Sleeper stallion All Too Hard an emerging Behemoth
Memsie Stakes winner signals consistent high-class horses Vinery Stud sire can produce
All Too Hard (Casino Prince), a dynamic racehorse who downed the champion of his generation in Pierro (Lonhro), has taken longer to establish himself as a sire of note than his Coolmore contemporary but it is two of Vinery Stud’s former stallions and a Hunter Valley newcomer that he has the potential to replicate.
That is the view of Adam White, Vinery Stud’s bloodstock manager, who yesterday made comparisons between All Too Hard and that of long-time stud servants Mossman (Snippets) and Testa Rossa (Perugino) after the half-brother to Black Caviar sired Saturday’s Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) Behemoth.
The David Jolly-trained Behemoth, a pinhook disaster-turned-racetrack moneyspinner, is the second Group 1 winner for All Too Hard after another of his sons, Alligator Blood, took out the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) earlier this year in a breakthrough milestone victory for the stallion.
“I think last season people really started to take notice because he came up with the star that he needed in Alligator Blood and he had ten individual stakes winners all-up,” White said.
“He’s rolled that into the new season as well and started off with a Group 1 winner and he’s currently second on the leading sires table by earnings now, which is good, and he’s getting a nice book of mares because of it. He represents fantastic value.
He can get a top-class runner, the trainers like them and they sell well at the sales.”
A four-time Group 1 winner as a three-year-old in 2012-13, including when defeating Pierro in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), All Too Hard covered more than 100 mares in each of his seven years at stud and White revealed he already has 140 booked in this term.
White expects the momentum All Too Hard has generated in recent times to continue.
“He’s probably not renowned as being a two-year-old sire – although he did get two stakes-winning two-year-olds last season – but generally they are a breed, a bit like Behemoth, that show good talent early and the older they get, the better they get,” he said.
“He is similar to Written Tycoon. He was a horse who started off moderately and hovered around that $25,000 to $30,000 service fee for quite a number of years until a lot of crops came up under him and he went to another level.
“Who knows if All Too Hard goes on to do that, but he’s certainly got the numbers to back him up and now he’s proven he can get a good Group 1 horse, and two Group 1 horses this year, he could reach bigger things.”
He added: We’ve looked at All Too Hard coming into this season a bit like a Mossman or a Testa Rossa. They were at that level for a long time. They were good proven horses who were popular at the sales. We see him as that sort of stallion and getting a good book because of that.
“In the years to come he could even go back to a higher level.”
This year, All Too Hard stands for an unchanged fee of $27,500 (inc GST).
“He works pedigree wise with a lot of different lines of mare. Certainly, he has worked with More Than Ready, you’d expect that with our support, but interestingly enough he’s worked with other Danehill-line mares,” White said.
“He’s had Hard Landing and Cuba and a few other stakes winners like that out of Snitzel and Redoute’s mares, so he’s crossing well with other Danehill-line mares, so you can certainly do that. Because he’s a grandson of Flying Spur, the Danehill’s far enough back and, physically, you can just about send any type of mare to him.
“He is good for maiden mares because he puts plenty of size and strength into them and he’ll give you a great chance of getting the mare underway as a producer with his record now. There’s a lot we’ve learnt in that respect.”
Underlining the All Too Hard-Danehill (Danzig)-line cross, the most expensive yearling sold this year by All Too Hard was the Vinery Stud-consigned first foal out of stakes-placed two-year-old Spoils (Snitzel) at $300,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast in January.
That colt was purchased by Hawkes Racing and White said trainers were now understanding how to best look after All Too Hard’s progeny.
“Because All Too Hard was a Group-winning two-year-old, trainers probably pushed them a little early,” he said.
“They’ve got great attitudes, so they probably thought they were able to do that at the time, but I think they’ve become accustomed to them not being two-year-olds now and that they’re better left alone and they get better as they get older.
“From the trainers’ point of view, they’re being a bit more patient with them and that’s why we’re seeing the results now.”
Behemoth, meanwhile, was runner-up in the 2019 The Goodwood and fourth in this year’s race before scoring at the highest level at Caulfield on Saturday.
He was a $120,000 Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale purchase in 2016 but was overlooked 12 months later and was subsequently traded on for the paltry sum of $6,000 to Grand Syndicates at the 2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.
White praised the patience of Jolly and Grand Syndicates throughout Behemoth’s 16-start career.
“David’s managed the horse really well. He didn’t tax him too much early on and there’s still plenty of racing upside left in him yet. He’s placed him really well and it’s good to see him come to the fore yesterday.”
Related links
Vinery Stud’s 2020 virtual stallion parade
https://vinery.com.au/2020-parade/