Astern

Pedigree notes

Astern is Australia’s leading third-crop sire of G1 winners (equal with Extreme Choice), third by individual stakes winners and third on the prize-money list. At his 2023 service fee of $22,000 (inc GST), this makes him a great-value option for a proven G1 stallion.

In addition to his G1 winners Golden Mile (G1 Caulfield Guineas) and Affaire A Suivre (G1 SAJC Australasian Oaks), Astern’s highest earner is the multiple Group-winning, twice G1-fourth - G1 Randwick Guineas and G1 BRC Doomben 10,000 - Aft Cabin with $1.26 million.
Stallions capable of siring milers and Classic winners are often underrated and undervalued in the marketplace and Astern offers a great opportunity to breed just such a performer at an affordable fee.

G1 Statistics
Astern’s G1 winners and performers are bred along the following lines:

• G1 winner Golden Mile – dam by Lonhro (Zabeel/Sir Tristram line), second dam by Oratorio (Nureyev line).
• G1 winner Affaire A Suivre – dam by Highest Honor (Kenmare/Grey Sovereign line), second dam by Sadler’s Wells.
• Multiple G1 fourth Aft Cabin – dam by Lonhro (Zabeel/Sir Tristram line), second dam by Danehill (Danzig line).

At this early stage, 22.22% of Astern’s Stakes winners are G1 winners which is far above the commercial average of 12.5% and indicates a very high rate of elite-performer production.
Two of his three G1 performers are out of Lonhro mares from only EIGHT runners, of which SEVEN are winners and TWO are Stakes winners.

Best Nicks
Astern is following the nicking patterns of his sire Medaglia d’Oro who has excellent results with Danehill and Mr Prospector-line mares. Medaglia d’Oro has exceptional stats with Lonhro mares and this trend is now also evident with his son.
Astern already has favourable nicking stats with the commercially abundant Sir Tristram, Danehill and Mr Prospector broodmare sire lines. His biggest numbers of runners to date are out of mares by Street Cry (Mr Prospector line) with NINE runner SIX winners and the G3 winner Parisal for 11% Stakes winners to runners. 
Then come Lonhro mares (Sir Tristram line) with eight runners, seven winners and two Stakes winners for 25% Stakes winners to runners on this cross. Astern also has Stakes winners out of mares by Danehill/Danzig-line sires, including G2 winner Seradess out of a mare by Fastnet Rock’s son Stryker, while G1 performer Aft Cabin has a second dam by Danehill. Multiple Group-placed Brigantine is out of a mare by Danzig’s son Anabaa.

Inbreeding / Linebreeding
Whenever we see a Sadler’s Wells-line sire the two most obvious candidates for inbreeding and linebreeding are his dam Fairy Bridge and second dam Special.
Sadler’s Wells’ dam Fairy Bridge is by Bold Reason whose dam Lalun also foaled Never Bend and inbreeding to Lalun via her two distinguished sons has been responsible for some of the finest gallopers of the past three decades. 
Similarly, inbreeding to Special via her grandson Sadler’s Wells and her son Nureyev (three-quarter brother to Sadler’s Wells as both are by Northern Dancer) is equally successful.
Both these patterns are very effective for Astern already.
Inbreeding to Sadler’s Wells in Astern’s sire line has been notably successful with TWO Stakes winners and TWO Stakes placings from 20 runners including G1 winner Affaire A Suivre and G2 winner Sail By; that’s 10% Stakes winners to runners and 20% stakes performers to runners.

Firstly, with a return of Never Bend in the mare (inbreeding to Lalun) Astern has 59 runners, 41 winners, FOUR Stakes winners (6.77% Stakes winners to runners) and TWO G1 winners (50% G1 winners to Stakes winners). These are exceptional stats from a reasonable data set and with FOUR stakes placegetters as well Astern has 13.55% Stakes performers with a return of Never Bend in the mare.

Secondly, with a return of Nureyev in the mare (inbreeding to Special) Astern has 40 runners, 19 winners, THREE Stakes winners (7.5% Stakes winners to runners) including G1 winner (33.3% G1 Winner to Stakes winners).
Another notable feature of Astern’s pedigree is that his fifth dam is a daughter of Sir Tristram and he has consistently great stats when mated with mares carrying a son of Sir Tristram.  Mares carrying Sir Tristram or his male descendants such as Octagonal, Zabeel or Lonhro all have exceptional SW/R percentages. 
The standouts are the Astern/Zabeel cross and the Astern/Lonhro cross with 11.53% Stakes winners to runners and 16.66% Stakes winners to runners respectively. In both cases the progeny have two of the favourable inbreeding patterns that favour Astern, namely a male ancestor of Sir Tristram and inbreeding to Special via Nureyev who is the sire of Zabeel’s dam. Lonhro has the best stats, and he has the golden trifecta as his dam is by Straight Strike whose broodmare sire Never Bend is out of Lalun, supplying the third very favourable influence for Astern.

Strategy One
Astern is ideally suited to mares by Sir Tristram-line sires such as Octagonal, Zabeel, Lonhro, Pierro or Savabeel. Mares with a second or third dam by those sires would also suit. The Lonhro branch of this sire line provides all three of the most favourable elements found in Astern’s best runners to date. A match made in heaven.

Strategy Two
Inbreeding to Lalun via Never Bend. His sons Mill Reef and Riverman have numerous descendants in Australia with Champion Sires Redoute’s Choice, Street Cry and Written Tycoon all providing quality sources. Astern already has G3 winner Parisal, G3 fourth Va Via and Stakes-placed Grael, from just NINE runners out of Street Cry mares.

Strategy Three
Inbreeding to Special via Nureyev or Sadler’s Wells’ other close relatives descended from Special such as Fairy King (or his son Encosta de Lago) and Perugino (or his son Testa Rossa). Returning another strain of Sadler’s Wells has clearly suited Astern too.

Strategy Four
Astern is siring over 4% Stakes winners to runners with returns of Danehill or Mr Prospector in the mare so quality sources of these two bloodlines are favourable options for him, particularly if they include any of the other ancestors which suit him.