Ribchester steps in for sire Iffraaj as he ceases to shuttle to New Zealand

Champion European miler Ribchester has been ushered in to replace his top-class sire Iffraaj at Haunui Farm after the curtain was closed on his southern hemisphere stud career after 12 successful years of shuttling to New Zealand.

Haunui Farm’s Mark Chitty and Godolphin, the owner of both Richester and Iffraaj, confirmed the decision had been made to stop shuttling the popular 20-year-old son of Zafonic “solely in the best interests of the horse”.

The intention was for Iffraaj to return to New Zealand in August for a 13th season, but Darley’s stallion managers at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket had noticed a change in the sire’s demeanour in recent months that led to a change of heart.

It was then that Darley and Chitty came to an agreement for his best-credentialed son to fill the void after starting his southern hemisphere stud career at Darley in Australia. He will stand for a fee of NZ$15,000 this year, a slightly reduced fee to what he stood for last year (A$22,000).

Ribchester with his former trainer Richard Fahey at Dalham Hall StudCredit: Edward Whitaker

Ribchester, who raced 16 times for six wins, earned his title as Europe’s champion miler in 2016 and 2017 on the back of four Group 1 wins over the distance including the Queen Anne Stakes in record time and the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

Importantly, he also won the Mill Reef Stakes as a juvenile before returning at three to win at Group 1 level in France over a mile, but it was during his four-year-old season when he exerted his dominance with three Group 1 victories.

“I think the mile is that ultimate distance for stallions, especially from our New Zealand perspective. I think the horses will get a bit further across our general broodmare band,” Chitty said.

“These high-quality horses, you only start to appreciate them when these races become very familiar to you. Like the Lockinge and the Queen Anne, you know where they are in the calendar and you know that all the best horses are trying to get to them.

“When you think in his race career of 16 starts, every start bar one, which was his debut, was in Group company which shows you the type of horse he was.”

Godolphin Australia managing director Vin Cox said Darley’s long-standing relationship with Haunui Farm meant that the organisation wanted to ensure that there was a suitable replacement to shuttle to New Zealand once the decision was made to stop sending Iffraaj to the southern hemisphere.

“This is as much a game about relationships as it is horses and our relationship with Haunui goes back to the days of Carnegie,” Cox said. “Haunui has managed the southern hemisphere stud career of Iffraaj in exemplary fashion so it's fitting that Ribchester can fill the gap he will leave.

“We're extremely confident of the prospects for the stallion – he has covered good quality mares in each of his two seasons at stud to date and we have a lovely half-sister to Trekking among a very good group of weanlings that will find their way into the Godolphin training system.

“We also have the stakes winning three-quarter sister to Colette and the dam of Chenier amongst a dozen Godolphin mares due to foal to him this season. New Zealanders can breed to him with confidence.”

Ribchester, who has shuttled to Darley’s Kelvinside property in Australia for the past two years, covering 63 and 53 mares respectively, is out of Mujarah, in turn a half-sister to Dubai Group 1 winner Matterhorn and fellow stakes winners Bangkok, Tactic and Yaazy.

Chitty said: “To have the opportunity to have 50 to 60 foals sitting in Australia is a big plus for a third season stallion here in New Zealand and ones that are so closely affiliated with the Godolphin racing regime is fantastic.

“We know about Iffraaj and we actually stood his damsire Marju for one season here in New Zealand as well, so we know a lot about his pedigree.

“I dare say there’s been very few of the European horses who have come to Australia of his ilk in terms of his ability and raced in Australia. There’s a lot of lesser lights who have gone there and performed admirably, so I see no reason why Ribchester wouldn’t have done the same thing and been a high-class miler.”

Chitty also paid tribute to Iffraaj, a stalwart of the Haunui Farm roster who has provided his supporters with some tremendous highs.

“When you stand a horse for 12 years and you go through all the emotional rollercoasters with stallions, he certainly provided those," he said. "He was a great servant and he was such a lovely horse.

“He was such a gentleman. But you know these things have to come to an end one day and that day is upon us.

“He’s one of those sires who could give you a colt, he could get you a filly that could perform as a two-year-old, a three-year-old and they could train on and run into nice milers at weight-for-age races.

“He was a very versatile stallion and hopefully his legacy will live on through his mares and hopefully through a stallion or two including a horse like Ribchester.”

Iffraaj is the sire of 26 southern hemisphere-bred stakes winners including sire sons, the Group 1-winning Turn Me Loose and Jon Snow, while he also had Gingernuts and the recently retired Wyndspelle score at the highest level.

Iffraaj, who covered 79 mares last year, is also the damsire of the ten-time Group 1-winning champion New Zealand mare Melody Belle, as well as the stakes-placed Excelida, Centimental and Showemhowitsdone.

Meanwhile, fellow Darley-owned shuttler Belardo (by Lope De Vega) will return for his fourth season at Haunui Farm for a fee of NZ$10,000, a small decrease on last year.

His first-crop yearlings sold this year, with Australian buyers embracing his progeny including comeback trainer Peter Moody paying NZ$210,000 for a colt and Adelaide Group 1-winning trainer Gordon Richards paying NZ$90,000 for another yearling.

Belmont Bloodstock’s Damon Gabbedy also purchased a filly from the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale Book 1 session in January.

Chitty believes Belardo’s first two-year-olds could be mature enough to make racecourse appearances later this year.

“His yearlings sold very similarly in both hemispheres. He had a smattering of horses who made lower six figures and there were a lot of horses who made horseman’s prices and hopefully they go out there and run for the people who have bought them,” he said.

“His grandsire Shamardal was lost to the industry within the last month and what a great sire he was.

"The thing about Lope De Vega and Shamardal is that they have done such a fantastic job off such a limited opportunity in Australia and here we have Belardo, a son of Lope De Vega out of a Danehill mare who was a very good two-year-old herself.”

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