3 minute read

Coolmore Stud won’t have to look far to find a young replacement for Encosta De Lago following the retirement from active service of the former Australian champion sire.

Encosta de Lago (Fairy King x Shoal Creek by Star Way), a two-time Australian champion and also champion sire in Hong Kong, was pensioned from stud duty this week at the age of 21 due to declining fertility.

Encosta de Lago has sired 105 stakes winners including 69 Group winners and 23 G1 winners in nine countries for earnings of more than A$143 million.

His leading progeny include Hong Kong champions Sacred Kingdom and Liberator, brilliant females Alinghi, Princess Coup, Lashed, Mnemosyne and Aloha, weight for age stars Sirmione, Racing To Win , Road To Rock and Ultra Fantasy, dual South African G1 winner Delago Deluxe, the ill-fated Northern Meteor and notables such as Delago Brom, Titanic Jack and Smokin'Joey.

His daughters have produced 34 stakes winners including 18 Group winners, and he currently sits 11th on Australia’s sire table for 2014-15, and fifth on the broodmare sire table.

His retirement leaves a void to be filled on the Coolmore roster, but one of his sons has already been identified as a likely replacement.

Coolmore bought into the exciting young sprinter Rubick before his victory in last year’s G3 Blue Diamond Prelude and his mission this autumn will be to establish himself in the top echelon with the G2 Challenge Stakes and G1 TJ Smith Stakes his prime targets.

"We are lucky to have an interest in Rubick, who looks to have the potential to represent Encosta de Lago with distinction over the coming months and then as a top class young sire prospect," said Coolmore Australia’s Tom Magnier.

The Encosta de Lago influence is already well-established, primarily through the huge success of the late Northern Meteor, the record breaking G1 winner who died just days before being officially crowned Australia’s champion first-season sire in 2012-13.

Northern Meteor’s progeny include the G1 winner Zoustar, who has taken his place at Widden Stud, and the G1-winning mare Cosmic Endeavour.

Another exciting G1 winner by Encosta de Lago at stud is Arrowfield’s Manhattan Rain, whose current first crop three-year-olds include the G2 winner Moonovermanhattan.

Encosta De Lago's current racing progeny include last year’s NZ Derby winner Puccini and the outstanding sprinter Chautauqua.

Coolmore general manager Michael Kirwan reflected on what Encosta De Lago has meant to the stud and Australian breeding in general.

“His stud career has been nothing short of phenomenal," said Kirwan when announcing his retirement.

"His progeny have earned just short of $140 million in prize money around the world and to that end, he is entitled to be regarded as the most successful Australian-bred sire of all time.

"While he was a classy racehorse in his own right, the manner in which he rose from relative obscurity as a sire has been something of a fairytale.

"His figures are astonishing. The success of Northern Meteor has served to demonstrate his prowess as a sire of sires while his daughters have firmly established him as a wonderful broodmare sire.

“He has been an incredibly versatile stallion, capable of siring top class performers in all age groups, over any distance, in any jurisdiction with the hallmarks of his progeny being their soundness and great appetite for racing.”

A son of Fairy King, the full brother to Sadler’s Wells, Encosta de Lago was bred from a half-sister to Danehill’s three-time G1 winner and champion sire Flying Spur.

Trained by Lee Freedman, Encosta de Lago was stakes-placed in both starts as a juvenile and won three times at three including the G1 Vic Health Cup, G2 Ascot Vale Stakes and G2 Bill Stutt Stakes. He was also third in the G1 Caulfield Guineas.

Encosta de Lago retired to stud in Victoria in 1997 and from his first two crops had three G1 winners.

Then came his amazing filly Alinghi, who won four G1 races including g the Blue Diamond, Thousand Guineas and Newmarket Handicap.

It was Alinghi that stirred Coolmore to purchase Encosta De Lago and relocated him to its NSW bas in the Hunter Valley.

At his height he stood for a then Australian record fee of $132,000, well justified as his produced a further eight G1 winners including five time G1 winner Racing To Win and four-time NZ G1 winner Princess Coup, .

His 2003 crop also included Hong Kong champion Sacred Kingdom, the two-time winner of the G1 Hong Kong Sprint who was also won Singapore’s KrisFlyer Sprint.

He earned back-to-back sire titles in Australia in 2007-08, and 2008-09 at a time when his fee peaked at $302,500 in 2008.