Unraced ..badly conformed legs..sires 55 stakeswinners of $39 million in earnings

http://www.justracing.com.au/index.php?news_page=20&artid=3292&catid=52

30/07/09

With the 2009-2010 breeding season starting in two days time on 1 August, it is timely to review the stud career of one of the few stallions in thoroughbred racing globally who made an impact on their breed, even though he was unraced. Throughout the annals of thoroughbred breeding, unraced stallions have proven almost unanimously to be a total waste of time for broodmare owners to support. These days high priced yearlings are suddenly whisked off to stud with the usual “unraced due to injury” tag going with them, so that the owners who paid too much money for a horse when it was presented at a yearling sale can try to redeem some of their financial outlay.

One stallion who was unraced but who went on to leave an indelible mark on thoroughbred racing breeding, was the unraced New Zealand stallion Noble Bijou – and today I look at the life and times of the classy stallion whose impact is still being felt today in racing, for as recently as last Saturday his trademark criteria of throwing a bit of guts into his progeny came to the fore yet again, when his daughter Treaura Bijou produced the 4050-metre Dominant Hurdle winner Yamanaura in Race 1 at Moonee Valley.

In thoroughbred racing it is a fact of life that the only successful stallions, with very, very few exceptions are lightly raced, precocious 2YO’s and 3YO’s. If you work on my definition of a “successful” stallion as being a stallion that can produce a minimum of 5% stakeswinners-to-runners and 60% winners-to-runners, you will see that that is very fair criteria to work around as that still leaves 95% of a stallion’s progeny to not have to win a stakes race and it allows 40% of a stallion’s progeny to never win a race.

As alluded to in the first paragraph, it is very rare indeed to find an unraced stallion that was “successful.” Most unraced stallions that stand at stud are an absolute waste of time and money to patronise. In some cases the stallion has been legless and the high profile trainer generally talks the horse up like “only for a broken pedal bone he’d have been a top racehorse” and all the allied crap “they” go on with, in the incestuous world of thoroughbred racing. As a stallion gets to stand three seasons before he is any chance of having a 2YO runner, if a stud can entice broodmare owners to part with say $3,000 for a service – and a stallion could get say 100 mares per season in those first three seasons, obviously $900,000 is generated in income. That’s without Ned Kelly style stud agistment costs that charge say $25 for a wormer that costs a fraction of that – and so on and so forth, which all adds to the profit margin. Now if the subject stallion was actually legless on the racetrack, no one except for those “in the know” would be of that knowledge, so the $900,000 revenue from three seasons at stud means that the owner can now actually show a profit on his “legless” horse - if he originally parted with only say $500,000 for the colt, now stallion, when it went through a yearling sale.

Now with say 300 progeny to cumulatively represent him from his first three crops, the unraced stallion is now a chance of throwing a worldbeater from any one of those crops – as happens all the time in racing. For instance a horse like Vo Rogue was by a stallion Ivor Prince, who cost a round of drinks to patronise ($1,200 service fee from memory), so there would be nothing to stop a legless stallion fluking a good horse which would get his career off and running.

The story of Noble Bijou is amazing as he is one of only a couple of stallions in the last 40 years to stand in Australasia and to hold his head high.

Noble Bijou entered the world in America in 1971 as the son of 1965 foaled Vaguely Noble and the 1963 foaled dual Group 1 winning Hail to Reason mare Priceless Gem.

From a parentage perspective, Noble Bijou’s sire Vaguely Noble was named “Horse of the Year in Europe” as a 3YO. His crowning glory from his six career wins was his victory in the 1968 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. At stud he became one of the top stallions in all of the United Kingdom, America and France, to the point where he was twice named “Champion Sire” in England. His progeny went on to win $17.4 million and globally he produced 65 stakeswinners.

Noble Bijou was unraced due to badly conformed legs and but for his immaculate pedigree he’d have probably never been given his chance at stud. He was a half brother to 1974 French Horse of the Year, Allez France (by Sea Bird) who had won the 1974 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, as one of his eight Group 1 victories.

Noble Bijou was bought by the Anderton and White families in New Zealand and was exported from America to New Zealand and served his first book of mares at White Robe Lodge Stud outside Dunedin, in the South Island. He was named “Champion New Zealand sire” four times and many of his daughters became good broodmares. This saw Noble Bijou named “Champion New Zealand Broodmare Sire” on five occasions.

Noble Bijou threw Group 1 winners in three countries, namely New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. In Australasia he threw “Champion Older Horse of Australasia” – Alibhai (whose four Group 1 wins included the Tancred Stakes, Rosehill Guineas, Rawson Stakes and Caulfield Stakes), The Phantom Chance (Cox Plate in Australia, and the New Zealand Derby and Waikato International in New Zealand), The Phantom (Mackinnon Stakes and Underwood Stakes in Melbourne and Waikato Internationals in New Zealand), Prince Majestic (Tancred Stakes, Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Spring Champion Stakes – all in Sydney), Mr Lomondy (Caulfield Cup and Adelaide Cup), Powley (New Zealand 1000 Guineas), Allez Bijou (Rawson Stakes in Sydney), Our Sophia (AJC Oaks) and Lady Liberty (South Australian Oaks).

In South Africa, his sole Group 1 winner was Be Noble who won the South African Derby, before standing at stud in that country.

Noble Bijou was to become what would best be described as a phenomenal broodmare sire. He was named “Champion New Zealand broodmare sire on five occasions, producing 55 stakeswinners of $39 million in earnings. His Group 1 winning progeny, via his broodmares were: Prized Gem (Brisbane Cup), Ed (Wellington Cup, twice), Marble Halls (Toorak Handicap), Tawriffic (Melbourne Cup), Dress Circle (The Metropolitan), Centisle (Goodwood Handicap), The Hind (Adelaide Cup), Merry Maiden (New Zealand 1000 Guineas), Irish Chance (Auckland Cup) and Dowry (SAJC Oaks).
Noble Bijou passed away in 1994 aged 22. He was a rare jewel in the crown for unraced stallions and as was alluded to at the start, his name lives on to this day. Bearing in mind he died in 1994, it should to, as between his progeny and his broodmares, he has provided 131 stakeswinners to the thoroughbred world – and there will no doubt be more to come, as his mares are still breeding on, albeit they aren’t getting any younger.