BEAUTIFUL STRANGER (dk b 2007 Glory of Dancer - Double Wish by Sir Bruce)
Standing at Rejuvenation Stud, Govindla, Dist. Jalore (Rajasthan)
6 wins at 3 and 4 (1000 m. to 1600 m.). Best Official Rating (BOR) - 123
Other stallion son of Glory of Dancer in India: Hotstepper
Previous stallions at Rejuvenation Stud: None

Rejuvenation Stud is a new, small breeding establishment near Jodhpore and is starting off with an Indian-bred stallion who has two Gr.1 wins to his credit. He first won the Poonawalla Breeders' Multi-Million, Gr.1 beating Ocean and Beyond narrowly. Later in the year, he finished third behind Ocean and Beyond and Star Future in the Casino Royale Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1, beaten a length and a quarter and a short-head. To his good fortune, Beautiful Stranger was awarded the race because Ocean and Beyond and Star Future both tested positive and were disqualified. That was the third win of his career. He then reverted to sprinting and won three more races.

Glory of Dancer, who first stood at Kehelan Stud and then at Nanoli, sired back-to-back Indian Derby winners in Hotstepper and Antonios. Beautiful Stranger is a full-brother Dancing Dynamite (Maj. P.K. Mehra Memorial Super Mile Cup, Gr.1) and a half-brother to Star Wish (F.D. Wadia Trophy, Gr.2) and eight other winners. Their dam Double Wish won the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy, Gr.3 and placed 3rd in Poonawalla Breeders' Million, Gr.1. Ridden by Pesi Shroff, she was the favourite to win the Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 in her year but just missed the board finishing a close fifth. Her grandam is a half-sister to the Indian Derby, Gr.1 winner Mansoor.

Beautiful Stranger covered six mares in 2013 from which he has two foals which would be of racing age in November. In 2014 and 2015, he covered 10 mares. He has two foals in 2015 while the 2016 results are not known at the moment. He was a decent horse and has the right aptitude for our racing. But a paltry four foals from his first two crops from average mares is not the start to launch a new stallion. One wishes Rejuvenation Stud the proverbial Beginner's Luck.

DEAN'S KITTEN[USA] (ch 2007 Kitten's Joy - Summer Theatre by Ide)
Standing at Sohna Stud, Sohna (Haryana)
4 wins at 2 and 4 (1700 m. and 1800 m.); three on turf, one on polytrack. 
Previous stallions at Sohna Stud: Conquering Hero, Ontario, Noverre and Mull of Kintyre
First stallion son of Kitten's Joy to stand as a stallion in India

Bred and raced by Mr. and Mrs. K.L. Ramsey, Dean's Kitten had 24 starts in three years of racing and won four races with two of them coming as a 2YO. Trainer Mike Maker's ward got off the mark at Saratoga and followed up with a win at Belmont. At 3, he won the Lane's End Stakes, Gr.2. At 4, he was twice beaten by the Ballydoyle raider Cape Blanco. First, he was third in Arlington Million, Gr.1 over 2000 m. and then second by just a nose in the humdinger of a race for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic International Stakes, Gr.1 over 2400 m. Tendon trouble ended his racing career soon afterwards. Cape Blanco, now a stallion in Japan, had a best official rating of 126. Dean's Kitten won a stakes race in each of the three years that he raced.

His sire Kitten's Joy, a grandson of Sadler's Wells, stands at Ramsey Farm in Kentucky and has been the Champion Turf Sire for the last four years in U.S.A. Sire of Big Blue Kitten, an Eclipse Champion in 2015, Kitten's Joy's son Hawkbill is a winner of the Coral Eclipse Stakes, Gr.1 in England this year. Kitten's Joy has had a runner at the Breeders' Cup meeting in each of his crops and once had three Group winners on the same day in U.S.A. at three different tracks. The dam line of Dean's Kitten traces to Paraffin through the One Thousand Guineas winner Chelandry.

Sohna Stud gave 48 mares to their new stallion in 2013 which resulted in 32 foals in 2014. These foals are now in training and will be seen in action before the year ends. The following year, he was allotted 84 mares and from them he has produced 59 foals in 2015. He covered 67 mares in 2015. So Dean's Kitten will have around 125 foals from his first three crops and that would be enough to showcase the stuff he is made of. 

EXCELLENT ART[GB] (b 2004 Pivotal - Obsessive by Seeking The Gold)
Standing at Poonawalla Farms, Thevur, Pune (Maharashtra)
4 wins at 2 and 3 in England (1000 m. to 1600 m.). Won on heavy going as well as good to firm. BOR 122
First son of Pivotal to stand as stallion in India

Some recent stallions at Poonawalla Farms: Malvado, Riyahi, Placerville, Alnasr Alwasheek, Greensmith, Ace and Arazan

How Excellent Art fares is going to be pivotal to Poonawalla Farms because their last three stallions have failed to come up to their expectations. Greensmith, Ace and Arazan sired Classic winners but not enough of them for the requirement of an establishment that had won the Champion Stud Farm title seven years running.

