A pedigree pundit sent in a message about my last blog on Elusive Quality and his son Quality Road that said: “Interesting post on Elusive Quality….although you missed the best son of Gone West in Western Winter!” My post was on Elusive Quality and was not a comprehensive listing of the best sons of Gone West at stud. In fact, I said “Some of Gone West’s other sons include” Grand Slam, Mr. Greeley, Proud Citizen, Speightstown, and Zamindar – all of whom were mentioned because of recent successes. Obviously it’s the reason why I kept the late Zafonic off the list, for example, and why the young Speightstown is mentioned in it (first crop 3 in 2009).
That said, is Western Winter the best son of Gone West at stud?
Western Winter, (Click here to see his pedigree) a foal of 1992 whose first crop was born in 1998, stands at Lammerskraal Stud on the Western Cape of South Africa. His fee in 2008 was R250,000. (Click here to see his stallion page from Sporting Post.)
Out of the Vice Regent mare Chilly Hostess, Western Winter sold for $200,000 at the 1993 Keeneland September sale and was the 2nd-highest priced yearling for Gone West that year.
The bay horse won 5 of 21 starts and earned $312,459. At 3 he won a small restricted stakes race, at 4 he was 2nd in a G2, and at 5 he had his best racing performances. He was 2nd in the G1 Metropolitan Handicap and 3rd in the G1 Carter. All his wins were in sprints, and he was good enough to last a mile against some high-class horses in a race that’s noted for making stallions.
His race record wasn’t quite good enough to stand in Kentucky, but that was just fine for the good folks of South Africa! The remarkable stallion has sired at least 15 G1 winners in South Africa! Through March 3, 2009, for the 2008/2009 season, Western Winter is ranked 5th on the South African general sire list behind Jet Master, National Emblem, Jallad, and Kahal. In 2007/2008 he was 2nd behind Jet Master. And again in 2006/2007 he was 2nd behind Jet Master. But he led the list in 2005/2006 and in 2004/2005, was 2nd in 2003/2004, and led in 2002/2003, so Western Winter is undoubtedly one of the best stallions in South Africa and the best son of Gone West in the Southern Hemisphere.
The pundit who wrote in, it should be mentioned, is from the Southern Hemisphere and understandably proud of Western Winter’s accomplishments.
But does that make Western Winter the best son of Gone West at stud?
As outstanding a stallion as he is in South Africa, I’d have to say, NO, not the world. Let’s face it, that’s asking a lot! You gotta win on the international stage to earn that, and I mean at the top. Now, there’s no question Western Winter can get international runners. On Jan. 29, his Silver Mist won a G3 in Dubai. And his best runner, the 2003 G1 South African Derby winner Yard-Arm, a multiple G1 winner in South Africa, won a G3 in Dubai in 2005, which was, by the way, during my first visit to Dubai.
But to be the best, you have to beat the best at the highest level, and that’s what Elusive Quality’s son Raven’s Pass did in the Breeders’ Cup last fall: He beat the G1 Dubai Cup winner Curlin in an international G1 field that included a dual European Guineas winner!
Throw in a Kentucky Derby winner, an American and a European Champion, as well as a bunch of 2009 SWs going for him, and I’d say that Elusive Quality is unquestionably the best son of Gone West at stud, with Mr. Greeley a close 2nd – with apologies to Western Winter and our Southern Hemisphere pundit.