Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
What a horse - both on the track and at stud - Lonhro has been. As the eye-catchingly handsome best son of another wildly popular horse in Octagonal (NZ), he caught the racing public's attention - his big legion of fans cheering him onto his 11 Group 1 victories, one more than his dad.
Racing in the same cerise colours as his sire, the Woodlands homebred was good from the get-go, racing four times at two - winning the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude and finishing on the heels of the placegetters in True Jewels (Brief Truce {USA}) G1 Blue Diamond S. before taking on the older horses and finishing third in the G3 Missile S.
Lonhro when racing | Image courtesy of Sportpix
At three he did not taste defeat - seven starts, seven wins at stakes level including a particularly memorable round-up of his rivals in the G1 Caulfield Guineas.
At four he raced 13 times, winning nine races - five at Group 1 level. He was still in sensational form at five; his last 10 starts yielded eight wins - five in Group 1 company with the highlight his much-watched G1 Australian Cup victory which saw him overcome plenty of trouble close to home.
The son of Octagonal is a brother to three-time Group 1 winner Niello and the dual Listed winner Shannara and is from the extended family of the Group 1 scorers Catalyst (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), Devise (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), Mahaya (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}), Grosvenor (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}), National Gallery (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}), Tavago (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), Lankan Rupee (Redoute's Choice) and Miss Keepsake (NZ) (Keeper).
Watch: Lonhro winning the 2004 Australian Cup
He retired to stud in 2004 as the winner of 26 races from 35 starts, amassing in excess of $5.7 million in stakes.
Not surprisingly he was immediately popular with breeders, at a fee of $60,000 serving 129 mares in his first season. He kicked off well with his debut crop producing 11 stakes winners and his second 13 - still his two most successful years.
There have been ups and downs in Lonhro's strike rate along with fluctuating service fees but for a horse who has been at stud for long, he boasts a consistent overall record with a 72.1 per cent strike rate and a 6.9 per cent stakes winner ratio.
| 1st | 73/88 | 11 | $60,000 |
| 2nd | 78/89 | 13 | FOA |
| 3rd | 87/111 | 8 | $66,000 |
| 4th | 74/93 | 7 | $66,000 |
| 5th | 88/115 | 6 | $55,000 |
| 6th | 97/136 | 2 | $33,000 |
| 7th | 66/93 | 4 | $88,000 |
| 8th | 70/95 | 7 | $77,000 |
| 9th | 51/64 | 4 | $110,000 |
| 10th | 52/60 | 7 | $88,000 |
| 11th | 29/46 | 5 | $88,000 |
| 12th | 38/48 | 8 | $88,000 |
| 13th | 23/37 | 0 | $88,000 |
| 14th | 25/47 | 1 | $88,000 |
| 15th | 11/36 | 0 | $66,000 |
| 16th | *current 2YOS | - | $55,000 |
| 17th | - | - | $66,000 |
| 18th | - | - | $66,000 |
| The season | - | - | $55,000 |
Table: Lonhro’s individual crop statistics since 2004
Lonhro has been making his mark as a sire of sires with eight of his sons siring stakes winners - Pierro, Denman, Demerit, Exosphere, Sweynesse, Sessions, O'Lonhro and Benfica; Pierro with his six Group 1 winners the most successful of those.
He also has 53 stakes winners as a broodmare sire, with the G1 Makybe Diva S. winner Gatting (Hard Spun {USA}) the best of those
A match made in heaven
It makes logistical sense that for any stallion to thrive in Australia, he must combine well with the mighty Danehill (USA) and Lonhro is a horse who does just that. Siring seven stakes winners including the G1 BRC T.J Smith Classic winner Benfica out of Danehill mares, he has also sired stakes winners out of mares by Danehill's sons Redoute's Choice, Flying Spur, Exceed And Excel, Danzero, Commands, Tiger Hill (Ire), Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) and Desert King (Ire).
