A great favourite in Australia for many years, Danehill Dancer was retired from
stud duties three years ago at Coolmore in Ireland and died at age 24 earlier
this year.One might have thought his tally of elite winners was complete, but no.
Run in atrocious wet conditions, the Andrew Balding trained Here Comes When finished too well for the favourite Ribchester (Iffraaj) to win the one mile contest by a neck.
"Here Comes When won two Group Two's as a four-year-old and has always been a handy horse, but he needs these conditions. We were lucky the race fell away a little bit, but you still have to run to a very good level to win it, which he did. It's one of my more improbable Group One triumphs, but he was 20-1, so not completely without a chance," said Andrew Balding.
One of 172 stakes-winners worldwide for Danehill Dancer, Here Comes When has won eight of 29 starts and is from the Group III winning Spinning World mare Quads Melody.
Danehill Dancer shuttled to Australia for 12 seasons, his fee initially a
modest $7,500 before the likes of Choisir and Private Steer put his name in
lights.Success followed in the Northern Hemisphere and Danehill Dancer has gone on to become an influential sire through his sire sons such as such as Choisir and Mastercraftsman and his many daughters at stud who have left multiple Group I winners Minding, Alice Springs, The Ghurka and in Australia, Group I winner Music Magnate.
His sireline receives a new boost this spring with Choisir's Group I winning son Divine Prophet (pictured below) , a quality addition for Aquis Farm in the Hunter Valley.
