Master is Ready to Rule

A rapid surge up the Australian General Sires List in recent weeks has seen champion sire Redoute's Choice hit the top spot, nudging aside his budding super sire son Snitzel, to spark the obvious question of which son of Redoute's Choice will be the next to hit the big time as a sire?. Swettenham Stud believe they have the answer in Master of Design.

Explosive Redoute's Choice galloper Lankan Rupee has dominated the feature sprints this year and capped his meteoric rise with a resounding victory in the $2.5 million Group I ATC TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick last Saturday. There is little doubt that if Lankan Rupee were an entire, he would be the hottest sire prospect in the country, if not the world. Two years ago in 2012 it was blue-blooded Master of Designwinning this race, clocking a brilliant 1:08.83 for the 1200 metres, a time bettered only by Black Caviar. While Lankan Rupee will never cover mares as a gelding, Master of Design has been well received in his first two seasons and Victorian breeders may find themselves sitting on a goldmine if he follows in the footsteps of other successful sire sons of Redoute's Choice. A Group I winning sprinter as was Master of Design, Snitzel has taken all before him this season with a Group I MVRC Cox Plate winner in Shamus Award and a Group I VRC Lightning Stakes winner in Snitzerland. Currently just $500,000 in arrears of his sire on the Australian General Sires List by earnings, Snitzel is not the only son of Redoute's Choice to be churning out the winners. Stratum and Not a Single Doubt, both hold a slot in the Top 20 sires, while Bradbury's Luck and God's Own are in the Top 40. Master of Design fits that profile for success, possessing Group I speed, a phenomenal female pedigree and Hollwood style good looks having been purchased as a yearling for $2.1 million at Inglis Easter. Plenty would argue his credentials are the equal of or even superior to the sons of Redoute's Choice that have already succeeded. "None of his entire sons have won more than one Group I event and Master of Design should have won at least two as he was very unlucky in the Oakleigh Plate," points out Adam Sangster of Swettenham Stud. "He was a very expensive yearling making far more than either Snitzel or Stratum in the sale ring and those good looks were backed up with matching ability, which is not always the case." Master of Design brings together the blood of two champion sires in Redoute's Choice and Last Tycoon (IRE), who is the sire of his dam Urge to Merge, a daughter of influential matron Princess Tracy (IRE). The pair have combined in the pedigrees of no fewer than 19 stakes-winners including back-to-back Group I ATC Doncaster Handicap winner Sacred Falls, who is by a son of Last Tycoon in O'Reilly from a daughter of Redoute's Choice. "For those who believe a pedigree makes a stallion, you need look no further thanMaster of Design, whose female family features Australian Horse of the Year, Typhoon Tracy, as well as Group I winners Danasinga, Tracy's Element and Suntagonal," Sangster said. Priced at an affordable $12,500 in his first two seasons at stud, Master of Design has covered some 278 mares so will have every opportunity to succeed. John Kilbride, Swettenham's Regional Bloodstock Manager, has been on a mission to assess all of the Master of Design weanlings in and around Victoria. "John came to Australia as a practise squad member with the touring English Ashes team, and stayed on after a chance meeting with us at the Gold Coast," Sangster revealed. "He has extensive experience with foals and weanlings in the UK, and so far has amassed 2100km's and over 150 hours in the car, travelling to various farms inspecting the Master of Design stock. "He has approximately 20 to go until the project is completed and the results will be detailed in our next newsletter, so stay tuned!"