A great result today for deceased sire END SWEEP (Forty Niner - Broom Dance by Dance Spell)when his 3 year old daughter CLEAN SWEEP won the G1 $300,000 Coupland's Bakeries Two Thousand Guineas (1600m) in New Zealand. Purchased by Paul Moroney (as agent) at the 2003 New Zealand Premier Sale for just NZ$20,000 Clean Sweep has had 11 starts for 4 wins and a second and more than $400,000 in prize money.

I should disclose at this point that I also own an End Sweep filly so I am perhaps more interested than most in how the stallion's progeny perform each week. Beyond mere interest however, today's result is pleasing from the perspective of 'trends'. In the US, End Sweep set a few trends - champion first crop sire in 1998 and all sorts of records for number of stakes winners in his freshman year etc etc. In Australia the trend has been (unfortunately) the exact opposite - far from gracing the top of the charts his progeny have been largely disappointing. In fact, had End Sweep not met an untimely death in 2003, one wonders how long it would have been before his $30,000 service fee took a significant dip or (worse) he was quietly hidden in the back paddock of a less commercial stud farm. One positive trend for the stallion is apparent however - his best progeny in Australia/NZ have all (except for Sunset Run) been fillies: Clean Sweep, Only Words, Sarah Vee and Light Sweeper.

Given statistics to date it's perhaps unlikely that End Sweep will set any records on the Australasian general sires list but he did cover some beautifully bred and performed mares in the three years he was at stud. I therefore wouldn't be surprised to see this stallion really come into his own in future years when his daughters retire to stud and broodmare sire stats come into play.

In the meantime I'll enjoy the fact that he had his first G1 winner 'Down Under' today. Congratulations to trainer Mike Moroney and owners M P Brown, G J Duff & L Petagna as well.