A Closer Look at a Shuttle King

This week we’re taking a ‘closer look’ at the most travelled shuttle stallion in the world, who at age 23 has handed in his passport and for the first time since 2001 will not be coming to Australia this spring.

He is of course Vinery Stud’s remarkable sire More Than Ready (USA), whose appetite for travel is second only to his appetite for mares with excellent libido and an impeccable constitution making him the perfect shuttle stallion.

The sire of 202 stakes-winners worldwide, he is another shuttler like Danehill, who achieved success first here in the Southern Hemisphere and then later on in the US.

He was the Champion Australian First Season Sire for 2004/2005 with 17 winners highlighted by six stakes-winners including G1 winner Carry on Cutie with an additional five other stakes-placed performers.

Think about that in terms of this season’s first season sires and you can understand why More Than Ready was immediately hailed a superstar sire in the making and in all honesty an unexpected success given his profile.

A Group I winning dirt track sprinter, More Than Ready is by champion Argentinian sire Southern Halo from a daughter of Woodman, who shuttled here for five seasons between 1997 and 2001, but did not endear himself to breeders, achieving only modest success.

On face value, that’s hardly a textbook recipe for success, but nothing about More Than Ready is textbook.

While he never won beyond seven furlongs, his offspring have proven precocious and fast, but also tough and versatile with classic winners scattered through his full list of 89 Southern Hemisphere bred stakes-winners that we will look at in the table below.