Lasting Fame for Royal Academy
22nd June 2007
He’s the elder statesman on the Australian roster for Coolmore Stud and at age 20, Royal Academy is moving into a new phase of his career, the sire of over 140 stakes-winners worldwide now proving influential as a sire of sires and broodmares.While other shuttle sires have come and gone at a dizzying rate, Royal Academy can lay claim to being one of the very few to achieve lasting fame in both hemispheres, his long list of superior runners featuring 19 Group One winners all over the world.
Still churning out stakes horses from his current Northern Hemisphere base of Ashford Stud in Kentucky, Royal Academy is the third leading North American sire on earnings this year according to US Bloodhorse, with 10 stakes-winners to his credit.
Apart from the continuing success of his own progeny on the track, we are now seeing the influence of Royal Academy stretch further afield with Group One stars Miss Andretti (pictured) , Cockney Rebel and Finsceal Beo all claiming a close connection to the champion son of Nijinsky.
Brilliant Australian sprinter Miss Andretti proved her credentials as the best turf sprinter in the world when she blitzed a hot field in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday and her unheralded sire Ihtiram (Royal Academy - Welsh Love, by Ela Mana Mou) is a minor stakes-winner by Royal Academy.
Miss Andretti comes from an undistinguished female family and it’s probably fair to say the class and brilliance of her grand-sire, who won the 1990Group One July Cup at Newmarket, might be in some way responsible for her incredible natural talent.
Star three year-old colt Cockney Rebel has won both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas this year and his sire Val Royal (Royal Academy - Vadlava, by Bikala) was a headliner for Royal Academy, emulating the performance of his sire by winning the Group One Breeders Cup Mile in 2001.
Val Royal received scant opportunity when shuttling to Australia for three seasons but is coming into his own in Europe where he is the third leading second crop sire behind Invincible Spirit and Rock of Gibraltar.
While Cockney Rebel has been dominating the colts Classics, Irish filly Finsceal Beo has been doing likewise against the fairer sex with wins in the English and Irish 1,000 Guineas and a close second in the French equivalent.
By the US based Gone West stallion Mr Greeley, she is out of Musical Treat (Royal Academy - Mountain Ash, by Dominion), a daughter of Royal Academy.
As a broodmare sire Royal Academy has produced over 40 stakes-winners with champion Australian sprinter Fastnet Rock (Danehill - Piccadilly Circus, by Royal Academy) his star in the Southern Hemisphere, the dual Group One winner poised for a big year in 2008 when his first yearlings hit the sale rings in Australasia.
The ball is just about to start rolling for Fastnet Rock, but for Royal Academy’s sire son Bel Esprit (Royal Academy - Bespoken, by Vain) the future is looking bright with his first crop of runners already yielding six winners including the Group Three winner Gabbidon.
Royal Academy is a great favourite with Australian breeders and yearling buyers representing value for all.
Since resuming his annual shuttling trip to Australia in 2002 after a break of two years, Royal Academy has covered five books of between 120 and 150 mares each year, his fee for all of those at $27,500, just the same as it will be this year.
His current crop of Australian juveniles includes seven winners led by Deferential, winner of the Group Two STC Pago Pago Stakes and Listed MRC Blue Diamond Preview winner Beauty School.
Royal Academy was the leading first season sire at ‘the Majors’ in 1997 when 42 of his stock averaged $86,978 with Naturalism the next best freshman with 41 selling at $66,056.
Ten years on and there have been commercial ups and downs for Royal Academy as there are for all stallions with any pretensions to commercial longevity, but his stock are still welcome at all the major sales selling for up to $300,000 this year with 34 averaging $83,574.
It seems amazing that in 1997, when he was an unknown commodity Royal Academy averaged a fraction more than he did this year, when he is now recognized as an internationally successful sire of over 140 stakes-winners.
The business of commercial thoroughbred breeding is one of the most fickle in the world where fact is often obscured by fashion, but in an ever changing landscape of sires Royal Academy has become a horse to stand the test of time.
