campaign.

 

Advertisment
More Reading...
Knight's 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.
15th G1 Winner for Exceed and Excel
Turning 20 this year, Darley’s champion sire Exceed and Excel has just finished a super successful Magic Millions Sale that saw him with 24 yearlings average $398,542 to be the third leading sire by average and in South Africa on Saturday he posted a 15th Group I winner.
Exceed And Excel's Athelric Rewarded for Consistency
It was a 1-3 for Godolphin in Saturday’s Listed Queensland Day Stakes (1200m) for three-year-olds at Eagle Farm.
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.
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.
$1.8 Million Exceed and Excel Colt from G1 Winner Platelet
A protracted bidding duel marked the sale of Lot 640, a powerhouse colt by Exceed and Excel from dual Group I winning sprinter Platelet with Hawkes Racing prevailing over a persistent Coolmore.
Tycoon Star Makes Winning Debut in G3 Maribyrnong Plate
Tycoon Star looked like the consummate professional when making a winning career debut in the Group III Darley Maribyrnong Plate (1000m) to kickstart Melbourne Cup Day at Flemington.
Magic Nick Strikes Again – Fastnet Rock x Galileo
The Fastnet Rock x Galileo nick has been on fire in Melbourne this spring producing Cox Plate winner Via Sistina (IRE) and leading Melbourne Cup contender Buckaroo (GB) and it struck again overnight in the UK with a brand new stakes-winner in Military Academy, who captured the Listed Floodlit Stakes (1m4f) at Kempton.
A New Benchmark for Edinburgh Stud
An emotional Ian Smith watched on as bidding reached $1 million for Edinburgh Stud’s stunning Exceed And Excel colt out of the Smoke Glacken mare Smokin’ Alice (USA) to set a new benchmark for the stud.