Showtime – Mating Focus #2
Showtime, photographed in the Autumn with Arrowfield stallion handler Mitchell Ralph, is in great shape ahead of his third stud season. (PHOTO: Joan Faras)
Continuing our series on the clues offered by Snitzel and this week, his son Shamus Award, to guide matings with Showtime.
The dramatic rise of Snitzel’s son Shamus Award is one of this year’s big stories in Australian breeding.
Ten stakeswinners last season, including Group 1 Oaks winners Duais and Media Award, shot him into 13th spot on the General Sires’ Premiership, 20 places higher than his 2019/20 finish.
Shamus Award’s success gives us valuable information about the mares likely to suit Showtime.
For example, Duais highlights the effectiveness of crossing Snitzel and his sons over mares from the Storm Cat sire-line, which produces a sex-balanced duplication of Champion European 2YO Storm Bird. This combination has produced 12 stakes horses from 91 runners, including Group winners Letzbeglam and Snitty Kitty as well as Duais.
Other Storm Cat-line sires whose daughters provide a similar match for Showtime are: Scat Daddy, Giant’s Causeway, Shamardal, Lope de Vega, Hennessy, Puissance de Lune, Johannesburg, No Nay Never, Statue of Liberty, Real Saga, Captain Sonador, Lion Heart and Purrealist.
