MORE Than Ready son Perfectly Ready will be crowned New Zealand’s Champion First Season Sire when the curtain comes down the 2010/11 racing and breeding year in two days time.

The first crop son of More Than Ready was, at various times, in danger of surrendering the title to Danehill son Darci Brahma but five individual stakes horses carried him across the line to what was an emphatic victory.

In doing so, Perfectly Ready emulated More Than Ready who was pronounced Champion First Season Sire in Australia after the 2004/5 season.

More Than Ready went on to become Australia’s Champion Sire of 2YO’s on not one but two occasions siring the likes of Golden Slipper winner’s Sebring (now at stud) and Phelan Ready (Magic Millions winner) among others.

Perfectly Ready, the 2006 Group 1 Goodwood winner and Blue Diamond Stakes place getter at 2, stands at Nick and Ann-Marie’s Brighthill Farm outside of Hamilton.

“We recognise how hard it is to win any premiership, let alone anything relating to two-year-olds in this country,” Nick King said today.

“I’m excited to see those excellent first crop horses come back as three-year-olds,” said King referring to the likes of Beejay Belle (Gr.2-placed), Queen Boudicca (Gr.2-placed), Brackenwood (LR-placed), Precise (LR-placed) and Isle Be Ready (LR-placed in Australia) amongst Perfectly Ready’s first crop.

King is convinced that Perfectly Ready’s second crop is every bit as good as the first.

“One thing I would like to stress is the consistency of his crops in both quality and numbers,” King said, pointing to the fact that Perfectly Ready has covered 120 to 150 mares in each of his four years at stud to date.

Most pundits had rightly predicted the outcome of the Champion Freshman race to be a battle between Perfectly Ready and highly regarded Darci Brahma.

“Congratulations to Nick and Ann-Marie, they’ve done a great job with the stallion and made sure that he received a good book of mares,” says Vinery’s Adam White.
“Brighthill placed Perfectly Ready’s yearlings extremely well across the Karaka sales series and they sold accordingly.”

“I think part of the key to Perfectly Ready’s success lies with his sire.   The fact that More Than Ready is one of the most successful source of stakes winning two-year-olds anywhere in the world (he is the reigning USA Champion Sire of 2YO’s), it’s no real surprise that they came out running,” White commented.

The chances of his stock training-on seem assured, says White, given that Perfectly Ready’s highlight performance on the racetrack came as an ‘older horse.’

“We are accustomed to More Than Ready’s winning stakes races at seven and eight here in Australia and black type races up to 2400m. Throw in the fact that you have so many of those very stout, tough, NZ mares that he covered, and there is plenty of evidence that they’ll go onwards and upwards from here.”

Perfectly Ready’s triumphant beginning to his stud career is sure to have a flow on effect when future More Than Ready colts are offered for sale.

“The residual value for colts by proven ‘sires of sires’ is considerable, Redoute’s Choice is a case in point.  Now that a first crop son of More Than Ready’s is a the Champion First Season Sire, there is no doubt buyers will be thinking about what opportunities exist after the races,” White said.

“They are not just buying a potential stakes winner anymore.”