Sha Tin star provides a timely reminder of Archipenko's prowess

Breeders have long had ample opportunity to inbreed to Special, one of the great blue hens of the past century who foaled Nureyev as well as Fairy Bridge, dam of Sadler's Wells.

There have been plenty of notable results along the way, several of them stemming from Kingmambo – a son of the Niarchos family's brilliant Nureyev filly Miesque – for whom an alliance with Sadler's Wells yielded no fewer than seven Group or Grade 1 winners, including El Condor Pasa, Divine Proportions, Henrythenavigator and Virginia Waters.

And that same trend has again played out in the stud careers of some of Kingmambo's more successful sons at stud, among them King's Best, whose Derby-winning son Workforce is out of the Sadler's Wells mare Soviet Moon.

Then there is Lanwades Stud's Archipenko. The 2008 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner is actually himself inbred to Special as a grandson of the great daughter of Forli and evidently clicks extremely well with mares who offer another line into the family.

It is a strategy that has long been well employed by Kirsten Rausing, and to good effect given that it features in the background of Madame Chiang, the highlight of Archipenko's first crop who carried Rausing's colours to victory in the 2014 Qipco British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes, and Time Warp, another high-class graduate of Lanwades who made all under an enterprising ride from Zac Purton to take Sunday's Hong Kong Cup at the expense of Werther and Neorealism.

In all, seven of Archipenko's European stakes runners are out of mares who reinforce Special. Aside from Madame Chiang and Time Warp, they comprise the Listed winner Russian Punch (dam by Beat Hollow and second dam by Nureyev), Group 2-placed Clonard Street (third dam by Sadler's Wells), Group 3-placed Marabea (dam by Theatrical), Listed-placed Groor (dam by Sadler's Wells) and the Italian-bred Listed-placed filly Lady Penko (third dam by Soviet Star).

What's more, Madame Chiang and Time Warp each descend from the same branch of the Special family, that belonging to the mare's Hawaii daughter Kilavea.

The winning Kilavea boarded at Lanwades for Magnus Berger during the early 1980s before her sale to Sheikh Mohammed while she was carrying Kiliniski, the subsequent winner of the 1985 Lingfield Oaks Trial. It is Kiliniski, a member of the same first crop of Niniski as Petoski, who features as the granddam of Madame Chiang via her Robellino daughter Robe Chinoise. She entered the Lanwades fold when purchased as a barren 15-year-old for just $2,000 at the 1997 Keeneland January Sale.

By that stage, Lanwades was already home to another relation in Ninotchka, a yearling purchase who had gone on to win the 1996 Listed Premio Giovanni Falck in Milan. Her dam, Puget Sound, had been one of the daughters bred by Berger out of Kilavea during the mare's time in Newmarket and she later spent the majority of her stud career visiting elite stallions in Kentucky; Ninotchka, from the last crop of Niniski's sire Nijinsky, was her best representative, although the mare's eight known winners also included Thong Thong Thong, an El Gran Senor filly who won three races in Brazil and today appears as the fourth dam of Time Warp.

Time Warp's profile encapsulates the current international nature of racing. Foaled in Newmarket, he is by a stallion who landed one of his biggest victories in Hong Kong and out of a Kentucky-bred mare in Here To Eternity, who descends from Thong Thong Thong via her daughter, Brazilian Group 3 winner Hot Thong. As for Time Warp himself, he started off in Newmarket with Sir Mark Prescott, for whom he won the Criterium de l'Ouest and Prix de Pontarme after breaking his maiden at Southwell.

Now after Sunday's victory, he ranks as Hong Kong's fourth highest-rated horse behind Mr Stunning.

The presence of his branch of the family at Lanwades owes itself to the export of Hot Thong out of Brazil. By Jarraar, a Mr Prospector son of Sheikh Mohammed's Yorkshire Oaks winner Awaasif, and bred by Haras Permale, Hot Thong won the 1997 Group 3 Grande Premio Henrique de Toledo Lara in her native country before embarking on a stud career in the northern hemisphere.

