Newgate Managing Director, Henry Field, confirmed that North Pacific's eight-start racing career had been ended by an injury to a forelimb and that he would join its roster for the 2021 season, with high expectations for him as a stallion.
Having topped the 2019 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale when Orbis Bloodstock paid $800,000 for the colt from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds, North Pacific joined the stables of John, Michael and Wayne Hawkes.
He debuted in the G2 Silver Slipper S. with a third behind subsequent G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) and then emphatically broke his maiden in a winter Saturday 2-year-old race at Rosehill.
North Pacific then progressed to win the G3 Up And Coming S. by 5.3l at his next start, before running third in the G2 Run To The Rose. His career-best effort came when beaten a small margin by Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) in the G1 Golden Rose S.
It was off that performance that Field, who had missed out on buying North Pacific as a yearling, secured a deal for Newgate to purchase into the colt and obtain him as a future stallion prospect.
North Pacific's best performance in three starts in his autumn 3-year-old campaign was a second in the G2 Hobartville S. behind Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}).
Field told TDN AusNZ that as a stallion prospect, North Pacific had all the qualities the Australian market desired.
"He was a horse with elite talent. On his best performances, you could see he had very high-level talent. He's an outcross and he'll be the best-looking first-season sire in the Hunter Valley by a margin, that would be my prediction," Field said.
"He's (North Pacific) an outcross and he'll be the best-looking first-season sire in the Hunter Valley by a margin." - Henry Field
"I'm a big believer in judging stallions on their best performance and at his best he was very good."
Field said he had tracked North Pacific closely after the colt out of the unraced O'Reilly (NZ) mare Up In Lights (NZ), caught his eye ahead of the 2019 Premier Sale.
"He was bought by Orbis and selected by John Hawkes. We were actually the underbidders on him. The Hawkes thought he was physically the best yearling that went through the ring in 2019 and we felt the same," he said.
"I have good friendships with Michael and Wayne and before he even ran, they had him marked as something special. His run in the Silver Slipper behind Farnan at his first start showed that. Horses that can run that well in those races on debut are different gravy."
North Pacific as a yearling
Spine-tingling talent
It was his spring 3-year-old form that marked North Pacific as an elite-level performer and Field said it was hard not to be taken by his talent.
"His win in the Up And Coming was spine-tingling and he was unlucky not to win the Golden Rose," he said.
"If he had got the bob in on Ole Kirk, his value would have been $20 million more. We are really pleased to have got him.
"If he had got the bob in on Ole Kirk (in the Golden Rose), his value would have been $20 million more. We are really pleased to have got him." - Henry Field
"According to our ratings and our eye, he had as much talent as any 3-year-old colt of the season. He had legitimate Group 1 form, and arguably could have won a Golden Rose and they are the horses we look to stand, and the horses we look to be successful with.
"He was unfortunate in that he didn't win that Group 1. The ball didn't fall that way but it doesn't change the fact that he was a horse with unquestionable ability."
North Pacific after winning the G3 Up And Coming S.
Another star colt heads to stud
North Pacific is the latest colt from a star-studded crop set to join a major stud roster in 2021. Among those to have been retired this autumn are G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Farnan and dual Group 1 winners King's Legacy and Ole Kirk as well as Anders and Hanseatic.
He becomes the second son of Darley's Brazen Beau to retire to stud in Australia behind another Newgate stallion in Tassort, who served his first year in 2020.
From the increasingly popular and successful Invincible Spirit (Ire) sireline, North Pacific's pedigree is completely free of Danehill (USA), making him compatible for a wide-range of Australia's top-end broodmare population.
"We are offering breeding rights in him and we are going to offer our client base the opportunity to get involved," Field said.
"Any time you've got a horse that has that much talent, is that good looking, and is an outcross, he has got to be a great chance to make the grade.
"We are also going to parade him at the Riverside Stables on Sunday at 4pm (local time). We encourage everyone to come and have a look at him, and I am sure they will like what they see."
