5 Jan 2011
Cambridge Stud's resident sire
Keeper is quietly making a big impact on the current NZ racing season, heading the sires tables by race wins and winners.
With a 41% runners to winners ratio in the current season, the son of Danehill is also sitting in second position behind Thorn Park on the New Zealand General Sires List.
Keeper (Danehill x Nuwirah, by Pleasant Colony) began stud duties in New Zealand in 2002. A Group 1 winner of the Goodwood Handicap at three, he won over distances from 1200m to 1600m and retired from the track a joint third on the 2000/2001 Australasian three-year-old sprint classification.
At stud Keeper is the sire of 332 named foals, 268 (81%) of which have made race day appearances, with 173 (53%) going on to win on the track.
Last season saw Keeper take second place for the most race wins and winners by his progeny, behind Pins. He finished the season in sixth place on New Zealand's General Sires Table.
Keeper is already the sire of five individual Group 1 winners: Keep the Peace, Insouciant, Keepa Cruising, My Keepsake and Linky Dink.
Dual Group 1 winner Keep the Peace was a classic winning three-year-old filly, taking the New Zealand Oaks before returning to the track this season to beat the VRC Emirates Mile winner Wall Street by a nose in the Group 1 Mudgway Stakes.
Insouciant was one of the standout three-year-olds of the 2008 season, winning the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas and the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes and being crowned the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year in 2007/2008.
The well bred Keepa Cruising, a half-sister to Seachange, is another three-year-old filly who notched up Group 1 success, winning the Group 1 Levin Classic and the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes.
Keeper is also the sire of the Group 1 Queensland Oaks winner My Keepsake, and the two-year-old winner of the Group 1 TJ Smith Classic, Linky Dink.
Keeper's influence is not just limited to Australasia. In the 2009/2010 season, Keeper was in the top 10 Hong Kong General Sires List with progeny earnings of over HK$13 million. To date he has also had winning progeny in Singapore, Korea, Macau, Philippines, Malaysia and South Africa.
Keeper is represented by 59 yearlings in the 2011 National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka, with 16 entries in the Karaka Premier Sale including:
Lot 94, the colt from the Group 3 winning Zabeel mare Sursum Corda, a sister to St Reims and Champagne.
Lot 275, the filly from the Zabeel mare Diamond Smile, a member of the mighty Eight Carat family, she is a sister to Don Eduardo and a three-quarter-sister to Octagonal and Shower of Roses.
Lot 379, the colt from the Zabeel mare Just Say Yes, a sister to the Group 2 winner Respect and a half-sister to the Group 1 winner Kindacross.
From The Oaks Stud is a full sister to the G.2 ARC Royal Stakes winner Keep the Passion at Lot 364, and the second foal of Group 1 performer Pins 'n' Needles at Lot 489.
Lot 418 is a colt from the Cape Cross mare Ma, a half-sister to the Group 2 winner What Can I Say, the dam of Group 2 winner Only Words and stakes winner Gibraltar Champion.
The New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale Series will begin with the Premier Sale on 31 January & 1 February. The Select Sale will run from 2 - 4 February with the Festival Sale on 6 & 7 February.
Article courtesy of NZ Bloodstock