Matings Mix: Woodside Park studying the nicks to set Celestial Legend up right

Cover image courtesy of Woodside Park Stud

Woodside Park Stud bolstered their six-strong roster this season with the addition of dual Group 1 winner Celestial Legend, standing for $27,500 (inc GST), and the great grey son of Dundeel (NZ) has already been turning heads at on-farm parades.

Nominations manager Mark Dodemaide is confident he will get off to a flying start this spring, backed with the pick of Woodside’s broodmare band.

Multiple nick points for Celestial Legend

Winner of the G1 Randwick Guineas and the G1 Doncaster Handicap, Celestial Legend stands to benefit from the established nicks that work well with the High Chaparral (Ire) sireline. Upon securing their latest addition, Woodside Park Stud set about building their broodmare band out further with mares to suit him.

Woodside Park purchased Listed-winning mare Cavaloce (Testa Rossa) specifically for Celestial Legend; they signed the docket for $50,000 at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale, taking her home in foal to Dundeel.

“She’s a nice, big, scopey mare,” Dodemaide said. “There’s only been 15 runners bred on the Testa Rossa–Dundeel cross, and they have already produced two stakes winners, Elliptical and Litzdeel. It’s showing a fair bit already from small numbers.”

Elliptical (Dundeel {NZ}) won the G3 CS Hayes Stakes as a 3-year-old and subsequently attracted significant interest from Hong Kong, with the reported offer sitting around the $2.5 million mark.

Cavaloce’s two Dundeel yearlings to head to the sales to date have drawn significant attention, making $340,000 and $420,000 respectively, and her foals by The Autumn Sun have been similarly well received.

“Dublin Lass is another nice mare that’s going to Celestial Legend,” Dodemaide said. “She’s a stakeswinning mare and the dam of a stakes winner, she’s a proven producer to get him going.”

Purchased less for the sireline cross and more for her physicality and progeny, Woodside Park paid $200,000 for dual Listed winner Dublin Lass (O’Reilly {NZ}) at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale where she was offered by Newgate Consignment in foal to Exceedance, with a due date in late September. The resultant foal will be a full sibling to dual Group 3 winner Dublin Down, who was beaten just three and a half lengths in Hayasugi’s (Royal Meeting {Ire}) G1 Blue Diamond Stakes.

The same sale yielded Miss Hufflepuff (Encosta De Lago), a $260,000 purchase from Tyreel Stud in foal to So You Think (NZ), whose G1 South Australian Derby-winning daughter Coco Sun (The Autumn Sun) went the way of Yulong the same evening.

Dual Group 2-winning Nafaayes (Exceed And Excel) is the mare Dodemaide is most excited about matching to Celestial Legend.

“Nafaayes is probably the best mare on the farm, and she’s going to him as well,” he said. “We bought her in foal to Kingman at the Chairman’s sale, and the Kingman is probably our best yearling at this point in time. She has a Blue Point back in England, Dandana, who has had two starts for two wins as a juvenile and made 600,000 guineas as a yearling when selling to Godolphin. She’s a very promising mare.

“She’s an extremely good-looking, Group-winning racemare, and the Danehill line crosses so well with Dundeel already. ”

Rounding out Celestial Legend’s book is Obsequious (Lonhro), the dam of multiple Group-winning stallion Ingratiating, and Yosei (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who looks to capitalise on the cross of High Chaparral over Green Desert (USA); it replicates the cross that has borne Linebacker (NZ) (Super Seth), who is out of an Oasis Dream (GB) mare.

Dodemaide stressed the importance of bringing these proven producers in for their newest addition, although he felt, after on-farm parades, that Celestial Legend could well and truly sell himself.

“He’s very attractive, with a great temperament,” Dodemaide said. “One of the first things people will ask me, because he’s a son of Dundeel, is how tall he is, and he's exactly 16 hands. He’s very athletic and he’s a good size, and you would think he’s going to let down into a really good sort of stallion.”

Sadler’s Wells to mix well with Benbatl

Second season sire Benbatl (GB) returns to Victoria to stand for $22,000 (inc GST) this season.

“He’s outstanding,” Dodemaide said. “When you think about it, he rated 125 at the peak of his racing career. One year, he was ranked the ninth best horse in the world, and another year he was 15th. Someone at a recent parade mentioned that every time he got off a plane, no matter if it's Riha, Dubai, Melbourne, Germany, every single time he got off a plane, he turned up and ran big.

“He’s a touch bigger than Dubawi at exactly 15.3 hands, and he’s a bit longer. If you like Dubawi, you’re going to love Benbatl.”

Dodemaide reflected on the stallion’s career, which includes three Group 1 wins in three countries and a second to Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Cox Plate.

“I think people pigeonholed him at 2000 metres, but if you look at his form, he set a track record for a mile at his second to last start,” he said. “That was as an older horse. To me, he was a miler that stretched out to 2000 metres. If you watch his second to Winx, he would have been even more competitive if it was 1800 metres.

Dodemaide outlined that Woodside Park had been seeking what worked best with Dubawi (Ire) to replicate in the stallion’s matings this year, and had identified a number of mares with Sadler’s Wells blood that would suit best.

