SLADE Power won one of his two starts as a juvenile and was a dual stakes winner at three, but it was at four and five years of age that he truly excelled, notching up six pattern wins, two of them among the most prestigious sprints in Europe, and earning a Timeform rating of 130.
Major stallions such as Mr Prospector (by Raise A Native), Storm Bird (by Northern Dancer), Rainbow Quest (by Blushing Groom), Danzig (by Northern Dancer), and Last Tycoon (by Try My Best) do not appear until the fourth generation of his pedigree chart, and so those seeking to avoid any close inbreeding will have lots of possibilities to consider for him from among their mares.
Slade Art is one of two Group 1 winners who represented the Cheveley Park Stud stallion Dutch Art (by Medicean) in 2014, and he represents a branch of the strong Machiavellian (by Mr Prospector) sire line.
He is one of the first stallion sons of his sire and he is the best horse out of the five-furlong winner Girl Power (by Key Of Luck). His half-sister Cool Power (by Verglas) won over seven furlongs, the same distance over which his distant relation The Big Beast (by Yes It’s True) won the Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes last August.
His dam’s full-sister Key Rose was placed three times over five furlongs as a juvenile, won over six at Fairyhouse, and was third in the Listed Flame Of Tara Stakes at the Curragh, also over six furlongs.
That filly later won over a mile in the USA, although her daughter M’Selle (by Elnadim) was a five-furlong specialist as a two-year-old, winning over that trip at Lingfield and Ffos Las in 2013, the first success coming on her debut that March.
Rumuz (by Marju), who is the grandam of Slade Power, was placed over six furlongs at the Curragh, and in addition to Girl Power and Key Rose she is the dam of last year’s juvenile winner Padlock (by Key Of Luck), of the Curragh and Dundalk five-furlong scorer Good To Follow (by Kyllachy), and of the prolific Empirical Power.
A son of Second Empire (by Fairy King), he cost just 4,000gns as a yearling but went on to earn well over €100,000 for Slade Power’s connections and his six wins, included a seven-furlong premier handicap at Leopardstown and a four-length defeat of the speedy Snaefell over six furlongs at Cork.
His tally was matched by his dam’s half-brother Libk (by Kalaglow), a stakes-placed middle-distance horse but it was beaten both by Slade Power’s 10 wins and by the 11 notched up by Libk’s half-brother Hormuz (by Hamas), the latter all in the eight to 10 furlong range.
LOTS OF WINNERS
It is a family that has a long history of getting lots of winners, some of them prolific, and many of them effective below a mile.
Slade Power is easily the best horse in the first three generations of his family but, as noted above, he is not the only top-level winner that this distaff line has produced.
Last year’s Grade 1 King’s Bishop Stakes winner The Big Beast is a grandson of Singing Heart (by Palace Music) and she, in turn, is a stakes-winning daughter of Amazing Love (by Advocator), the multiple blacktype winning full-sister to Slade Power’s third dam and Group 3 Premio Primi Passi heroine Balqis.
Their half-sister Gueniviere (by Prince John), who was Grade 3-placed in the USA, also has a Grade 1-winning descendant as her star sons were the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby winner Slew The Dragon (by Seattle Slew) and the Grade 2 Saranac Stakes scorer Slew The Knight (by Seattle Slew), both of whom sired winners from somewhat limited opportunities, as did their pattern-placed full-brother Seattle Knight.
At his peak Slade Power was one of the best sprinters of recent years, and this dual Group 1 star, who represents a major sire line and comes from the family of Grade 1 winners and winner-getting sires, looks sure to be very popular in his new role.
SLADE POWER (IRE)
Race record: Winner of 10 races, from 2-5 years, over 5-6f inc July Cup, Gr.1, Diamond Jubilee Stakes, Gr.1, British Champions Sprint Stakes, Gr.2, Greenlands Stakes, Gr.3, Sapphire Stakes, Gr.3, Phoenix Sprint Stakes, Gr.3, Belgrave Stakes, L, Sandy Lane Stakes, L; 2nd Sprint Cup, Gr.1; 3rd July Cup, Gr.1, Greenlands Stakes, Gr.3, etc.
Stud record: Retires to stud in 2015.
Stands at: Kildangan Stud, Monasterevin, Co Kildare. Contact: Gerry Duffy, Eamon Moloney or Anthony O’Donnell on 045 527600
Email: hello@darley.co.uk
Website: www.darleyeurope.com
Fee: €20,000 1st Oct SLF