Victorian duo highlight the great legacy of Star Kingdom

Their significance is that they are sons of the now Tasmanian based sire Toorak Toff, a stallion which appears to be the last surviving line-sire which traces to the celebrated Star Kingdom, an Irish bred import which dominated Australian breeding circles from the late 1950s for almost 50 years.

Trained by Richard Cully at Ballarat, Pintoff has won six races and had two seconds from his 11 starts and $288,000.

While fifth in the Chautauqua Stakes-LR at Moonee Valley, the five-year-old gelding won the Regal Roller Stakes-LR at Caulfield at its previous start becoming the third stakes winner by Toorak Toff.

Iconoclasm - trained at Barwin Heads near Geelong by Danny O'Brien, may indeed continue the sireline as the seven-year-old million-dollar earner is a stallion. The bay horse has won 11 races (and had six places) including success in the MRC Weekend Hussler Stakes-LR.

Via the likes of Star Kingdom sire sons including stakes winners Biscay, Kaoru Star, Planet Kingdom, Osmunda, Red God, Star Affair, Star Of Heaven and the great Todman, the sire-line was off and running. All these stallions proved successful at stud.

Then there was Star Kingdom's champion sire son Noholme which was exported to America for stud duties, and which sired important sire sons Nodouble, Shecky Greene and the southern hemisphere import Brigand. In Australia, Star Kingdom's Biscay "exploded" its sire sons proliferating the Australian breed and which included champion Widden Valley stallions Marscay and Bletchingly. These sire-lines continued strongly via its sons and grandsons prevailing.

It is the Bletchingly male ancestry from which Toorak Toff belongs.

A three times champion Australian sire 1979-1982, Bletchingly - while sired iconic gallopers mare Emancipation and gelding Kingston Town, also sired dual Melbourne Group 2 winner Cossack Warrior.

Bred by Swettenham Stud, Victoria, Cossack Warrior sired the short-lived Brave Warrior (won five stakes including three Group 2 in Sydney), which only stood for two seasons at Eureka Stud, Queensland, before his untimely death. However, among his only 117 live foals includes Show A Heart, a chestnut which thrilled racegoers when winning six stakes (including four at Group 1 level) ending his racing with a victory in the 2002 Stradbroke Handicap-G1 at Brisbane.

Standing in Queensland during his stud life, Show A Heart sired 25 stakes winners for progeny earnings of over $55.5 million.

These importantly include gelding Heart Of Dreams (won five stakes including two Group 1s), $1.1 earning mare Mimi Lebrock (dam of last year's Canberra Black Opal Stakes-G3 winner Barbaric), New Zealand foaled dual stakes winner Crossyourheart (dam of Sydney Group winner Swear, now standing at Spendthrift, Victoria), and Toorak Toff.

Beginning his stud career at Rosemount Stud, Victoria, Toorak Toff is now located at the Rohan Cudden operated Kingsley Park, Cygnet, Tasmania. A flashy chestnut like his sire, Toorak Toff has sired 131 winners, four stakes horses and earnings of over $13.4m. Trained by Rick Hore-Lacy in Melbourne,Toorak Toff won four stakes himself including Group 1 races STC Golden Rose Stakes and MRC Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.

WHILE Written Tycoon and Extreme Choice took out last season's Australia's leading sires by earnings and first season and juvenile sires titles, respectively, Queensland named Eureka Stud's Spirit Of Boom (by Sequalo) as its champion sire for earnings.

By Sequalo, Spirit Of Boom's best runner last season was Jonker which collected $887,000 of the stallion's total earnings of $7,754,485, via his 115 winners.

The Lyndhurst Stud based Better Than Ready (More Than Ready) was champion two-year-old sire last season thanks to 15 winners his best - stakes winner Alpine Edge (now a winner of three races and $704,450), and which finished fourth in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude-G3 last Saturday.

Worthy Cause - which stands at Clear Mountain Stud, was champion first season sire for the 2020-21 season. Worthy Cause's top performer was Hinged, earner of $268,350.