Exciting US stallions join Spendthrift Australia roster
Grade 1 winners Omaha Beach (War Front) and Vino Rosso (Curlin), two of the most exciting young stallions among the American breeding ranks, will shuttle to Spendthrift Australia this spring, headlining the Victorian farm’s five-stallion roster in 2020.
“It’s a massive vote of confidence in the Victorian market by Spendthrift’s owner Mr Hughes to shuttle such elite American horses to Australia,” Spendthrift Australia’s general manager Garry Cuddy told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “They are proper horses that won multiple Grade 1 races – not just handy horses, but elite.
“One of the reasons Spendthrift Australia was established was to give Spendthrift horses of this calibre an opportunity to succeed in both hemispheres. They’ll be afforded every chance at success with the support of our broodmare band and we will be active at the sales over the coming months to purchase mares that specifically complement their profiles.
“Both covered full books in their debut seasons at Spendthrift America, yet the amazing opportunity for Australian breeders is they will stand at a fraction of the service fee here. These are two superstar horses standing at incredible value and we’re very proud to have them join our roster.”
Omaha Beach will stand at $22,000 (inc GST) for his first Australian season, with Vino Rosso available at $13,750 (inc GST). That compares to US$45,000 (AUD$69,400) and US$30,000 (AUD$46,200) respectively.
Both Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso are among a slew of new stallions joining the Australian ranks this season, but few can match the racetrack feats of the pair.
A veteran of just ten starts, Omaha Beach was a three-time Grade 1 winner as a three-year-old, proving his versatility by taking the Arkansas Derby (Gr 1, 9f) early in the season before adding the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (Gr 1, 6f) and the Malibu Stakes (Gr 1, 7f) before 2019 was out.
“Omaha Beach was brilliant once he hit his straps,” highly-respected American racing analyst Candice Hare told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “He showed precocity and yet somehow still managed to improve over the length of his career.
“In recent years, we have looked to Bob Baffert as holding sway over the three-year-old races and Omaha Beach put away his best two three-year-olds, Game Winner and Improbable, quite easily.
“Being a Grade 1-winning sprinter as well as a horse who was able to stretch out, I think the speed he possessed will be a drawcard to Australian breeders. Though he excelled on dirt, he ran well on the turf and his pedigree lends itself to turf racing, being by War Front from one of the best sprinter-miler families in the American stud book.
“His brother Courage Under Fire ran second to Caravaggio in the Phoenix Stakes, an Irish Group 1 on turf, so I think he will be the type to produce good, fast turf horses who will be well-suited to Australian racing conditions.”
Omaha Beach is a half-brother to champion two-year-old filly Take Charge Brandi (Giant’s Causeway), a dual Grade 1 winner, while their dam Charming (Seeking The Gold) is a half-sister to Grade 1 winners and sires Will Take Charge (Unbridled’s Song) and Take Charge Indy (A P Indy). Charming, Will Take Charge and Take Charge Indy are all out of Take Charge Lady (Dehere), a three-time Grade 1 winner and the US Broodmare of the Year in 2013.
“Omaha Beach, being a son of War Front from one of the best families in the American studbook, has great genetic appeal,” Cuddy said. “War Front has shown his qualities as a sire of sires through the deeds of Declaration of War.”
Omaha Beach’s racing connections have been associated with some of the finest thoroughbreds to have graced the American turf, but all could recognise that the dark bay colt was something out of the box.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, who has prepared top horses like Beholder (Henny Hughes), Pleasantly Perfect (Pleasant Colony) and The Tin Man (Equiano), told Bloodhorse: “I can’t think of one better than him. He hasn’t been around as long as the likes of Beholder, she was a champion, but probably the few times he ever got beat were my fault. I wish I could take the credit for him, but I think he’s just a very good horse and he has been a great pleasure to have around the barn.”
Owner Rick Porter, whose portfolio has included Songbird (Medaglia d’Oro), Hard Spun (Danzig) and Havre De Grace (Saint Liam), added: “He and Songbird were the two best horses I ever had, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have some good ones. This guy, between his personality, his talent, and his bad luck, was special.”
