Swettenham Stud

One of the highlights was the quinella in the juvenile event at the Hobart meeting of offspring of up and coming Swettenham sires. It was taken out in slashing style by debut Keep the Faith runner Socks by 2.3 lengths from the Hold That Tiger gelding Tiger Won’t Tell. He shaded the third placegetter by another 3.5 lengths.

Socks is one of the small number of runners seen out to date by Keep the Faith, one of the best bred and fastest horses at stud in Australia and also sire of In Faith, a dazzling winner of each of his first two starts, appearances at Morphettville (by 2.3 lengths) and Moonee Valley (4.3 lengths).

Keep the Faith, an Australian bred son of Sunday Silence, followed up wins himself by big margins here by establishing a still standing national record for six furlongs in America, a country he ran in three times.

Hold That Tiger, a Swettenham shuttle sire, who besides Tiger Won’t Tell, was represented on Saturday by Lie in Wait, a first Australian crop 4-year-old who rattled up his fourth win on Perth’s Ascot in five starts in the past seven weeks when successful by three lengths in a1600m event.

A champion European juvenile and an American Breeders’ Cup Juvenile third, Hold That Tiger is a three-quarter brother-in-blood by Storm Cat to very respected shuttled sire Hennessy.

Use in America has seen Hold That Tiger represented to date by over 140 winners, including nine successful in stakes races and11 others stakes placed. He also has a stakes winner and three stakes placed progeny got at Swettenham.

In addition to Keep the Faith and Hold That Tiger, the ever consistent Swettenham resident Danzig sire Bianconi on Saturday supplied Balzoni, successful for the third time in five outings when he won by 2.5 lengths at Morphettville, and Adaline, a filly by their Danehill sire Court of Jewels, ran boldly in the New Zealand Oaks until she found the 2400m beyond her stamina. She has won the Group 2 Ellerslie Royal Stakes and been a neck second on the same track in the Group 2 Eight Carat Stakes.

Keep the Faith, Hold That Tiger, Bianconi – currently Victoria’s leading sire on earnings, winners and wins, Court of Jewels and Dash For Cash (over 100 winners headed by first crop stakes winners Bank Robber, Extension of Time and Dandy Dollar) are in a complement of eight sires at Swettenham.

Two whose first crops were produced last season are two of the most impressively credendialed resident young imports at stud in Australia, Host (Hussonet Group1 winner Chile and USA) and Soldier’s Tale (a Stravinsky leading European sprinter who beat Takeover Target in winning the 2007 Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot).

They were both put to stud at Swettenham in 2008, a season Host went to119 mares (91.2% fertility) and Soldier’s Tale looked after 93 (86.3%).

Adam Sangster, the very progressive resident owner of the Swettenham stud, added the tough Danzero sprinter Kaphero to the roster last year. In earning $801,000, he won ten sprints, including eight in Melbourne up to Group 3 and the Adelaide Magic Millions 2YO Classic. He was beaten only a half length when third in the 2008 edition of the Group1 Manikato Stakes.

Not only does the Swettenham line up present breeders with a wide variety of well bred and performed racehorses to choose from, but the opportunity to breed at moderate cost.The highest service fee is $17,600.

Current or potential breeders can also enjoy the benefits of the Swettenham sires and highly skilled management by participating in their recently launched breeding and trading venture.

The two Group 1 winners at Flemington yesterday demonstrated the enduring influence on Australian breeding of the late Robert Sangster.

Australian Cup winner Zipping (right) was bred by Swettenham Stud, now in the ownership of Robert's son Adam. Australian Guineas winner Rock Classic is out of Midnight Ballet, a daughter of Robert's Blue Diamond Stakes winner Midnight Fever, also bred by Swettenham and top filly on the 1986-87 two year old classification.

Zipping is probably the last Group 1 winner likely to be sired by the incomparable Danehill, another of the breed shaping stallions in which Sangster had an interest.

Swettenham's 25% ownership of Danehill saw it send a bevy of high class mares to him every season until his untimely death in 2003 at the age of 17. Zipping is the latest of a host of stakewinners produced from these matings.

Adam Sangster credits his father and also his brother Ben for planning the mating that produced Zipping.

"Dad was responsible for the family having the interest in Danehill and Ben was the one who selected which mares we used with him", Sangster said.

Zipping was sold at the 2003 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale for $190,000 to Graeme Rogerson, bidding on behalf of Lloyd Williams.

He won on debut at the Gold Coast on the last day of the 2003-04 season and then went through his classes, winning 7 of his first 9 starts. Things got tougher from then on as he tackled Group class races, but Zipping was always thereabouts, running second and third in the WS Cox Plate, fourth in two Melbourne Cups and winning an unprecedented three Sandown Classics in succession.

Saturday's Australian Cup was Zipping's fifteenth try at winning a Group 1 race and he certainly deserved his success.

While Swettenham did not actually breed Rock Classic (left), his granddam Midnight Fever played a role in his retention by part owner Paul Whelan.

"Paul told me that he liked Rock Classic because he looked a lot like Midnight Fever", Adam Sangster pointed out when discussing the family's influence on the Group 1 races at Flemington.

Rock Classic was purchased by Bart Cummings for $275,000 from Whelan's Luskin Park draft at the 2008 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. Cummings himself retained a share, while Luskin Park stayed in and other shares were sold to M McGuiness and Walter Mula.

Luskin Park has now sold Midnight Ballet to Patinack Farm, but she is breeding on strongly with an Encosta de Lago two year old filly due to be sold at this year's Inglis Easter Sale. Midnight Ballet has a colt foal by Casino Prince and was served last season by Tale Of The Cat.