Group 1 win caps Toronado’s discreet rise to the top
The potential of Swettenham’s young shuttle stallion Toronado (High Chaparral) has been one of the worst kept secrets among the Australian stallion ranks. In fact you could hardly call it a secret at all.
Yet entering the start of this Australian racing season, with his first crop about to turn four years of age, Toronado was represented by just the one stakes winner in Australia – the four-time Listed-winning Tassie sensation, Still A Star.
Eight sensational months down the line, and that number has swelled to six after Laverrod’s win in the Hareeba Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Mornington yesterday, while on Friday night he sired his first Group 1 winner in the shape of the Rupert Legh-owned Masked Crusader, who was sublime in claiming the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) under the lights of Moonee Valley.
“We were all on course and it was very exciting when we saw him take the gap,” Swettenham principal Adam Sangster told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“It’s always been something we’ve been very hopeful of, but you can’t count your chickens until they hatch. We knew he (Toronado) had some nice ones coming through, but it’s great to get the Group 1 with him now, it’s incredibly exciting.”
The rise of Masked Crusader has been much like his sire. The handsome gelding, Toronado’s most expensive yearling from his first crop at $340,000, held a record of three wins from four starts as he ended his autumn campaign of 2020, but connections knew what they had at their disposal. For if anyone can spot an eye for talent it would be within the experienced ownership group of Legh, breeder Rick Jamieson, Colin Madden and Neil Werrett.
And, after a winless three-start spring, the four-year-old returned this autumn, delivering on his unquestionable ability, much to the delight of Sangster as the group watched on course at The Valley.
“Colin Madden was there, Rick Jamieson, Rupert Legh; it’s great for them to get the reward because he’s been a bit stiff a couple of times. So it was nice to get the Group 1 next to his name,” said Sangster.
“He (Toronado) was an undefeated Group-winning two-year-old himself, but I think down here we haven’t quite pushed him as hard and that’s probably come through as they race on into terrific three and four-year-olds.
“They’re not pure two-year-olds. Some can do it on raw ability but, as we’ve seen with his three and four-year-olds, that’s when they really reveal their true colours.”
Even before a defining day at Flemington in November, which saw a further two stakes winners added to his CV as Affair To Remember, a Group 1-placed filly at three, and three-year-old Shelby Cobra broke through to win the Matriarch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) and Amanda Elliott Handicap (Listed, 1400m), the latter carrying the same iconic blue and lightning bolt silks as Friday’s Group 1 winner, breeders had latched on to Toronado as a stallion not only with Group 1 potential, but a dependable one who will deliver a return on their investment.
Toronado’s six stakes winners have come over distances from 1200 metres to 2100 metres, with three fillies and three colts among them. It’s a versatility that, coupled with the fact his bloodlines that descend from Sadler’s Wells through High Chaparral make him a suitable match for the vast majority of Australian mare population, led to him ending the 2020 breeding season as one of only six stallions to cover more than 200 mares.
“You give him a sprinting mare and you get a sprinter, you throw a middle distance mare to him and that’s what you get,” said Sangster.
“He’s very versatile with who you can pair him with as well. The Invincible Spirit mares work and a lot of the Danehill line mares work, too. He’s not too big, he’s not too small and you can have such a broad spectrum of ways you can go with him, he doesn’t cut out very much of the broodmare band.”
In the sales ring, Toronado has this year averaged over $115,000 with his yearlings, headlined by a $460,000 colt from the Inglis Premier Sale, a half-brother to Group 1 winner Extra Brut (Domesday).
Such success on the track and in the sales ring will prompt his studmasters to raise his fee in 2021.
“You can get a result in the sales ring and you can get a result on the racetrack. You know what you’re going to get. You know you’ll have a very good chance of getting a return on your investment,” said Sangster.
“It’s great that from a $20,000 service fee people are earning a return of five times that. His fee will be going up this year coming but there’s a reward there for all the different levels of breeder. Whether it’s at the top with Gilgai or the breeder that only has three or four mares, he gives everyone a return.
“But one thing we will be doing – he won’t be covering those 200-plus books anymore. It’ll be a more select group of mares, those with the pedigrees that can really shine through for him.
“This year he’s covered several Group 1 winners and Group 1 producers, as well as a daughter of Black Caviar and it’s the first time he’s really getting a good number of those high quality mares.
Another factor which has fuelled demand for the progeny of Toronado is his success in Hong Kong, where today he has the very real chance of siring the winner of the lucrative Hong Kong Derby (Listed, 2000m) at Sha Tin, in the shape of the former Matt Laurie-trained Prince Of Sussex, now known as Lucky Express.
“David Chester from Magic Millions was saying that he’s the most sought after stallion in Hong Kong right now,” said Sangster. “He’s had six Australian-bred runners for four winners over there and in Lucky Express he has a decent chance in the Derby.
“He was a very good two-year-old and we’ll find out tomorrow (Sunday) just how good a four-year-old he is.”
His success in the region has led to breeders targeting the son of High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells), chasing the lucrative money on offer. Today’s Derby is worth a whopping HK$18 million (approx. AUD$2.99), leading Hong Kong agents and owners to fork out big price tags for Australia’s topline geldings.
“He has some very good ones over there and it is becoming a lucrative secondary market.
“It’s a bit of a shame for the Australians that people sell them, but when you’re offered upwards of $1.5 million and even up to $3 million for Toronado geldings, it’s a lot of money to turn down, we understand that, as much as want them to be racing here.
“He gets lots of breeders who bring mares who have had Hong Kong winners or Hong Kong winners in the family, he throws horses that really catch the eye of the Hong Kong buyer.”
A win in today’s Sha Tin feature would further cement the rise of one of the world’s most versatile sires, and one that Sangster acknowledges would be momentous for the stallion. Win or lose, however, Toronado looks set to continue on his march to the upper echelons of the stallion ranks.
But, of course, the industry already knows.
“It would be amazing and great for the stallion, having a winner up there on such a big occasion,” added Sangster.
“It’s great wherever he has the winners and if it can be in Hong Kong’s biggest race then it would be an outstanding weekend for us and a game-changing one for the stallion. There’d be a pretty big celebration.”
Next month’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale could be the next landmark for Toronado, as a brother to two-time Hong Kong winner Master Montaro passes through the Riverside ring under Coolmore’s draft, catalogued as lot 251.
“I think he’s one of the best horses that we’ve ever bred,” said Sangster.