The market has been quick to react positively to the prospects of the Gr.1-winning sprinter Shaquille. The son of Charm Spirit has no fewer than 51 foals catalogued this week – which equates to 44 per cent of his registered first crop – and plenty have already found favour and into the hands of a broad base of respected pinhookers.
The highlight so far, however, is set to race under the Ace Stud banner following his sale to the outfit yesterday evening for 180,000gns. The colt in question (Lot 618) was bred and sold by Genesis Green Stud out of the winning Sunset Avenue (Street Cry), whose successful stud record is headed by the Stakes-placed pair Excellent Sunset (Exceed And Excel) and Path Of Thunder (Night Of Thunder).
Shaquille was originally retired to stand in Newmarket under the Dullingham Park Stallions banner, but was incorporated into the Ace Stud fold when that property changed hands in the spring. As such, the Ace Stud team have been on the hunt this week for a ‘standout’ foal by the Gr.1 Commonwealth and July Cup winner.
“They’re well liked – the stallion has started off very well commercially,” said Ace Stud’s Paul Curran. “And Goffs was a bit the same. The first thing you want to see is a horse stamping his stock and Shaquille seems to be doing that. He’s a beautiful horse himself and a lot of them have good size and substance – there aren’t too many backward ones. So we’re really happy with what we’re seeing. The market seems to be realising that as well, which is great.”
He continued: “This colt was the standout for the day. We came in for the week wanting to buy the best one and I think we’ve done that. We didn’t own too many before the sales, but we’ve bought three now and have plenty in foal to him.”
Sadly, the colt is the last foal out of Sunset Avenue, who succumbed to cancer just two weeks after foaling him in April. The stud had paid just 6,500gns for the Street Cry mare, a half-sister to Listed winner and sire True Cause (Storm Cat), at the 2023 Tattersalls December Mares Sale.
“He was reared on a foster mare,” said Genesis Green Stud’s Michael Swinburn. “He came out a nice foal and stayed a nice foal.
“She was a great mare. In all honesty I wasn’t going to breed to Shaquille – I’m not a great first-season sire man – but I went to see him. The mare was a Street Cry and they could be plain, and I looked at him and thought ‘I’ve got a mare for you’, and that was her.
“I thought I’d be clever and put a nice one by Shaquille in the sale, so I nearly fell off my chair when I saw there were 51! I was surprised when I saw the pedigrees of them as well, how good they were, so then I was thinking I’m only one of a few good ones in there. “Shaquille has to have a great chance off the back of that. And they’re going down a storm – all the proper people are buying them. I’ve got another one to sell on Friday (Lot 854; a filly out of Nessina] and she’s nice too.”
Not long afterwards, Shaquille was advertised again to good effect by two other six-figure foals, namely Lot 622, a half-brother to Gr.3 winner Rocchigiani (Time Test), who made 125,000gns to Camas Park Stud out of the New England Stud draft, and Lot 670 a filly out of Parlour Palm (Bated Breath), who was sold by Barton Stud for 115,000gns to JC Bloodstock.
Written for European Bloodstock News
