Can Investec Oaks success be followed by garlands from the paddocks?

There is no better way for a filly to rubber-stamp her position as a valuable broodmare than by winning the Investec Oaks, even if an opportunity to pass on her genes would have been all but assured by mere participation at Epsom.

Yet history is littered with those who have failed to make anything like as significant a mark from the paddocks as they managed on the racecourse. For every Masaka or Time Charter, whose influence was carried on by other generations, there have been many more in line with User Friendly, whose offspring could never live up to her example.

Partly, of course, because such success would be nearly impossible to replicate, but also due to the school of thought that physical and mental exertions from a high-intensity racing career could have longer-lasting effects.

To this end, before we wonder about the future of this year’s Oaks winner, it is worth examining the achievements of ten from the more recent past who have had the time to produce more than a handful of foals.

Casual Look (2003)

Group 1-placed as a juvenile and a gutsy winner in Andrew Balding’s breakthrough season as a three-year-old, Casual Look proved a lucrative proposition when retired by her owner-breeder Bill Farish. Her early offspring changed hands for startling amounts with two, including Kempton maiden winner Eyeshine, both passing the seven-figure dollar mark. However, her Grade 3 Matchmaker Stakes scorer Casual Smile has been her highest achiever on the track to date.

Ouija Board (2004)

Imperious on the Downs, as she was throughout her career, and one of a trio of outstanding descendants of Cape Cross, along with Sea The Stars and Golden Horn, Lord Derby’s homebred had a huge following which continued when her foals began to appear. The first, Kingmambo’s Voodoo Prince, made a moderate debut as a three-year-old at Newbury but reached Group 3 level when transferred to Chris Waller in Sydney. Far better was to come through her 2011 Galileo foal, who became the Derby winner-turned increasingly promising stallion Australia, who has both Broome and Bangkok engaged in Saturday’s blue riband. Ouija Board’s final foal, Frontiersman, is also now a stallion after his second in the Coronation Cup, while the mare herself appears to have been rested from breeding duties after losing further covers.

Eswarah was out of Oaks winner Midway LadyCredit: Whitaker Edward

Eswarah (2005)

A wonderful example of Oaks symmetry, the lightly-raced Shadwell home-bred was of Classic lineage as her dam, Midway Lady, landed the same race 19 years earlier. Eswarah’s was not a vintage renewal and she failed to win in two further starts. Pleasingly, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum has assigned the majority of her progeny to Roger Varian, successor to her trainer Michael Jarvis, but Firdaws, who was third in the Fillies’ Mile before failing to really train on, has been the only runner of note from some fairly meaty coverings.

Alexandrova (2006)

Brought into the Coolmore fold for 420,000gns at Tattersalls Book 1, the daughter of Sadler's Wells handsomely exceeded that sum with prize-money from three Oaks wins through the summer. She has also managed some useful paydays through her ill-fated daughter Somehow, fourth in Minding’s Oaks but also a multiple stakes scorer and Tattersalls Gold Cup runner-up. Happen and Alex My Boy also won Group races. She has a yearling colt by Mastercraftsman after being brought back from America.

Light Shift's short-lived breeding career still produced a Group 1 star in Ulysses

Light Shift (2007)

After her particularly emotional triumph for Sir Henry Cecil at Epsom, Light Shift was unable to add to her tally despite several valiant efforts against the rock-hard Peeping Fawn, but it was not the last we were to hear of her. Retained by the Niarchos family for breeding purposes, she was only to produce three foals and two runners. The last, however, was the impressive Ulysses, who was prematurely fast-tracked to the Derby but flourished as an older horse for Sir Michael Stoute, winning both the Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte at four. He is currently being viewed with optimism as a Cheveley Park Stud stallion.

Look Here (2008)

An impressive Oaks win after defeat in her trial at Lingfield was Look Here’s second and final victory in nine career starts, although she went on to attain very credible placings in the St Leger, Coronation Cup and Pretty Polly Stakes. All of her foals have been kept by her breeder Julian Richmond-Watson and sent to Ralph Beckett, the best of which has been the consistent handicapper Here And Now. Her Pivotal three-year-old, Hereby, caught the eye on her recent debut at Salisbury and there is a yearling sister to come.

Sariska (2009)

Big on ability, as she showed in a stiff era including the likes of Midday and Dar Re Mi, Sariska kept her form until the start of the following summer as she chased home Fame And Glory in the Coronation Cup. She became increasingly truculent with age, refusing to leave the stalls twice that autumn, and joined Lady Bamford’s broodmare programme. It has been a little hit-and-miss again to date, with Oasis Dream filly Snow Moon achieving a Listed placing and Frankel colt Surya winning three minor events. Her last foal to date was an Invincible Spirit two-year-old, named Anointed.

Snow Fairy (2010)

Ed Dunlop’s more-than-adequate replacement for Ouija Board has had fewer chances to shine than most on this list, simply because of her extended career on the track which took in Japan and Hong Kong and concluded with a win in the 2012 Irish Champion Stakes. She was only retired the following summer when still in training. Breeder Cristina Patino - who famously bought Snow Fairy back for just €1,800 at the sales - managed only one run out of her first foal Belle De Neige but has her two-year-old Gleneagles filly Virgin Snow with Dunlop. Her Frankel yearling has been, perhaps portentously, registered John Leeper, after Dunlop’s late father.

Dancing Rain has been an incredible money-spinner both on and off the trackCredit: Laura Green/Tattersalls

Dancing Rain (2011)

Bought for €200,000 as a yearling by Martin and Lee Taylor, the Danehill Dancer filly was then sold for an astronomical 4,000,000gns four years later to John Ferguson, having achieved a rarely seen English-German Oaks double. Dancing Rain has ended up under the Godolphin breeding programme and the early omens have been good, if interrupted. Both Magic Lily, third to Laurens on her second and most recent start in the Fillies’ Mile and Jalmoud, a Listed winner in France earlier in the month, have Royal Ascot entries and she also has a Dubawi two-year-old filly in the pipeline. She produced a colt by Galileo on January 30 this year.

Was (2012)

Market second-string for Aidan O’Brien behind Maybe in what proved to be a rough-house Oaks, she was nonetheless a hefty Coolmore transfer at Book 1 when reaching 1,200,000gns. Was, by Galileo and from the impressive Alluring Park line, required an outcross away from the recognisable Coolmore stallions and was sent to the US to visit War Front. She has managed only one winner, Darkness Falls, so far from two runners by the Claiborne giant to date but a third, the unraced juvenile Knight Of Malta, has an early entry for the Group 2 Railway Stakes.

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