HURRICANE STATE[USA]

Two more stallions arrive
By Anil Mukhi 

May 25, 2006

Subsequent to our previous item, a further pair of stallions has arrived in India recently and both will take up duties at the Brar owned Dashmesh and Hargobind Stud.
HURRICANE STATE[USA] (Chestnut 1994 by Miswaki - Regal State, by Affirmed) is to be the replacement at the Punjab-based Dashmesh Stud for their incumbent, Local Talent, who has reportedly been "under a cloud" due to the infirmities of old age. The grandson of Mr.Prospector thus becomes the third new stallion in this part of the country in 2006, after Epicentre and Sussex, and will stand along with Inner City. 

Incidentally, he is the only one of the half a dozen newcomers to India this term to have previously stood as a stallion prior to being relocated.

Bred in Kentucky by Clovelly Farms, Hurricane State was sent as a youngster to the Manton stables of Peter Chapple-Hyam, then the resident trainer for the Sangster family. 

Just nosed out of a win on his 2-y-o debut, he made no mistake in a Goodwood maiden over 6 furlongs in September, showing speed when making all to triumph by 5 lengths. This earned him a trip to the Middle Park Stakes (Gr.1), where he ran well to be beaten just 3 lengths by Bahamian Bounty. Pattern Race honours followed when Hurricane State was shipped across to France, where Walter Swinburn, Jr., guided him to a neck victory in the Group 3 Prix Eclipse over 1300 m. at Deauville in the colours of the late Robert Sangster.

Soft going in the 1300 m. Criterium des Deux Ans (Gr.2) at Every, also in France, the following month proved to be his undoing and he finished third. Unfortunately, Hurricane State failed to train on and made a further dozen starts in Italy, England and North America at 3, 4 and 5 years without recapturing his form.

Retired to Legacy Farm in Bluemont, Virginia, U.S.A., Hurricane State attracted only a few mares and is recorded as having just about a dozen named foals in his first five crops, three of which have won, with gross earnings amounting to $ 56,411 at the time of writing.

The chestnut is a half brother to Breeders Cup Classic, Gr.1, winner Pleasantly Perfect - both being out of the speedy high class juvenile Regal State (Prix Morny, Gr.1) - and is from the female family of Pia, Chief Singer and Distant View.

SUNDAY DOUBT [USA] (Black/Brown 2001 by Sunday Silence - Pas De Reponse, by Danzig) was a late arrival and current plans are that he will not cover any mares until the breeding season of 2007. The property of Dashmesh Stud, he will stand at their establishment at Sarai Nanga, near Muktsar, Punjab, where he will be barn-mate to Inner City, Hurricane State and their 2005 acquisition, Valid Concept. 

SUNDAY DOUBT [USA]

A home-bred from the Wertheimer breeding operation, Sunday Doubt is the product of an interesting experiment where a top French-owned broodmare was sent to Japan to be covered by 
the great and much-missed Sunday Silence, a phenomenon who has almost single-handedly raised the profile of the Japanese-bred to world standards.

Retained for racing, the Kentucky-bred near-black colt was sent to the Wertheimers' regular trainer Mme. Christiane Head-Maarek at Chantilly, France, where he was a stablemate of Inhabitant. He made just one start at 2, when third in a back-end Saint-Cloud maiden. The following spring, after an unplaced effort, Sunday Doubt broke his maiden when annexing the Prix des Arts et Metiers over 1400 m. at Longchamp. 

Stepped up instantly to Classic company, he was not disgraced when last of seven in the 1600 m. Poule d'Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas, Gr.1, finishing five lengths behind the winner, American Post, in a race marked by drama concerning the antics of Antonius Pius (now a Coolmore stallion). Sunday Doubt's starting price of 33-1 suggests not too much was expected from him on this occasion.

The colt maintained his progress by gaining his first stakes victory in the 1400m. Prix du Pont Neuf (Listed) at Longchamp on June 17th. Just 10 days later, on the Juddmonte - Grand Prix de Paris undercard, Sunday Doubt put up the best performance of his career when beaten a short head and nose in the Group 3 Prix de la Porte Maillot over the same course and distance. For this effort, he was rated 108 by Racing Post.

Second favourite for the Prix du Pin, Gr.3, on the same track in September, Sunday Doubt bid adieu to racing in France with an unplaced effort, perhaps the result of being inconvenienced by the soft ground.

His dam, Pas De Reponse, was a top class juvenile, with her best effort being her victory in the Shadwell Stud Cheveley Park Stakes, Gr.1, at Newmarket. She is a half-sister to Classic winner Green Tune (sire in France) and Didyme (sire in Korea) and hails from the same family as Storm Bird, Northernette and current prominent 3-y-o in the U.S.A., A.P. Warrior.

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New stallions arrive