Lonhro's dominance spans across generations

4 min read
As Champion racehorse and Champion sire Lonhro celebrates his 21st birthday on Tuesday, we reflect on the achievements and influence of the amazing racehorse and stallion.

'The champion is in desperate trouble'.

Greg Miles could not have better summed up the feelings of a racing nation at the 200 metre mark of the 2004 G1 Australian Cup, as Lonhro's bid for a tenth elite level win looked in desperate peril.

But champions turn experts into mugs in a matter of seconds, and such was the case that memorable day at Flemington as Darren Beadman somehow got Lonhro into the clear and he charged home to claim Delzao (Encosta De Lago) in the shadows of the post.

'Yes, Lonhro won it. What a champion and what a way to go!' roared Miles, who was perhaps Australia's best ever commentator in terms of finding the perfect turn of phrase at the end of a race.

That was Lonhro's most famous success in a 35-start career which yielded 26 wins, including 11 at Group 1 level. But it is just a small part of the enormous legacy he has left, and continues to leave Australian thoroughbred racing as we mark his 21st birthday on December 10.

Horses don’t usually get to celebrate their birthdays individually, but for superstars like Lonhro, it’s worth making an exception.

From his first Group 1 victory, where he produced a scintillating late burst to win the 2001 Caulfield Guineas, to his last when he dominated a vintage edition of the George Ryder S. in 2004, he compiled a racing career the equal of any, and according to his legendary trainer John Hawkes, he occupies a spot in his mind along with his sire Octagonal (NZ), as the best horse he has trained.

When you consider how many top-level horses the master trainer has overseen, that is some recommendation.

Being the best performed son of Octagonal always led to inevitable comparisons between the two, but what he has been able to accomplish post his racing career has surpassed anything the great 'Occy' achieved at stud.

Octagonal had a respectable breeding career, producing 539 winners, 25 stakes winners and four Group 1 winners, but Lonhro's stallion career is simply on another level.

As of his 21st birthday, he has produced 891 winners, 88 stakes winners and 12 Group 1 winners. Those Group 1 successes from his progeny have come in everything from Golden Slippers, Blue Diamonds and VRC Sprint Classics up to the VRC Oaks, underlining his incredible versatility as a stallion.

In 2010/11, with just four crops on the track, he was crowned Australia's Champion Sire, becoming just the second horse in Australian racing history - the other is Vain - to win that title after being crowned Australian Racehorse Of The Year, which he was in 2003/04.

Gallery: Some of Lonhro's Group 1 winners

That Sires title was enormously significant for Darley's Australian breeding operation, having only three years earlier shelled out a reported $500 million for Woodlands Stud's breeding and bloodstock operations, which included the young stallion.

He has continued to deliver them outstanding results as a stallion, with stakes winners in the United States, Canada, Dubai, Macau, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia and South Africa as well as his phenomenal success on home soil.

He has also provided ongoing Group 1 success for the Darley/Godolphin racing operations, with top-flight winners such as Denman, Exosphere, Impending, Beaded, Mental, Kementari, Benfica and Lyre.

But his true legacy may prove to be as a sire of sires, with seven of his sons currently at stud, two of them with Darley, including Exosphere, who stands alongside him at Kelvinside.

Pierro, son of Lonhro

Much like was the case with he and Octagonal, his best performed son is his best prospect at stud and could even surpass him as a stallion.

Five-time Group 1 winner Pierro is completing his seventh season at Coolmore and already has six Group 1 winners. Both had 20 stakes winners at this point of their careers with Pierro holding the edge 183 to 165 on total winners, albeit with more runners.

Lonhro is also an increasingly influential broodmare sire, with his mares producing 26 stakes winners to date, including recent Group 1 winner Gatting (Hard Spun {USA}). A colt from his Group 1 winning daughter Bounding by Curlin (USA) recently sold for a record US$4.1 million (AU$5.9 million) at the Keeneland September Sale.

His legacy will carry on well beyond his 21st birthday on Tuesday, but it's worth pausing to recognise the amazing things this December foal, the 344th born on Woodlands Stud in 1998, has been able to achieve.