English National Stud sire Dick Turpin will shuttle to Mungrup Stud for the 2012 southern season. He has been hand-picked to stand at Gray and Jan Williamson’s leading West Australian nursery.
Mungrup Stud is the industry leader in the Sunspeed State. Stravinsky sire Oratorio (Aus) tops the price list for stallions in the west and he also heads a roster that includes up-and-coming sires Danehill Express and Due Sasso.
The most recent high-profile arrival to the Great Southern has been Hala Bek (Halling) who finished a half-length fourth in Sir Percy’s English Derby. His first crop will be offered at the 2013 Perth Magic Millions.
Dick Turpin (5g Arakan – Merrily by Sharrood) emerged from Richard Hannon’s Wiltshire stables in the summer of 2009 for wins at Windsor and Salisbury by a combined 10 lengths.
Stepping straight up to G2 company in the Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, he was sooled to the front by Richard Hughes and stormed clear to score by six lengths. “He seemed to be in a different gear,” Hannon admitted. “He’s very, very good, the best I’ve had for a very long time.”
The Richmond roll-call includes 1948 winner Star Kingdom. Hannon won it for the first time in 1992 and he’s dominated the last four with Prolific, Dick Turpin, Libranno and Harbour Watch.
Hannon also prepared another stakes winning two year-old well known to WA breeders. The year before Son Pardo won the Richmond in 1992, Hannon prepared Bletchley Park to win the LR Sirenia Stakes at Kempton Park.
Bletchley Park (Caerleon) died in February 2011 but not before he overhauled Jevington as the most successful winner-getter to ever stand in Western Australia. The winners are still ticking over and at last count he has sired 406 winners of 1303 races at a 61% strike-rate.
“Dick Turpin was G2 winning two year-old and that should mean he really appeals to breeders,” Hannon said. “We always thought a lot of him at home and he proved it time and time again.”
Dick Turpin returned at three to beat stablemate Canford Cliffs first-up in the G3 Greenham Stakes and from then on Hannon kept him strictly in Group 1 company.
After seconds in the French and English 2000 Guineas, he returned to Paris to score an explosive victory in the G1 Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly. He turned the tables on French classic winner Lope De Vega winning by four lengths geared down by Hughes.
In his final season as a four year-old, Dick Turpin again impressed with a strong late charge to snatch victory from fellow British raider Cityscape in the G1 Premio Vittorio Di Capua in Milan.
Cityscape franked that formline with a four length victory in the G1 Dubai Duty Free at the World Cup meeting at Meydan on Saturday night.
“Dick Turpin’s great turn of foot served him so well in both of his Group 1 victories,” Hannon said. “He was a genuine racehorse and the gamble in keeping him in training last year was admirably rewarded.”
Dick Turpin (Ire) is currently serving his first northern book at the English National Stud on the outskirts of Newmarket. His sire Arakan was a homebred for the Niarchos Family and won up to G3 level at Goodwood and Newmarket. It’s the Nureyev branch of the Northern Dancer sireline that’s found success in this part of the world through Stravinsky.
“We were looking for a stud that would support the horse with a solid sales record to give his progeny the best possible chance in Australia,” National Stud managing director Brian O’Rourke said. “We’ve found that with Gray and Jan at Mungrup Stud.
“Dick Turpin was a fantastic racehorse, tough and versatile. He will offer a great opportunity to commercial breeders in both hemispheres.”
