War Decree to Fly Southern Flag at Karaka

New Zealand's Inglewood Stud moves into a new era this year with the first yearlings by War Decree going through the sale ring. According to NZ Racing Desk, the North Canterbury nursery helped to raise the profile of South Island breeding by standing Zacinto from 2012 until his move north to Valachi Downs in 2018. He has sired 68 winners from 135 runners among those southern crops, five of them at stakes level including the Group One star Ugo Foscolo. Inglewood Stud recruited War Decree as Zacinto's replacement, and there are promising signs that he will be a worthy successor. Later this month, Karaka 2021 will feature 17 members of War Decree's first yearling crop, including nine in the catalogue for Book 1. Standing for a service fee of $4,500, War Decree won three races in Britain and Ireland including the Gr.2 Vintage Stakes (1400m), defeating the two-time Dubai World Cup (2000m) winner Thunder Snow, along with the Gr.3 Dundalk Diamond Stakes (2150m). He placed in another two Group Two events. War Decree is by the influential stallion War Front, while his dam is a daughter of multiple Grade One winner Ticker Tape and comes from a family stacked with black type. The unveiling of War Decree's yearlings continues a special season for the family-run Inglewood operation, which was founded by principal Gus Wigley's great-grandfather Ken Austin in 1938.

War Decree's first yearlings will sell at Karaka later this month