3 minute read
We speak to John Messara about the story behind the stallion that changed the face of the Australian breeding industry.
When the eight yearlings from the final crop of Redoute's Choice (Danehill) go under the hammer at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale this week, it will mark the end of what can only be described as a very lucrative era for not only Arrowfield Stud, but also the auction house in general.
Since his first crop of yearlings were offered at the 2003 edition of the sale, 595 of the progeny by the son of Danehill (Danzig) have sold for an extraordinary aggregate of $279,108,000, which equates to just over 16 per cent of the $1,736,836,250 spent at the sale since 2003.
The mark the son of Danehill (Danzig) has made since joining the Arrowfield roster in 2000 is almost difficult to comprehend, and John Messara told Racing & Sports Bloodstock that the stallion had left an indelible mark on not just Arrowfield, but industry as a whole.
"He has made an enormous difference to us, as I have often said: We built Arrowfield on the back of Redoute's - we owe him alot," he said.
"He had those years of really high service fees when his progeny was flying and the yearlings sold extremely well for a really long period of time.
"He has not only been a wonderful contributor to the farm, but he has also left an enormous legacy for the industry as a whole - his sons are obviously very important and good stallions and his name is very often seen on the damside of some of the best horses in the country. He is going to leave his mark for a very long time to come."
Redoute's Choice is a product of Danehill and Shantha's Choice (Canny Lad) who was purchased by Redoute Choice's breeder Muzaffar Ali Yaseen for $220,000 at the 1994 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and Messara said his involvement with Redoute's dates back to long before he bought into the horse in 1999.
"I have had something to do with Redoute's one way or the other since his birth," said Messara. "I was the underbidder on his mother at the Inglis Premier Sale and I remember Mr Yaseen buying her and Lee Freedman training her, and while she was only a little winner and didn't show a huge amount of ability on the track, she had a wonderful pedigree.
"After her racing career they rang me to book her into Danehill, so you could say I have had a little bit involvement all the way through."
After taking the booking that would arguably change the face of Australian racing forever, Messara followed the career of Redoute's Choice very carefully, remembering when he broke his maiden in the Veuve Clicquot Stakes (Listed, 1100m) a week before his impressive win over Testa Rossa (Perugino) in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
"I then followed him very closely from the first day he raced, which was one week before the Blue Diamond, and he won the Listed race very well and I thought to myself: Here is a horse with a lot of ability and I hope they don't run him next Saturday in the Blue Diamond," remembers Messara.
"But of course they did run him the following Saturday, a week on from his debut. I thought: 'Oh no, this is going to be too much for him.' But happily I was wrong and he won the Blue Diamond very strongly, from a wide barrier and he really stamped himself as a courageous, powerful horse with a lot of speed. He was fantastic. From that moment on I just followed him and I felt I had to end up with him because he might be exceptional."
Pure power...
— Racing.com (@Racing) February 19, 2020
Redoute's Choice won the 1999 Blue Diamond at his second ever start, and was the first to achieve the feat. pic.twitter.com/yQYvhfT6FZ
Exceptional is what he proved to be, after opening his account as a three-year-old with a victory in the Manikato Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), Redoute's Choice would go on to claim two more victories - both at top-flight level - in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and CF Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
Messara remembers the race that really cemented in his mind Redoute's Choice was destined to have his second career at Arrowfield Stud was his win in the Caulfield Guineas, when he came out on top of a fierce battle up the straight with old foe Testa Rossa.
“Redoute’s digs, he lunges, and wins!” It was a battle for the ages between Redoute's Choice and Testa Rossa in the 1999 Caulfield Guineas. pic.twitter.com/83ULjHuHMC
— Racing.com (@Racing) October 3, 2016
"But I guess the race that really got me over the line, as far as his athletic prowess was concerned, was the Caulfield Guineas, where he beat Testa Rossa in a historic battle up the straight," he said.
"That was a hell of a race and it just cemented how dominant he was and how courageous he was. I was actually overseas when that happened, I was listening to it on the phone in France and I said: 'When I go home, I am going to go and try to buy this horse, at least the stud duties anyway'.
"I approached Mr Yassim after the Cox Plate and did a deal with him to buy half of the horse and he went on after that to win another Group 1 and be placed in another couple as well. He wasn't a difficult one to like and I thought after the Caulfield Guineas, I cannot let this one slip through my fingers and I am going to have to persuade the owners to sell me half."
