Though he never quite won the hearts of the racing public like his indomitable father did, the supremely talented racehorse Lonhro has transferred his skills to the breeding barn and will be crowned Champion Sire for the 2010/11 season. Not since the mighty Vain - himself often in the news this year due to the inevitable comparisons to that contemporary ball of speed, Black Caviar - has a galloper managed to snare both 'Horse of the Year' and 'Champion Sire' honours, a most deserving achievement
Though he never quite won the hearts of the racing public like his indomitable father did, the supremely talented racehorse Lonhro has transferred his skills to the breeding barn and will be crowned Champion Sire for the 2010/11 season. Not since the mighty Vain - himself often in the news this year due to the inevitable comparisons to that contemporary ball of speed, Black Caviar - has a galloper managed to snare both 'Horse of the Year' and 'Champion Sire' honours, a most deserving achievement for a racehorse who perhaps never received the accolades he was entitled to. Not winning a Cox Plate hurt the degree of reverence allocated Lonhro in the annals of the turf, and I think it fitting that he has finally made his mark so emphatically in another, even more permanent and influential fashion. Indeed, though 'The Big O' dripped with personality and captured the imagination of all who saw him race with his ironclad will to win, as a stallion he was only fair, with Lonhro himself his only truly great legacy.
It's staggering to think that after just five crops to race, The Black Flash has assumed Redoute's Choice's mantle as Australia's preeminent sire (and with only one Group 1 winner - Beaded - for the entire season!), for the rest of Lonhro's stallion class of 2004 didn't go on to impact the world as they might have hoped. Curata Storm's seemingly assured destiny of taking over his father's dental practice remains unfulfilled, having sired just two winners this season. Lago Delight joined the French Foreign Legion and hasn't been heard from since, whilst Home On The Grange is flipping burgers at an undisclosed location for minimum wage. Only Helenus has achieved success at the highest level with BMW winner Cedarberg, and now appears to have knuckled down to his real world responsibilities after some heady years chasing waves and blondes in Western Australia.
He's had his detractors for years, but now that he's found the front Lonhro doesn't look like knocking up any time soon...
á
