Pierro left Tulloch Lodge for a career in the breeding barn many moons ago. We were of course all sad to see him go, but at the same time we knew it would not be long until his progeny started arriving into the stable. There has been a lot of press dedicated to Pierro's sale price and his value to his new owners; but what needs more attention is his actual record on the track.

With Wandjina and Brazen Beau about to clash in a battle of the Aussie colts in England, it would be remiss of us not to reflect, ever so quickly, on the best colt we have seen in Australia in a long time. Pierro is the best colt seen in Australia for a long time. He was a champion, a true champion and behind the immortal Black Caviar, the second best horse Australia has seen in the last five years. He had fourteen starts for eleven wins, two seconds and one third. Yes, fourteen starts is not a huge amount for such a champion, but that is the nature of the game.

On reading through the data on all these fourteen starts, it becomes very apparent that despite being labelled a ‘champion' Pierro may not have received enough plaudits. In every one of Pierro's fourteen starts, he either did something remarkable or beat fellow great horses. Consider…

Pierro's first start way back on 1 October 2011 in the Breeders Plate was just a regulation win, but eight minutes after the race was won, Gai made no secret that the horse was a champion and would win the Golden Slipper in six months' time. Some ‘racing identities' called her mad; after all it was just a half-length win in only fair time and in hindsight the opposition this day have not really risen to any great heights. But as it turns out the colt won simply on talent because he still had a long way to go fitness wise, and Gai's predictions turned out to become reality.

At Pierro's second start, the Silver Slipper, five months after the Breeders Plate, the colt walked into the mounting yard looking short of a run, fat and with a lot of improvement left in him. But this is exactly how Gai wanted him to look considering what he was aimed at for the remainder of the autumn. Pierro won this race and the experts were starting to take notice that this colt could win.

The next start was in the Todman and Pierro managed to beat Epaulette who is a subsequent Group 1 winner and the horse to have pushed Black Caviar the most almost in her entire career.

Next it was the Golden Slipper and Pierro fulfilled Gai's earlier prediction by winning fairly easily. In the process, he accounted for the race favourite and Blue Diamond winner Samaready as well as Snitzerland. Snitzerland of course has gone on to win a Group 1 and multiple Group 2 and Group 3 races and is one of the most exciting fillies in training in Australia.

After claiming the Slipper, with eyes on the Triple Crown, Gai sent Pierro to the Sires' and here he managed to beat another boom colt All Too Hard by two lengths. All Too Hard won a Group 1 race at this track and distance at his last start to demonstrate that he could still win big races in Sydney. Pierro really showed off his champion qualities in this win and it was clearly one of his best.

In the third leg of the Sydney Triple Crown for two-year-olds, the Champagne Stakes, Pierro beat Dear Demi by three lengths. Dear Demi has since won the VRC Oaks and ran second and third in several other Group 1 Classics including the Caulfield Cup.

After a spell, Pierro returned as a three-year-old in the Run to the Rose over 1200m at Rosehill. Here Pierro was again carrying a lot of condition and was sent to the race looking very happy and well fed with an eye on the later spring Classics. He could not be tuned up fully first up because he was heading to the Cox Plate and that was the day he needed to peak, not this day at Rosehill. Pierro also in this race was required to carry 60kg which is a huge burden for a three-year-old. Yet he still managed to win the race and in the process he again beat Epaulette as well as a five length Group 1 winner, the Gooree colt Your Song. This was another remarkable performance against really good horses, but this time Pierro also had the 60kg to contend with. It did not even go close to stopping him.

Next it was down to Victoria for Pierro for the Bill Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley. Generally a horse is granted excuses at its first start in a different state, running in a different direction; but Pierro did not need any excuses, he won the Stutt Stakes by five lengths despite all the above mentioned circumstances.

At Pierro's next start in the Caulfield Guineas, defeat greeted the colt for the first time. Yet, he was still clearly the best run in the race. Pierro, like Kingston Town and countless others before him, was a little lost around Caulfield. He was wide, he was bustled up the hill, he was not let in and on hitting the front, he was tired and would have been excused had he run last. But he held on for second, beaten by the colt All Too Hard. Beaten half a length by a horse considered by many to be his equal after one of the most torrid runs seen in recent memory in a Classic at Caulfield. This was a defeat yes, but it too was an outstanding performance and in fact was one of Pierro's best runs.

