Highly favoured to meet with success as sire is Valixir, an imported world class miler resident at Fred Peisah’s Lomar Park stud, one at Werombi in the foothills of the Blue Mountains near Sydney which has consistently produced good winners for forty years.
Successful sires who have preceded Valixir, a sire represented by first crop yearlings at the 2010 Inglis Sydney Classic sale, at Lomar Park who have sired Group 1 winners have been Le Cordonnier (GB), Steel Pulse (GB), Mister C (USA) and the still very active Danehill sire Arena. Another very good source of winners used at Lomar Park has been Archregent, a sire who has gained posthumous fame as the sire of the dam of Takeover Target.
As a big percentage of the winners by these sires have been reared on Lomar Park, it is worth noting the impressive strike rate – winners to runners – of the stud’s sires who have completed their careers. Archregent leads the way with 82.8% and is followed by Le Cordonnier 73.9%, Mister C 69.5% and Steel Pulse (a stayer) 67.4%.
Le Cordonnier and Steel Pulse were quality European performers, but not as good as newcomer Valixir. This son of Trempolino, a Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner by the influential Native Dancer grandson Sharpen Up, showed superior ability in Europe at two, three and four, including in his successes wins over Australian visitors Starcraft and Elvstroem.
His best year was at four, but prior to that he followed two wins at 1200m, including one by 3.5 lengths on debut, and a Group 3 (to champion of the year Bago) third in three starts at two with high grade performances in France in his six appearances at three.
His Classic year campaign saw him win three stakes, including the historic Prix Eugene Adam-Gr.2 (all the way), finish third in two Group1s, one them in the French Derby, a race in which he made up a lot of ground in the straight and got beaten under a three-quarter length, and tenth of 19 as one of the most fancied runners in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
At four Valixir raced seven times for five Group event cheques, including wins in the Royal Ascot Queen Anne Stakes-Gr.1 (1600m, by 1.5 lengths from a European champion miler, Rakti, followed by Starcraft) and Longchamp Prix d’Ispahan-Gr.1 (1850m, by two lengths from Elvstroem) and Maisons-Laffitte Prix Messidor-Gr.3 (1600m, scored easily under top weight of 61.5ks).
A review of his win as second favourite in the 2005 renewal of the Queen Anne, one of Europe’s great mile races and one annexed three years later by the Coolmore Australian entry Haradasun, underlines what a good horse Valixir was.
The commentary described the field as “a thoroughly international line up, dominated by horses at this level.” Further on it said of Valixir “some horse he was indeed in 2005, a match for the very best that could by mustered at around the mile. At the end of 2005, Valixir was assessed the best 4-year-old miler for European racing, the second best older miler in Europe and equal sixth best older northern hemisphere miler.
