The Choux fits as Jimmy moves west

Timing is crucial to the success of any stallion and the win of The Bostonian (NZ) in last Saturday's Doomben 10,000 was a considerable boost to his sire Jimmy Choux (NZ) ahead of his first season at Rosalee Park Stud in Serpentine in Western Australia.

Alan MacAlister, who owns Redwood Park Stud, was the man behind securing Jimmy Choux from Rich Hill Stud in New Zealand last month. Thanks to The Bostonian's narrow win at Doomben on Saturday, he now owns one of what will likely be only four Group 1 winning stallions in WA for the upcoming season.

"We knew that they were knocking on the door to win a Group 1 with the The Bostonian, but it’s absolutely fantastic timing for us. We've had a few people on the phone since then, so it's a good result," MacAlister told TDN AusNZ.

The Bostonian, from Jimmy Choux's second crop, always loomed as his banner horse, winning stakes races in New Zealand and Australia as a 3-year-old and early 4-year-old before being set for the Brisbane carnival by his trainer Tony Pike.

Saturday's success was also significant for the fact that he defeated Osborne Bulls (Street Cry {Ire}), previously placed in four Group 1 sprints this campaign, as well as Group 1 winner Nature Strip (Nicconi).

And MacAlister feels that while The Bostonian is one of only two stakes winners for Jimmy Choux to date - the other is the Tony Noonan-trained Manolo Blahniq (NZ) - there is plenty to come from his remaining NZ crops before his first WA foals hit the ground in 2020.

"There's a few more out there that people have got good opinions of him. We have spoken to a few trainers who have got Jimmy Chouxs and they got a few wraps on some of them which is good," he said.

MacAlister has a broodmare band of about 20 of his own mares, the majority of which will be sent to Jimmy Choux at Wayne and Tracy Rodwell's Rosalee Park Stud this year.

He said interest from other breeders has been strong with the stallion to stand at $4500 plus GST.

"Everybody is very interested. I guess you can't tell this early on as the breeding market is a bit fickle over here, and some people seem to think they can get something for free. But we won't be doing that, he will stand for $4500 plus GST and the only deal we’d do will be on multiple mares or maybe black-type," he said.

"I've bought him to service my mares, and while I'm involved with other stallions, I need some new blood and it was a good opportunity to purchase him."

A fantastic racetrack record

Jimmy Choux's race record certainly stands up well, given he was a five-time Group 1 winner and a stakes winner at two, three and four, winning from 800m up to the 2400m of the G1 NZ Derby.

"He's certainly one of the best credentialled stallions WA has stood for a long, long time. Now he's produced a Group 1 winner, there are not too many in WA who have produced one," MacAlister said.

The other appeal for Jimmy Choux is that he is Danehill-free, being a son of Thorn Park out of a Centaine mare.

Watch: Jimmy Choux winning the G1 NZ Derby

"As a breeder it gives you plenty of options and we know the Danehill cross works. The Bostonian has Danehill on his side and so that was a fantastic result. He's an outcross sire, and if you breed Danehill with him, it works as well," he said.

MacAlister believes that versatility, both in Jimmy Choux's own race performance and in possible pedigree matches places him well to target a wider range of Western Australian feature races.

"He’ll throw a few 2-year-olds, and they’ll be classy enough to go for races like the (G2) Karrakatta Plate and the G3 (WA) Sires' (Produce S.) and as a 3-year-old onwards, they can still be there for the big sprint races, and for the longer distance ones as well," he said.

"He's throwing speed and distance. You've got all bases covered which is really nice."