OBSERVATORY MAKES AN EYE CATCHING START
Article taken from The Irish Field, Sire Reviews by Dr Sieglinde McGee
OBSERVATORY had his best year as a stallion in 2008 when he was represented by two multiple Group 1 performers.
His daughter African Rose won the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock and was runner-up to sprint champion Marchand D'Or in the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, beaten only three-quarters of a length.
His star son is Twice Over, the Group 3 Craven Stakes winner who added the Group 2Prix Eugene Adam, finished third behind Henrythenavigator in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes and then chased home Derby hero New Approach in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Newmarket.
This notable pair feature among eight individual stakes winners sired by OBSERVATORY and when a stallion can get horses like these then he has proven his ability. He has done it twice and he could do it again, many more times.
OBSERVATORY the racehorse is best remembered for the day he beat Giant's Causeway in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Royal Ascot but it should not be forgotten that he was also a precocious two-year-old and a Group 1 winner at the age of four.
He had been a debut winner over six furlongs at Yarmouth in June of his two-year-old season and, though disappointing when fourth behind subsequent Group 1 scorer Primo Valentino in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes in September, he bounced back to take a competitive conditions sprint at Yarmouth on his final start.
OBSERVATORY chased home Shibboleth in a seven-furlong listed contest on his seasonal reappearance but then ran out a clear winner of both the Group 3 Jersey Stakes and Group 3 Lennox Stakes, seven-furlong contests at Royal Ascot and Goodwood respectively. His first attempt at a mile saw him get within a length of beating Medicean in the Group 2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood; a month later he won the QEll, putting up one of the best performances of the year over that distance.
OBSERVATORY ran only twice more, both as a four year-old. He won the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan over nine furlongs at Longchamp and then finished fourth behind Fantastic Light in the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes over a furlong further at Royal Ascot.
His peak rating had reached 126, a proper Group 1-calibre mark, and this makes him the star son of his sire Distant View (by Mr Prospector).
That stallion had been narrowly beaten by Grand Lodge in the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Ascot but then beat Barathea to win the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
OBSERVATORY is a half-brother to middle-distance Group 2 winner High Praise (by Quest For Fame) but is the best son of Stellaria (by Roberto), a precocious juvenile who won the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes over six furlongs at Newbury.
Her Grade 2-placed half brother Bucksplasber (by Buckpasser) sired some talented horses in America but the fact that there are no major winners in the immediate branches of the family - plentyof stakes horses though - suggest that OBSERVATORY got his speed and talents directly from his parents.
He has made an eye-catching start to his stallion career, already has a first Group 1 winner under his belt, and we can expect to see his tally of individual stakes winners enter double figures this year.
Date: 21 March 2009