Time moves quickly in the thoroughbred game and from Royal Ascot hero in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. this week two years ago, Merchant Navy's stallion career is about to hit a significant milestone, with his first crop of foals to turn one on August 1.
The market will get its first chance to assess his progeny in the Inglis Weanling Sales in Sydney and Melbourne and the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale on the Gold Coast next month, with 27 lots catalogued (although with a couple of foals entered in multiple sales).
The dual Group 1-winning son of Fastnet Rock had a first foal crop of 139. Among those mares to have had Merchant Navy foals in 2019 are Group 1 winners Bel Mer (Bel Esprit) and Platelet (Strategic) as well as a host of stakes winners.
Those who threw their support behind Merchant Navy in his first season at Coolmore Australia in 2018 seem to be well-pleased with the development these foals have shown since their arrival last spring.
Merchant Navy | Standing at Coolmore
As an investor in the stallion, Go Bloodstock committed some of its better mares to Merchant Navy in his first season and having had 10 foals from that first crop, are rapt with what he has been able to produce.
Among those foals are a filly from G2 Wakeful S. winner and G1 VRC Oaks placegetter Thunder Lady (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and a filly half-sister to recent 2-year-old winner Blaze A Trail (Criterion {NZ}) out of Flaming (NZ) (Bachelor Duke {USA}).
Go Bloodstock Director Steve O'Connor said the impression he is getting is that while they are very much in the mould of the sireline, they have a greater degree of scope to them.
Steve O'Connor
"They all have good muscle definition and strength, like the Fastnets usually do. I would say the Merchant Navys we have had, as they have grown, have had a bit more scope to them. They have longer backs and seem to be bigger horses than the Fastnets," he said.
"They very much look in the Danehill mould, in that they will be your sprinting type horses. I think they will go early, the ones we have anyway, because they are quite mature and have the muscle definition to do that."
"I think they will go early, the ones we have anyway, because they are quite mature and have the muscle definition to do that." - Steve O'Connor
That scope and quality is something that Torryburn's Stud Manager Melissa Copelin has also noted in the seven from Merchant Navy's first crop which were foaled at that farm, four of which were to mares owned by the Cornish family.
"I've had seven born here, a couple from Cornerstone, one from Linda Huddy and four from Torryburn's own mares, one filly and three colts," Copelin said.
"They are born nice, not too big and they continue to get that wow factor as they grow. They seem to get their old man's quality. They are well-balanced, have strong hips and are easy to get up and going, that's what I liked about them.
"The best attribute of a stallion is that they stamp them and of the ones we’ve got, there might be one that is a bit different. But the rest are similar horses, which is good for him in the future."
Merchant Navy x Thunder Lady (filly) bred by Go Bloodstock
What has pleased O'Connor most about Merchant Navy's first crop is the improvement they have taken since they first arrived last spring.
"When they were born, they were strong, but I was really glad to see that they have grown upwards and longwards as they have progressed over the past eight months or so," he said.
"And that's given me the confidence. We are very happy with them."
Small breeders get Merchant joy
Smaller breeders are also pleased with what they have got from Merchant Navy's first crop. Ashleigh Thoroughbreds sent its mare Delaluna (Strategic) to the Coolmore stallion in his first season and got a filly which has made a considerable impression on Senga Bissett.
"She's just a lovely filly, a lovely elegant athletic filly," she said. "She looks a forward type, but she has the elegance and scope of a filly that could develop more. She doesn't just look like an early 2-year-old. She could be that, but she also looks to have the scope to go on and be a very nice 3-year-old as well."
Senga Bissett (right) with clients Catherine and Barney Remond | Image courtesy of Ashleigh Thoroughbreds
As a chestnut, on the surface there is not an immediate physical resemblance between the filly and her sire, but Bissett sees some qualities which have been passed down from Merchant Navy.
"She's a mixture of the two, but she probably bigger than her mother. I saw Merchant Navy not that long ago and he's a magnificent horse," Bissett said.
