Today may be the first time in 11 years that a son or daughter of the mighty Danehill hasn't lined up to contest the Golden Slipper (the stallion having provided five winners during that period - and only missing a place four times since 1994) but today's Stallions Daily Bulletin reported a major statistic concerning the stallion's progeny that went unreported by other media this week:

An unreported fact in the wake of Al Maher's excellent Australian Guineas-Gr.1 win last Saturday (March 12) is that the media missed what a milestone success it was. The Emirates Park-bred and owned colt* became Danehill's 67th individual Gr.1 winner worldwide.

What is significant is that it places him one ahead of Sadler's Wells.

Coolmore-Australia's Brett Howard pointed out that the significance of Al Maher's win was more than most realised.

The total for Sadler's Wells includes a lone southern Gr.1 success, by Darazari in a controversial Rawson [Ranvet] Stakes-Gr.1 in 1999. The Irish-bred Darazari, one of the precious few runners by Sadler's Wells to grace an Australian track, gained the race in the stewards' room at the expense of first-past-the-post Tie the Knot.

The Australian Guineas occasion was almost signposted by a trifecta of runners by the deceased Dane. Danehill Express overcame traffic problems for second and Shinzig, was just nosed out of third by Econsul after supplying the speed.

Danehill's 43 southern-breds to achieve Gr.1 success have won 75 such races.
Five of the 41 Australian-bred Danehills collected their Gr.1 podium finish in the north, led by Fairy King Prawn in the 2000 Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo and four Hong Kong Gr.Is. The other HK-1 winners are Jeune King Prawn, King of Danes, Lucky Owners and Scintillation. The Danehill pair bred in New Zealand are Danske and Camarena.

That Danehill's platoon of Gr.1 winners in the south have enabled him to leapfrog Sadler's Wells, Northern Dancer, et al, will no doubt raise the argument about Gr.I races in the south, and in Asia, having a lesser value as those in North America and Europe.

Be that as it may, the figures say the Great Dane is the Gr.1 King.

- Peter Tonkes.

*Al Maher is closely related to sire sensation Redoute's Choice and his win for owner Nasser Lootah of Emirates Park is by far the most important result achieved by him since Secret Saving's win in the Doncaster. The stud potential of Al Maher is considerable not only monetarily but because he carries some of the finest bloodlines currently available