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The retirement of the brilliant sprint filly Gold Edition (AUS) engendered some speculation in Australia as to what might be her ideal mate, especially as she is by a son of Danehill, which naturally rules out some of Australia's most illustrious sires.

With the help of the mating tool TrueNicks, we were able to indulge in some speculation about how the brilliant speedster might best be mated if choosing from amongst the world's leading sires. One advantage of the TrueNicks platform is that, with the comprehensive database of The Jockey Club, which gathers known foals and race results from around the world, it is able to consider true opportunity based on actual matings from all corners of the globe.

One Australian stud that looks out of court for Gold Edition, even though he has been a standout stallion, is the leading sire Encosta de Lago (AUS). Generally a solid commercial play, that son of Fairy King has so far had 17 runners out of mares by Danehill and his sons, with only one stakes winner from this cross.

Looking at local residents and shuttlers, we do come up with a few possibilities for Gold Edition. One shuttle sire who has been tried extensively with mares by Danehill and his sons, and has stood up well to the test, is the Vinery stallion More Than Ready (TrueNicks, SRO). A versatile sire, More Than Ready looks the sort to get a real speedster out of this type of mare. More Than Ready, who scores a solid A+ with Gold Edition, is a grandson of Halo, with whom Danehill has combined extremely well.

Hussonet is starting to emerge as a very useful sire under Australian conditions. The son of Mr. Prospector has done very well in South America with mares by Danzig son Royal Danzig, getting three group/graded winners, two of them at group I level. Hussonet of course has the exciting 2-year-old Reaan (AUS) out of a daughter of Danehill; the potential Hussonet/Gold Edition mating results in a TrueNicks score of A+.

Across the Tasman Sea, veteran Zabeel (NZ) has been tried extensively with Danehill-line mares, and has proved very solid, getting a B+ nick rating and tallying four group winners including the group I winning duo of Dizelle (AUS) and Vengeance Of Rain (NZ).

Tomorrow, we'll look at exciting possibilities for Gold Edition with sires in the U.S. and Europe.

Filed under: Hypothetical Matings, Mares