25 Sep 2017
Cambridge Stud stallion Burgundy is starting to make waves as a sire after securing his first Group-winner when the Lisa Latta-trained Dijon Bleu won the Gr.3 Hawke’s Bay Breeders’ Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings on Saturday.
Dijon Bleu’s dominant victory is her second at stakes level after winning the Listed O’Leary’s Fillies’ Stakes (1200m) earlier in the month at Wanganui.
“We’re very excited,” Cambridge Stud general manager Marcus Corban said.
“He’s done a great job and he’s got some promising horses here in New Zealand as well as in Australia and Singapore.”
Some of those horses include Listed Castletown Stakes-winner Hard Merchandize and Singapore Golden Horseshoe placegetter Bringer Of War.
Burgundy now boasts an impressive strike rate of 11.8 per cent stakes winners to runners from his first crop, which has seen breeders flock to him this season.
“He will serve over 120 mares this season and the people who have been with him all the way have continued to support him,” Corban said.
“The most important thing is he has done it all himself after serving a lower-end scale of mares. It’s just great to have another promising horse, not only for us, but also New Zealand and Te Akau. David Ellis puts a lot into the industry and it’s great that he’s got a very promising sire.”
A half-brother to five-time Group One winner and now sire Darci Brahma, Burgundy was a $1.3 million purchase by Te Akau principal Ellis from Pencarrow Stud’s 2010 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale draft.
He went on to win seven of his 12 starts for Te Akau, with five at stakes level, including the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes.
Burgundy stands at Cambridge Stud for a service fee of $7000 plus GST plus live foal guarantee. – NZ Racing Desk.