Gingernuts Endorses Formbook

The Informant reports:

There is an old racing saying that states “the Formbook never lies”, and whilst that may not always be the case, the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby proved that in spades to the discomfiture of your correspondent and many others of the journalistic ilk!

Even his name proves something of a misnomer, as his prospects were removed well before David Ellis paid $42,500 for the chestnut at the November 2015 Ready to Run Sale.

In common with many of his Derby rivals, his pedigree was a very good one if not outstanding, but on the catalogue page it looked very misleadingly poor, which doubtless accounted for his moderate purchase prices first as a weanling ($5,000) and then as a two-year-old ($42,500) in the same Karaka ring.

All credit then to the Te Akau team, who were able to identify and nurture his potential and take the gelding to classic success. He has had just seven starts for four wins and a second and he is going to be a formidable force once he refines his style and can fully utilise his impressive turn of foot.

I have commented previously that the Derby winner's sire, the classy seven-furlong horse Iffraaj, is proving capable of leaving good horses up to 2000 metres, although only four Group winners have done so previously. Only the Italian Group One winner Benvenue won at 2400 metres, so it came as a further surprise when GINGERNUTS skated away with the Derby and another son of the Haunui Farm shuttler, Jon Snow a fast-finishing third.

A triple Group Two winner in England (TFR 127) and second in the Gr. 2 Newmarket July Cup, Iffraaj has proved a resounding stud success in both hemispheres. He was a success from the outset with a record breaking 38 individual juvenile winners (67 overall) in his first Irish crop. He started well here too with 50 individual winners from his first crop and was second on the first crop sires' list. Since then he has been champion New Zealand sire of three-year-olds in 2014-15, champion New Zealand sire of two-year-olds in 2015-16, third on the New Zealand general sires' list in 2015-16 and third on British/Irish two-year-old sires' premiership in 2013.

Iffraaj's leading progeny include Turn Me Loose (champion NZ sprinter and middle-distance horse - NZ 2000 Guineas, VRC Emirates S., MRC Futurity S.), Ribchester (Prix Jacques le Marois), Wootton Bassett (champion French two-year-old colt - Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere), Rizeena (champion Irish two-year-old filly - Curragh Moyglare Stud S., Royal Ascot Coronation S., Queen Mary S.), ill-fated Chriselliam (champion European filly - Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' Turf, Newmarket Fillies' Mile), Benvenue (Gran Premio di Milano), Fix (NZ Filly of the Year - ARC Eight Carat Classic, Royal S., Waikato Sir Tristram Classic; 2nd New Zealand Derby; 3rd New Zealand 1000 Guineas), Wyndspelle, Hot Streak, Serena Miss and Kisses.

He now has 47 stakes winners, with the average winning distance of his progeny suggesting that they are mostly milers plus.

The very moderate gallop in the New Zealand Derby may have contributed to the Iffraaj success given their blistering speed, but I doubt if it made any difference to the identity of the winner. I say this principally because Gingernuts' phenotype is very much that of his damsire Generous, as those that saw that great horse in his brief sojourn in this country can testify.

After winning the Dewhurst Stakes as a two-year-old, Generous went on to annex the Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (TFR 139), being rated champion European three-year-old. Although he achieved a total of 45 stakes winners at stud, Generous was generally considered a disappointment as a sire as he failed to leave anything remotely as good as himself, his stock usually requiring 12 furlongs to show their ability. He has a better record as a broodmare sire with 53 stakes winners, nine of them at Group One, including Lion Tamer (Victoria Derby), We Can Say It Now, Golan (English 2000 Guineas, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S.), Mourinho and Survived.

The granddam sire was Group-placed Oregon, an impeccably bred son of Halo and the champion Three Troikas. Just an ordinary sire of 19 stakes winners including the Gr. 1 Easter Handicap winner Oregon Power, his daughters (10 SWs) proved no better, their best being dual Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon and Brisbane Cup winner Portland Singa.

Sires down along the bottom line do improve somewhat, with Sir Tristram being sire of the third dam (how often we see the great horse in this position), followed by Sobig, Wilkes and Red Mars.

