By Elaine Belval
Darley at Jonabell announced in early October that leading Australian sire Lonhro would be standing the 2012 season at Darley in one of the first reverse-shuttles from Australia.
Lonhro represents a truly Australian sireline. His sire is the great Australian racehorse Octagonal. For those who have never seen him run, Octagonal was a true freak of nature. He won 14 of 28 starts, including 10 G1 races. A truly brilliant and versatile runner, Octagonal won races from 5.5 furlongs to 12 furlongs (1100 to 2400 meters). His dam was the legendary producer Eight Carat (dam of five G1 winners), but Octagonal was clearly her best performer.
Octagonal was by Zabeel, the legendary sire of Australasia. Zabeel has stood his entire career at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. He has 41 Group (Grade) 1 winners in his remarkable career that includes well over 100 SWs. Zabeel himself is by the transplant Sir Tristram, a modest racehorse in Europe but a stallion who transformed Australasian breeding.
Lonhro is from Octagonal’s first crop. It might be argued he was a better racehorse than his sire. A winner of 26 of 35 starts, Lonhro won 11 Group 1 races at distances from seven to 10 furlongs (1400 to 2000 meters). He won the prestigious Caulfield S. twice (leading European middle distance performer So You Think won the race in 2010 before leaving for Ireland). Lonhro was a G3 SW at two at 5.5 furlongs, a winner of the 8-furlong, G1 Caulfield Guineas at three and a multiple G1 winner at four and five.
Lonhro retired to stud in 2004, with his first runners in 2007. From that first crop, he already has 11 SWs, led by G1 winner Beaded (winner of the prestigious six-furlong sprint, the Doomben 10,000). Lonhro was the leading sire in Australia for the racing season that ended in July 2011. Left in his wake were perennial leading Australian sires Redoute’s Choice and Encosta de Lago, along with High Chaparral (the sire of So You Think) and More Than Ready.
Lonhro has over 30 SWs, with three G1 winners (at six, seven and eight furlongs). Â Lonhro shows signs of siring slightly more speedy offspring that his sire or grandsire. The majority of his SWs are winning at six and seven furlongs and just one winner at 10 furlongs (the SW Sainthood – who also won a stakes at seven furlongs). This proclivity should serve him well in the United States.
Lonhro well be a welcome addition to the stallion ranks in the US and breeders should take a close look at this stallion. Darley should be commended for taking this bold step.
Dear Elaine, I fully agree with your enthusiasm for Lonhro, who as you point out, has an exceptional pedigree and racing record and now a stud record to match. A minor error related to Beaded’s Doomben 10000 win, which was raced over a distance of 1350 metres, approximately 6 and 3/4 furlongs, a distance almost unique in Australia to the Doomben track in Brisbane. It may also be worth mentioning that the closely related Commands is also a highly successful stallion here.