Sepoy Proving Popular, Successful in Europe

A fascinating aspect of the shuttle stallion concept is that horses are often perceived quite differently in the two hemispheres. For example, this year's Coolmore reverse shuttlers include Pride of Dubai (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}), who is priced at €15,000 in Ireland and A$44,000 in Australia; and Vancouver (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro), who is available at $15,000 at Ashford Stud, compared to A$49,500 in his native Australia.

It's a similar story with the Darley stallions. Brazen Beau (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) can be accessed for £10,000 in his second season at Dalham Hall, but it will cost Australian breeders A$44,000 to use him later this year. Another leading Australian sprinter, Epaulette (Aus) (Commands {Aus}), is standing at only €7,000 at Kildangan Stud, whereas his fee at Kelvinside will be A$22,000.

Modest pricing is usually a strategy to persuade breeders to take a chance on the comparatively unknown. For example, those highly accomplished dirt horses Street Cry, Bernardini and Uncle Mo were available in their second Australian seasons for fees of $16,500, $38,500 and $16,500, respectively, compared to $30,000, $100,000 and $35,000 in their corresponding American season.

Clearly this isn't a new phenomenon, and attractive pricing was employed when Darley introduced two new Australian horses to Europe in 2013. Helmet (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) started out at €10,000 at Kildangan, despite having been priced at A$33,000 a few months earlier in Australia. Similarly, Sepoy (Aus) (Elusive Quality) made his Dalham Hall debut at only £15,000, whereas he had covered 127 mares at the considerably higher fee of A$66,000 in 2012 in Australia.

These fees reflected the difference in how Sepoy was regarded in the different hemispheres. In Australia the chestnut son of Elusive Quality had compiled a top-notch record of 10 wins from 12 starts, including the G1 Blue Diamond S. and the G1 Golden Slipper as a juvenile. He had also started his 3-year-old season with five consecutive victories, headed by the G1 Manikato S. and G1 Coolmore Stud S.

He also had the bloodlines to appeal to the speed-obsessed Australian industry. His sire Elusive Quality had set record figures of 1:20.17 for seven furlongs on dirt at Gulfstream Park and 1:31.63 for a mile on turf at Belmont Park. Also, the bottom half of Sepoy's pedigree could hardly have been more fashionable. His dam, the Danehill mare Watchful (Aus), is a sister to Camarena (NZ), winner of the G1 Queensland Derby. When Camarena visited Sepoy's sire she produced the G1 two-year-old winner Camarilla (Aus), who was to hit the headlines in 2013 as the dam of Guelph (Aus). This filly (inbred 2 x 3 to Danehill) collected a pair of G1 successes as a 2-year-old and another pair at three. To top it off, Sepoy's second dam Canny Miss (Aus) (Marscay {Aus}) was a three-parts-sister to the champion 2-year-old Canny Lad (Aus) (Bletchingly {Aus}) and to the multiple G1 winner Canny Lass (Aus) (Bletchingly {Aus}).

Of course, Sepoy's Australian pedigree was much less familiar to European breeders, who were also inclined to judge him primarily on his very disappointing efforts in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen and the G1 July Cup on his only appearances in the northern hemisphere. The Darley team did its best to educate the Europeans, reminding them that Sepoy had been rated the best Australian juvenile for 35 years before developing into the “world champion 3-year-old sprinter.” Consequently, Sepoy has covered over 100 mares in each of his first four years at Dalham Hall.

The remarkable development is that both Sepoy and Helmet are showing greater promise in Europe than with their more expensively produced Australian foals, which began their racing careers before their European siblings. Helmet's finest achievement so far is his high-class Irish-bred son Thunder Snow (Ire), who has enjoyed Group 1 success in France and Group 2 success on dirt in the UAE Derby.

Sepoy, for his part, is still awaiting his first Australian stakes winner, even though his progeny originally sold very well. Fortunately, the picture is much brighter in the northern hemisphere. From a first crop numbering 84, he has already sired four stakes winners and his progeny were in fine form last week. Two of his daughters ran well in Britain's main trials for the 1000 Guineas. Firstly, Unforgetable Filly (GB) finished a 3/4-length second to Daban in the G3 Nell Gwyn S. and then Dabyah (Ire) triumphed in a competitive edition of the G3 Dubai Duty Free (Fred Darling) S. Kilmah (GB), another of Sepoy's daughters, also contested the Nell Gwyn but didn't reproduce the form that had brought her victory in last year's G3 Prestige S.

As Sepoy's leading European winners also include Baileys Showgirl (Fr), a Group-placed Listed winner in France, I was beginning to wonder whether his daughters are superior to his sons but then Khukri (Ire) made his seasonal debut in the Coolmore Stud Power S., a Listed race at Navan two days ago. Up against several proven Group performers, Khukri improved markedly on his winning juvenile form to score in the style of a very useful sprinter. Sepoy has another potentially useful son in the Listed-placed Executive Force (GB).

With the Australian progeny of Sepoy and Helmet faring less well than their cheaper European counterparts, both have had their Australian fees substantially reduced. Helmet's fee was halved to A$16,500 when he stood his fifth season last year, when his book fell below 100 for the first time, and it will remain at that level later this year. Sepoy's fall from grace has been even steeper. Having been in considerable demand at A$66,000 in his first four seasons, when he covered a total of 560 mares, his fee was halved to $33,000 in 2016 and it has now been halved again for the 2017 Australian season, putting him on the same price as Helmet.

Hopefully both have a future in Europe and Sepoy will always be popular if he continues to pass on his speed and precocity. He has so far proved a reliable source of speed. A good example is his son Phijee (GB), a dual two-year-old six-furlong winner out of a stoutly-bred Dalakhani (Ire) mare. The precocious Kilmah has a dam by Act One (GB), a Group 1 winner over 1 5/16 miles, and Dabyah is out of Samdaniya, a 9.7-furlong winner from an excellent family noted more for stamina than speed.

Dabyah's second dam Cloud Castle was a half-sister to three big earners, all of whom shone over a mile and a half. The most successful were Warrsan (GB), a dual winner of both the Coronation Cup and Preis von Baden; and Luso (GB), a Group 1 winner in Italy, Germany and Hong Kong. Cloud Castle was good enough to finish fourth in both the 1000 Guineas and Oaks, after winning the G3 Nell Gwyn S., and she was also a fine second in the G1 Prix Vermeille over a mile and a half.

Samdaniya is the third daughter of Cloud Castle to have produced a Group winner, one of the others being the Group 3 winner Queen's Best (GB) (King's Best), who in turn is the dam of Queen's Trust (GB) (Dansili {GB}), winner of last year's GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Dabyah's third dam Lucayan Princess is also the fourth dam of Avenir Certain (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), winner of the G1 French 1000 Guineas and Oaks in 2014, so it wouldn't be a great surprise were Dabyah to run into a place in the 1000 Guineas.