Oaklands Stud has acquired the Group 1 winning Wicked Style for breeding duties.
Wicked Style, a son of the accomplished Macho Uno joins, Ferocity, All Bar One, Chateau Istana and Break The Vault at Oaklands Stud, at Umbiram on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
Wicked Style comes to Oaklands Stud with an imposing race record and offers the breeding industry opportunities to access some of the most valuable and successful bloodlines.
Wicked Style started 17 times, winning five and managing placings on another four occasions. All his wins were on grass and synthetic track surfaces.
His Group 1 victory came in his two-year-old season in the Lanes End Breeders Futurity (1700m) at Keeneland in 2007.
Ridden by Robby Albarado, Wicked Style showed blistering speed and led for every stride despite jumping from the extreme barrier.
The win was not out of order according to Albarado and trainer George (Rusty) Arnold, who insisted Wicked Style was one of the best of his age group.
Wicked Style’s Breeders Futurity victory was not his only black type victory. He won his first three career races with the Group 3 Arlington Washington Futurity (1600m) immediately preceding his Group 1 victory.
Arnold’s assistant Jack Bohannan said: ”We’ve always thought a lot of this horse. He had outworked some older horses. We were taking a shot here, but it was a matter of who wanted to go a mile, and we thought he did.”
Wicked Style’s was unplaced in his final race as a two-year-old was in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
”He came out of the Juvenile with a hairline fracture, and when we brought him back at 3, he looked good and everything but just didn’t run well,” said Arnold. “Turns out he had a stress fracture in another leg.”
As a four year-old, Wicked Style won twice and finished third in the Group 2 Fayette Stakes (1800m) at Keeneland and the Wellington Park Handicap, also over 1800m at Group 3 level at Arlington.
Wicked Style’s juvenile speed brought him to the attention of Oaklands Stud, which has enjoyed enormous success with speed sires in the past such as Lion Hunter, Iglesia and Tsuimai.
“His fleet-footedness as a 2yo at Group 1 level is the hallmark of an outstanding individual and that, together with his pedigree made it impossible to ignore him,” Oaklands Stud principal Neville Stewart explained.
Wicked Style is one of nine stakes winning horses by Macho Uno, the champion US two-year-old of his generation with wins including the Group 1 Breeders Cup Juvenile and Grey Stakes.
Macho Uno, a grey of 1998 was sired by Holy Bull from Primal Force by Lets Elope grand-sire Blushing Groom from the Mr Prospector mare Prime Prospect.
Macho Uno has also left stakes winners Kays and Jays (Hurricane Bertie Stakes G3), Harlem Rocker (Withers Stakes G3), Karama (Prarie Meadows Derby Listed) and Swift Victress (John Franks Memorial Stakes Listed).
Wicked Style was foaled in 2005 by Develitta, a Trempolino mare which won twice and was black-type placed in the Hollywood Park Convenience Stakes.
Develitta has left others winners Devilofarush and Wicked Uno and is from the family of the celebrated US producer Delta, whose descendants include Zabeel’s highly successful son St Reims.
Wicked Style has an intriguing blend of Nasrullah and Raise A Native blood on his paternal side through such stallions Red God, Blushing Groom and Mr Prospector.
He also has Native Dancer, Northern Dancer, Hail To Reason and Round Table on his dam’s side through the likes of Sharpen Up, Vice Regal, Halo and Danzig.