Johar

Johar

Johar: His Prospects as a Stallion Down Under

Introduction

The stallion Johar is by Gone West out of Windsharp by Lear Fan. Johar descends from the No. 5j family. He will stand at Highview Stud in 2005 for $NZ20,000 plus GST on Live Foal terms. Johar stands alongside his sire at Mill Ridge Farm in Kentucky . Mill Ridge is owned and operated by Alice Chandler, whose father bred Sir Ivor the sire of Sir Tristram. Mill Ridge in Kentucky terms is fairly traditional. Until recently it did not shuttle stallions. It has tended to restrict the size of it’s stallion’s books. Mill Ridge has been one of the few farms in Kentucky prepared to stand stallions that performed best on turf and were champions at 3 and 4 rather than the more precocious runners who only ran on dirt favoured by the most commercially focused farms.

Johar

The Racehorse

Johar won the G1 Breeder’s Cup Turf over 1 1/4m as a 4yo, deadheating with High Chaparral who also shuttles to New Zealand for his first Southern Hemisphere season in 2005. In the Breeder’s Cup race Johar ran down both High Chaparral and the Champion Falbrav (who shuttles to Arrowfield), having started lengths behind the other two horses at the top of the straight. Johar also won the G1 Hollywood Derby over 9f. He did not race at 2 but had started 3 times within the first two months of his 3 year old year. After failing to break his maiden on dirt in his first two starts Johar was successfully switched to turf for his next 14 starts. His record from those 14 starts was an impressive 6 wins, 4 seconds and 2 thirds. He set new record times in two of the stakes races he won, a sign of genuine class in a racehorse. Timeform rated Johar at 116p at 3 and 128 at 4. In comparison Timeform rated High Chaparral (the joint winner of the Breeder’s Cup Turf with Johar) 130 at 3 and 132 at 4. In his races Johar showed the speed, class and consistency necessary to compete at the highest level in New Zealand and Australia . He broke 1.35 over a mile race in at least six of his races and won his races from 1 to 1 ½ miles.

The Pedigree

Johar’s sire Gone West is a G1 winner and successful sire who has left 79% runners to foals, 56% winners to foals and 10% stakes winners to foals, the traditional benchmark for an outstanding stallion. He has left 12 G1 winners to date. Gone West is now emerging as a sire of sires. Zafonic in Europe , Mr Greeley and Grand Slam in the USA and Western Winter in South Africa are all sons of Gone West that have become leading sires. It was Elusive Quality however that firmly established Gone West’s reputation as a sire of sires. Gone West being by sire of sires Mr Prospector out of a daughter of the great broodmare sire Secretariat always had the potential to become a major sire. What makes Gone West different is that unlike many of Mr Prospector’s successful sire sons he traces to a family that has had continued success in both Europe and the USA . Gone West’s third dam, Mixed Marriage is a daughter of Persian Maid by Tehran out of Aroma by Fairway out of a daughter of Son-in-Law from the Aloe branch of the No 2 Family. Aroma is therefore bred on the same cross as Fair Trial. The Aloe family in Europe is associated with Johannesburg , Aureole, Height of Fashion, Nashwan, Unfuwain and Atan the sire of Sharpen Up. In the USA Round Table, Tale of the Cat and the Champion filly Go For Wand all hailed from this family.

Johar’s dam Windsharp was a dual G1 winning mare in the USA . She won 11 races, 5 in France as a 3 and 4 year old and then the other 6 races in the USA , at between 4 and 6 years of age. Windsharp was named Champion Turf Horse and Older Female in Canada . The dam of three foals to date she can hardly be faulted as a broodmare as her first 2 foals to go to the races are both G1 winners. Johar was the first and the other horse is the Storm Cat filly, Dessert, who won the Del Mar Oaks and 2 other races at 3. Gone West and Storm Cat are not only both out of Secretariat mares they are strikingly similar to look at.

Storm Cat Gone West

Windsharp’s female family was developed by the Whitney family and virtually every dam is either a stakes winner or producer and many were both.

Johar’s seventh dam Schwester was a full sister to the USA Champion Equipoise nicknamed the Chocolate Soldier for his colouring. This is the Family 5 of Sadler’s Wells, Nureyev, Fairy King, Djebel, Hierocles, Native Dancer, Intentionally, Sharpen Up, Son-in-Law, Le Volcan, Hermit, Nimbus(Fr), Nuage, Sunstar, White Eagle, Ard Patrick(sire of Lucullus),Minoru, The Palmer, Rosicrusion and Doncaster the sire of Bend Or.

Why Did The Pedigree Work?

When a multiple G1 winning mare goes to a successful stallion we shouldn’t be surprised if an above average horse is produced. There are however a number of patterns in Johar’s pedigree involving superior horses that should have helped him to perform on the racecourse, and will also make him more likely to perform as a sire.

