The historic Ballylinch Stud has listened to the market and answered the call with Lope De Vega, whose earlier tours of shuttle duty in Australia produced four Group 1 winners headed by outstanding sprinter Santa Ana Lane.
Retired to stud in 2011, Lope De Vega has spent his European career at the County Kilkenny nursery where he commands a service fee of €125,000 (AU$198,635).
Lope De Vega (Ire) | Standing at Ballylinch Stud
“He will cover a limited book to Southern Hemisphere time this year. We have had a lot of inquiries over a number of years about him shuttling back to Australia,” Ballylinch’s Managing Director, John O’Connor, said.
“He is in such demand up here and is such a valuable animal that it is unlikely to ever happen again. To address that issue, we have decided to cover a limited number of mares to Southern Hemisphere time in his off season here.
“Some of those will be Australian-owned mares and some will be internationally-owned, but I would say it will be mostly Southern Hemisphere-based owners.”
Successful shuttle runs
And that is certainly no surprise, given the success, Lope De Vega has enjoyed from his four shuttle tours to the once Patinack Farm from 2011 to 2104.
From those visits, he sired 15 stakes winners including five-time Group 1 winner Santa Ana Lane, two-time elite-level winner Vega Magic, G1 Lightning S. winner Gytrash and the G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup winner Vega One.
Gallery: Lope De Vega's Southern Hemisphere elite-level progeny
Globally, Lope De Vega has sired 82 black-type winners, 13 of them at Group 1 level with a 66.6 per cent strike rate of winners to runners and nine per cent stakes winners to runners with progeny earnings more than $92.7 million.
“He is one of those unusual stallions that seems to be very, very effective in both Hemispheres. It’s not your usual situation, but it’s great to have a horse of his calibre,” O’Connor said.
That is reflected by both the size and quality of mares he continues to attract at Ballylinch.
“He is in great shape and that’s why we want to continue to be very careful with him. Lope De Vega is an extremely virile and fertile horse though and he covered over 180 mares up here this year,” O’Connor said.
“Lope De Vega is an extremely virile and fertile horse though and he covered over 180 mares up here this year.” – John O’Connor
“We have to limit him up here in the Northern Hemisphere, otherwise he would be covering enormous books and we feel that he already covers enough.
“The quality of mares he is covering now is the best I have ever seen, he covers mares of outstanding quality.
“In relation to his temperament, he is excellent. He has plenty of vigour and fire to him, but he is a kind horse and very straightforward to deal with.”
John O'Connor, Ballylinch’s Managing Director
While Lope De Vega won’t be returning to Australian shores, he is represented in this part of the world by his dual Group 1-winning son Belardo (Ire), who stands at Haunui Farm. His first Southern Hemisphere crop includes this season’s Listed Welcome S. winner Avonallo (NZ).
Lope De Vega’s high-class son Lucky Vega (Ire), winner of the G1 Curragh Phoenix S. will stand his debut season at Yulong in 2021 while three-time Group 2 winner Endless Drama (Ire) has been retired for duty at Larneuk Stud.
The Rocking Horse
Ballylinch Stud was founded more than a century ago and was home to The Tetrarch (Ire) and his son Tetratema (GB) who became champion sires.
The Tetrarch was a brilliant and unbeaten Champion 2-Year-Old of seven races before injury forced his retirement in 1915. He was rated by Timeform as the top juvenile of the 20th century.
His unusual grey colour with splotches of white saddled him with the nicknames The Rocking Horse and The Spotted Wonder.
The Tetrarch’s greatest legacy came through his daughter Mumtaz Mahal (GB), purchased as a yearling for 9100 gns (AU$17,500) the second-highest price ever at the time for The Aga Khan.
Also a Champion 2-Year-Old, she was to become one of the most influential broodmares of the 20th century. Her daughter Mumtaz Begum (Fr) produced the outstanding Nashrullah (GB), who was a Champion sire in both Europe and the United States of America.
