It’s in the Blood: Taken
Written by ANZ Bloodstock News’ Trevor Marshallsea
Half a dozen years ago New Zealand breeder Bruce Perry and four friends formed the Dewar Partnership with the aim of supporting the new stallion in whom they held shares, Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice), as he began standing at Waikato Stud.
They bought nine mares in total. Trying to stick to a budget, the top price they paid was around $30,000. They also sneaked in a couple of cheapies, bought from the late Kevin Hickman of Valachi Downs for just $2,400 and $1,500, who happened to be half-sisters.
You can probably guess what comes next, and it proves again how money isn’t everything. Six years on, the pair from the bargain bin have turned out the best, producing two of the finest offspring of Ardrossan, a stallion who from limited opportunities, is making sizeable strides.
The cheapest mare was Pwerfect (Pentire), who cost a grand and a half because her best effort in six starts was a fifth of seven at Matamata.
Put to Ardrossan six times so far, she’s had two runners by him – the Group-winning Beau Dazzler, and the stakes-placed Toretto.
Now a three-year-old colt, Beau Dazzler has been a Brisbane star for trainers Tony and Maddysen Sears – who co-bought him from Karaka Book 2 for $85,000 – winning the juvenile Phelan Ready Stakes (Listed, 1000m) at start two, the three-year-olds’ Grand Prix (Gr 3, 1800m) last December, and running third in last month’s Queensland Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m).
Toretto has claimed a city race, run two Listed thirds last month, and was fourth in Ellerslie’s Eclipse Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).
Dewar’s other unfancied half-sister was Katherine Wright (Henrythenavigator), who cost just $2,400 because her track career was limited to two barrier trials, 17 months apart, for a fourth and an unplaced.
The partners put her to Ardrossan five times for two runners so far, and one of those is Taken, who’s been a star of the cooler months in Melbourne.
Bought privately by Ardrossan’s former trainer Mick Price and his now co-trainer Michael Kent, he was placed in his first five starts, but has put those frustrations to bed by winning his next four. Three have been in town, capped by last Saturday’s Rod Johnson Handicap (1620m) for three-year-olds at Flemington.
“It’s all worked out particularly well,” Perry told It’s In The Blood.
“We bought nine mares for Ardrossan, buying types and pedigrees we thought would suit the stallion.
“Pwerfect and Katherine Wright were the cheapest two, and they’ve worked out great. Pwerfect is a smaller mare with a little bit of quality about her. Katherine Wright was a big mare with plenty of scope and strength. Ardrossan tidied her up a bit.”
Katherine Wright was an unusual breed for this part of the world. She’s the only horse in her pedigree with (NZ) beside her, and there are no Australians either, in a background with a lot of German notes back in the female line.
She’s by Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo), who won four Group 1s but didn’t quite make it at stud. Shuttling to Australia four times, he sired 24 stakes winners worldwide from 866 runners at 2.8 per cent, and ended up standing in Russia. He’s best known in Australia for Irish-bred import Mugatoo, who won the All-Star Mile (1600m), now a Group 1, before it was a stakes race.
As a broodmare sire, Henrythenavigator – named for a famous 15th century Portuguese explorer – has fared little better, with 16 black type victors from 598 runners at 2.7 per cent.
But putting this daughter of old Henry to Ardrossan has sailed.
Katherine Wright and Pwerfect were the first two foals of Shower Of Roses (Hurricane Run), a British-bred filly imported to Australia at two before she’d raced, and who then did so unspectacularly. In fact she fared just as poorly as those two daughters, having five starts for Joe Pride for a best effort of fourth in a Kembla Grange maiden.
Taken’s third dam Guaranda (Acatenango) at least won twice in England and was Listed-placed, and threw a Group 3 winner in Gravitation (Galileo).
Fourth dam Gryada is where the quality really kicks in. Also British-bred, she won twice and was stakes placed in Italy, before leaving a Group 1 winner and a second stakes placegetter apart from Guaranda.
And what a Group 1 winner it was, in the outstanding Fame And Glory (Montjeu). The Aidan O’Brien-trained entire won 13 stakes races, five at the top level, including the Criterium de Saint Cloud (Gr 1, 2000m) at two, the Irish Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) at three, and the Ascot Gold Cup (Gr 1, 4000m) at five.
Katherine Wright is in-bred to the great Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) at 3f x 4m, to Raise A Native (Native Dancer) at 4m x 5f, to the German sire Surumu (Literat) at 4f x 4m, and carries a 5m x 5f of American Reine-de-Course mare Special (Forli).