Gone West and Windsharp each have very similar pedigrees. In the third generation of Gone West’s pedigree are Native Dancer, Nashua, Somethingroyal and Mixed Marriage. These names are all repeated in the fourth generation of Windsharp’s pedigree. The combination of Mr Prospector in Gone West with Roberto as in Windsharp has frequently worked well. They were not only both superior racehorses and sires their dam’s are both Nashua mares with much of the rest of their pedigrees in common. The combination of Secretariat with the other sire son of Somethingroyal, Sir Gaylord as in Johar’s pedigree has also worked well in the stallion Grand Lodge for example. Nashua and Nantallah who both appear in Johar’s pedigree are also closely related. Sequence the dam of Mr Prospector and Fun House on the bottom line of Johar’s pedigree, are also similarly bred. Fun House was a very classy mare. From nine foals she left five stakes winners including Good Manners an influential sire in Argentina and one other stakes placed horse. On the bottom line of Johar is the mare Schwester from the Family 5 the full sister of Equipoise who is in the pedigree of Tom Fool the grandsire of Tamarett. Schwester and Equipoise are not the only lines of the Family 5 in Johar’s pedigree. Mixed Marriage is 4x4 to Son-in-Law of the Family 5. There are two lines of the Family 5 stallion. Native Dancer in Johar’s pedigree. Other lines of the Family 5 include Lt. Stevens, Sharpen Up and White Eagle through Princequillo twice. Windsharp is also 4x4 to Turn To, who in turn goes back to Marchetta whose pedigree is packed 3x3 with Hermit of the Family 5.

His Prospects As A Sire Down Under

If the Family 5 dam line is the key to Johar then he has high potential with the most of the commercially prominent lines he is likely to find in the New Zealand and Australian mares he will serve. All of the most commercial sirelines Danehill, Sir Tristram, Star Kingdom and Northern Dancer should work well with Johar. Schwester on Johar’s bottom line is not only a full sister to Equipoise(in Tom Fool most commonly found in Danehill through Buckpasser) but she is also very similarly bred to a number of horses in the pedigrees of major sire including Halcyon in Danzig and Rowes Bud in both Storm Cat and Be My Guest.

Johar has a number of lines that will work with;

Sir Tristram in particular through using Zabeel, Kaapstad and Yamanin Vital mares.

Zabeel has a son of Sir Gaylord, Round Table from the Aloe No 2 family and Nureyev from the Family 5. Kaapstad has Djebel and is very rich in Hermit lines. Yamanin Vital has a close relation Go For Gin the Kentucky Derby winner who is by Cormorant a direct tail female descendent of Schwester.

Danehill in particular through Redoute’s Choice, Flying Spur and San Luis mares

Danehill has two lines of Native Dancer as well Equipoise in Buckpasser and Halcyon in Danzig .

Star Kingdom with Sunstar, Hermit and The Palmer, in particular through Marscay and Bletchingly mares.

Northern Dancer line mares are likely to work. Gone West like most sons of Mr Prospector has shown a consistent of success with Northern Dancer line mares no doubt helped by the cross bringing together one of Native Dancer’s best fillies Natalma with his fastest son Raise a Native. Gone West has done particularly well with mares having The Minstrel, Nijinsky II and Deputy Minister in their pedigrees.

Storm Cat Gone West has produced a very good racehorse Speightstown out of a Storm Cat mare. With Johar having a G1 winning half sister by Storm Cat the line looks a no brainer for Johar. Storm Cat traces to Rowes Bud a close relation of Schwester so there are many reasons for the cross to work.

Storm Cat also duplicates Secretariat which always helps if you want the rare combination of early maturing, staying ability in the horse you are breeding. Tale of the Cat mares would be particularly useful as his pedigree has a daughter of Mr Prospector and descends from Monarchy a sister to Round Table from the Aloe branch of the No 2 Family.

Mares by other stallions combining Northern Dancer with Secretariat look attractive also. Mares by Volksraad, Honor Grades and Dehere would fit this profile. Welsh Pageant in Volksraad is similarly bred to Mixed Marriage who is doubled up in Johar.

Other stallions whose mares would be worth using with Johar include:

Senor Pete, who worked well in Argentina with mares having Good Manners in their pedigrees. Good Manners was by Nashua who appears twice in Johar’s pedigree from Fun House who appears on the bottom line of his pedigree. Mares with Star Way, Famous Star, Pentire, Dagger’s Drawn or Cicerao in their pedigrees also have a much better than average chance of working with Johar.

Conclusion

Johar has the looks, race performance and pedigree to make it as a commercial stallion prospect in this Australia and New Zealand . He shouldn’t be expected to leave precocious 2 year olds but they should perform at 3 and 4. If he does click with No 5 family lines he won’t lack for opportunity in this part of the world.

(Declaration of Interest The author owns a share in stallion Align managed by Highview Stud. He has no financial interest in the stallion Johar but he does own a 2 year old filly that is line bred to Johar’s dam line and would be a suitable mare to go to him when she finishes racing.)