Vino Rosso raced at the highest level at both three and four, winning two Grade 1 races – the Gold Cup (Gr 1, 10f) at Santa Anita and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr 1, 10f), the traditional season-ending championship on the American calendar.
“Vino Rosso is by a Champion sire in Curlin, who has sired over ten per cent stakes winners to runners, which is exceptional by any standards,” Cuddy said.
Hare added: “His career was hallmarked by a similar toughness to his sire Curlin. He was better as he got over more ground and also as he got older, but what I think was most memorable about him was his tenacity; if you were in a stretch duel with him, you were going to lose.
“Vino Rosso was born the day after Triple Crown winner Justify at the same farm, John and Tanya Gunther’s Glennwood Farm in Kentucky. Justify may have overshadowed him early with his exploits as a three-year-old, but long after Justify had been shipped to the breeding barn, Vino Rosso was demonstrating his soundness and his physical maturity by performing at the highest level, culminating in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year.”
The addition of Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso to the Victorian ranks adds to the renaissance of American shuttle stallions, which had tapered off in recent years. The pair join two Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) and Justify (Scat Daddy), as well as Grade 1 winners Frosted (Tapit) and World Of Trouble (Kantharos), in making the trip down under for the 2020 southern hemisphere breeding season.
The move has been lauded on both sides of the Pacific, with American experts believing that both Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso have the potential to follow in the footsteps of More Than Ready (Southern Halo) in finding success with their progeny in the sales ring and on the race track in both the United States and Australia.
“They are a classy pair – actually, all of the American stallions set to shuttle to Australia are incredibly classy this year – and both are really fast, which is key,” Hare said. “I think when we, as analysts in America, look at our top horses today, even if they are winning over a mile and a quarter, we are still noting how fast they are and how fast they have to be.
“If you are bred to win over a mile and a quarter, these days you have no chance of winning a Kentucky Derby because you don’t have the natural pace that’s required to perform at the highest level in the United States.
“Our horses are fast, which is why I think they translate well to the Australian breeding barn. Not to mention that our breeding industries aren’t really that different when you look at the influence that Danzig and his sons have had across the board.”
Both Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso will join three promising Spendthrift Australia stallions: Swear (Redoute’s Choice), whose first yearlings went through the sales ring earlier this year, as well as Overshare (I Am Invincible) and Gold Standard (Sebring), who had their first foals on the ground last spring.
Overshare will stand again at $11,000 (inc GST), the same fee at which his sire I Am Invincible stood for his first four seasons. The Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) line is proving tremendously popular and, as a colonial sire from that line, he shapes as an exciting prospect.
“We couldn’t be happier with Overshare’s start to stud,” Cuddy said. “The proof is in his numbers – he covered 150 mares last season after the quality of his foals were seen. He’s an incredibly good looking horse himself and it’s very encouraging to see this coming through in his foal quality.”
Swear’s first yearlings sold for up to $80,000, more than 15 times his service fee of $5,500 (inc GST), a level at which he remains for the upcoming season.
“As we continue to see each season with Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt, it’s hard to fault a son of Redoute’s Choice and Swear has all the credentials to succeed,” said Cuddy. “John Hawkes, Swear’s own trainer, purchased the first colt of his through the ring which is a great tick of approval.”
Gold Standard also remains at $5,500 (inc GST). As a rare son of the late Sebring (More Than Ready) at stud, he holds plenty of appeal, particularly given the physical similarities to his sire.
“Gold Standard is the image of his sire and his foals are showing that class and quality too,” Cuddy said. “The word that springs to mind when I see him and his foals is athleticism. Again he covered a bigger book in his second season than his first, that only happens when the foals are excellent types.”
All three of Spendthrift Australia’s returning stallions are available to breeders under the Breed Secure payment scheme. This allows breeders to pay the service fee once the resultant foal has been sold, having recouped expense allowances and secured financial upside.