LYPHARD IS KEY TO BERTOLINI

One broodmare sire that has made a surprisingly good start to 2012 is Bertolini (Danzig). Although his two stakes winners this year are both out of 2005 Cheveley Park Stakes (Gr 1) and Cherry Hinton Stakes (Gr 2) winner, Donna Blini, it was enough to catch my attention, particularly as he had also been the dam-sire to a Gr 3 winner in 2011. To add to this both the Bertolini stakes producing dams are bred on the same cross.

The first of Bertolini’s dam-sire stakes winners this year was on the 8th January, and was Donna Blini's 2009 (3yo) filly by Deep Impact, Gentildonna, won the Sho Shinzan Kinen (Gr 3) at Kyoto. This was followed by her year older own-sister, Donau Blue (Deep Impact), winning the Kyoto Himba Stakes (Gr 3) on Sunday, also over 8 furlongs. (Two of three Deep Impact’s 2012 stakes winners to the have been out of Donna Blini). Donna Blini, who was purchased by Katsumi Yoshida for 500,000gns at the 2006 Tattersalls December broodmare sale, is out of the Lyphard's Special (Lyphard) mare Cal Norma's Lady.

Bertolini is also the dam-sire to the Zukunfts-Rennen (Gr 3) winner Amaron (Shamardal). Amaron dam, Amandalini (Bertolini) is a half-sister to US Gr 2 winner Persianlux, and is out of the Lyphard (Northern Dancer) mare, Luxurious. Therefore both all of Bertolini’s stakes producing dams are themselves out of Lyphards line mares.

Bertolini's good start as a dam-sire could be considered slightly surprising particularly as not only is he the sire of 14 stakes winner, to which Donna Blini is one of two Gr 1 winners, but he has never stood for a stud fee higher than approximately £10,000 (in 2006 he stood for €15,000). However if you looks at his pedigree he has every right to be a strong broodmare sire. He is by Danzig the dam sire of over 150 stakes winners, holds Ayldar (Raise A Native) as his dam-sire, the dam-sire to over 125 stakes winners and holds Never Bend as his second-dam sire, another great influence as a broodmare sire.  Bertolini’s female family is strong too. He is out of the US Gr 2 winner Aquilegia (Alydar), who is an own-sister to Althea (Gr 1), as well as being from the same family as Gr 1 winners Aldiza (Storm Cat), Balletto (Timber Country), Arch (Kris S), Ali Oop (Al Hattab), Ketoh (Exclusive Native) and Green Desert (Danzig). Bertolini, who was a $750,000 purchase at Keeneland September in 1997, proved to be tough sprinter which saw him win the July Stakes (Gr 3) at two before being placed runner-up in the Sprint Cup (Gr 1), behind Diktat (Known Fact) in 1999.

To date Bertolini has had 25 runners out of his daughters of which nine are winners and three are stakes winners. Bertolini certainly offers breeders value at his current advertised fee of £3,000, as in 2011 he had 64 wins in Britain and Ireland be to 12th on the leading number of wins table (all the sires above him stand at a fee at least three times his fee). CWC