Horse Racing: Woodman, sire of Bosra Sham and Hawk Wing, is dead; BLOODSTOCK DESK.
Byline: By Amy BennettWOODMAN, sire of more than 100 stakes winners, including the outstanding Hawk Wing, was put down at Ashford Stud, Kentucky, on Thursday night. The 24-year-old had been suffering from the infirmities of old age.
A son of Mr Prospector, Woodman had more than 40 mares scanned in foal to him this season, having stood for EUR20,000, a fee he had commanded for the last three years.
Ashford's manager Dermot Ryan said: "Woodman has been a terrific servant to his shareholders and to Ashford Stud. He'll be sadly missed."
While the multiple Group 1 winner HawkWing can lay claim to being his sire's best performer in recent years, Woodman was the sire of several champions in the northern hemisphere from 19 crops.
These include the great filly Bosra Sham, outstanding juveniles Hector Protector and Mujtahid, and Hansel, winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, as well as champions in Japan, France and Canada. He also sired Preakness Stakes winner Timber Country.
Sons of Woodman have a somewhat patchy record at stud - although Timber Country, particularly in Japan, Hector Protector and Mujtahid have enjoyed plenty of success - but freshman sire HawkWing is now successfully attempting to carry on his sire's legacy.
On Wednesday, the day before Woodman's death, Hawk Wing was represented by his first stakes winner when Triskel landed the Listed Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown, and the stallion has had eight winners from his first crop.
In addition to his successes as a sire, Woodman has also proved a high-class broodmare sire, his daughters responsible for Group/Grade 1 winners such as More Than Ready, Carry On Katie, Mamool, Snow Ridge and Sutra, as well as the Australian champion Miss Finland.
Woodman made an immediate impact at stud when he retired to Ashford for the 1987 season. His first crop of 45 named foals yielded four stakes winners, most notably Hector Protector, who was unbeaten in six starts at two, including three Group 1s, and went on to win the Poule d'Essai des Poulains the following season.
That first crop also produced Mujtahid, winner of the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes, while in the US Hansel landed the Grade 2 Arlington-Washington Futurity. Those colts helped their sire to the title of leading freshman sire and leading sire of juveniles in 1990.
Such successes ensured Woodman large books each season, and the stallion's fee rose to a high of EUR100,000 in 1991. In addition to his northern hemisphere stud duties, the stallion was also a regular on the shuttle roster, standing one season in Brazil and making the trip to Australia for several years. His time spent in the southern hemisphere has yielded the winners of more than 420 races in Australia and New Zealand.
Bred by Warner L. Jones jnr and Edward A. Cox jnr in Kentucky, out of the Buckpasser mare Playmate, Woodman was offered as a yearling at the 1984 Keeneland July sale, where he was purchased by the British Bloodstock Agency for EUR3 million on behalf of Robert Sangster.
Put into training with Vincent O'Brien, Woodman quickly proved himself a smart performer. After landing a maiden over 6f at the Curragh, the chestnut colt returned to the same track to take the Group 3 Anglesey and Futurity Stakes. An air-traffic dispute prevented him from travelling to Longchamp to contest the Prix de la Salamandre.
He finished a disappointing fifth, albeit beaten only two and a half lengths, in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, but had still done enough to be named Ireland's champion juvenile. He raced only once at three, finishing third in Listed company, before embarking on his long stud career.
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| Title Annotation: | Sports |
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| Publication: | The Racing Post (London, England) |
| Date: | Jul 23, 2007 |
| Words: | 610 |
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