2012 Crop Revisited: Monsoon Trough

The eagle-eyed may have noticed there's a new name at the bottom of the page in the NAR section - that belonging to a filly sired by Vermilion. Vermilion has just started his career as a sire, and with him winning so many big dirt races for the Sunday TC (including the Japan Cup Dirt, Teio Sho, and JBC Classic no less than three times), I wanted to give him a chance - if he's a good father, his services will cost a lot more than they do this year, and if not, well, at least I'm showing respect for an old soldier...

Courtesy Sunday TC

Vermilion gets his speed from a combination of El Condor Pasa blood, who was his sire, and Sunday Silence, who acted as damsire. El Condor Pasa we covered in Miracle Rouge's profile (a Sadler's Wells cross, and our most recent winner), while Sunday Silence is one of the most well-known US Triple Crown winners of them all, having a huge influence on Japanese bloodlines.

Although Solstice was nothing special as a racer herself, she keeps getting covered by good horses, and has some interesting blood - Kurofune as a father, explaining her colouring, plus Sunday Silence (Hail To Reason), Maruzensky (Nijinsky) and L'Arc de Triomphe winner, Saint Crespin, in her female line. 

So far, because her first-born has yet to race, we don't know if her foals are winners or simply horses that make up the numbers. With the freshness of Vermilion blood as well, this one is an unknown quantity all-round, but it's certainly going to be fun finding out if the DNA mix is a good or bad formula!