It will come as no surprise to find that this is one of the great New Zealand taproots with Eulogy of the No. 22 family being the eleventh dam tracing through to Signatory and on via Skylit to the New Zealand Oaks victress Devante, who is the fourth dam of the Derby winner.

She left seven winners including Trappings (Western Australian Oaks) and Record Breaker (VRC Maribyrnong Trial S.) and is ancestress of many stakes winners including Gr. 1 WRC Telegraph Handicap winner Guiseppina, Statham (Gr. 3 Concorde H.), The Pooka (NZ 2000 Guineas), Never Say (Gr. 3 STC Kingston Town S.), Century Boy (Gr. 3 AJC Summer Cup) and Rubiscent (Gr. 1 MRC Underwood S.).

Windrift, the third dam, was unraced and left seven winners including Melbourne stakes placed Sailing Ahead and Star Lore (dam of Castletown Stakes victor Kinetic and granddam of SW Taurus). Her daughter Timberland Lass won in Australia but had just one foal, Double Elle, whose three successful progeny are all good performers headed by the Derby winner.

After winning his second trial at two, Gingernuts ran second to his stablemate Hall Of Fame on debut at Pukekohe, before scoring nicely over 1300 metres at Hastings. He didn't come back until late December at three, when he shied close to home and lost all chance at Stratford before getting buried in the pack throughout at Tauranga.

He had to be driven along to keep pace in all these sprints, but next up at Te Teko over 1600 metres he was rousted up to near the lead, coming away for a comfortable win. Johnathan Parkes was on board for the Gr. 2 Avondale Guineas where he totally fluffed the start, but fortunately they crawled along in the slow ground and he was able to keep in touch although still tailing the field on the turn.

It is history that he dashed up the rails to make his talented opposition look like park hacks. Few believed it, although he still went out second choice for the Derby due in no small part to the presence of Opie Bosson in the saddle for the first time.

The Derby was run at a moderate pace and the placegetters were able to sit handy. Bosson gave the chestnut a gem of a ride, before getting tangled up with the wayward favourite Savile Row on the turn, and once into the clear he powered to the finish to down the Australian-trained Redwood gelding Rising Red by an ever widening length.

The pedigree chart is good without being remarkable with Iffraaj bred on a Mr. Prospector/double Northern Dancer nick and widely balanced to speed. Gingernuts' dam Double Elle is a double Northern Dancer/Halo (Hail To Reason) cross and his granddam nicks this with Sir Tristram (Sir Ivor). All are proven, but oft repeated gems.

So what is special about the Derby winner's pedigree? Two of the most inspiring horses of my past were the three-quarter relatives Nijinsky and The Minstrel. A massively precocious bay, Nijinsky dominated his contemporaries and he left an indelible impression on me in the paddock before the Dewhurst, where he looked more like a four-year-old than a juvenile.

He went on to win the Triple Crown at three, even though he did not really stay past 12 furlongs.
His close relative was a very different type, a quality chestnut in the style of his son Palace Music. The Minstrel's main asset was his immense courage under fire, and like Nijinsky he needed it under the incomparable Lester Piggott who gave him heaps. He won English and Irish Derby and the King George.

The relevance of these two greats is the 3 x 3 balanced cross between Zaizafon, a daughter of The Minstrel the damsire of Iffraaj's sire, and Caerleon, a classy son of Nijinsky who is sire of Gingernuts' damsire Generous. It is a relatively common sight to see these two combine well (also with another close relative Storm Bird) in the pedigrees of really good horses, and if you can achieve sex balance all the better. I believe this is the engine room driving this good horse.
Gingernuts' dam is sex-balanced to Nearco, Princequillo and Hail To Reason. Gingernuts himself is likewise balanced to Flaming Page (6 x 5), Native Dancer (5 lines), Nearco (13), Princequillo (4), Nasrullah (5), Hyperion (10) and Fair Trial (6). The latter is through Court Martial, who is balanced in the granddam's chart, which may prove significant given the strong presence of Fair Trial in Iffraaj's dam.

So for the future? Gingernuts is obviously very good and still improving, although some like Sacred Elixir may get closer in a strong run race. Sydney beckons and he should make his presence felt as so far the Australian staying three-year-olds do not look exceptional. He should further prove his stamina despite being by a great miler-plus sire.