Super Seth retires to Waikato Stud
Super Seth (Dundeel) has been retired to begin stallion duties at Waikato Stud later this year, and will be the first Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner to stand at stud in New Zealand for 30 years.
Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick, in unveiling the farm’s 2020 stallion roster, confirmed that the Anthony Freedman-trained three-year-old colt would not race again after his closing fourth in last Saturday’s All Aged Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Randwick.
The son of Dundeel (High Chaparral), who won twice and was stakes-placed in three starts as a juvenile before rounding out his racing career with five victories from 12 starts, will stand for NZ$35,000 (all fees plus GST).
Waikato Stud’s champion sire Savabeel (Zabeel) will again maintain his place at the top of the New Zealand stallion ranks this year and will stand at NZ$100,000 in 2020 after his fee was kept private last year and he operated to a closed book.
Chittick says Super Seth possesses many of the traits of a successful stallion and believes that he can continue the legacy left by fellow Waikato Stud sires of the past.
“He’s all quality, a fantastic looking horse with the performance to match his pedigree,” Chittick said.
“Top of our list when it comes to sourcing a successful stallion is a turn of foot and Super Seth’s acceleration was mind-blowing. That was emphasized when he ran down Alligator Blood to win the Caulfield Guineas.
“Our past and present champion sires Centaine, O’Reilly, Pins, Savabeel and Ocean Park, all possessed incredible acceleration, but even they couldn’t have matched Super Seth’s turn of foot. That’s the quality we look for and he demonstrated that on many occasions.”
Super Seth, who is out of Salutations (Redoute’s Choice), is a half-brother to the three-time stakes winner Wild Planet (Animal Kingdom) and Sydney city winner The Bald Eagle (All American). His second dam is the Group 2-winning sprinter Toast Of The Coast (Rory’s Jester).
It was New Zealand agent Dean Hawthorne who first identified Super Seth as a yearling, going to $280,000 for the Arrowfield Stud-consigned colt at the 2018 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale on behalf of his long-time client Jonathan Munz.
“We typically don’t buy many colts. In fact, he was the only colt we purchased that year in Australia, but when he walked out of the box at the Easter Sale it was obvious he was a must have,” Hawthorne said.
“He is perfectly balanced. If you take a look at his yearling conformation photo you can see how beautifully balanced he is – a short-coupled colt with a great head and amazing quality.
“The other thing that immediately attracted me to him was how much he looked like Redoute’s Choice. We were very confident Redoute’s Choice mares would complement the Dundeel sire line.”
Waikato Stud is the majority shareholder in Super Seth with partners JML Bloodstock, Milan Park, Nearco Stud, Pencarrow Stud and high-profile Australian owner Richard Pegum who all have committed a number of high-quality mares to the stallion.
“Opportunities to get these quality stallions are very rare and when we saw that electric acceleration in the Caulfield Guineas we became immediately interested,” Chittick said.
“Our business manager Mike Rennie was on course at the time and I told him to go and have a really good look at him. He had everything we look for in a racehorse with a stud career in mind.”
Freedman said: “It’s sad to lose a horse of such quality from our stable, especially knowing the potential he had to win more at the top level as a four-year-old, but his credentials for stud are impressive and the uncertainty around upcoming race programs made it difficult to keep him in training.”
Meanwhile, Ocean Park (Thorn Park), whose daughter Tofane landed the All Aged Stakes in a breakthrough Group 1 performance at Randwick, will stand for NZ$20,000 while Tivaci (High Chaparral), whose eldest progeny are rising two-year-olds, will stand for NZ$12,500 and Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) has had his fee set at NZ$3000.
Waikato Stud was dealt a blow late last year when Sacred Falls (O’Reilly) died after a battle with a rare liver disease while Rock ‘N’ Pop (Fastnet Rock) relocated to Okawa Stud at Hawke’s Bay after last year’s breeding season.