One of the most valuable sires in Australia in the past 20 years for transmission of ability and quality has been the local champion Rubiton, one who has made his presence felt in the past week as source of winners, broodmare sire and a sire of sires.
A son of the Better Boy (IRE) Australian juvenile and sprint star and champion sire Century, also sire of New Zealand’s good influence Centaine, Rubiton was a magnificent racehorse who won ten of 16 starts, including major stakes in Melbourne, the Cox Plate, Futurity Stakes, Mackinnon Stakes, Underwood Stakes, Manikato Stakes, J.F. Feehan Stakes and Memsie Stakes. Like his sire, he was a very handsome athletic looking near black stallion.
Other than an initial brief sojourn at media personality Michael Willesee’s short lived Trans Media Park stud near Cootamundra, New South Wales, Rubiton spent his stud life at the Campbell’s Blue Gum Farm, Euroa, Victoria.
Deceased at 22 in late November 2005, Rubiton to date has supplied just under 500 winners of 1770 races and $46million. Heading his seven million dollar earners has been gelded Cox Plate hero Fields of Omagh. He won the Cox Plate twice and was minor placed in the race on two other occasions..
Represented by winners on Saturday at Moonee Valley (last crop 3-year-old Rue Maple) and Morphetteville (5-year-old Silky Smooth), Rubiton has had earners of $2.3million in 2009-10.
He has gone to be a formidable broodmare sire, being represented by 300 winners of 880 races. The best racehorse out of them has been one of the few horses to throw away from him, the Secret Savings MRC Futurity Stakes and VRC Australian Guineas winner Dash for Cash. Based at Adam Sangster’s Swettenham Stud at Nagambie, Dash for Cash is now one of Victoria’s prominent sires, supplying 79 winners of 120 races and earners of $2.5million for 2009-10.
Two other sires out of Rubiton mares who have had winners in the past year have been King of Danes, a resident at Malniri Park, Freemans Reach, Hawkesbury Valley, and Golden Lake, a very lightly used sire based at Rivers End stud, Wellington, South Australia.
An unraced son of the Danehill Golden Slipper winner Danzero, Golden Lake is the sire of the promising second crop 2-year-olds Aetos, one who has was having her third start when she scored by five lengths at Morphettville on Saturday.
A tragedy of the Rubiton influence has been neglect of his sons as sires. The only two currently active appear to be Adam, a leading sprinter – miler at High Lane Farm, Euroa, Victoria, and Buriton, an incumbent of Eric and Pam Goughs’ Stuart Town stud at Stuart Town, central western New South Wales.
A winner of five of 12 outings, including two wins each in Sydney and Melbourne, and second in the AJC Brian Crowley Stakes, Buriton is a rare sire in that he can claim a 100% juvenile strike rate for 2009-10. His only juvenile runner for the year, War Empress, made a promising debut when successful at Gosford last week.
War Empress is a sister to War Emperor (won Sydney and Newcastle) and Bo Cossack (three starts included a win and a second at Newcastle).They appear a good example of Buriton upgrading a mare as none of the first four dams won and they produced only modest winners.
