AT Epsom on the first Saturday of June 2008, New Approach won the Derby, beating Tartan Bearer by half a length, but he was not the season’s only three-year-old star to score on the card.
A regally-bred colt named Conduit from Sir Michael Stoute’s stable trounced his rivals by six lengths and more in the 10-furlong handicap.
Just 13 days later he chased home Campanologist in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Ascot.
Conduit then won the Group 3 Gordon Stakes and Group 1 St Leger before a length and a half success in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita.
He defeated the aforementioned Tartan Bearer by one and three-quarter lengths in the following year’s Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and scored a repeat victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf, confirming his position as one of the leading middle-distance horses this century.
He was also third to Sea The Stars in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes.
Conduit has sired many winners from his early Japanese crops but is now in an exciting new phase of his career, standing as a National Hunt stallion at Tullyraine Stud and with his first Irish-sired foals now on the ground.
The Ballymacoll Stud-bred chesnut is a son of the brilliant Dalakhani (by Darshaan) and that makes him a representative of the Mill Reef (by Never Bend) sire line, which has supplied so many top hurdlers and chasers in recent decades.
He also brings a bit of Sadler’s Wells (by Northern Dancer) to the mix as his dam, Well Head, is a daughter of the white-faced bay.
She also has the distinction of being a half-sister to classic star and successful sire Spectrum (by Rainbow Quest), to his Grade 1-placed US Grade 2-winning full-brother Stream Of Gold, and to Ballet Shoes (by Ela-Mana-Mou), the dam of Group 1 Irish Oaks heroine Petrushka (by Unfuwain).
That triple Group 1 star is the dam of the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle winner Parlour Games (by Monsun).
River Dancer (by Irish River), the classic-placed and stakes-winning grandam of Conduit, is a half-sister to Ballerina (by Dancing Brave), dam of classic hero Millenary (by Rainbow Quest) and of Derby third Let The Lion Roar (by Sadler’s Wells), both stallions.
Champion 3yr old stayer in Europe in 2008. Jt Champion older horse in Europe in 2009. Won seven races, £3,498,932, from 1 mile ½ furlong to 1 mile 6½ furlongs, 2 to 4 years including, Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Santa Anita, Gr.1, Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Santa Anita, Gr.1, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Ascot, Gr.1, Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.1, Betfair Gordon Stakes, Goodwood, Gr.3, also placed second in King Edward VII Stakes, Ascot, Gr.2, Blue Square Brigadier Gerard Stakes, Sandown Park, Gr.3, and third in Coral Eclipse Stakes, Sandown Park, Gr.1.
Retired to stud in Japan in 2010, Ireland in 2016, and sire of the winners of over 260 races, and £6,000,000, including Daiichi Terminal (JPN), Kineo Pegasus (JPN) and over jumps
Thinking Dancer (JPN)
Stands at: Tullyraine House Stud, Banbridge, Co Down, Ireland
Contact: Hugh Suffern or Stephanie Monaghan
Telephone: +44 (0)28 4062 4566, +44 7836790632 (Hugh) or +44 7958052129 (Stephanie)
Email: hugh.suffern@btinternet.com
Fee: €2,500