By Bren O'Brien
Testa Rossa may be enjoying his first season of retirement from stud duties but the former Vinery Stud stallion achieved something an Australian-bred stallion hasn't done for 38 years in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.
Testa Rossa, who has 65 stakes winners in his own right, is the sire of Geblitzt, the dam of G1 Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War {USA}).
Vow And Declare became the first Australian-bred winner of the iconic handicap in 10 years in a significant victory for the locals in what has become an increasingly internationalised race. That theme ran down the pedigree page to his six-time Group 1 winning maternal grandsire.
Vow And Declare became the first Australian-bred winner of the iconic handicap in 10 years
The win sees Testa Rossa power up to third in the Australian broodmare sires rankings but more significantly, he becomes the first Australian-bred broodmare sire of a Melbourne Cup winner since 1981.
Just A Dash (Whiskey Road {USA}) won the Cup on that occasion, with his dam's sire being Caranna. There have been a few New Zealand-bred broodmare sires of Cup winners since then, but none with the (Aus) suffix.
Interestingly, since Makybe Diva's (GB) (Desert King {Ire}) treble of wins delivered multiple successes for her damsire Riverman (USA), there have been 14 different broodmare sires of Melbourne Cup winners.
Vow And Declare became the fourth Group 1 winner for Testa Rossa as a damsire, joining Global Glamour (Star Witness), Marky Mark (Makfi {GB}) and Prince Fawaz (Fastnet Rock). All in all, there are 17 stakes winners who have the former Vinery and Yallambee stallion as their broodmare sire, including recent stakes winners Anaheed (Fastnet Rock) and Bonvicini (Myboycharlie {Ire}).
Anaheed is out of Rostova, one of two Group 1 winning daughters of Testa Rossa
Anaheed is out of Rostova, one of two Group 1 winning daughters of Testa Rossa. The other one is Ortensia, who had only two foals before she died in 2016.
As it stands Testa Rossa's mares have had 39 individual winners this season for prizemoney of just short of $7.5 million.
His Melbourne Cup success helps Testa Rossa get one up on his old racetrack rival Redoute's Choice, who is currently Australia's leading broodmare sire this season with $9.77 million in prizemoney, having won the title for the first-time last season soon after his death.
There are currently eight stakes winners this season with Redoute's Choice as their damsire, including G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Super Seth (Dundeel {NZ}) and G1 Thousand Guineas winner Flit (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}).
The late, great Encosta De Lago occupies second spot on the broodmare sires table with $7.7 million in prizemoney, including seven individual stakes winners this season.
Testa Rossa and Adam White of Vinery Stud
Testa Rossa served a handful of mares in his final season at Vinery in 2018 before being retired. His own progeny in Australia have won just over $707,000 in prizemoney this season, with 21 winners from 57 runners.
The quality of his own mares currently at stud was substantially boosted by the recent retirement of his Group 1-placed daughter Enticing Star, who has since visited unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify {USA}).
With Vow And Declare being by international stallion Declaration Of War (USA), the drought rolls on for Australian-bred stallions when it comes to siring Melbourne Cup winners. The last locally-bred stallion to have a winner in the race was Old Spice with Rogan Josh in 1999.
