A select group of local media were afforded an early look at Windsor Park Stud’s exciting new stallions MastercraftsmanandTheWayYouAreyesterday.
Despite arriving just a day or two earlier, both stallions strongly impressed onlookers with their physical presence and with the way they have slotted straight into their new surrounds.
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MASTERCRAFTSMAN at Windsor Park Stud yesterday.
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Naturally, their arrival has caused quite a buzz for the team at Windsor.
“It's a very exciting time when stallions first arrive,” explained Windsor’s Steve Till.
“Nelson (Schick) had seen TheWayYouAre up at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, but for the rest of us, their arrival was the first time that we had laid eyes on them.
“It is a real highlight because you then know what you have to work with and it makes mating decisions all the more interesting.”
Described as the very best son of Danehill Dancer, Mastercraftsman arrived from Coolmore Ireland on Sunday.
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THEWAYYOUARE at Windsor Park Stud
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Mastercraftsman was named 2008’s European Champion 2YO after achieving two Gr.1 wins at two and continued this exceptional form at three with two additional Gr.1 races over 1600m.
“People have clearly appreciated his CV. The phone didn’t stop ringing when we announced him and his book was full within 2 weeks,” said Till.
“I would describe him to breeders as being a big, strong horse with a good constitution and temperament”
Windsor’s other new stallion TheWayYouAre, alternatively, arrived from his Coolmore America base on Monday.
TheWayYouAre is a Champion 2YO son of Kingmambo and is from the outstanding producer Maryinsky.
Hailing from the family of Redoute’s Choice, TheWayYouAre won the Gr.1 Saint-Cloud Criterium International (1600m) at two – a performance that effectively sealed his place as the 2007 Champion French Colt.
" TheWayYouAre is a good sized, sturdy individual who is very much in the mould of his damsire, Sadler’s Wells” Till offered.
“He will serve a full book of mares and he is about 90% full at the moment.”
Mastercraftsman and TheWayYouAre are parading at the stud on a daily basis. For those people interested in seeing the stallions, Till recommends you simply call the stud to arrange a suitable viewing time.
Alternatively, the Waikato Branch of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Association hosts its annual Waikato Stallion Weekend later this month, with Windsor Park Stud’s stallion roster scheduled to parade at 1pm on August 29.
The upcoming arrival at Windsor Park Stud of TheWayYouAre, a champion son of outstanding sire Kingmambo, is now even more exciting after this weekend’s global racing action. The 2010 Epsom Derby, one of the world’s truly great races, was won by Workforce, who is by another son of Kingmambo in King's Best.
Workforce winning performance produced the fastest English Derby time in history when he swept to a seven length win, breaking the track record set by Lamtarra fifteen years earlier by almost a second.
It was King's Best second Derby winner in a week, following on from the success in Japan last Sunday of Eishin Flash.
Like TheWayYouAre, Workforce is also bred on the very successful Kingmambo-Sadler's Wells cross.
Workforce is from the unraced Sadler's Wells mare Soviet Moon, who is a full-sister to St Leger winner Brian Boru, and out of the Park Hill Stakes winner Eva Luna.
TheWayYouAre will stand at a service fee of $10,000+gst including a live foal guarantee.
Group One winning Champion 2YO colt TheWayYouAre is the latest addition to the Windsor Park Stud stallion roster for 2010.
Trained in France by Andre Fabre, TheWayYouAre was the 2007 Champion French 2YO colt, the same vintage crop that produced the outstanding gallopers Goldikova, Natagora and subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine, Zarkava.
At season's end, both TheWayYouAre and the unbeaten champion Zarkava received a Timeform rating of 117p establishing them at the head of their generation.
21-times champion trainer Andre Fabre described TheWayYouAre as 'a really masculine colt with a beautiful action. He had great speed for a horse with such a fine, classic pedigree'.
