The fastest meteor: Deep Field's enduring legacy

Cover image courtesy of Newgate Stud Farm

Some stars burn out before we get to see them at their brightest and some stallions show only a twinkle of their promise at stud. In a shortened stud career, the now pensioned Deep Field has proved himself much more than both, and perhaps the best is yet to come as the last of his yearlings grace the sale ring.

The fastest meteor

The first foal for Listed Cinderella S. winner Listen Here (Elusive Quality {USA}), the strapping bay colt that would be named Deep Field was a standout from day one. Bred by Bob Oatley’s Balmoral Operations and stamped on his nearside shoulder with the concentric circles of Edinglassie Stud, he attracted a $440,000 purchase price at the 2012 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. He was the most expensive yearling sold at public auction from the first crop of the ill-fated Northern Meteor, who would succumb to colic before Deep Field reached the track.

Owned by Alan Bell in partnership with Kia Ora Stud, Deep Field would not be seen on race day until the winter of his 3-year-old season. Injury prevented his talent from emerging early, but the colt more than made up for lost time when winning his debut trial in June of 2014, then erupting onto the Gosford track, winning his maiden by 10l. The Hawkes racing team mapped out a path to Group 2 glory down the Flemington straight in November, with three knockout wins in between.

Even before the autumn campaign of his 4-year-old year, stud farms were banging on the door for Deep Field.

“He was a horse that was highly sought after,” Bruce Slade, bloodstock manager for Newgate Farm, said. “When he did hit the track, he was just blisteringly fast. And, obviously, he was a very well bred horse and a very good looking horse.”

Slade and Newgate put forth an offer to Bell, and thus, having collected a third in the G1 Lightning S. behind Lankan Rupee (Redoute’s Choice) and a second in the G3 Maurice McCarten S., Deep Field retired to Newgate Farm in the Hunter Valley. Initially offered at a “very attractive fee” of $22,000, the 5-year-old was soon in high demand.

Faith from the start

“A lot of people with all different sorts of mares and in different brackets saw value and (that they) could make money out of the horse,” Slade said. “That's the interesting thing about the horse, I think, for as many as he covered and for as many yearlings as he had, they always sold well.

“So many breeders did well, and off the back of that, he got a lot of return support.”

Indeed, Deep Field’s initial numbers were astronomical. From the 176 foals born in his first crop, having covered 257 mares, 80 yearlings sold for six figures at public auction, topped by his $675,000 son Rebel Salute, purchased from Kia Ora Stud by Orbis Bloodstock at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2018. Dual stakeswinner Rustic Steel topped his sire’s yearling offerings from his second crop, selling for $500,000 to Tasman Bloodstock from Newgate’s Easter draft.

Across his first seven seasons at stud, Deep Field averaged over 200 mares serviced. His service fee doubled by the time his first crop was 3-years-old, and would double again at the height of his career.

“He was just a good looking horse that left good looking stock, and he was very easy to mate to.”

Deep Field’s lineage only converges with that of Danehill (USA) in the sixties with their common ancestor Northern Dancer (CAN), making him an appealing outcross to a Danehill-saturated broodmare band. Slade and his compatriots had faith in him from the beginning, and the quality of Deep Field’s foals vindicated their convictions almost immediately.

“They sold well into the best training stables and, of course, the best training stables got the best out of them,” Slade said. “We've seen the racetrack success.”

Deep Field’s colts and geldings have so far outshone his fillies on the track; to date, 25 of his 36 stakeswinners have been the former, amassing between them 42 stakes wins, as opposed to 18 black type victories shared between 11 fillies. A solid contribution to these numbers have come from his success in Hong Kong, where his progeny have earned him three Champion Hong Kong Sire (by earnings and winners) titles in a row. In 2022, he set a new record for seasonal earnings, which he soundly beat again last season.

“Horses that are sprinter milers with size and scope that get better with time, and with great attitudes as well, that's the sort of thing that's going to make a real impact in Hong Kong,” Slade said. “I don't think it (Hong Kong) ever was at the forefront of our minds, but he's a pretty natural fit when you think about it.”

This season, Deep Field has 5 more winners than the next most successful sire in Hong Kong, and almost double the progeny earnings. His son Voyage Bubble leads the charge, having handed his sire a fourth Group 1 winner with his victory in last month’s G1 Hong Kong Mile.

A great loss

Deep Field began to show signs of struggling in the covering shed in 2021, and he was ultimately retired midway through the following breeding season when testicular degeneration left him unable to serve. All avenues have been exhausted in a bid to rejuvenate the stallion’s fertility, but it was not to be.

Six foals born in the spring of 2023 have been confirmed to be his. One filly passed away in June, leaving behind only five yearlings to represent him.

Two will be offered on the Gold Coast next week; Kingstar Farm will offer Lot 273, a granddaughter of G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Miracles Of Life (Not A Single Doubt), and Newgate will present Lot 991 out of Graff’s full sister Steel Diamond (Star Witness), one of the only two Deep Field colts born last season.

Gallery: Progeny of Deep Field on offer at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Magic Millions

Alma Vale Thoroughbreds will take one filly, Lot 265 out of a daughter of G1 Golden Slipper S. runner-up How Funny (Rory’s Jester), to the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale in March. A remaining colt and filly are yet to enter a sales catalogue.

“​​It’s a big loss for us, a big loss for his owners, and a big loss for the industry,” Slade said.

“So now we’re relying on his sons and daughters to make his impact at stud a long lasting one. I think he's going to make a beautiful broodmare sire with his pedigree, and they’ll leave good commercial types like he has.”

