BROADSIDING gave Darley’s shuttle stallion Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) his first Group 1 winner in the southern hemisphere when he overcame heavy conditions on Saturday to win the Champagne Stakes over a mile at Royal Randwick on the colt’s fifth start.

In second-last spot until approaching the home turn, Broadsiding surged down the centre of the track to beat Linebacker by three-quarters of a length, with the rest nearly five lengths and more in arrears. Just a week earlier, and at the same venue, the James Cummings-trained juvenile won for the first time when impressing with the manner of his victory in the Listed Fernhill Mile.

The first runner for the winning Australian mare Speedway (Street Cry), Broadsiding took his record to two wins and two placings, including a Group 3, and winnings of $739,675. His dam was a winner over five furlongs at two and runner-up in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude. Speedway is one of eight foals from Glissade (Redoute’s Choice), half of which were winners.

Speedway’s full-brother Flow (Street Cry) won six times at up to seven furlongs, and he was placed many times in stakes races, the best of those efforts being when second in the Group 3 Perth RJ Peters Stakes.

However, Glissade’s best winner was Flit (Medaglia D’Oro). She was successful on four occasions, three of them group races, and the highlight of her racing career came when she landed the Group 1 Melbourne Thousand Guineas. Other victories included the Group 2 Sydney Light Fingers Stakes, and she was very consistent at this level, finishing runner-up four times in Group 2 contests.

Outstanding start

Too Darn Hot was the European two-year-old champion colt in 2018, and a triple Group 1 winner. He made an outstanding start at stud last year when he was responsible for no fewer than 26 individual winners. He matched the best ever starts made at stud by his predecessors, siring four pattern-winning juveniles in Europe, a feat previously achieved by Frankel and Lope De Vega.

His daughters included among their numbers the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Fallen Angel, Group 2 May Hill Stakes winner Darnation and the German pattern winner Carolina Reaper. His best son, Alyanaabi, won the Group 3 Somerville Tattersalls Stakes and was runner-up in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes.

This year has also started well for Too Darn Hot, another daughter Etes Vous Prets winning a Group 2 in Japan, while three others have been group-placed in Australia.

Too Darn Hot, responsible for more than 40 individual winners now, has been very popular in the sales rings. His stock at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and Inglis Classic Yearling Sale sold for up to A$1.9 million and A$600,000 respectively.

Hellbent (I Am Invincible) is not a stallion that I am particularly familiar with, but the Yarraman Park sire is continuing to emphasise the influence of the Irish National Stud’s veteran Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) down under. A second Group 1 win at the weekend for his daughter, Magic Time, brought his name to the forefront for me.

Smart juvenile

The four-year-old was winning for the sixth time in 11 starts, taking her earnings to more than A$2.1 million, when she captured the Group 1 All Aged Stakes, adding to an earlier win in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes. She has also been successful in a pair of Group 3 races. Magic Time is one of two winners from Time Awaits (Nicconi), a very smart juvenile who won three times at that age, notably taking the Group 3 Adelaide Sires’ Produce Stakes.

Hellbent was never worse than fourth in four Group 1 starts. His victory in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes over six furlongs was in near record time, and that was a year after he had been an unlucky runner-up in the same race. His turn of foot was considered to be his greatest asset, and his pedigree is interesting as he has a double cross of Green Desert (Danzig).

In all, Hellbent won seven races over five and six furlongs. Magic Time is from his first crop, and she is the best of his five stakes winners to date. The others are Hell Hath No Fury (Group 2 ATC Guy Walter Stakes), Kristilli (Group 2 ATC Percy Sykes Stakes), Benedetta (Group 3 MRC WW Cockram Stakes), and Fully Lit. The latter is a juvenile stakes winner and group-placed this season.

Death of an Australian legend

“A WONDERFUL contributor to the Australian racing and breeding worlds, and as ‘the people’s champion’ he will be forever remembered for what he was able to achieve on the racetrack,” said Godolphin Australia’s Ross Cole when announcing the passing of Lonhro (Octagonal).

“He had a huge and well-earned following, and earnt the admiration and respect of everyone within our Godolphin teams over his years as a Darley stallion and in his retirement. We were honoured to have him as part of our operation.”

Described on his foaling sheet as ‘tiny but perfect’, Lonhro compiled a glittering 35-start career, winning 11 Group 1 races, 24 at group level and 26 overall. He won many of the best races in Australia, including the Caulfield Guineas, Caulfield Stakes twice, Mackinnon Stakes, Chipping Norton Stakes, George Ryder Stakes, Queen Elizabeth Stakes, CF Orr Stakes, Chipping Norton Stakes and George Main Stakes. Arguably, his most stunning race performance came in the 2004 Australian Cup at Flemington.

In a period of far less prize money, Lonhro amassed a staggering A$5,790,510 and was the pin-up horse of Australian racing when he retired to Woodlands Stud, the place of his birth, in 2004. Sheikh Mohammed bought the bloodstock operations of Ingham Enterprises in May, 2008 and Lonhro has remained a Darley stallion since.

Though an extremely gifted equine athlete, Lonhro more than matched, if not exceeded, his racing achievements at stud. Darley Australia’s Alastair Pulford summed up those achievements in the breeding shed. He said: “They say that a stallion is the soul of a stud. That certainly applies to Lonhro. He was a horse that lifted your heart.

Champion sire

“We took over the management of his career in 2008, when his first crop were just two-year-olds and he became champion sire in 2011. He has been an incredibly important part of this stud, demonstrated by HH Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin’s amazing success with him, campaigning over 51 of his 97 stakes winners.

“He rewarded so many of the people who supported him. His sons and daughters will ensure his name lives on, and his bloodline will remain sought after for generations.”

Lonhro is the sire of 1,040 individual winners, and his 97 stakes winners have won 195 blacktype races. His 13 Group 1 winners are Lindermann, Impending, Kementari, Pierro, Lyre, Aristia, Beaded, Bounding, Benfica, Denman, Exosphere, Mental and The Conglomerate.

He was crowned champion sire and leading Australian sire of winning three-year-olds in 2010-11, the top Australian sire of two-year-olds in 2011-12 and the leading Australian sire of winners in 2013-14 and 2014-15. He shuttled to the USA between 2012 and 2014.

A sire of sires, with such as Pierro, Impending, Denman, Encryption and Exosphere, Lonhro’s early influence as a broodmare sire is equally as remarkable, his daughters producing more than 100 group-winning horses. In summary, Lonhro was the ultimate thoroughbred.