Feature Race | Auction | Breeding | General | Hall of Fame | Harness | Interviews | Mixed Breed | New Players | Racing | Site Updates | Steeplechasing | Steward's Cup | Triple Crown
Astonishing Pensioned at 14
Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 11 years 0 weeks agoThe uproar over the pensioning of the mighty Trafalgar had just began to abate when the cannon fired to signal that of another heavy hitter who made a huge impact on his own division since the day he first appeared on a racetrack 11 years ago.
Astonishing, the plucky bay horse who lived up to his name hung up his shingle at the age of 14 and now faces a life of leisure at Nursery Stud. He’d been a $603,000 pickup at auction for his long-time owner Mike Prevost that turned out to be one of those bargains that paid off very well. He made over $1.5 million during his racing career spent winning races on both the dirt and the all weather. Like most earlier all weather stallions, he’d been geared towards racing on the dirt before discovering he had that other talent. His sire Moon Beam won mega stakes on dirt before retiring to stud where he produced mainly dirt routers but a half dozen all weather winners as well.
Moon Beam himself was a son of Hall of Famer Five Circles who gave the world dirt routers like Hall of Famers Wonder and Piece of the Moon but also a multi-surface stud in Chretiens. Fading Star, also a Hall of Famer produced the likes of Piece of the Moon and also the famed dirt router Tot Ziens along with Moon Beam.
As far as Astonishing was concerned, a good dose of his all weather ability came from his own dam Minuit. This high stepping mare was a regally bred daughter of Hall of Famer and Jack of All Trades Conduit and the brilliant matriarch of broodmares, Now. Some of Now’s daughters like the aforementioned Wonder and Broodmare of the Year Baby produced mainly dirt runners though Baby strayed away from that set path once through her son West.
Minuit however wandered way off the beaten path by producing the likes of South American champion turned all weather sire Annihilating and Chretiens along with Champion All Weather Female Minute. She also produced Astonishing who would be one of the major forces behind the evolution of all weather routing.
He trained on the dirt to prepare to race and didn’t do too shabby so when he broke his maiden first time dirt routing, it didn’t shock many people. After a third place finish in his first stakes, he put himself on the Triple Crown Trail hoping to make some history. He won the Tremendous Stakes then finished second behind Sun Tzu in the Kentucky Blue Stakes which put him in good stead to try to make his mark in the most prestigious of races for his age group.
The Louisville Derby didn’t work well for him as he finished sixth behind Buckingham there. Things didn’t improve in the Baltimore Crown as he finished seventh in that race but in the Prince of Peace Stakes, he finished a nice second behind Jaco Pastorius. After that he blew out four nice wins straight including the Suburbia Handicap and Brooklyn Stakes the following season. He proved to be a useful dirt router though he ultimately crashed and burned in the Steward’s Cup Classic finishing 10th. That ended his career on that surface with only one more attempt made on it the rest of his career.
Next year he changed his game plan and competed on the all weather where he dominated the rest of his career. He won all nine of his starts on that surface and was chosen champion all weather older male twice. In the process, he defeated some of the future stallions of his generation in Standout, Widdo, Deserves a Shot and Magic and won the All Weather Championship (now in the Steward’s Cup as the Synthetic Classic) two years running.
He swept off to stud and soon dominated there with the stakes winning Sun Struck a half sister to the multi-surface runner Comestoanend being in that first crop. He went on to produce some major stars on the all weather surface though even at the start, it became clear his daughters would reign supreme. Led by the likes of Champion All Weather Older Female Miraculous Storm and Steward’s Cup Synthetic Matron (and should have been champion) Courageously, Astonishing would go on to become a major sire of female star performers on the racetrack and in the shed.
His daughters collectively produced 42 winners so far including 10 stakes winners. The highest earner so far being Champion All Weather Two Year Old Male Time Turner and many sires are represented in this group including Dumbledore, Dr. Ghazi, West and Yes. Even with the highest stud fee among all weather routing studs, Astonishing attracted many mares in part for his ability to sire very nice broodmares. He sired six foals in his final crop and the offspring were full or half siblings to the likes of stakes horses like Miraculous Storm, Suchanobsession and Jewel.
He’s been very fun to use to breed future broodmares who would be the hallmark of producing future all weather routers and in a few cases milers as well. His daughters cross well with most of the top all weather sires from Dr. Ghazi and Dumbledore to West so there’s plenty of options for breeding them. Even with mares without much in the way of bloodlines themselves. I sent Mi Ciao Bella (by Brave the Weather) to Astonishing and got Bella Trattoria who’s done well in the shed including through her daughter White Queen Runs. There’s just something special as a breeder of all weather routers about having broodmares with his bloodlines that’s different from other broodmare sires.
Siring a son to follow in his steps at stud proved to be somewhat more difficult for Astonishing during most of his stud career. Then along came Augmenting who was a son of the amazing Agronomist. This handsome piston of a racer won numerous stakes races including the Steward’s Cup Synthetic Marathon over his half sister Jo Jo Dancer. His first crop of runners is now yearlings and looking promising and the question begs to be asked, will his talents including siring future broodmares? With other nice broodmare sires like Fang and West either pensioned or in the twilight of their stud careers, breeders are looking for heirs apparent.
Astonishing might be finished with his stud career joining the litany of stallions sent to the sidelines but it’ll certainly be quite a bit of time until those interested in breeding and racing all weather horses hear the last of him. His legacy remains assured, his descendants of course adding to it.