Serienholde the third Group 1 star for Soldier Hollow

SERIENHOLDE (GER) - 2013 bay filly

It may seem hard to believe now, especially to those who have only been a part of the industry since the turn of the century, but there was a time when there was doubt about the potential of Sadler's Wells (by Northern Dancer) to leave a lasting legacy.

Even when Salsabil swept the Group 1 classic treble of 1000 Guineas, Oaks and Irish Derby, for example, there were some who claimed that he was not a good sire of fillies, and as the 1990s were coming to an end there were more of his sons disappointing at stud than were succeeding, and it seemed that only In The Wings had a shot at extending the male line in this part of the world, with Fort Wood potentially doing it in South Africa and El Prado in the USA.

In The Wings was his sire's best stallion son in Europe, but as we now know, all of his achievements at stud have been overtaken by Montjeu and Galileo. The former, one of the world's leading sires of Derby-type horses, has a few sons who are getting Group 1 horses, but it is unclear if his male line might extend much further. Galileo, on the other hand, is forging a dynasty and is arguably an even greater progenitor than was Sadler's Wells, something that most, if not all, of who those were around the for entirety of his career did not expect to see in their lifetimes.

Galileo and Montjeu are more current than In The Wings, who died in 2004, and so may more easily come to mind in discussions of the impact of Sadler's Wells's stallion sons in this part of the world, but he remains one of his sire's most successful and influential representatives.

He has not had many stallion sons, and most of them have sired at least one stakes or pattern winner, but the Group 1 stars Singspiel, Adlerflug and Soldier Hollow have excelled at stud. The first-named failed to get an important stallion son, leaving his influence to be carried on via his daughters, but the other pair are German-based stallions of note, albeit still at somewhat early stages of their careers.

Adlerflug, who comes from the family of Galileo and Sea The Stars (by Cape Cross), stands at Gestüt Harzburg and his eldest progeny are five years old. His early standouts include Group 1 star and likely future sire Ito; the Group 2-winning colt Iquitos, who was a close fourth to Elliptique in a Group 1 event at Munich recently; Group 1-placed pattern-winning filly Wunder; and several other blacktype scorers.

Soldier Hollow, who is a few years older, began his career at Gestüt Röttgen, he is a member of the team at Gestüt Auenquelle since 2011, and he got his third Group 1 winner when Serienholde took the Group 1 Henkel Preis der Diana (German Oaks) over 11 furlongs at Düsseldorf on Sunday. Gestüt Wittekindshof's lightly-raced filly is trained by Andreas Wöhler.

One of 17 stakes winners for her sire, she joins the triple Group 1 stars Ivanhowe and Pastorius at the top of his roll of honour. The first-named has raced in several countries, runs under Our Ivanhowe in Australia, and was most recently in action when taking the 10-furlong Group 1 Doomben Cup in May. Group 1 Deutsches Derby hero Pastorius, on the other hand, stands at Gestüt Fährhof and will have some of his first progeny on offer during newly starting yearling sales season.

Serienholde is out of the Listed Diana-Trial runner-up Saldenehre (by Highest Honor), and although her half-sister Serienhoehe (by High Chaparral) missed out on classic placing when fourth in the 2009 edition of the Group 1 Preis der Diana, that filly went into the race with Group 3 and listed success to her name. That sibling's first foal is the multiple winner Shining Rules (by Aussie Rules), who finished down the field in last year's Group 1 Deutsches Derby.

She is also a half-sister to Serienschock (by Sholokhov). He won just once on the flat but is an effective jumper who has been a Grade 3 winner at Auteuil, listed scorer at Enghien and Cagnes-sur-Mer, and the latter, which was in January, preceded a fourth-place finish behind Thistlecrack in the Grade 1 Liverpool Stayers' Hurdle in April.

Saldenehre is a daughter of the nine-furlong listed scorer Salde (by Alkalde) and that makes her a half-sister to a string of notable individuals.

Saldenschwinge (by In The Wings), who is closely related to Serienholde, won the Group 3 Deutscher Stutenpreis over 12 furlongs and the Group 3 Hamburger Stutenpreis over 11, the races in which she was placed included the Group 2 Deutsches St Leger, which is over 14 furlongs, and her Markus Klug-trained son Swinging Duke (by Duke Of Marmalade) was a listed scorer over 11 furlongs at Düsseldorf in April.

Salden Licht (by Fantastic Light) won a listed contest in France, Saldennahe (by Next Desert) got her listed success in Italy, Saltas (by Lomitas) was runner-up in the Group 1 Rheinland-Pokal, and Saldentigerin (by Tiger Hill) has the distinction of being both a champion on the track and the dam of one at stud.

Only beaten a head when favourite for the Group 3 Premio Dormello as a juvenile, Saldentigerin kicked off her classic campaign with listed success over 11 furlongs at Cologne, suffered a shock defeat by Amarette in the Group 3 Schwarzgold-Rennen a few weeks later, and then finished a three-quarter length third behind that same filly in the Group 1 Preis der Diana, a month before taking fourth (no blacktype) behind Shirocco in the Group 1 Deutsches Derby.

The best of her form after that included a half-length defeat by Albanova in the Group 1 Preis von Europa and victory in the Group 3 Baden Wurttemberg-Trophy, the latter on her final start as a four-year-old. Seven years later her daughter Salomina (by Lomitas) beat subsequent Group 1 star Nymphea by three and a half lengths to take the Group 1 Preis der Diana.

Saldentigerin is also the dam of the pattern-placed stakes-winning stayer Salut (by Lomitas), and her current juvenile is a colt named See The Tiger (by Sea The Stars).

Salde, the grandam of Serienholde, was out of the three-times scorer Saite (by Marduk). That made her a half-sister to two listed-placed multiple winners, but two of her other siblings are of more interest.

Sweet Royale (by Garde Royale), who won twice, is the dam of Group 2 Grosser Mercedes-Benz Preis scorer Sweet Wake (by Waky Nao), while four-times winner Sweet Tern (by Arctic Tern) is the dam of Group 3 Preis der Winterkönigin winner and German juvenile champion Sworn Pro (by Protektor).

Sweet Tern is also responsible for Sworn Mum (by Samum), who is the stakes-placed dam of last season's Grade 3 The Ladbroke Hurdle winner and Grade 3 Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle third Sternrubin (by Authorized). His full-brother Summer Paradise was not beaten by far when fourth (no blacktype) in a Group 2 contest at Cologne last summer, but was unplaced in both the Group 1 Deutsches Derby and Group 2 Derby Italiano.

Also of note is Sworn Sold (by Soldier Hollow). That dual stakes winner was unplaced in Salomina's Group 1 Preis der Diana, and her first foal is the Lawman (by Invincible Spirit) colt catalogued as Lot 318 at next week's Arqana Deauville August Yearling Sale.

With just a handful of runs behind her so far, it is hard to know just how good Serienholde will be when she reaches her peak, but as a Soldier Hollow filly from a top German family it would be no surprise to see her move quite a bit further up the rankings before going on to what could eventually be a notable career at stud.