If you’re looking to breed a horse with the potential to be fast and early then Ardad has over the last two seasons proved himself to be able to deliver on both fronts. And what helps him and his offspring is that magic and most important ingredient: temperament.
Ardad himself is as laidback as they come, and it is a trait that was certainly seen to great effect in his highest-achieving son to date: Perfect Power. The three-time G1 winner’s trainer Richard Fahey has reminisced with Nick Luck on his podcast about the attributes that made Perfect Power the perfect racehorse. And the first thing he referred to was his mental strength.
Fahey said, “He had a super temperament, won on any ground and was an exceptional horse to train. He was a bit unlucky to be beaten as a two-year-old. He missed the kick at Newcastle, and he probably could have won the Richmond – so you’re looking at a horse who could have won his six races as a two-year-old. He was very precocious and sometimes those precocious ones don’t train on but he went on to win at Newbury [the G3 Greenham Stakes] and then a Group 1 at Royal Ascot [the Commonwealth Cup].”
Fahey continued, “For a sprinting horse, he had a great mind. He was a wonderful horse to be around. A fantastic attitude! He won on fast ground and he won on easy ground and he’s probably what people want nowadays. You think of a sharp two-year-old and you think of a fella that’s on it the whole time, but he wasn’t. Before the Norfolk he was laid out in his box, absolutely horizontal!”
To recap, Perfect Power’s juvenile season included victories in the G2 Norfolk Stakes, G1 Darley Prix Morny and G1 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes, before he returned at three to land Newbury’s Classic trial and then the G1 Commonwealth Cup. Not many young stallions can deliver a horse of that calibre and consistency in his first crop, and with bigger and better crops to come on the back of that, Ardad’s is a success story that will continue to unfold.
