by Nigel Pullen

Persian Packs a Punch

by Nigel Pullen ©

Commercial considerations mean that many of today's stars blaze an all too brief trail across the racing firmament. So it is always good to be able to report on a battle-hardened campaigner whose toughness has made him a real favourite with the English racing public. Breeding stayers may not be a very fashionable or lucrative business in this speed orientated age, but in Persian Punch we have many of the qualities that epitomise the ideal racehorse; durability, toughness and that will-to-win spirit.

Persian Punch recently recorded his thirteenth victory from forty starts in the two miles Goodwood Cup (G2), with a characteristic front-running performance. What an admirable record the eight-year-old now boasts; a trio of Henry II Stakes (G3), the Prix Kergorlay (G2), Lonsdale Stakes (G3), Sagaro Stakes (G3) and a Jockey Club Cup (G3) are amongst his triumphs. In addition he has finished runner-up in the Irish St Leger (G1), the Ascot Gold Cup (G1) and its French equivalent, the Prix du Cadran (G1), together with a third in the Melbourne Cup (G1), and placings in many other top staying events.

Persian Punch's roots can be traced back to France. His fourth dam Hymette, was owned by Comte de Chambure, but did her racing in England where she convincingly won a mile maiden on her fourth start as a three-year-old. Hymette was a daughter of the wartime English and French 2000 Guineas winner Djebel out of Kudos by Bonny Boy out of Kiao Tchau, and had an intriguing pedigree pattern.

To begin with her granddam Kiao Tchau was by Chouberski out of Kizil Kourgan, which made her a three-quarter sister to Djebel's grandsire Ksar, who was by Chouberski's son Bruleur out of Kizil Kourgan. To make the Hymette's pedigree background even more intense, Bruleur's dam Basse Terre shared the same sire (Omnium II) as Kizil Kourgan, and was also the granddam of Hymette's maternal grandsire Bonny Boy. This made Hymette 5x3 Chouberski, 5x4 Basse Terre, 4x3 Kizil Kourgan all through a son and a daughter, and 6x5x5x4 Omnium II; or put another way 3x1 to the five-eighths brother and sister Ksar and Kudos.

If we now look at the pedigrees of these four animals we find that they too bear many similarities, resulting in a strong build-up of the influential broodmare Pocahontas. Pocahontas may have been born as long ago as 1837, but her influence on the breed remains to this day. Between 1843, and her death in 1870, she foaled a total of six fillies and nine colts. Her influence was chiefly through her trio of important stallion sons, namely King Tom (by Harkaway) and the full brothers Rataplan and Stockwell (by The Baron). In the following few decades few thoroughbreds did not boast multiple strains of these stallions, but it was when these individuals where mated with horses carrying the more rarely found daughter strains of Pocahontas that exceptional results were often achieved.

Looking at the pedigrees of Chouberski, Basse Terre, Kizil Kourgan and Omnium II in that context reveals some interesting results. Stockwell was duplicated in both Chouberski (5x5) and Basse Terre's dam Bijou (4x3), thus each having Pocahontas exclusively via her son. However when we turn to Kizil Kourgan we find that her granddam was 4x4 to Pocahontas via her son King Tom and daughter Indiana. Omnium II (who was found 6x5x5x4 in Hymette as the sire of both Kizil Kourgan and Basse Terre) had an even stronger female Pocahontas background, as his maternal grandsire Wellingtonia was 3x2 to Pocahontas via her daughters Ayacanora and Araucaria. Wellingtonia made a further appearance in Hymette's pedigree, for he was also the sire of Ajax's second dam.

Before we leave Hymette, her maternal grandsire Bonny Boy merits a mention, for he was another individual with a plethora of sons of Pocahontas. Three of his four grandparents being Bachelor's Double (5x4x5x5x6 Stockwell/Rataplan), Sourabaya (5x5x5x6x5x6x5x6x6 Stockwell/Rataplan/King Tom) and Simonian (3x4 King Tom/Stockwell), while the fourth, Basse Terre, balanced these with daughter strains via Omnium II. Thus we have a pedigree in which the multiple son strains of Pocahontas are nicely balanced by the daughters of that mare provided via the five occurrences of Wellingtonia.

When retired to stud, Hymette made almost the perfect start. Her very first foal Factory Girl (by Fair Trial) won one of the first two-year-old races of the English flat racing season in 1953, the Brocklesby Stakes. Hymette went on to produce six more winners, including Supreme Courage (by Supreme Court) who finished third to subsequent Epsom Derby winner Crepello in the Dewhurst Stakes. Supreme Courage himself did not measure up to classic standard, but proved a useful stayer at around two miles.

Hymette's final winner, foaled when she was twenty years old, was Persian Punch's third dam, Orange Cap. She was a daughter of Red God and put up her best performance winning the Grand Handicap de la Marne. Orange Cap's pedigree had no really close duplications but she was 5x5 Teddy, 6x6 Rabelais and 6x6x6 Spearmint, all horse with multiple strains of Pocahontas. O

range Cap foaled Persian Punch's dam, Oraston, in 1978. The latter won a six furlongs maiden on her debut, and after racing in good class company for the remainder of her career, gained a short head victory in the Premio Lydia Tesio (G1) in Rome on her final start to earn some important black type.

Oraston's sire Morston only visited the racecourse twice. Unraced at two he made a winning debut in a ten furlongs maiden at Lingfield on 11th May 1973, starting at odds of 14-1. Just twenty-six days later he created an even bigger shock by winning the Epsom Derby by half a length from Cavo Doro, this time a 28-1 outsider. However he was simply maintaining a family tradition, for his half brother Blakeney had also won the Epsom Derby four years earlier, both colts being bred, owned and trained by the same man, Arthur Budgett. The Derby was to be Morston's final race, for a strained tendon in mid August ended his brief racing career. At stud he made quite a promising start, with Group winners Morcon, More Light, Mr Fluorocarbon, Valentinian, Whitstead, and of course Oraston, from his first few crops, but with most of his offspring being stayers he soon became unfashionable with breeders.

