Awesome Just For Dash Juvenile’s Smokey Eyes Heritage
26-11-2011
SMOKEY EYES, one of the most spectacular sources of winners ever in Australia from use at the Kruger’s Lyndhurst stud at Warwick in Queensland, may never had the opportunity in the north if he had stayed one or two more years in Victoria, the launching pad for his sire career.
Sold off to Lyndhurst after four seasons at T.J. Macknamara’s Highfield stud at Broadmeadows on the outskirts of Melbourne in1956-57, the year of his first 2-year-olds, this good, tough English sprinter by the same sire as Star Kingdom, the Hyperion sire Stardust, left some talented performers from his early use.
They included Victorian bred New Statesman (15 wins, Victoria Derby, Oakleigh Plate, George Main Stakes, placed twice Cox Plate), Smokey Jane (four wins in Melbourne including the Group1 Toorak, placed Liston Stakes, Sandown Guineas), Small Time (17 wins, eight in Melbourne), Wheat King (Group1 VRC Cantala Stakes), Highmara (24 wins, MRC Victoria Handicap; fourth VRC Newmarket, VATC Oakleigh Plate) and Optic Prince (eight wins VATC Herbert Power Handicap).
In work until he was 25, Smokey Eyes went on to have winners of about 3,000 races, including what appears a world record ninety-plus who won ten or more races – 17 from 20 to 37 wins. He was such prolific source of winners at Lyndhurst, a stud that honoured his contribution with a lifesize statue, he was Australia’s leading sire numerically at least six times.
Smokey Eyes, the source of lovely types, also ranks as a giant numerically among broodmares sires, the Australian statistical authority Bloodhound giving him over one thousand dams of 4700 races. Over a hundred of the offspring won ten or more races, the highest score being forty.
Many of his daughters established quality families. One good one is that descending from Toorak Handicap winner Smokey Jane and it acquired an exciting new addition on Saturday, November 19 when the Chris Bieg trained Dash for Cash filly Dashitude made one of the most eye-catching debuts of any of the new juveniles when she shot clear in the straight on the home track, Morphettville, and went on to win by nearly six lengths.
Bred on Bob Mackay’s Marana Thoroughbreds, a breeding farm at Naracoorte in South Australia and another bargain from the Magic Millions Adelaide yearling sale, selling for only $5,500, Dashitude is the fourth winner for the Royal Academy mare Royal Tango. Bred and raced by Mackay, Royal Tango appeared 17 times for five wins 1100-1400m on good country tracks, one by four lengths, and ran second in Adelaide.
A half-sister to six winners, she is from Light Action, a Without Fear Adelaide Guineas winner from Talented Jane, a daughter of the Lindsay Park used Ribot sire Ruantallan and Smokey Jane. Only raced once herself, Talented Jane is a sister to two stakes winners, Trueantallan and Ruacana, a half-sister to another stakes winner, Makemo (14 wins) and stakes placed Matey Jane.
Other descendants of Smokey Jane’s daughters include Canonise (won Blue Diamond Stakes, second Golden Slipper), Marquee Star (15 wins, three Listed stakes),The Red Express (18 wins to Group 3 in New Zealand), Calophylla (WATC Champion Fillies Stakes), Ionacolumba (Tasmanian Oaks),To The Wind (three Group 3s), Trench Digger (15 wins, AJC Expressway Stakes, STC Phar Lap Stakes) and Solomon (9 wins,Tasmanian Guineas), to mention a few.
There are more than twenty stakes winners descending from Smokey Jane to date and it wont be surprising, going on her debut win, if Dashitude adds to the list. She was one of two offspring who lived up to the name of their sire Dash for Cash and turned in dashing displays in metropolitan racing that afternoon.
The other was Jumpin Jack Cash, a 6-year-old who again suggested he is one of Australia’s best home bred stayers when he won the 3000m event on the Moonee Valley program by 2.3 and 3.1lengths. He had won over the same distance and track by 5.0 lengths on October 28.
Earlier in that week Dash for Cash had winners at Doomben, Seymour, Sale and Ballarat and, including all results through to Saturday November 26 inclusive, he has had at least 38 individual winners since August 1. He had another Melbourne – Adelaide double this week, Cash Bound winning by 2.6 lengths at Sandown and Sivi Soko by 2.5 at Morphettville.
The Dash for Cash metropolitan double on Saturday November 19 ornamented another good day for the sires at Adam Sangster’s bustling Swettenham stud at Nagambie in Victoria. For one, the spectacularly fast Keep the Faith, the Australian Sunday Silence product who set new American record time for six furlongs on grass on New York’s Belmont Park, had second crop 3-year-olds fill first and second places in a sprint at Morphettville and another earn second money at the Moonee Valley meeting.
In addition, Bianconi, the Danzig sire who was Victoria’s leading sire by winners and wins in 2009-10 and second in 2010-11, was represented by Fillydelphia, a 1.3 lengths winner of the Listed Brisbane Handicap at Doomben, her eighth success in 20 starts. Bianconi and Dash for Cash are two Swettenham sires currently in the leading 20 by winners in the Australian statistics for 2011-12.
Courtesy of Brian Russell Bloodstock Media Services