TheWayYouAre's juvenile season comprised an unbeaten sequence of four successive victories, culminating in a dominant win in the Gr.1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud over 1600m. Winners of this race since it’s inception in 2001 include Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victors Dalakhani and Bago and subsequent Group One winners Mount Nelson and Arc runner-up Act One.
After winning a 2YO race at Deauville, TheWayYouAre improved throughout his season, recording wins in the Listed Criterium de Lyon and the Gr.3 Prix Thomas Bryon prior to his Group One success at Saint-Cloud.
Timeform noted that “Given his race performance and pedigree, TheWayYouAre could not have been much hotter as a stallion prospect”.
This was confirmed with his purchase by Coolmore Stud before his Group One triumph and the son of Kingmambo was installed at the head of betting for the following season's French classics.
After sustaining a back injury, which was to affect the rest of his racing career, TheWayYouAre was limited to just two runs at three, in the Gr.1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) and Gr.1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby).
Transferred to the stables of Ballydoyle trainer Aidan O’Brien for his 4YO season, TheWayYouAre raced twice more, including a close-up fourth to four-times Gr.1 winner Vision d'Etat in the Gr.1 Prix Ganay.
Coolmore manager Christy Grassick commented 'Following a brilliant two-year-old season and considering his outstanding pedigree, TheWayYouAre looked a real classic contender so it was bitterly disappointing that his back issue prevented him from realising his full potential'.
Windsor Park studmaster Nelson Schick explained stud policy with stallions is always about securing undeniable talent that breeders can access at good value.
'TheWayYouAre is a seriously gifted racehorse with exceptional conformation, complemented by a world-class pedigree', said Schick.
'As a son of Mr Prospector's great champion Kingmambo, out of a Group One performed Sadler's Wells mare whose first two foals are champions, I think TheWayYouAre is ideally suited to the gene pool and racing conditions in Australasia'.
'And being topclass on the racetrack and from the family of Redoute's Choice demonstrates he has inherited the best genes from his wonderful genetic background', concluded Schick.
One of the few Group One winning 2YOs by Kingmambo, TheWayYouAre's rating of 117p at two was higher than that achieved by his legendary sire who attained a rating of 110 at the same age.
Multiple Group One winner Kingmambo has become a champion sire of 75 stakes winners including 23 at Group One level. A notable influence for both speed and stamina, aside from TheWayYouAre, Kingmambo's progeny include classic winners Henrythenavigator, Divine Proportions, Russian Rhythm, Virginia Waters, Light Shift, Bluemamba as well as leading sire Lemon Drop Kid.
TheWayYouAre is a member of an exceptional branch of the aristocratic equine family established by his 'blue hen' third dam Best In Show.
'TheWayYouAre's family handles all conditions, in all environments, being hugely successful in both hemispheres and this is an attribute I look for in a stallion', said Schick.
TheWayYouAre’s dam Maryinsky, a daughter of breed-shaping stallion Sadler’s Wells and Kentucky Oaks winner Blush With Pride, was a leading Irish 2YO filly and is an outstanding matron at stud having produced two Group One winners from her first two foals to race. Maryinsky’s first foal is co-Champion European 3YO filly Peeping Fawn, successful in four Group One races including the Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks.
Sadler’s Wells is damsire of no less than 210 stakeswinners and has already notched up eight Champion Broodmare sire titles to go with his sixteen premiership wins as a sire.
Maryinsky is a half sister to 2007 USA Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour, purchased for a world record $US14 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November Selected mixed sale. Better Than Honour is renowned for producing Champion 3YO filly Rags To Riches as well as Jazil, both consecutive winners of the Group One classic Belmont Stakes.
TheWayYouAre will join multiple Group One winner Mastercraftsman shuttling to Windsor Park Stud from Coolmore Stud and follows the successful sires High Chaparral, Montjeu and Tale of the Cat in further consolidating the very successful association between the two stud farms.
TheWayYouAre will stand the 2010 season for a fee of $10,000 + GST.