In 2009, Ista Kareem, a rising nine year old gelding joined the likes of Makybe Diva, Tie The Knot, Kingston Town, Reckless and Galilee as a winner of the Sydney Cup. While the first reaction was to suggest that the staying race was but a shadow of its former glory, to have done so would have detracted from a marvellous achievement. It also worked as a word of caution on how we view the thoroughbred.
Firstly, Ista Kareem is a son of the former NZ shuttle stallion, Germano who had won four races from seven furlongs to a mile and a quarter (1400m-2000m) including one as a 2yo. He was a son of Generous who in turn was a son of the Nijinsky stallion, Caerleon. Germano comes from a very good female line that includes the very good stallion, King’s Bishop. He is out of a daughter of Ela-Mana-mou, with his second dam being the stakes winning Gaily, by Sir Gaylord.
Ista Kareem is out of a Touching Wood mare called Princesses Touch. Touching Wood proved himself to be a good source of winners producing the likes of the 1997 Sydney Cup winner in Linesman, and the Ascot Gold Cup winner, Ashan prior to being sent to NZ. He had previously himself won the 1982 British and Irish St Legers. Princesses Touch though was unraced, and the rest of her progeny have done little. Her dam, Princess Jasmine by Karaman, raced only once and produced only the one foal in Princesses Touch. Ista Kareem’s third dam, Jezzaval was placed over 1200m in Australia, and produced only two minor winners. She was by Val Du Fier, an interestingly bred imported stallion who was a half brother to Val De Loir by Bon Mot, a son of Worden II. Jezza was the fourth dam of Ista Kareem, and she was also unplaced. By Ruling, Jezza went on to produce Touch Judge, a winner of the Onkaparinga Great Eastern Steeplechase. She was also a half sister to stakes winners Porsha, Dun Allen and Jocasta. Again her own dam, Lazala by Trictrac was unraced which means that not one of the first five dams of Ista Kareem had won a race. This certainly is an unusual occurrence, and perhaps a unique one for a horse who is now a Group 1 winner.
The family of course has other lines that are still active. The Group 1 winning filly Macedon Lady is one that hails from the original female line while Cranky Tikit, Just A Dream, Imperial Angel and Montana Flyer are also members of this family. AJC Derby winner, Summer Prince and NZ Derby and Mackinnon Stakes winner, Sir Silver Lad are others who share this female family.
In terms of dosage, it is not hard to see Ista Kareem as a 3200m winner. His four generation dosage profile reads [-0.94/0.26] [0-1-13-9-13]. Clearly his pedigree is dominated by a range of stamina influences. Perhaps more surprising than winning a Sydney Cup is the fact that Ista Kareem won his second start over 1300m. He did not actually start in a race until he had turned four, again reflecting the developmental issues that underlie many aspects of dosage. Ista Kareem’s pedigree reflects relatively little inbreeding with a six generation cross duplication percentage of only 4.69%. The nearest duplication is Hail To Reason 6fx4m through his daughter Regal Gleam, the grand dam of Caerleon, and his son, Roberto, the sire of Touching Wood. Hail To Reason is a son of Turn-To who we also see present in Ista Kareem’s pedigree as the sire of Sir Gaylord, the grand damsire of Germano. The only other duplication in the first six generations is three lines of Nasrullah.
It would be easy to right off Ista Kareem as a winner of a moderate Sydney Cup in an age where the staying races are diminishing in quality, and perhaps this is even accurate. After all, we see that Ista Kareem has already been placed third in last year’s Adelaide Cup and won over 3000m at Moonee Valley. He was competitive in the main Tasmanian staying races including a win in the Launceston Cup over 2400m. All up, his form suggests that he is a reasonable stayer who most had thought until last weekend was short of top class. As he is unlikely to be improving as an eight year old, the simple deduction is that his opposition must have been weaker.
But if we study the form of Ista Kareem, it shows us that he won the Sydney Cup on a slow track. The last time he raced on a slow track prior to this was at Bendigo in June 2007 when he won over 1600m. The start before, Ista Kareem had also been on a slow track, first up over 1400m after a five month spell when he ran a promising 4th. Earlier in his career he had run 4th over 3200m at Flemington on a slow track at the end of his preparation that had included a third in the Adelaide Cup. His other three starts on slow tracks resulted in wins in the Onkaparinga Cup over 2150m and two wins over 1800m in Adelaide. His form on heavy tracks is also impressive with only two unplaced runs, although to my view not quite as good as his slow track form. Once when he finished 4th in the Listed Ballarat Cup, he was mentioned in the steward’s report as indeed he was when 4th on a slow track at Flemington over 3200m. His other start on a heavy track that was unplaced was his first race start over 1000m where he finished 5th.
Is it possible, or perhaps even likely that Ista Kareem could have been potentially a truly great stayer had he had conditions to suit him throughout his career? As we often see in European horses that come to Australia for the Melbourne Cup, the conditions over the last decade in particular have had an adverse effect on their performances. There is no question that these International horses are not among the best racehorses in the world, but simply that they struggle under local conditions.
The question then must be posed as to how many exceptional horses have simply had no opportunity because they were raced and prepared on tracks that were unsuitable? How many of these have in fact broken down as a result? There is an old adage of horses for courses. It seems though that we are more focused on courses for horses, and indeed artificial surfaces reflect an attitude that all horses must adapt to the one condition. In the modern era, can we afford to ignore the individual needs of the racehorse? Ista Kareem clearly shows the benefit that a well managed career can bring, along with some luck. Certainly as breeders, it is appropriate to reflect on these issues when it comes to planning the matings that will produce the next champions under a range of race conditions.