When progeny of Smokey Eyes, a son of Star Kingdom’s sire Stardust, wracked up 204 wins, three of them dead heats, for 1968-69 racing, he became the first sire in Australia to hit a double century since Grafton performed the feat half a century earlier.
A Widden stud sire who led Australia on earnings four times, Grafton established a new Australian and possibly world record for most number of wins in a year when his offspring won 206 (one dead heat) races in1909-10. He followed with 205 (one d. h.) in 1910-11.
The success of Smokey Eyes nearly 60 years later was a triumph for the judgement of the brothers Percy and Ted Kruger in securing him in the mid 1950s as a foundation sire for their newly acquired former leading Queensland stud, the Warwick district located Lyndhurst. A prominent English sprinter, Smokey Eyes had initially been imported for a leading Victorian stud, Highfield, but was put on the market when his oldest were two.
At Lyndhurst, Smokey Eyes ruled for more than decade as one of the most prolific sources of winners in history. It is hard to imagine the numerical records he would have achieved if he had had the benefit of the big books of mares now being put to prominent sires.
The same applies to a number of the sires that followed Smokey Eyes to Lyndhurst last century, in particular their imports Hail to Success, Grand Chaudiere, Head Over Heels and Celestial Dancer. Each of them, like Smokey Eyes, led Australia numerically and their contributions saw Lyndhurst sires the top source of winners 25 times in the second half of the century.
Only one of these sires, Celestial Dancer, matched Smokey Eyes and cracked up a double century, but the others knocked on the door. Celestial Dancer, a sire rapidly running out of runners, was a phenomenal winner getter who to date has had over 700 winners of 2,862 races He established new Australian annual numerical records for winners and wins and included on his score board four domestic double centuries, 239 wins, 234 wins twice and 200 wins.
The reflection on the spectacular scores by the Lyndhurst sires, the only ones last century with the exception of Grafton, to reach double figures, follows the likelihood that a third of their sires, Sequalo, will have a double century score board for the racing year which concludes at the end of this month for the second successive time.
Different from the other big scorers used at Lyndhurst in that he is Australian bred, Sequalo supplied winners of 205 races (194 in Australia) in 2008-09 and looks like getting close to that number again with under two weeks of 2009-10 to go.
Taking in eleven wins overseas and progeny successful in the past week at Perth, Dalby (two) and Toowoomba, Sequalo on Bloodhound statistics appears to have 198 wins.
Represented by earners of over $3.8 million, he is Queensland’s leading sire numerically and one of the top half dozen nationally. He is also one of two 2009-10 Queensland title sire claimants in use at the Jeffrey Kruger managed Lyndhurst, the other being the Danehill product Hidden Dragon, the State’s top juvenile sire on earnings, one of the leading ten nationally and fourth most successful first season sire.
At July 19 Hidden Dragon had been represented by 11 winners of 19 races, six others placed and earners of just on $900,000. Given continuity of service and the promise he has shown, it won’t be surprising if he becomes another Lyndhurst double century maker.
His path will be a lot easier as, benefiting from the explosion in the numbers of mares being served each season, he has had books of 158 (first season 2006), 128, 143 and last year 173. He is also one of the best foal getters used at the stud, his first three seasons resulting in 92.2%, 91.1% and 91.5%. His fee is $13,200 including GST.
Hidden Dragon will have more rivals for the double century club than his predecessors, as the much bigger numbers of runners representing leading sires sees a number reaching this mark each year.
If Sequalo, as expected, reaches 200 by the end of next week he will be the seventh double century maker for 2009-10 among the sires who got their runners from use in Australia. In order of merit these sires with their unfinished scores are Encosta de Lago (Coolmore, 173 winners, 253 wins – 193 Australia), Commands (Darley, 153 winners, 244 wins – 216 Australia), Testa Rossa (Vinery, 140 winners, 219 wins – 194 Australia), More Than Ready (Vinery, 136 winners, 211 wins – 179 Australia), General Nediym (deceased Widden sire, 122 winners, 207 wins – 186 Australia) and Redoute’s Choice (Arrowfield,149 winners, 203 wins – 185 Australia).
Encosta de Lago appears to have set new world numerically records for a single hemisphere sire and Commands is the most successful sire for winners and wins in Australian racing history.
