The Shark Heads for Glory

Te Akau Shark's stunning Coupland's Bakeries Mile win confirmed the value that his sire Rip Van Winkle brings to local stallion ranks.

Strange things have always happened in the world of breeding and many times in history a line's survival occurs at the very last minute through the most improbable source.

Not that this has much relevance in this case, but Windsor Park Stud's shrewd acquisition in partnership with Valachi Downs of the Coolmore shuttler RIP VAN WINKLE looked at the time to be something of a gamble. Now, however, it reflects great credit on that brave decision.

Rip Van Winkle was just about the best miler in Europe so far this century (Frankel excepted), champion of Europe in that category at three and four years with a peak annual Timeform of 134 and a World Rating of 129. His Group One wins came in the Ascot Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Goodwood Sussex Stakes at a mile and the 10 and a half furlong York International Stakes. Therefore when he went to stud great things were expected of him, but when his crop of 2012 hit the tracks up north without producing anything of his own calibre he very quickly lost favour.

Looking back now his statistics are actually very good, with nine northern hemisphere stakes winners from that crop including Group One winner Dick Whittington and Group Two winner Creggs Pipes, but the second crop drew blank and he lost any friends he had acquired, so Coolmore upped sticks. Later, with three stakes winners so far from 2015 and one from 2016, his northern performance has again lifted later in the piece.

On the shuttle to Windsor Park he scored eight stakes winner (seven at Group level) from his first New Zealand crop, plus two from his second and one from his current four-year-olds. The performance in both hemispheres reveals two things - firstly there was a possible drop-off in the quality of his mates after crop one, and the realisation by trainers that they needed time to fully mature.

When Rip Van Winkle first came here he impressed with his athleticism, something that was commented on by his trainer Aidan O'Brien, and it is interesting to now compare him with the strong burly individual of today.

While his more recent statistics may not yet equal the first crops, scarcely a day goes by in England, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand or South-East Asia without good quality winners sired by him. The annual seasonal worldwide figures illustrate their own story from 2014 (17 winners - 2 SW) then 66 (5 SW); 121 (8 SW); 141 (7 SW) and to date this year 134 (7 SW). Make no error breeders, this is a sire well capable to leaving top rank horses and in the subject of this article, he may already have done so.

Although siring mostly faster sorts up to 1600 metres, he can also leave them to go much further as was recently underlined by the 3200-metres New Zealand Cup success of Bizzwinkle, who is out of a Volksraad mare from a Diplomatic Agent mare.

Today's ‘talking horse' and certainly the most impressive Group Two winner so far seen in New Zealand this season, is Rip Van Winkle's four-year-old chestnut gelding son TE AKAU SHARK, who has tasted defeat just once in six starts when a meritorious close fourth in last year's New Zealand 2000 Guineas. Prior to that he had raced but twice for sprint wins at Te Rapa and Matamata.

He resumed as a four-year-old by winning at Hastings over 1400 metres and then taking the Gr. 3 Spring Sprint over on the same course and distance so easily from the smart stakes mare Love Affair. And so to Riccarton for the Gr. 2 Coupland's Bakeries Mile, which may not have attracted the strongest field ever (perhaps trainers had seen his previous start at Hastings). Settled back, he was asked to go out wide at the 250, picked them up in half a dozen strides and came away for a six-length win that looked as if it could have been three times as much!

Now he will be set an autumn campaign in Australia with the Doncaster his stated first target, and it will be interesting to see how the Australian handicapper treats him. I rather think that as he settles so well in his races, he will stay well past a mile, and we will look to his pedigree for support.

Rip van Winkle is, of course, a son of mighty Galileo from a Stravinsky mare, which gives a mix of speed and stamina. However the damsire is the dual Canadian Horse of the Year and American Champion Turf Horse Chief Bearhart (3 x G1s inc. 12 f.  Breeders' Cup Turf, plus 3 Canadian G1s), who is very much a staying sire. Similar remarks also apply to the granddam sire Bakharoff (The Minstrel), a major stayer who had a TFR of 130 and was placed in the Irish and French Derbys. Among his get was the New Zealand Derby winner Roysyn and he was also damsire of the Caulfield Cup victor Master O'Reilly.

The sires on down the damline are Nadjan, a Group One-winning miler who also won the 1850-metre Prix d'Ispahan, the French Derby winner Reliance and Rockefella (by Hyperion out of the Oaks winner Rockfel). The sires on the dam's side all exhibit stamina to some degree.

Moving on to the female family, which is the No. 5 line from the Oaks victress Bayuda, we again see a speed and stamina mix. The fifth dam Riches won a nice race at Goodwood over 11 furlongs and was a sister to Outcrop (Yorkshire Oaks, Doncaster Park Hill S.) and to Rocchetta (dam of great speed sire Sharpen Up). She was the dam of Richboy (by sprinter Princely Gift), who won the 10-furlong Royal Ascot Britannia Stakes, and of the Musidora Stakes placegetter Rich Girl.

Descendants of Riches include Gr. 1 MRC Blue Diamond winner Miracles of Life and last season's good New Zealand three-year-old Sumstreetsumwhere (Gr. 2 Sarten Memorial  S.). Her unplaced daughter Gold Reef left five winners, two of them stakes winners including the Italian Derby winner Elgay.

Gold Reef's final produce was the unraced Gold Nadjan, the third dam of ‘The Shark ‘. Her best performer was Havitbak (8 wins to 2100m.; 2^nd Gr. 3 Waikato Mapperley Stud Stakes; 3^rd  Gr. 3 Rotorua Challenge P.). She left six winners and the unraced Bak De Princess, who became the dam of Pondarosa Miss (Gr. 1 ARC Easter H.) and the multiple stakes-winning and G1, 2 and 3 placed stayer Ecuador. Havitbak's stakes win was the 2400-metre Gr. 2 Waikato Gold Cup winner Bak Da Chief, the dam of Te Akau Shark and two other winners.

Our subject's chart reveals some interesting variations on the iconic nick between Norther Dancer and Mr. Prospector. On the sire's side we see Northern Dancer repeated three times with males and Mr. Prospector twice in balance, plus a spare female Native Dancer. We also note sons of the three-quarter-brothers Nureyev and Sadler's Wells. Rip Van Winkle is 4 x 4 to Special, 4 x 6 to Mr. Prospector, and linebred to Native Dancer, Hyperion and Nasrullah.

Bak Da Chief is also balanced to these last three stalwarts, while her sire Chief Bearhart is distinguished by a cross between Northern  Dancer and two Bold Ruler (Nasrullah) sons plus a line of Mr. Prospector's dam Gold Digger, a grand-daughter of Nasrullah. The bottom quarter is Northern Dancer - Raise A Native - Nasrullah/Nasrullah. The whole gels beautifully.

Sex balance in Te Akau Shark's pedigree is to Gold Digger, Native Dancer and Hyperion with more in behind.

In summary the question to ask is will he stay? Well, 2000 metres would be a certainty and I believe even 2400 metres is a definite possibility.

The other question remaining is whether he is good enough to compete across the ditch. He may not have met anything of Australian Group One calibre yet, but he can do no more than win on his ear, and leaves us to await next year with eager anticipation.