It was a mixture that enticed Perry, despite the lack of track success for Katherine Wright and her dam Shower Of Roses.
“There are some good sires spread through her pedigree like Sadler’s Wells and Hurricane Run, who was a very good racehorse. There’s some good European horses there,” Perry said.
“But with Katherine Wright, a lot of it was to do with her being a good type to put to Ardrossan, though there’s also some nice balances with sires further back. But overall, Ardrossan is a pretty easy sire to mate to. He’s a very athletic horse and he leaves good-legged horses.”
Taken carries only a few close-up duplications himself, with one strong influence being six appearances in the first six generations of the great Northern Dancer (Nearctic), at 5m, 6m, 6m x 6m, 5m, 6m, involving four different sons.
Northern Dancer’s just-as-great dam Natalma (Native Dancer) comes in seven times in generations six and seven, with one carriage through Spring Adieu (Buckpasser), the second dam of Ardrossan’s second sire, the also quite famous Danehill (Danzig).
Dig deeper and there’s five mentions of Lalun (Djeddah) through her finest sons Bold Reason (Hail To Reason) and Never Bend (Nasrullah) at 8m x 7m, 8m, 8m, 8m.
Another influential mare Flower Bowl (Alibhai) is present at 6m x 8m via brothers by Ribot: Danehill’s damsire His Majesty, and Graustark in Henrythenavigator’s female side.
Taken appears set to build on some strong early work by Ardrossan, the ten-year-old half-brother to the sensation of the 2021 spring, triple Group 1 winner Incentivise (Shamus Award), and two other fellow stakes winners.
Ardrossan was bought by Perry via Arrowfield’s draft from Queensland’s Windermere Stud – also Incentivise’s breeder – for $150,000 from Inglis Premier in 2016.
Raced by a partnership including Waikato Stud, Ardrossan won four from nine in a career impinged by health issues. After claiming his first two races in New Zealand, he went to Price but could manage only three Australian starts in around a year and a half.
Returned to New Zealand, he won his next two starts including Ellerslie’s Concorde Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m) before running a 0.3 length third to multiple Group 1 winners Melody Belle (Commands) and The Bostonian (Jimmy Choux) in Te Rapa’s BCD Sprint (Gr 1, 1400m).
A return across the Tasman for a third in Rosehill’s Star Kingdom Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) of 2019 saw Ardrossan out.
“We knew he was Group 1 quality, so we were hopeful he’d go well at stud,” Perry said.
Ardrossan retired to Waikato Stud for an initial fee of $8,000 (plus GST). By 2021, this dipped to just $3,000, as his first three books averaged just 67 mares.
Since then, the wheels have been turning. In his first racing season in New Zealand, from just ten runners Ardrossan sired three stakes winners. Among both first season sires and two-year-old sires, he was the only stallion with more than one black-type victor. His five winners put him second by that marker on both charts.
Now, from just 52 New Zealand starters near the end of his third season of runners, Ardrossan has five stakes winners in the country at a hefty 9.6 per cent. Beau Dazzler in Australia gives him six from 76 overall, at 7.8 per cent.
His books have consequently grown, to 110 in 2022, 160 in 2023 and 136 last year – by which time his service fee had risen to $20,000 (plus GST), where it remains for this spring.
“Given the opportunities he’s had, it’s been a massive start,” Waikato chief Mark Chittick told It’s In The Blood.
“We always had confidence in the horse but a lot of people hadn’t seen that for various reasons, which was fair enough. But what he’s done so far with the opportunities he’s had is absolutely massive.
“The Dewar partnership bought a number of mares to support the horse. They weren’t top quality, and even the mares we put to him weren’t top quality either.
“But what we learned pretty quickly was it didn’t matter what type of mare you put to him – big, small, no pedigree or whatever – he just leaves a really good type.
“That’s what got him off the ground to start with. At yearling sales, people could see they were good types.
“And I think he’s about to really take off, because the foals from that first big book he had are about to turn two. I think we’re in for some exciting times with this stallion.”
Having largely performed its job of helping launch Ardrossan, the Dewar partnership has now been disbanded. Katherine Wright was sold privately in foal to Ardrossan last year, but sadly died and the foal was lost.
Pwerfect will be offered this year, at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Online Breeding Stock Sale on July 9, also in foal to Ardrossan.
She was in fact also put up for sale last year, but didn’t meet Dewar’s reserve. Following the subsequent deeds of Beau Dazzler and Taken, it’s doubtful that the problem will arise this time.
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