Cover image courtesy of Windsor Park
Rip Van Winkle's stud career had reached new heights in the recently completed racing season, with his star son Te Akau Shark (NZ) winning Group 1 races on both sides of the Tasman and Jennifer Eccles (NZ) victorious in the G1 New Zealand Oaks.
He finished a career-best sixth in the Grosvenor Award for New Zealand's Champion Sire, with 25 winners in an abridged season, including three stakes winners, while he also had 18 winners in Australia.
He also served five seasons at stud with Coolmore in Ireland producing stakes winners in Great Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey and India and has also had winners in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and 18 other countries.
But while momentum was very much behind him, he had been struck down by laminitis in the past week and had to be euthanised on Saturday.
The late Rip Van Winkle (Ire)
"It's really, really sad. He was a such a terrific racehorse and then to have a stellar year like last year, to have the Oaks winner and the top-rated miler in Australia in Te Akau Shark, it was a hard thing to happen," Schick told TDN AusNZ.
"He had acute laminitis. That came on very rapidly, within five days. Unfortunately, he lost the battle."
"He was a such a terrific racehorse and then to have a stellar year like last year, to have the Oaks winner and the top-rated miler in Australia in Te Akau Shark, it was a hard thing to happen." - Rodney Schick
Schick said the triple Group 1-winning son of Galileo (Ire) had been a model of fitness up until the past week, and his sudden decline had hit the staff at Windsor Park very hard.
"He's been very, very straightforward and it was a bit of a shock really. I didn’t want to take him through any more pain. He was a terrific horse and it was just one of those things," he said.
"He was a terrific character and a high-class racehorse and it’s hard for everyone. The staff did a great job and it’s a big loss for them."
It continues a difficult past 12 months for the New Zealand breeding industry, with deaths of several prominent stallions, including Cambridge Stud trio Roaring Lion (USA), Tavistock (NZ), Burgundy (NZ) and Waikato Stud's Sacred Falls (NZ).
Schick said Rip Van Winkle (Ire) had been a model of fitness up until the past week | Image courtesy of Windsor Park
From Italian yearling to Group 1 glory
Bred by Roberto Brogi, Rip Van Winkle was purchased for 170,000 euros (AU$280,000) by agent John O'Byrne at the 2007 Italian Yearling Sale at Milan for Coolmore. He won his first two starts as a 2-year-old for Aidan O'Brien, including the G3 Tyros S.
He would run fourth in both the G1 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby and then second in the G1 Coral-Eclipse before breaking through for his first Group 1 win in the Sussex S. at Goodwood. He then returned to win the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at Ascot later in the year. Competing against the best horses in Europe and Great Britain, he added a further Group 1 win in the Juddmonte International as a 4-year-old, also running a place in a trio of other Group 1 contests.
His arrival at Windsor Park Stud in 2011 was a huge coup for the New Zealand industry, as well as the farm, who had enjoyed considerable success with Volksraad (GB), who hailed from the same family.
His three winners in New Zealand from just eight runners from his first crop included the stakes-winner Magic Dancer (NZ), who won the G3 Phoenix Park Classic. His stallion profile continued to build in his second season with runners, thanks to G2 Eight Carat Classic winner Capella (NZ), while the Bob Peters-owned First Impressions (NZ) became his first Australian stakes winner in the G3 WA Oaks.
Winners and black-type successes continued to flow but his first genuine star emerged when Te Akau Shark hit the track in the spring of 2017. Twelve months later, the Jamie Richards-trained gelding stamped his class with a pair of Group wins by big margins in New Zealand and headed to Australia last spring, running second in the G1 Epsom H. and then third in the G1 Cox Plate.
The first Group 1 winner for Rip Van Winkle (Ire), Te Akau Shark (NZ)
His first Group 1 success came in the BCD Group Sprint at Te Rapa in February and he followed that up by winning the G1 Chipping Norton S. at Randwick.
Two weeks' later Rip Van Winkle had his second Group 1 winner when the talented filly Jennifer Eccles, trained by Shaune Ritchie, won the G1 NZ Oaks, having been placed in the G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas in November.
Rip stamps them with quality
For Schick, the quality of his top progeny was a tribute to the quality of stallion.
"To be able to leave high-class gallopers like Te Akau Shark, he's a big loss to the New Zealand industry as well as for us. He was the second-highest-rated son of Galileo behind Frankel, which is quite a feat," he said.
"He's got some very nice horses about at the moment and we will see more horses come out in the next season. We will continue to follow them with interest but it’s always a hard thing when you lose a stallion of his status."
"He was the second-highest-rated son of Galileo behind Frankel, which is quite a feat." - Rodney Schick
Windsor Park is well-placed to weather the loss of Rip Van Winkle, with six other stallions on its roster, Shamexpress (NZ), Turn Me Loose (NZ), Vanbrugh, Rageese, Mongolian Khan and Charm Spirit (Ire), who was recently crowned the top second-season sire in New Zealand.
"It's never been an easy business, but you just have to pick yourself up and get on with it. We’ve got some really nice young stallions," Schick said.
"Mongolian Khan was such a good racehorse and we are looking forward to seeing his horses step out as 3-year-olds. With the likes of Turn Me Loose, Rageese and Vanbrugh to come through, we just have to look for the positives and keep on going."