Then it was off to the Cox Plate where Pierro ran third. Third in the best Weight For Age in Australia, especially as a three-year-old. Pierro was sent for a spell after the Cox Plate. He was not at his best in the Cox Plate, but natural ability and class still got him into third place. Again he could have simply wilted and would have been forgiven, but he let his heart take him into third place.

First up in the Sydney autumn Pierro tackled the Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill over 1400m on a heavy track. Again, look at all the potential excuses; 1400m, first up, heavy track not to mention a star studded field. But again Pierro just won like a champion should. He held out the in-form Rebel Dane, boom colt Proisir not to mention Sydney three-year-old Triple Crown winner It's A Dundeel. Another great win and a further indication of Pierro's champion status.

Next it was back in distance and the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes over 1300m. Here Pierro had to beat a super field of older horses including the second best horse in Sydney, More Joyous. Again he won. He beat More Joyous in a race she has won the previous two years. Pierro also beat Solzhenitsyn who was a Group 1 winner in the previous spring.

After the Canterbury Stakes, Gai took Pierro to the traditional Doncaster lead up, the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes. After a slightly wide run, Pierro managed to dig deep to win the race by half a length from King Mufhasa and Shoot Out. Between them, those two geldings have won fifteen Group 1 races.

Pierro's last start was in the Doncaster Handicap and as is usually the case with Doncaster week, the heavens opened. Yes Pierro was proven on the heavy, but in this case, the colt was burdened with 57kg. 57kg for a three-year-old on a heavy track in an open handicap is a task that not even Pierro could overcome. The horse that beat him, Sacred Falls carried 53kg for being the same age. There is no doubt Pierro deserved the 57kg; we can't call a horse a champion then complain about the weight they receive in the biggest races. But on a heavy track, carrying weight is harder than it is on a dry track.

Pierro simply couldn't match the turn of foot of the other horse with the 4kg less on his back. But Pierro didn't give up. He didn't accept his fate. He tried his hardest and gave everything he had and still finished second. Tulloch, nor Kingston Town ever carried as much as 57kg as a three-year-old in an open handicap.

Pierro was retired having never run a bad race, and short of Black Caviar who he never faced, he comprehensively, and in some cases regularly beat the next three or four best horses in the country. More Joyous, All Too Hard, Epaulette, Snitzerland, Dear Demi, Your Song and Shoot Out unless they are facing each other, generally started favourite or second favourite in the majority of their races. They are all proven gun horses and they all share one thing in common; they were all beaten by Pierro. The son of Lonhro was a champion and if he is half as good at stud as he was on the track, the Australian racing industry is in for generations of quality horses with class, heart and a will to win."

COOLMORE STUD REPORTED:

Five-time G1 winner Pierro, regarded by many as one of the greats of the Australian turf following a stellar career that was drawn to a close last Saturday, will join the roster at Coolmore Australia for the 2013 breeding season.

“We've followed Pierro's career very closely ever since he made his debut and we're thrilled that he is joining what is already an exceptional line up of stallions here at Coolmore Australia,” said Coolmore's Michael Kirwan.

“He was a truly brilliant two-year-old equally effective at all distances from 1000 to 1600 metres. No other horse since 1970 has managed to secure the two-year-old Triple Crown while remaining undefeated through his first season and I understand that he's the only Triple Crown winner to go on to win two G1 races at weight-for-age as a three-year-old.

A horse like Pierro is fundamental to the continued development of our operation in Australia and in both he and So You Think, Coolmore is now home to the two most desirable young stallions in the Southern Hemisphere that are free of Danehill blood.”

Regarded by champion trainer Gai Waterhouse as the best she has ever trained, the son of Lonhro retires with 11 wins from 14 starts, including 5 at G1 level for earnings of $4,536,630.

Standing at A$77,000 here is the Coolmore summary:

The ultimate Australian racehorse

The best speed colt in recent memory 5 brilliant Gr.1 wins from 1200m - 1600m

Only the 6th two year-old in history to complete the Australian two year-old Triple Crown

The highest rated Australian juvenile since 1977

Dual Gr.1 winner at weight-for-age as a three year-old

The top-rated sprinting three year-old colt in the world in 2013 on the World Thoroughbred Rankings

First yearlings selling now - arguably the best-bred 1st crop of any Australian stallion, ever!!

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