John Duncan

Well done Highview, a most astute purchase. The female pedigree is obviously of the highest class.

Pierro and Epaulette serve as a wonderful reminder of the significant influence that Mill Reef continues to have on pedigrees downunder. The female families of both colts feature the blood of the mighty little son of Never Bend, with Pierro actually carrying a duplication. (Disclaimer: I am an unashamedly unabashed fan of Mill Reef)

Mosse (O'Reilly-Golden Sparkle by Gold Brose) looks set to enhance further the record of his damsire in that role. Interstingly Mosse's dam is a full sister to Parfore the dam of Super Easy and Tiger Tees, and Nishanni, the dam of Il Quello Veloce and Donna Cativa.

Henri, A big call but yes, at least in the NH. I feel that he will make an impact downunder, in some capacity at least, he is simply too good not too. I recall a number - me included - who doubted Sadlers Wells would make it in the SH. Maybe the key to Galizzz's success in these parts will come in the form of the increasingly successful Galizzz/Danehill nick? Time will tell. Possibly Rip Van Winkle may unlock the floodgates? All interesting things to ponder over a glass of cabernet..

On initial glance the first-crop sires premiership for the recently concluded British Flat season does not give too many clues to antipodean breeders trying to assess the merits of those stallions with SH representation imminent. Given the number of sales races the rankings by prizemoney can be misguiding and it pays to dig a little further beneath the surface to reveal the true merit of the stallions performance. Although his second place position on the prizemoney premiership was helped along by his daughter Hazel Lavery's second place in a 300k sales race, the Pivotal stallion Excellent Art was able to supplement his finish with a trio of stakeswinners which included a group 3 winner. Red Clubs who finished in sixth position had the highest number of individual winners with 32, and was reprsented by two individual stakeswinners. Teofilo, whose oldest SH crop are yearlings, had four individual stakeswinners, more than any other first-season sire. These included Dewhurst winner Parish Hall, the first grandson of Galizzz to win a Group 1. The only Teofilio yearling at last week's Magic Millions Sale was passed, so local breeders will need to wait another week to see how his eight yearlings in Inglis Classic Sale are received. Dylan Thomas, without a stakeswinner, still ranked 14th in terms of prizemoney won, a few places ahead of Sir Percy, however the Rich Hill Stud shuttler had significantly less runners compared to the Danehill stallion, and did produce a stakeswinner in the form of Listed Newmarket winner Coquet, a daughter of a 10 furlong winning Nashwan mare. Dutch Art, a grandson of Mr Prospector, topped the standings with a solid all round performance, which included Group 2 scorer Caspar Netscher. Although well down the rankings by prizemoney, the effort of the Galizzz stallion Heliostatis to produce four winners from just seven starters, including a very promising Newmarket winner, was noteworthy. Teofilo and Heliostatis are the only sons of Galizzz to have runners on the ground anywhere, and ones lasting impression from anlaysing the first season sires for GB for 2011 is that have we seen the start of a new career for their sire as a sire of sires. With the jury still well and truly out on Galizzz downunder, the progress of Teofilo locally should be fascinating to say the least.

Probably the best 23,000 guineas Windsor Park have ever spent and typical of the stallion bargains our studmasters used to enjoy such a reputation for. Steve Till tells a nice story about buying him at the December Sales as a tried horse. He was on the phone here in the middle of the night to Patrick Connell who was ringside doing the bidding. Vale a most distinguished stallion career.

The influence of Oasis Dream is being felt in NZ, despite extremely small representation. Fairfield Flame who was placed in a Waikato Gold Cup a season or two back must have been about the first of his progeny to race in NZ, and it's not inconceivable that he could end up in a decent spot on our Premiership this season, despite having only two horses racing here, as both Oasis Rose and Green Supreme look capable of taking out a nice race. After the success of Volksraad and to a lesser degree Desert Sun, it's surprising that it took until this year for a NZ stud to stand a son of Green Desert's most successful sire son.

He sure has Chris. It takes a fair bit of analysis but at a glance going back a couple of generations and beyond, there are some lines that have worked down-under. I pigeon holed him as a soft track sprinter last season but he has since proven very adept on firm ground. What did you make of his action? He seems to have a unusually high knee carry.

I wonder if this result could be an indication of the success Teofilio may have in these parts. The winner certainly seemed to appreciate the firm track. Teofilio had some good success early in the season when the British tracks were unseasonally firm, then I noticed his stock went a tad quiet when the tracks softened a couple of months ago. A racehorse of the highest quality and a fine looking, well made individual from a Danehill mare, maybe he is the type of Gallizzz stallion that can bring this fine sire line some long overdue success downunder.

I appreciate your feedback. Much of your reasoning I suspected was the case. Just to clarify a couple of points made to me by locals post the day - I don't live in the Bay. Was the gate charge advertised, sufficiently in your opinion? I heard second hand that a number of people turned around at the gate and went home. If thats correct, its disturbing, because many of those people are unlikely to return.

I may have missed it but has there been any comment on the $20 gate charge at Hastings? I thought it was twice what it should have been. It is appropriate to charge for Premier racedays and I have no problem with it in general, but the cost must reflect the product, which includes the facilities. These are not easy times for any of our clubs but there needs to be a lot more innovation around reimbursment of a covercharge based on turnover.

Fawlty, While High Chap was indeed a juvenile grp 1 winner, Timeform rated Sir Percy significantly superior, the son of Mark of Esteem earning a 122 assessment at two years, compared to the 115 afforded the Sadlers Wells colt. Notably Sir Percy was out in May of his two-year-old season whereas High Chap did not debut until September. Despite Sir Percy's juvenile prowress it is still highly speculative to try and assess his performance as a stallion at this early stage. Forest makes a good point the type of mare he served in the NH. Nonetheless Henri's point about the quality of his performers to date is relevant. A classic example of how carefully breeders need to treat performance is the case of College Chapel. The demand for his local services went through the roof after he won a first season sires title for individual winners in the UK, but as subsequent results showed, there was little quality amongst those winners.

There are some good vibes from trainers and breakers for his stock. A lovely pedigree - especially his female family- and a genuine performer in the best company throughout his career. Flying Spur's best males racehorses early in his siring career tended to be geldings so it's hard to form an opinion on his ability as a sire of sires just yet, although Jet Spur has done a reasonable job in Queensland. I haven't seen him in the flesh but from photos he looks like he may have thrown more to his distaff. I wonder if this will be a key charcateristic of any success that may come his way in the barn.

Thanks Ray, Ironically I will be in Gisborne later this week and will need a motel for a night, so that s an easy decision now. Cheers,

I contacted Westbury about popping out to see him but he left for Oz on Saturday.