“There’s about 30 Group 1 winners bred on the Dubawi–Sadler’s Wells cross,” Dodemaide said. “Horses like Ghaiyyath and Too Darn Hot are by Dubawi out of mares from that line, so that’s where we have aimed for him.

“And Street Cry mares are a very good cross. I believe there’s been around 125 runners bred on that cross, and 16 stakes winners, including the likes of Broadsiding.”

Amongst his book will be Collection Privee (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who is due to foal to Benbatl this year, and Platinum Passion (Redoute’s Choice), a stakes-producing half-sister to triple Group 2 winner Tusker (NZ) (Volksraad {GB}).

“She’s the dam of Listed winner Tribal Wisdom, who’s by Makfi, so it will be nice to breed a three-quarter-sibling to a stakes winner,” Dodemaide said. “We’re doing that cross quite a bit. He’s also getting Lady Melksham, a stakes-winning Artie Schiller mare, and Pygmy, who was second in the Queensland Oaks.”

Group 3 winner Lady Melksham (Artie Schiller {USA}) also visited Benbatl last season, and is due to foal to him in early November.

Invincible Papa guiding Shalaa’s selections

“I don’t think he could be punching any more above his weight,” said Dodemaide of Shalaa (Ire), who stands for $19,800 (inc GST) and Dodemaide classifies as the perfect VOBIS stallion.

“Last season, he was 15th in the general sires’ list by winners, and he didn’t break 200 runners,” Dodemaide added. “He loves Danehill mares, just look at Mornington Glory, Eagle Nest, Whizz Kid. Because of that, we’re sending him Aerobatics, who is a nice, stakes-winning mare, and for that same reason, he will get French Emotion.”

Woodside Park picked out French Emotion, a Group 2-winning daughter of Snitzel, for $80,000 from Widden Stud’s Inglis Australian National Broodmare Sale this year while in foal to Zousain. Her yearlings have always been top sellers; her Toronado (Ire) colt, now turned two, sold to George Moore Bloodstock for $375,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale this year, and her city-winning daughter Amoreaux (I Am Invincible) was a $500,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduate.

While purchasing French Emotion, another mare jumped out at Dodemaide, offering a different cross.

“When we were in Sydney, we're walking down the back to look at something, and there was a Canford Cliffs mare that Willow Park Stud had,” he said. “We knew about Invincible Papa, who goes very well in Japan and might make it down for the Everest, is out of a Canford Cliffs mare, so we bought her fairly cheaply.

“Invincible Papa was a $200,000 Easter graduate, and last Sunday he won another Group 3, making it six wins from 10 starts, and he was extremely fast at both ends of the race. We bought her on the chance that he would keep delivering, and he has.”

A $20,000 purchase in foal to Tassort, Royal Canford (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) commanded $90,000 from Rohan J Hughes Thoroughbred Services and Grahame Begg Racing for her Harry Angel (Ire) weanling at this year’s Inglis Australian National Weanling Sale. Her oldest foal, a Trapeze Artist filly, is yet to be named.

“He’s (Shalaa) had 20 stakes winners, and we just thought down here he would be the ideal VOBIS sire,” Dodemaide said. “You get a good chance to breed yourself quite an athletic horse, and really that’s what you want.”

Danehill mares an enduring flavour

Young son of Frankel (GB), Delaware (GB) has his first 2-year-olds hit the track this season, and Dodemaide is keen to continue with what has produced the sire’s nicest types to date. The cross of Frankel over Danehill (USA) line mares has been a fruitful one in both hemispheres; it is for this reason that Delaware will be visited by multiple stakes winner Detours (Ad Valorem) and Haut Ton (Redoute’s Choice), a daughter of G1 Canterbury Guineas winner Fine Society (Marscay).

“She (Haut Ton) was a million dollar yearling back when that was less common,” Dodemaide said of the 2007-born mare. Haut Ton has a 2-year-old colt by Delaware, and was back in foal to the stallion last spring.

Foxwedge and Rich Enuff round out the Woodside Park roster, and Dodemaide confirmed that Personal Guarantee (Danzero), the dam of Listed winner Plutocrat (Rich Enuff), was booked back to Rich Enuff this season. She will be first in the door, having delivered a colt by the stallion late last season and being left empty.

“He’s (Rich Enuff) such a speed horse, and he does well with the quicker Danehill mares,” Dodemaide said. “They don't have to have the best pedigree, they just have to be fast.”

Joining her is dual Group 3 winner Madam Gangster (Al Maher), who has a Rich Enuff yearling on the ground and was served again by the stallion last spring.

Elder statesman Foxwedge, as a son of Fastnet Rock, will be the only one of the trio not visited by Danehill mares, but there is plenty of good mares left for him - Lady Melksham has been earmarked for a swap into his book if she doesn’t take to Benbatl. Dodemaide said that the 17-year-old still draws attention, particularly at a fee of $8800 (inc GST).

“You’re not a top-priced colt at Easter for no reason,” he said. “Fastnet Rocks can be a bit big and plain, but he’s very attractive. And you won’t find better value elsewhere for his fee.”