It is always pleasing to see one of our stallions do well but it is a source of immense pride when they continue to exceed expectation and begin to emulate the ability and promise that has gone before. In Pastoral Pursuits, The National Stud not only has an improving sire but he is also showing signs of being able to produce the same type of popular and versatile progeny as his sire Bahamian Bounty.
The careers of Rose Blossom, Sagramor, Auld Burns and Pastoral Player, to name but a few, illustrate Pastoral Pursuits’ ability to produce two year old winners that train on, just as Bahamian Bounty does. 2011 has proved a stellar year, with Pastoral Player showing a return to form with his win in the Challenge Cup (Heritage Handicap) at Ascot in October supported by his wins at Newmarket and Ffos Las earlier in the year. Rose Blossom (his first ever winner) also won at Listed level in 2011 in addition to her third place in the Gr.3 Summer Stakes. Auld Burns also made a step up in class from his two year old career with a third in the Gr.3 bet365 Classic Trial at Sandown in April following his win in the valuable £250,000 Tattersalls Millions 3YO Trophy at Newmarket only ten days before.
For the second consecutive year, Pastoral Pursuits also provided The National Stud with reason to celebrate at Royal Ascot. This year Sagramor flew the flag with a nail-biting ½ length victory over Cai Shen in the Britannia Stakes Heritage Handicap. This follows Marine Commando’s win as a two year old last year in the Windsor Castle Stakes (L.). The sales ring has been no stranger to the success of Pastoral Pursuits’ progeny during 2011 either; his top selling yearling this year realised £65,000 (a filly out of Clarice Orsini (Common Grounds) giving a return of over 14 times his 2009 stud fee. In Tattersalls Book 2 sale a colt out of Lihou Island (Beveled), the dam of six time winner Horseradish, made 55,000gns. His other yearlings made 42,000gns, £40,000 etc and were bought by prominent agents such as Kern/ Lillingston, Sackville Donald, Amanda Skffington and Peter & Ross Doyle.
Impressive results on the racecourse and in the sales ring have led to a dramatic increase in the quality of mares covered by this young sire. In 2011 nearly 70% of his book comprised winners (including Listed winners) and mares who have produced winners including Dorothea Brooke (Dancing Brave) dam of Gr.1 winner Primo Valentino and Gr.2 winner Dora Carrington and Jasmick (Definite Article) dam of 2011 Royal Ascot winner Sagramor.
Pastoral Pursuits’ future continues to look bright as his progeny have won nearly 100 races and earned over £1.1million in prize money in just their first three seasons and with his largest ever number of potential two year olds waiting in the wings to perform in 2012, we have cause to be very optimistic.