The Morston/Orange Cap mating which resulted in Oraston brought together the close genetic relatives Hornbeam and Red God 3x2. Both had pedigrees containing Nasrullah, Plucky Liege and Selene close up, and whereas Hornbeam traced tail male to Gainsborough, Red God had Gainsborough's close genetic relative Teddy. It is also worth noting that Morston added another strain of Tourbillon to reinforce the genetic background of Hymette, who was 3x1 to Tourbillon's sire Ksar and Ksar's five-eighths sister Kudos.

After her victory in the Premio Lydia Tesio, Oraston was retired to stud in America. With her English/French genetic background one would question whether this was a wise decision, and ironically, when the returned to England in 1987 and covered by Primo Dominie she produced her best offspring in Gymcrack Premiere. He was an extremely tough sprinter/miler who raced for nine seasons in England, winning 10 of his 80 starts in that time. Interestingly enough, this pedigree featured the potent cross of Derring-Do and Windmill Girl, a combination that doubles up Hyperion, Nearco, Chanteur II and Mumtaz Mahal; and can be found in the many above average racehorses including Daring Destiny, Norwich, Roseate Tern, Three Tails and Tyrnavos.

However, our interest in Oraston's offspring goes back to the days when she was in America. Her third foal there was Rum Cay, a daughter of the stallion Our Native. Her sire was both talented and tough, for he won fourteen of his thirty-seven starts, with victories in the Flamingo Stakes (G1) and Monmouth Invitational (G1), together with third place to the mighty Secretariat in both Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. To some extent the racing career of Rum Cay mirrored that of her maternal grandsire Morston, although it was enacted at the opposite end of the racing spectrum. Rum Cay made her racing debut in January 1989, as a four-year-old, in a National Hunt Flat Race at Towcester, and surprised everybody by winning the two miles event at 33-1. A couple of weeks later she finished third in a similar race at Warwick, before ending her brief racing career on April 1st, by winning a 14.5 furlong maiden on the flat at Doncaster.

Although Rum Cay's pedigree was the result of a mating between a sire with a wholly American background, and a dam with English/French origins, it was not without interest, for it brought together 2x3 the five-eights genetic relatives Our Jackie (dam of Our Native) and Red God. Red God was by Nasrullah (a son of Mumtaz Begum) out of Spring Run by Pharamond II's son Menow out of Boola Brook. These strains were backed up in Our Jackie by Mumtaz Begum's three quarter brother Nasrullah, Boola Brook and Pharamond II's full brother Sickle. This double of Boola Brook was further reinforced, because she was a five-eighths genetic relative to Our Jackie's grandsire Fighting Fox (both Teddy/Plucky Liege/Commando crosses). Note that as in Oraston, it was the strain of Red God that supplied the link between the pedigree of sire and dam.

Rum Cay's lack of racing was certainly made up for by her first foal Visual (by Rousillon). He raced in Italy over 150 times, winning 21 races, and earning 56 places. Her second foal, Island Magic (by Indian Ridge), had a bit more class, as he showed when winning the Solario Stakes (G3) as a juvenile.

After being barren in 1992, Rum Cay foaled Persian Punch the following year. He was a son of Persian Heights, and fetched just 14,000 guineas when purchased at the 1994 Tattersalls' October Yearling Sales. Six years later, and the exploits of Persian Punch were undoubtedly instrumental in Sheikh Mohammed having to pay 800,000 guineas to secure Rum Cay's yearling colt by Singspiel.

Persian Punch's sire Persian Heights was a top class mile and ten furlongs horse. Third in the Middle Park Stakes (G1) at two, he gained Group 1 honours the following year by winning the St. James's Palace Stakes, and was placed in four other G1 events in a ten race career which yielded four victories. Persian Heights had little chance to prove himself at stud dying when just eight years old, and leaving just four full crops. Apart from Persian Punch, his offspring included the Australian Group 1 winner Paris Lane, and St Simon Stakes (G3) victor Persian Brave.

The most obvious feature of Persian Heights' pedigree was the 3x2 cross of the three quarter brothers Relko (by Tantieme's son Tanerko out of Relance) and Reliance (by Tanerko out of Relance). Of particular importance here was the fact that Relance's dam Polaire was 8x7x6x6 to Wellingtonia. Remember, when discussing Persian Punch's fourth dam Hymette, that we discovered that Wellingtonia was 3x2 to Pocahontas via her daughters Ayacanora and Araucaria. Wellingtonia crops up again in Persian Heights's pedigree, as he is found 5x5 in Asterus, the sire of Persian Heights' fourth dam. Persian Heights' dam, Ready And Willing further reinforced the genetic background of Hymette by being 5x3 to Tourbillon.

Yet another important factor in Persian Heights's pedigree was the mare Relkarunner, the dam of Persian Heights's sire Persian Bold. This mare had the distinction of having an Epsom Derby winner not only as her sire (Relko), but also as the sire of her first three dams, namely Blue Peter, Hyperion and Papyrus. Relkarunner's genetic background closely matched that of Morston, the pair appearing 3x3 in Persian Punch. Relkarunner's pedigree contained strains of Hyperion, Tourbillon, Papyrus, La Diva, Fancy Free, Phalaris and Scapa Flow, all strains found close up in the pedigree of Morston.

As he is a gelding Persian Punch will not have the opportunity to pass on his admirable qualities, but it does mean that his courageous front running style of racing will continue to delight us for some time to come.