First stakes winner for classic and juvenile star Power

POWER (GB) - 2009 bay horse

One of the things that we look for when assessing the future potential of any stallion is the presence or absence of successful sires in the distaff side of his family. Having no such relations does not mean that he will disappoint, and having good sires in the family is no guarantee of success, but if his family has previously thrown up at least one good stallion then it offers encouragement for the new recruit.

As a precocious and Group 1-winning juvenile who went on to take a classic at three, and who represents one of the two major branches of the powerful Danzig (by Northern Dancer) sire line, Power had plenty going for him when he retired to Coolmore Stud. The fact that his dam's classic-winning half-brother Footstepsinthesand (by Giant's Causeway) is a prolific blacktype sire with five Group/Grade 1 winners to his name adds gloss to his profile.

Power's early progeny have proved popular in the sales ring, his first runners have already yielded four winners, and one of those is dual scorer Peace Envoy (dam by Dansili), the colt who won the Listed Coolmore War Command Rochestown Stakes over six furlongs at Naas on Sunday.

Biz Power (dam by Tobougg), whose pattern-winning siblings include Group 1 scorer Biz The Nurse (by Oratorio), made a winning debut in Italy, the tragically ill-fated filly Wheneverwecan gave him a first British scorer when taking a five furlong contest at Musselburgh in early May, and the Ralph Beckett-trained gelding Pleaseletmewin (dam by Indian Ridge) won over six furlongs at Wolverhampton today.

It is hardly a surprise that Power made a quick start as he was one of the most precocious juveniles of his year. He made a winning debut over six furlongs at the Curragh in early May, added the Listed Marble Hill Stakes over five at the same venue three weeks later, and then completed a hat-trick with a narrow success in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He lost his undefeated record when beaten a neck by La Collina in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes two months later, but he bounced back to deny Dragon Pulse of victory the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh, before completing his first season with a half-length loss to Parish Hall in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes.

His three-year-old season was less consistent and it was restricted to just three starts. He beat only one home in the Group 1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, which was won by his stable companion Camelot, then took a less competitive edition of the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh, in which he beat Foxtrot Romeo by a length. He finished well-beaten when favourite for the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month, having been badly hampered over a quarter-mile from home, which was a contributing factor to the extent of his defeat, and although he was available at around 10/1 for the Group 1 July Cup shortly afterwards, he did not run again.

Power is one of more than 100 individual stakes winners sired by Banstead Manor Stud's sprint star Oasis Dream (by Green Desert) and the mixed success rate of that horse's other sons is discussed in the review of Showcasing, a rising star in the stallion ranks.

His dam Frappe (by Inchinor) is also responsible for the Grade 1 E P Taylor Stakes winner and Group 1 Irish Oaks third Curvy (by Galileo), for Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes scorer Thakafaat (by Unfuwain), and for Applauded (by Royal Applause), the winning dam of listed scorers Mirage (by Oasis Dream) and Amnesia (by Invincible Spirit), both of whom are fillies.

In addition to being a half-sister to the afore mentioned Group 1 2000 Guineas winner and successful sire Footstepsinthesand, Frappe is also a half-sister to the Group 2-placed stakes winner Belle D'Or (by Medaglia d'Oro) and to Group 1 Phoenix Stakes scorer Pedro The Great (by Henrythenavigator). That former Aidan O'Brien trainee stands at Haras De La Haie Neuve, in France, and his first progeny are yearlings.

Footstepsinthesand, who stands at Coolmore Stud, has been represented by 46 stakes winners, including Group 1 Matron Stakes heroine Chachamaidee (dam by Danehill), classic-placed mile Group 1 scorer Shamalgan (dam by Unfuwain), New Zealand Group 1 winner Steinbeck/Pure Champion (dam by Danehill), and two who have won at the highest level in South America. His 10 Group/Grade 2 scorers include the prolific Italian miler Kaspersky (dam by Grand Lodge), who added the Group 3 Premio Carlo Vittadini to his tally on Sunday, and the Gary Mandella-trained mare Living The Life (dam by Machiavellian), who won the Grade 3 All American Stakes over a mile on Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields on Monday.

Glatisant (by Rainbow Quest), the grandam of Power, won the Group 3 Prestige Stakes as a juvenile, she is out of the Group 2 Nassau Stakes heroine Dancing Rocks (by Green Dancer), and her siblings include three mares from whom pattern winners descend.

Her full-sister Rainbow Goddess is the dam of Mahler (by Galileo), the Group 3 Queen's Vase winner who was runner-up in the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster, third in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington, and is now a successful member of the Coolmore National Hunt stallion team, standing at Beeches Stud.

Pippas Song (by Reference Point) is the grandam of Lady Lara (by Excellent Art), who won a seven furlong listed contest at Newbury before going on to Grade 2 and Grade 3 success as a miler in Florida. She is now five years old, she is trained by Bill Mott, and she chased home the prolific Grade 1 star Tepin in a Grade 3 contest at Tampa Bay Downs in February.

The third of the notable sisters is Council Rock (by General Assembly), the non-winning mare who gave us the juvenile filly champion Superstar Leo (by College Chapel). A Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes winner in 2000, she was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp and in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes, and she is the dam of the dual pattern-winning sprinter Enticing (by Pivotal).

Council Rock is also notable as being the grandam of the Australian Group 1 scorer December Draw (by Medecis) and of Alexander Pope (by Danehill Dancer), the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes winner who was third behind Nathaniel in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Ascot. He was renamed Packing Tycoon when he went to Hong Kong, but did not achieve anything of note there or in New Zealand.

Power's first yearlings made up to 180,000gns in Newmarket, his breeze-up juveniles include a filly who made 100,000gns at the same venue, and it is his €125,000 Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale graduate Peace Envoy who has given him a first stakes winner. This is a promising start.

POWER (GB) – b.2009 – Oasis Dream – Frappe, 5 wins inc Irish 2000 Guineas (Gr1), National Stakes (Gr1), Coventry Stakes (Gr2), Marble Hill Stakes (L), 2nd Dewhurst Stakes (Gr1), Phoenix Stakes (Gr1). Sire in Ireland. First foals in 2014. 1 SW viz. PEACE ENVOY, etc.