Ducimus Gives Snitzel His 50th Stakes Winner
In only his second start after a first up win at Ballarat, Ducimus almost lost the race due to greenness before holding off the strong finishing Taking Aim (Choisir) to prevail by a long head. Another length and a half back in third place was the filly Sanadaat (Not A Single Doubt) whose rider lodged an unsuccessful protest against the winner for interference at the 200 metre mark. Winning time was 1:03.72.
With the 2017 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne beginning on Sunday, Ducimus’s victory provided a timely advertisement for the auction as the son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) topped last year’s sale, realising $700,000.
As a lovely type by a boom sire, Ducimus was bound to sell well but the outstanding production record of his winning dam Beauty World (Danehill Dancer) was also a big factor in convincing buyers to compete for the Oakland Park Stud-bred who was offered in the Blue Gum Farm draft.
Ducimus is the eighth foal and eighth winner for Beauty World and her fourth stakes winner after Loveyamadly (Bel Esprit), Hi World (High Chaparral) and Lite’n In My Veins (Henrythenavigator) while two of her other winners, American Crew (Stratum) and Where’s Wally (Rogano), have stakes placings to their credit.
Ducimus descends from a once prominent New Zealand family introduced to Australia in the 1960s and one most associated with Victoria’s Mornmoot Stud through the deeds of the mare Oh Calcutta (Streetfighter) when bred to the stud’s champion sire Century (Better Boy).
That Century/Oh Calcutta mating produced Ducimus’s third dam Scarlet Ribbons but more significantly six-time stakes winner Stage Hit, two of whose successes came in races now given Group One status, and Indian Raj, whose two feature wins included the Newcastle Gold Cup (Gr 2, 2300m).
Stage Hit became a very good producer leaving black type winners Encores (Marscay), Irradiate (Rassendyll) and the sire Sir Laurence (Bletchingly).
Oh Calcutta’s dam Indian Daughter (Rawalpindi) was a half-sister to Tasmanian stars Mere (Small Time) and Sabreur (Niksar) while other major winners further back in the family include Cabonne (Summertime), Astrella (Crest of the Wave) and San Sebastian (Summertime).
Ducimus’s sire Snitzel retired to Arrowfield Stud, Scone, NSW in 2006 and is enjoying a banner season, at this point leading the Australian general sires’ list with earnings in excess of $7,660,000 and may well earn his first champion sire title when the season ends in late July.
At this time Snitzel has also had more individual winners in Australia this season than any other sire and is the season’s leading sire of two-year-olds with a remarkable tally of 22 individual winners. Three of his progeny have accepted for Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
Last season Snitzel was booked out at a fee of $110,000 (inc GST) but it would not surprise to see a price increase for 2017.
Among his progeny are six Group One winners: males Shamus Award, Sizzling, Wandjina and the gelding Hot Snitzel as well as females Sweet Idea and Snitzerland. Shamus Award, Sizzling and Wandjina are all standing as stallions in NSW but their progeny are yet to race.
Snitzel has eight Group Two winners, 16 Group Three winners including one in Japan from a shuttle season, and no fewer than 60 stakes placegetters to date. His stakes winners-to- runners percentage is high at 7.2 per cent while his winners-to-runners figure is above 69 per cent.
Out of a daughter of the brilliant Snippets (Lunchtime), Snitzel is bred for short course speed and precocity and his racecourse performances reflected that as he came to hand early, winning seven races and placed in another four from 15 starts at two and three years.
He captured the Breeders’ Plate (Listed, 1000m) at his first start then won another two stakes races in his first season of competition before coming back at three years to record his most important success in the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m). That season Snitzel won two other stakes races and among his placings was a second to Takeover Target (Celtic Swing) in the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m). Interestingly, another boom sire, I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), also finished second to Takeover Target in another Group One sprint.
The dominant feature of the pedigree of Ducimus is a powerful 3m x 3m double of Danehill (Danzig). With five lines of Northern Dancer (Nearctic) in his background, two coming via Danehill, Ducimus has no fewer than seven crosses of celebrated mare Natalma (Native Dancer).