Overall Lonhro has sired 94 stakes winners including 12 Group 1 winners and he performs well with the Danehill line.
| Danehill | 63/82 | 7 |
| Commands | 43/56 | 5 |
| Danzero | 12/15 | 2 |
| Desert King | 4/4 | 1 |
| Exceed And Excel | 29/37 | 6 |
| Flying Spur | 42/53 | 3 |
| Redoute's Choice | 61/71 | 9 |
| Rock Of Gibraltar | 7/10 | 1 |
| Tiger Hill | 1/1 | 1 |
And so all but one of the nine Danehill-line stallions whose daughters have produced stakes winners by Lonhro provide a better overall strike rate than Lonhro's overall record. Let's also have a look at the stakes-winning strike rates.
| Danehill | 8.5% |
| Commands | 8.9% |
| Danzero | 13.3% |
| Desert King | 25.0% |
| Exceed And Excel | 16.2% |
| Flying Spur | 3.7% |
| Redoute's Choice | 12.6% |
| Rock Of Gibraltar | 10.0% |
| Tiger Hill | 100.0% |
The G1 Golden Slipper S. winning Canny Lad is the damsire of Redoute's Choice and his presence in a pedigree is a great thing for Lonhro. Of course, Lonhro and Canny Lad stood at the same stud (Woodlands/Darley) hence there has been plenty of opportunity but there is no doubt their combination works with four of Lonhro's 12 Group 1 winners out of mares carrying a Canny Lad strain.
Meanwhile, three of the Group 1 winners by Lonhro's son Pierro have Canny Lad in their dam line whilst Pierro's recent Group 1 winner as a broodmare sire - the G1 Golden Rose S. hero Jacquinot - is by Rubick whose grandam is by Canny Lad.
Lonhro and Canny Lad
A total of 32 (88.8 per cent) of Lonhro's 36 runners out of Canny Lad mares are winners with eight of those (22.2 per cent) being stakes winners.
Bred on the same Relic/Dante (GB) cross as Octagonal, Canny Lad is a member of the Star Kingdom sire line whilst his grandam Beautiful Dreamer (Coeur Volant {GB}) is bred on a close 3 X 3 cross of her sire's grandam Dodoma (GB) (Dastur {GB}) whose influential dam Mumtaz Begum (Fr) (Blenheim {GB}) is Octagonal's sixth dam.
Canny Lad
Mumtaz Begum's grandam Lady Josephine makes her mark on Lonhro's pedigree via three strains of her daughter Lady Juror's (GB) (Son-In-Law {GB}) son Fair Trial and one of her great-grandson Aristophanes.
It must also be noted that Lady Josephine's even more famous daughter Mumtaz Mahal is represented in Lonhro by her son Badruddin (Fr), three strains of Mahmoud and two of her great-grandson Royal Charger (GB) whose dam Sun Princess (GB) (Solario {GB}) is Octagonal's fifth dam.
Plus he carries four strains of Mumtaz Begum's influential son Nasrullah (Ire).
Aside from Lonhro's Group 1 winners with Lady Josephine's influence via Canny Lad; Impending, Kementari, The Conglomerate and Lyre.
Selene's influence
Of course, no stallion's success can be attributed to just one family and another to note in Lonhro's pedigree is the one which has as its matriarch the wonderful mare Selene, fourth dam of Sir Tristram and dam of Hyperion, Pharamond (GB) and Sickle (GB) - all of whom appear in Lonhro (Hyperion five times).
Hyperion
Not surprisingly Sir Tristram has always picked up nicely on strains of Star Way (GB) who also has Selene as his fourth dam. Lonhro likes him too, siring four stakes winners on this cross with three of those - Impending, Lyre and Benfica - being Group 1 winners. The latter's grandam is by Star Way whilst the first two both have Encosta De Lago, son of a Star Way mare.
A total of 30 (85.7 per cent) of Lonhro's 35 runners out of Encosta De Lago mares are winners and there are another two Group 1 winners bred on this cross - Pierro's son Shadow Hero and Jacquinot.