Excellent Art was bought by trainer Neville Callaghan for 76,000 gns. as a yearling for his patron Mr. Mathew Green. As a 2YO, Excellent Art won three of his five races including Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes, Gr.2 at Newbury and placed in his other two. He was then acquired by Coolmore and established himself as a very good miler, winning the St. James's Palace Stakes, Gr.1 and being second in Netjets Breeders' Cup Mile, Gr.1, Sussex Stakes, Gr.1 and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Gr.1 from six starts.

The racing record of a stallion has some relevance till his progeny starts racing. Then, his produce record assumes greater importance. Excellent Art was retired to Coolmore Stud and shuttled to Australia during winters. He started at a fee of 25,000 euros and was well supported in terms of numbers. He has sired black-type winners abroad but his strike rate was below the Coolmore expectations and his fee dropped to 10,000 euros for his fifth covering season. He was then imported to India. It is uncanny how a stallion hits his best form after being exported. In 2016, Excellent Art had his first Gr.1 winner when Under The Louvre won the Stradbroke Handicap in Australia and Noctalia bagged the Spanish Oaks. He has also had some other runners who have placed in Gr.1 events.

Some stud farms are reluctant to stand stallions who have stood abroad. Poonawalla Farms doesn't share that prejudice for they have had stallions like Gombos, Alnasr Alwasheek and Greensmith who had started their careers before coming to India. Excellent Art has had 10 'got-abroad' foals to have raced in India of whom seven are winners with Eduardo being the best of them. Significantly, none of them has earned any black-type.

Stallions are often seen in a different light when they move to a different environment. Diomed, the first winner of the Epsom Derby was such a dud as a stallion in England that he was headed for the knacker's yard. He was rescued, bought for a mere 50 gns. and taken to U.S.A. where he founded a thriving male-line which includes Lexington, a Champion Sire 16 times.  Poonawalla Farms must be hoping that something similar happens in the case of Excellent Art. Like Ace and Arazan before him, Excellent Art has been very well supported. He covered 111 mares in 2013 from which he has 83 foals; the same number as Arazan in his first crop, a record for a Freshman Sire. This is followed 63 foals in his second crop but he covered just nine mares in 2015. So his first two crops will decide the destiny of the stallion.

HOW'S YOUR HALO[USA] (b 2003 Halo's Image - Say How You Feel by Little Current)
Standing at Riverside Stud, Mahboobnagar (Telangana)
8 wins at 2 to 6 (1200 m. to 1700 m. on dirt)
Previous stallions at Riverside Stud: None
First son of Halo's Image to stand as a stallion in India

A Gentleman Rider in his younger days and now a veteran trainer who has saddled winners of monsoon as well as winter Derby at Malakpet, Shehzad Abbas has been breeding, on and off, for two decades. His first venture was the Deccan Stud near Vikarabad in partnership with his friend and fellow trainer the late Mir Hyder Ali Khan. Riverside Stud is his second coming in the field.

Bred by White Cross Farm in Florida, How's Your Halo was a smartish sprinter. Calder Trainer Brian Prichard claimed him for US$ 50,000. It proved to be an inspired decision because the horse won the Richter Scale Sprint, Gr.2 at Gulfstream Park beating Ikigai narrowly with that good horse Tale of Ekati in fourth. How's Your Halo won the race at the odds of 47/1, being the least backed of the field on Tote. His other three non-graded stakes win came at his home track at Calder. How's Your Halo was obviously a tough horse for he ran 54 times over seven years of racing.

His sire Halo's Image also did most of his racing in Florida. None of his nine wins was at a distance in excess of 1400 m. though he did place third in Florida Derby, Gr.1 (to Holy Bull) and Tropical Park Derby, Gr.3. He was a reasonably successful stallion. The best of his 17 stakes winner was Southern Image who won the Santa Anita Handicap, Gr.1. The St. Serf mare Santa Bella crossed the pond towards the end of the 19th century and since then this stirp has been resident in U.S.A. It is a fair running family.

There are three aspects of How's Your Halo's pedigree which stand out. Firstly, he is totally free of Northern Dancer; he is a grandson of Halo and has Mr. Prospector's full-brother Red Ryder in his dam line.  That opens up interesting mating options but his limited support will preclude proper exploitation. He has 8 foals from 17 mares he covered in 2013. The next crop consists of just five foals while he covered 10 mares in 2015. No matter how prepotent a stallion, it is hard for him to exhibit his prowess from such few foals. 

PAST THE POST

At the end of each year, we have a Champion Freshman Sire. Well begun is only half done as the old adage says. Not every Champion Freshman Sire goes on to garner more honours in his later career. In the last forty years, only Everyday II, Malvado, Razeen, Placerville and Multidimensional have gone on to top the general sires list and Burden of Proof, in all probability, will get the distinction this year.