The German Listed-winning miler Heat Of The Night has been the best of her seven foals for Rausing, and in turn Heat Of The Night's first foal was Here To Eternity, the dam of Time Warp. What makes Here To Eternity's background particularly interesting is the fact she is a daughter of Stormy Atlantic, a solid Kentucky-based son of Storm Cat who descends directly from Special's granddam Rough Shod via her champion daughter Moccasin.

Stormy Atlantic is probably best known in these parts as the sire of Stormy Antarctic but Rausing has also enjoyed her share of success with him as the breeder of several British-based winners led by Kinetica, another member of the Kilavea family who won the 2011 Star Stakes (Kinetica also has two Archipenko youngsters in the pipeline).

Archipenko has never had huge crops to run for him, unlike several of his contemporaries. Take his first crop as an example – Madame Chiang was the highlight of 49 foals from that group alongside Kingston Mines, a Group 2 winner in South Africa. A similarly small second crop contained four stakes winners while Time Warp is the highlight of a third group that numbers no more than 60 and also includes David Simcock's classy Algometer.

Archipenko has also fared well out of his shuttle trips to Argentina, where he is the sire of the Group 1 Gran Premio General San Martin winner Forty One and Group 2 winner Don Archi – like Time Warp, he is the product of a Storm Cat line mare.

Archipenko is today the sole Group 1-producing son of Kingmambo at stud in Britain and Ireland. He's a reliable and proven option, especially within his price bracket of £10,000, and as Madame Chiang and Time Warp show, he is also very capable of throwing a top-class horse if utilised with thought.

BREEDERS' DIGEST

Celebratory Sandown Saturday for Devins
The victory of Politologue in Saturday's Tingle Creek Chase was yet another feather in the cap of Henri and Antonia Devin of Haras du Mesnil, who bred the son of Poliglote out of their high-class jumper Scarlet Row (herself a daughter of the farm's Turgeon, who is still going strong at a remarkable 31 years of age).

The celebrations wouldn't have ended there, however, since the farm also stands Doctor Dino, sire of the Henry VIII Novices' Chase winner Sceau Royal. Also sire of Prix de Diane runner-up Physiocrate, the son of Muhtathir has swiftly made a name for himself under both codes despite standing at the lower end of the spectrum.

Return to Kentucky making Sense
Darley's decision to repatriate Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense back to Kentucky following a brief stint in Japan continues to reap rewards. His first post-Japan crop are now two-year-olds and already include three stakes winners, led by Bob Baffert's McKinzie, who was awarded Saturday's Los Alamitos Futurity at the expense of stablemate Solomini.

It was on that same day that Street Sense's burgeoning reputation as a broodmare sire also took another step forward courtesy of Speed Franco, who became the third stakes winner for Declaration Of War when running out the easy winner of the Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Street Sense's oldest daughters are still only eight but they also include the dam of Racing Post Trophy runner-up Roaring Lion.

Echoes of Brant past at Hanshin
Different League, Spain Burg and Enchanted Rock, the dam of Verrazano, are just some of the investments made by US owner Peter Brant – a returning force to racing – in the past two months.

However, there were also echoes of Brant's former involvement in the sport last weekend in the breeding of Lucky Lilac, who became the first winner at the top level for Orfevre in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies on Sunday in Japan.

The filly is out of Kentucky Oaks heroine Lilacs And Lace, a granddaughter of Brant's brilliant Alydar filly Stella Madrid, who swept the Spinaway, Matron and Frizette Stakes during the summer of 1989. Brant – breeder of Gulch and also once a part owner of Fasig-Tipton – bred three foals out of Stella Madrid before the mare's transferral to Japan in 1996.

Bargain buy
Sunday's Hong Kong Sprint winner Mr Stunning was just a foal when his dam With Fervour came up for sale at the 2013 Australian Easter Broodmare Sale. Offered by Tony Santic's Makybe, the daughter of Dayjur was knocked down for just A$6,000 to Dr L J Oldcastle. Five years on, Mr Stunning's record stands at ten wins from 16 starts for earnings of $4,608,334. Unfortunately, With Fervour died in 2015 but did leave behind a filly by Mossman now named With Faith.

Download our special 16-page guide to the new US sires for 2018, headed by Arrogate, Classic Empire and Gun Runner