Lonhro also picks up well with strains of Mossborough (GB) whose dam All Moonshine (GB) (Bobsleigh {GB}) is Selene's daughter and Sir Tristram's third dam. Seven of Lonhro's stakes winners have Mossborough in their dams with Quest For Fame (GB) the damsire of three of those... his sire Rainbow Quest (USA) has Mossborough as his third damsire.
Encosta De Lago also provides for a cross of the great mare Special (USA) (Forli {Arg}), grandam of Encosta de Lago's sire Fairy King (USA) and dam of Zabeel's (NZ) damsire Nureyev (USA).
Encosta De Lago
Zabeel's dam Lady Giselle (Fr) is bred on a 6 X 6 cross of Special's fourth dam Simon's Shoes (GB) (Simon Square {GB}), also the fourth dam of Lady Giselle's dam sire Val De Loir (Fr).
Strains of Sadler's
This is a family you can never have too much of and Lonhro has also fared well with strains of its most famous member Sadler's Wells (USA) - Pierro having him as his second damsire whilst Lonhro's stakes winners Academus, Sweynesse, Demerit, Plague Stone, Mountain Hunter and Jerezana also all have Sadler's Wells.
Lonhro's strike rate with strains of the speed influence Thatching (Ire) - a horse bred on a 4 X 5 cross of his own fifth dam Dalmary (GB) (Blandford {Ire}), daughter of Simon's Shoes - is excellent despite a lack of opportunity; from limited runners there have been eight winners and of those two are stakes winners - the dual Group winner Ghisoni and the two times Listed winner Athiri.
Thatching (Ire)
Lonhro has also sired five stakes winners - including the G1 Randwick Guineas winner Kementari - line-bred to Nureyev.
Another mare who has proven a great influence for Lonhro is the G1 Kentucky Oaks heroine Lalun (USA) (Djeddah {Fr}). Bend Not (USA), the dam of Straight Strike, is by Lalun's prolific son Never Bend (USA) whilst her second dam sire Brookfield (USA) is a three-quarter brother to Lalun's dam Be Faithful (USA) (Bimelech {USA}).
A total of 10 of Lonhro's stakes winners - including the Group 1 winners Pierro, Impending and Lyre - carry a strain of Lalun's other son Bold Reason (USA) who is so easily found as the damsire of Sadler's Wells and Fairy King (USA).
Pierro | Standing at Coolmore
Lonhro also does a good job with Wilkes (Fr) - eight stakes winners including the Group 1 winners Denman and Aristia. In both cases the Wilkes strain comes via his star son Vain - noting that both Denman and Pierro have also sired Group 1 winners with a Vain strain.
Wilkes' grandam Tara (Fr) (Teddy {Fr}) is the dam of Norseman (Fr), fourth dam sire of Zabeel.
A total of 19 of Lonhro's stakes winners are out of mares carrying a strain of the legendary Secretariat (USA) - amongst that tally the Group 1 sprinter Bounding whose grandam is bred on a 3 X 4 cross of Secretariat whose half-brother Sir Gaylord (USA) out of the wonderful mare Somethingroyal (USA) (Princequillo {Ire}) is Sir Tristram's grandsire.
Lonhro | Standing at Darley
Another broodmare sire worthy of mention is the regally bred Northern Dancer (Can) horse Night Shift (USA) who shuttled to Woodlands on four occasions. Northern Dancer - who is bred on a 4 X 6 cross of Selene via Hyperion and Sickle and whose second dam sire is Mahmoud - is rarely so close up in pedigrees and Lonhro loves his influence. Of his 18 runners out of Night Shift mares, 14 (77.7 per cent) are winners with five (a massive 27.7 per cent) of those being stakes winners including the Group 1 gallopers Beaded and Mental.
Meanwhile, five of Lonhro's stakes winners including the Group 1 winner Bounding have Gone West (USA) who hails from the same family as Round Table and Aureole. He also has a couple of Group 3 winners - Mecir and Eight Till Late who have Grosvenor (NZ) as their second dam sire and that multiple Group 1 winner is a son of Lonhro's third dam My Tricia (NZ) (Hermes {GB}).
