Written by Paul Vettise
Outstanding broodmare Dextrous (Quest For Fame {GB}) has passed away peacefully, but with three sons at stud - Sidestep, Ambidexter and Skilled - and a G1 Golden Slipper-winning grand-daughter to begin her breeding career this year, her legacy will live on.
Dextrous was a stakes winner during her 2 and 3-year-old racing days before retirement and it was in that second stage of her career that she excelled to the limit.
“She was not only one of the true Blue Hens of the Australian breeding industry, but a great equine friend to everyone who was fortunate enough to have met her,” said John Sunderland, Stud Manager at Woodlands.
Dextrous was born on November 19, 1999 at Woodlands and enjoyed a successful racing career in the famous cerise colours of the Ingham family.
Dextrous when racing
A dual winner as a 2-year-old and placed in the G3 SAJC Sires’ Produce S., she claimed the G2 Sandown Guineas, the G3 Vanity S. and the Listed Alexandra S. the following season and retired as the winner of five of her 10 starts.
Dextrous retired to stud in 2004 and was mated with the legendary Octagonal (NZ) to Thumb, who was unraced but left three multiple winners.
“It was her third foal, a mating with Commands, who set her on the road to being the champion broodmare she became,” Sunderland said.
“It was her third foal, a mating with Commands, who set her on the road to being the champion broodmare she became.” - John Sunderland
“This colt would go on to race as Skilled and run in the famous maroon silks of Sheikh Mohammed, winning the G1 Champagne S. and run second in the G1 Sires’ Produce S. as a 2-year-old.
“He was also placed in the G1 Randwick Guineas and the G1 Caulfield Guineas as a 2-year-old and retired to stud, joining the Darley roster.”
Skilled
The next year Dextrous produced another colt by Commands, who would race as Ambidexter and he won the G2 Theo Marks S. and ran second in the G1 Epsom H. He retired to stand at the historic Cornerstone Stud in South Australia.
Dextrous subsequently had a year off and in 2010 she produced the Exceed And Excel colt Sidestep. He won the G2 Pago Pago S. and backed up a week later to run a gallant second in the G1 Golden Slipper S. having endured significant interference midrace.
He would also retire to stud and stand his early years at Kelvinside, also reverse shuttling to France and is currently residing at Telemon Park.
Sidestep | Standing at Telemon Thoroughbreds
“From his first crop, his daughter Kiamichi avenged her sire’s defeat in the Golden Slipper by winning her edition in impressive fashion,” Sunderland said.
“Her next surviving five foals are all females, with four remaining with Godolphin as racehorses or broodmares.
“What a legacy she leaves behind with three sons to stand at stud, a Golden Slipper-winning grand-daughter who will start her breeding career in 2020, and a number of other daughters who will be producing progeny to race on and keep her name up in lights.”
The late Dextrous at Woodlands Stud