"He has made his impression on this filly because she is such an exceptionally nice filly. The mother is a nice enough mare but she is not a stunner like her, so it's been a good match.
"She's well-balanced now. She's not one of those weanlings whose hindquarters are two feet higher than her withers. She is beautifully balanced at the moment and so she should grow into a really nice yearling. She's there already and for a weanling, she's extremely well proportioned."
Edinglassie Thoroughbred Stud bred one foal by Merchant Navy in his first season, a filly half-sister to the stakes-winning sprinter Zoustyle (Zoustar), out of the imported mare Fashion (Ger) (Anabaa {USA}).
Merchant Navy x Fashion (Ger) filly
Edinglassie's Mick Talty is also very happy with the result of that match.
"She's a beautiful athletic filly, very correct and has got good scope and everything about her. That's the only one I've got, but if they are all like her, he should do quite well," he said.
"She's a beautiful athletic filly, very correct and has got good scope and everything about her." - Mick Talty
"She's developing very well. In the next couple of months during winter they don’t grow that much, but come spring, they get a spurt on again. She's a good-sized foal and she has done everything right and is very sensible as well.
"I can’t see any reason why she won't continue to improve as she heads into becoming a yearling."
Expectation market will embrace first crop
While the reaction to the foals on offer at the upcoming weanling sales will give a good temperature test, the true measure of the commercial appeal of Merchant Navy will be in the 2021 yearling sale season.
As the equal top-priced first-year stallion at $44,000 (inc GST) in his debut season, the early return on investment on Merchant Navy's yearlings will be a key measuring point for the trajectory of his stallion career.
Those breeders who supported him in that first season certainly believe his first crop can live up to market expectations in 2021.
"I think people remember how good a racehorse he was, winning the Coolmore and at Royal Ascot and when you go to the sales, you try and buy the best horses," O'Connor said. "I think they will be good types, and I’ll think he'll sell well. You would think he'd be the leading first-season sire on the averages."
"I think people remember how good a racehorse he was, winning the Coolmore and at Royal Ascot." - Steve O'Connor
Talty has a similar view of how the 2021 sales season will play out for Merchant Navy .
"They will be well sought-out. He was such a good racehorse and I can see them making their mark," he said.
In terms of expectations for his progeny at the track, the consensus is that their career will closely mirror that of their sire. Merchant Navy had a trio of wins as a 2-year-old, including a Listed victory, but really hit his peak in his 3-year-old campaign, winning the G3 McNeil S. and then the Coolmore Stud S.
In the autumn he was placed in the G1 Newmarket H. in what was his final run in Australia before victory in the G2 Greenlands S. at The Curragh and then his career-defining win at Royal Ascot in the Diamond Jubilee.
"There will be some 2-year-olds among them, but they give the sense that they will be brilliant 3-year-olds like he was," Copelin said. "They will furnish as yearlings and then really show up as 2-year-olds."
That's something that O'Connor agrees with.
"You would think that the main 2-year-old season and early in their 3-year-old season is where they will come into their own from a physical standpoint," he said. "That's where I would place them. But he seems to be getting some versatility."
Support for stallion rolls on
Perhaps the most significant measure of a breeder's satisfaction is their willingness to go back to the stallion, which all four that we spoke to, said they would.
Having maintained the level of support for Merchant Navy in his second season, as a shareholder, Go Bloodstock will send another 10-11 mares to him this year.
Merchant Navy at Coolmore Stud
Torryburn was also a repeat customer in 2019, and plan to be back there again in 2020.
"There were a couple of maiden mares who had first foals and they went back to Merchant Navy again, and I think that speaks volumes. We’ll be supporting him well in his third year as well," Copelin said.
Ashleigh Thoroughbreds will also be sending mares back to the stallion in 2021.
"I'm prepared to send two mares to him this year, I'm that impressed by him," Bissett said.