The deal Messara struck with Mr Yassim for Redoute's Choice was subject to a certain amount of scrutiny by the Australian press at the time.
"I paid, what was a very big price at the time for a half share, and I remember I was treated with some derision in the newspapers, asking if I had gone mad for the price I paid for him. I am pleased to say I think I had the last laugh on that score.
"He then went to stud and Mr Yassim retained an interest and we had a long association with him. He was a horse with a pedigree, a great individual and a dominating racehorse - he had everything you look for when trying to make a stallion."
And make a stallion he did. When looking at the accolades Redoute's Choice has achieved there is not much missing on his CV. He was crowned champion first-season sire in 2004, champion two-year-old sire in 2005 and 2006, champion sire on three occasions in 2006, 2010 and 2014 and commanded a career high fee of $330,000 (inc GST) at the peak of his powers in 2007 and 2008.
Even for the most accomplished mathematicians Redoute's Choice's numbers are difficult to pick apart, but for the best part of 20 years the Easter Yearling Sale is where he made his mark in terms of buying power.
His statistics at Easter are quite remarkable, with an average price well over $500,000 and his list of graduates from the sale include Group 1 winners Samanatha Miss, Master Of Design, Mustaaqeem and Beneteau, who were all purchased for $1,000,000 or more at the Sydney sale.
Two of his three top earners were also graduates of the sale, with Miss Finland his highest earning, having been purchased by Badgers Bloodstock for $450,000 at the 2005, while The Autumn Sun his third highest earner was purchased by Chris Waller and Hermitage Thoroughbreds for $700,000 at the 2017 sale.
What is it about Redoute's Choice and Easter that made them such a perfect match? Messara believes it was, among a lot things, the international thirst for the stallion's progeny.
"I think he did well at the Easter sale because you get so many international buyers there and I think they cottoned on to him very quickly," explained Messara. "For example, Angus Gold - racing and bloodstock manager for Sheikh Hamdan's operation Shadwell - loved Redoute's from the word go. I think the stallion had a pedigree that the internationals understood and so they were all really strong in the market."
The stallion's domination of the sale has been unmatched, finishing leading sire at the sale on nine consecutive occasions and a lot his popularity can be put down to his versatility as a stallion and his ability to sire top-class performers including Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and Classic winners.
"The thing about Redoute's is that he was a very versatile stallion, he could throw anything, sprinters and stayers, but he was more of a Classic horse," said Messara. "If you think of some of his best horses, Samantha Miss, Miss Finland, The Autumn Sun and Guineas winners like God's Own they were all Classic horses, but he did have some Slipper winners too of course.
"He was a horse that offered a lot of versatility and people went to Easter to sell their good Redoute's yearlings there, because they felt the good international buyers would be there and people would look for those Derby and Guineas winners, they would look to Redoute's as well."
The legacy of this colossal of the breeding industry is in safe hands, with his bloodlines carried on through his four-time champion sire son Snitzel and other stallion sons, such as the now pensioned Not A Single Doubt and The Autumn Sun, who stands at Arrowfield Stud with his first yearlings are due to hit the sales rings next year.
"While these are his last yearlings, it is not over for Redoute's," said Messara. "Snitzel has won four championships in a row and he has so many other great sons and grandsons at stud and we will continue to have a very strong opinion about that sire line for many years to come.
"But, we are probably victims of our own success in many ways, because almost half of the horses that are running around in Australia at the moment have got the Danehill line somewhere in their immediate pedigree, which obviously includes Redoute's. So he is going to be around for a long time in pedigrees."
While his stakes winners as a sire stand at an impressive 178, headed by 38 Group 1 winners, but his impact as a broodmare sire in time will likely surpass his success as a stallion, with his daughters already producing 118 stakes winners, including 21 Group 1 winners.
A total of 25 lots at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale are out of daughters of Redoute's Choice and among them are yearlings by some of the country's leading stallions; including Pierro (Lonhro), Written Tycoon (Iglesia) and I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit).
His ability to inject the high-class quality into his daughters future breeding prospect is something that Messara believes sets him apart.
"The other amazing aspect of Redoute's is his immense ability as a broodmare sire. He has left some important stakes winners through his daughters, Zoustar, Trekking, Ace High, Super Seth, Arcadia Queen and Sacred Falls to name a few," he said. "He is already leaving an important mark through his daughters and he has proved he can work with every other sireline, so he is excellent.
"What can you say about him? He will be very hard to replace - that's for sure."
