Swettenham stands Shamardal leader in Australia

Shamardal is poised to sire his 100th stakes winner and it could come before his son Puissance De Lune (Ire) begins covering a second book at Swettenham Stud in September.

Puissance De Lune is Shamardal’s sole Australian Group winner at stud in Australia.  He served 95 mares first-up and his fee remains at $11,000 (inc gst) this year.

Only Swettenham associate Toronado (174) and Darley shuttler Brazen Beau (139) were more popular among Victoria’s freshman sires last year.

The Irish-bred import blitzed the Queen Elizabeth Stakes field at Flemington during his first Melbourne spring carnival and twelve months later he started favourite for the Cox Plate only to injure a tendon that eventually curtailed his career in 2014.  “We never saw the best of Puissance De Lune,” Swettenham owner Adam Sangster claimed.  “Glen Boss is on record as saying he had the speed to win a Newmarket.  He could have been a superstar but for that injury.”

The Shamardal sireline gives Puissance De Lune an extra edge at stud.  He’s bearing down on a century of stakes winners at breakneck speed – the 97th arrived with Al Shaqab Racing colt Doha Dream in France on July 4.

Among those in the queue for black-type in Europe are Raafid who opened his account at Deauville on July 8 for Sheikh Hamdan and Freddy Head.  He’s a half-brother G2 Prix de Malleret winner Time On and the dam of G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Cursory Glance.

Fancy Day is another Shamardal owned by Sheikh Hamdan from Mark Johnston’s yard.  She was a stylish juvenile winner at Pontefract and is a sister to Breeders' Cup Classic hero Tiznow and the dam of G1 Preakness winner Oxbow.

Flash Fire races under the Godolphin banner and he’s also ready for black-type after winning the Victoria Cup at Ascot.

Shamardal’s Hong Kong star Able Friend is back home after rehabilitation from a tendon injury in Victoria.  Trainer John Moore did flag the G1 Emirates Stakes as a potential spring target before deciding to set him for the G1 Hong Kong Mile in December.

Fellow trainer Tony Cruz has another Shamardal named Pakistan Star with Group 1 aspirations next season after a stunning debut at Sha Tin on July 1.

Bred in Germany, he’s out of Peintre Celebre mare Nina Celebre and comes from three generations of unbroken stakes-winning dams.  His second and third dams both won the German Oaks, with his third, Night Petticoat, also producing the German Derby winner Next Desert.

No wonder Pakistan Star’s connections are already talking about the G1 Hong Kong Derby in March 2017.

By then, Shamardal will be looking at his first century of stakes winners in the rear-view mirror and Swettenham will be weaning its first foals by Puissance De Lune.