Emperor setting the standard

By Alan Conway

As the Irish flat season begins to click into top gear it is the time of year when the pecking order among first season sires begins to take shape. One sire in particular has laid down a marker for his rivals in much the same way as he did on the track. His name is Holy Roman Emperor. A regally bred son of Danehill, Holy Roman Emperor has raced into the lead for the freshman’s sires championship siring a number of promising two-year-olds including High Award, who won the opening two-year-old race at the Curragh in March and Catherineofaragon a recent winner at Dundalk.

A small, well-rounded and well-developed horse Holy Roman Emperor was bred to be a champion. Not only was he by champion sire Danehill he was out of L’On Vite who herself was out of champion racemare Fanfreluche. He also had the race record to back up his blue-blooded pedigree. A dual Group 1 winner as a two-year-old who showed a tremendous turn of foot in his races he was never given the chance to fulfil his undoubted potential as a three-year-old as he was pulled from Ballydoyle to replace the sub fertile George Washington at Coolmore Stud. At the time his trainer Aidan O’Brien could barely contain his disappointment “We were shell-shocked about it here because Holy Roman Emperor was our best horse. He was the horse we were looking forward to for the Guineas and the St James’s Palace.”

The Emperor took the Phoenix Stakes and the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère in a stellar two-year-old season. For many horses that would have been the prelude to a successful three-year-old campaign. He was the only horse of his year that could live with the champion juvenile Teofilo. The finish that the two fought out in Dewhurst at Newmarket was one of the best finishes seen in the race. Many people, including Aidan O’Brien, were confident that if the pair ever met again his charge would have the beating of Teofilo. In the end neither of the two horses would see the race track again. Holy Roman Emperor would have to forge his legacy in the breeding shed and not on the track. His first book of mares befitted the horse’s name. It was a book fit for an emperor. Some of the mares that visited him in his first season included Starlight Dreams, dam of fellow Coolmore stallion Mastercraftsman, Tarascon and Nightime, who both won the Irish 1000 Guineas.

I had the privilege to see Holy Roman Emperor at his home in Coolmore. The first thing that strikes you when you see him is his size. At 15.2 hands he is not as imposing as a Galileo or a Montjeu. He is a ball of a horse. There is not much of him but there is great power within his small frame. He has a real athletic walk to him and he strides out with great purpose. He has imparted these traits onto his progeny. They are not over big but they are racy types with plenty of talent to match their looks.

It was clear that when his first crop hit the sales ring people had not forgotten just what a good racehorse Holy Roman Emperor was. The average price for his yearlings was 60,000 euro. The top price paid for one of his first yearlings was 450,000 euro which Demi O’Byrne paid on behalf of the Coolmore owners. The filly, out of Starlight Dreams who is called Queen Of Spain is now in training with Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle.

Even though his racing career came to an abrupt end all the signs point to Holy Roman Emperor becoming a successful stallion, particularly a sire of two-year-olds in the years to come. For a fee of 17,500 euro he could be good value at the moment, especially if his first crop continues in the same vein that they have started the season.

The highest rated two-year-old by Danehill has a lot to live up to when compared to some of his sire’s sons. There is no reason however that Holy Roman Emperor will not rule all one day.

By Alan Conway