The Magic Millions catalogue features the progeny of nine of his daughters (after withdrawals), led by Lot 105, a Stay Inside colt from his G2 Euclase S.-winning daughter Xilong, and Lot 550, a Snitzel filly from Just Field, herself a three-quarter-sister to his stakes-winning son High Octane.

Gallery: Progeny of some of the daughters of Deep Field who are being offered at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Magic Millions

“I can just see his daughters being such a value add to an Australian breeding program, they're going to bring with them substance, bone and great attitudes,” Slade said.

Passing the torch

“And of course, he’s got sons at stud now too.”

Four sons of Deep Field have entered stud so far, led by Cosmic Force. Winner of the G3 Pago Pago S. by 7.3l, he was high in the betting for the Golden Slipper. He won the G2 Roman Consul S. at three, beating three other future stallions in the process.

Gallery: Sons of Deep Field who now stand at stud

“Cosmic Force is doing a terrific job, he had a new Group winner on the weekend,” Slade said. Bred by Bob Hannon at his Ascot Park property, he was selected for Newgate’s colt partnership as a yearling, and China Horse Club Racing, Newgate, and Winstar secured him for $180,000 in a rare Inglis Classic Yearling Sale purchase for the syndicate.

“He was just a standout on type. Henry's got a great eye. He was a horse that carried that over to the track, (and was) one of the most precocious sons of Deep Field. Like his father, he didn't win his Group 1, but showed immense talent and got good support at a lower fee.”

Debuting at $16,500 across the stallion barn from his father, Cosmic Force was met with the same welcome. Slade confirmed he covered a full book this year, demand remaining strong for Deep Field blood in the absence of the stallion himself. Cosmic Force’s first Group winner came as a late Christmas present when Newgate-bred Give Me Space took out the G3 Vo Rogue S. at Eagle Farm.

“He just leaves consistently good types like Deep Field. They're more refined but very clean winded, and they have just been a horse that trainers have liked all the way through.”

Two of Deep Field’s sons stand at Widden; G3 San Domenico S. winner Sweet Ride has just joined the stallion ranks for his first season, alongside G1 Oakleigh Plate victor Portland Sky, whose first yearlings enter the ring this sales season. After withdrawals, 13 of his progeny will travel to the Gold Coast this week. His highlights include Lot 446, a colt from the half-sister to West Australian sire I'm All The Talk, and Lot 674, a daughter of Group 3-placed Miss Wonderland (Snitzel).

Bred by Anita Vale Stud and purchased for $85,000 by his trainer Matt Laurie at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale, Portland Sky rocketed from Ballarat maiden to a Group 3 win in his first preparation. Just four months later, he dead-heated with Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) in the Oakleigh Plate and Widden Stud pounced on an opportunity to expand their relationship with the Northern Meteor sireline.

Gallery: Some of the progeny of Portland Sky to be offered at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Magic Millions

“It's the bloodline that we have bred successfully to,” said Matt Comerford, nominations and client relations for Widden Stud. “We're trying to create a dynasty, so why not stick to something that's worked so well for us previously?

“He’s had a good start to his career, he had good sales results with his weanlings and they're good, tough, solid racehorses, similar to what Deep Field throws.”

“The sire line works,” Comerford added, circling back to the performance of Cosmic Force as a blueprint for Portland Sky's future. “It's synonymous with the Australian market, and what the Australian trainers and agents and syndicators want to buy. They want to buy winners.”

“He’s a really good looking horse, I expect him to leave good looking stock,” said Slade, who is looking forward to inspecting Portland Sky’s offspring at the sales. “He has a real life chance of making it at stud.”

Deep Field is represented on the west coast by his son Aysar, a winner of the Listed Chautauqua S. who was narrowly beaten by Ole Kirk in the G1 Caulfield Guineas. The west has been clamouring for Deep Field blood for some time, particularly to complement the Danehill heavy broodmare band, and Geisel Park Stud leaped at the chance to stand the young stallion, who covered his second book this spring.

“His physical type and pedigree is just fantastic, so to be able to bring a horse of that quality to West Australia, we were all over him immediately,” Geisel Park Stud’s Conor Dunlop said. “He's been really well received. He's covered a couple of quality books of mares and now that we have seen his first crop of foals, I'm absolutely stoked with them.

“The foals have been consistently all stamped in the same athletic manner as himself. As a result, multiple people have come back again this year. He ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of breeders.”

The rising stars

The Newgate colts partnership has returned to the well in the hopes of sampling more success, and Slade has high hopes for sons Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Colts & Geldings)-winning High Octane and G3 Gunsynd Classic winner Bases Loaded.

“High Octane just needs to take that next step now,” Slade said. “Peter Snowden has always had a really high opinion of him. He's always shown talent from the start.”

A million dollar purchase from Segenhoe Stud at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, High Octane burst onto the scene in January with his Listed win and was only beaten 2.9l in the Blue Diamond a month later. He returned as a 3-year-old with a third in the Listed Rosebud S. before narrowly missing out on the placings in three further spring runs. The team keeps the faith heading into the autumn.

A year older, Based Loaded was a $400,000 Easter purchase the year before from Tyreel Stud’s draft. A debut winner for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, he picked up three black-type placings as a juvenile, including running second to Militarize (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}) in the G1 Champagne S. Tim Clark steered him to his first stakes victory in June at Eagle Farm, beating subsequent Group 1 winner Port Lockroy (Better Than Ready).

“He's a horse that always puts in a good performance,” Slade said. “They were pretty special. I feel there's a little bit more there to find from him, so he's exciting. There's a feeling from breeders where they like to see horses that train on a bit now, they like to see a horse reproduce good form.”

It is the closing of a chapter in Deep Field’s life, but not the whole book. The fastest meteor may have lit up our skies for only a short period of time, but his comet’s tail continues to burn bright on the track and at stud.