One Option

An overwhelming success in both hemispheres, Shamardal is one of the very best stallions on the power packed Darley European roster and for those breeders looking to access his blood in Australia this spring there is only one commercial option.

Retiring to Swettenham Stud is high class weight-for-age performer Puissance de Lune (IRE), who dazzled Victorian racegoers with two breathtaking wins in the Listed Bendigo Cup and then the Group II VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes in spring 2012. Brilliant enough to go on and win the Group II MRC PB Lawrence Stakes over 1400 metres and Group II VRC Blamey Stakes at a mile, Puissance de Lune was also four times Group I placed during Melbourne spring carnivals despite his efforts being hampered by injury.

He posted seconds in the Group I VRC Makybe Diva Stakes (beaten a nose) and Turnbull Stakes (beaten a head) in 2013 behind proven Group I stars Foreteller and Happy Trails and was third in the Group I MRC Memsie Stakes and VRC Makybe Diva Stakes last year behind leading Australian Horse of the Year contender Dissident, who has also retired to stud this spring at a fee of $38,500. Priced at $11,000, Puissance de Lune is a horse with genuine Group I ability and a pedigree to match. "I haven't had that feeling on a horse for a really long time," said champion jockey Glen Boss, who compared Puissance de Lune to past greats Makybe Diva and So You Think when winning the Queen Elizabeth stakes by five lengths. "He relaxes and conserves a lot of energy in running and when you ask him...it's instant power. He's a superstar!"

A Champion Two and Three Year Old by Giant's Causeway, Shamardal made a very favourable impression on Australian breeders during his five seasons of shuttling to the Hunter Valley, leaving Group I winners Able Friend, Faint Perfume, Captain Sonador and Maybe Discreet among a raft of quality stakes-winners. His final crop of Australian bred yearlings averaged $243,333 at the 2013 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling offering another clear indication of the high regard in which Shamardal is held. Now proven as a sire of sires through his exciting French Derby winning son Lope de Vega, Shamardal has done all that can be asked of a sire.

The sire only brings half of the genetics to any mating and for many breeders the female pedigree of a stallion prospect is every bit as important as the sire and sometimes more so. In the case of Puissance de Lune, it's a consideration well worth delving into as his female family is straight from the international silk department. He is a half-brother to the dam of 2013 Champion Irish 2YO Filly Rizeena, who starred at Royal Ascot last year in winning the Group I Coronation Stakes at three, returning after taking the Group II Queen Mary Stakes at the same venue as a juvenile. Go back another generation and his grand-dam Serena's Sister is a full sister to Champion US 3YO Filly Serena's Song, who won an astonishing 18 races, 11 of them at Group I level. At stud, Serena's Song proved just as successful leaving five stakes-winners headed by Group I Royal Ascot Coronation Stakes winner Sophisticat. Another of her stakes-winners, Serena's Tune is the grand-dam of exciting four year-old Honor Code, who scored a resounding three length win in the one mile Group I Belmont Metropolitan Handicap two weeks ago on the same program America Pharaoh collected his Triple Crown win. This is a current, high class international female family that excels in all spheres and Puissance de Lune is bringing it to Victoria opening up a world of opportunity for the savvy breeder.