Pentire is a well-established Commercial stallion in the Southern Hemisphere renowned for the versatility of his offspring from sprinters of the calibre of Recurring and Mufhasa through to stayers such as Auckland Cup victor Pentane.

We have received numerous recent comments from breeders that our Stoney Bridge flagship stallion Ekraar is shaping as a sire of true Classic stayers.

Recent results, and they have been coming in thick and fast , and off the back of relatively modest foal crops, would however suggest that Ekraar is demonstrating signs of being far more than just a one dimensional sire.

With recent wins by 2yo daughter Extra Explosive in the Listed Castletown Stakes 1200m and 3yo daughter Exceptionally in the Listed VRC St Leger 2800m ( qualifying her for this years Melbourne Cup - Ekraar's second Cup qualifier - the other being Brisbane Cup 3rd placegetter Ekstreme ) we are beginning to see the same versatility in his progeny that Ekraar himself possessed.

Ekraar was successful over 1400 metres as a 2 year old with his 5 seasons of racing culminating in Group 1 success in the 2400m Gran Premio del Jockey Club at San Siro.

More evidence of Ekraar's growing versatility - akin to what we have been use to with Pentire - came to light this past weekend where Ekraar sired three winners in three different countries off the back of very light numbers.

Talented daughter Amirar remained unbeaten in middle distance staying assignments winning her third race on end with success in the Governor General's Cup, feature race at Avondale whilst in Victoria, Ms Brown ( a Stoney Bridge bred half-sister to the Otto-trained Attackum ) made an impressive winning debut in the 2yo event at Wangaratta over 1170m. And at San Siro, Italy, another daughter in Oasi won the 2yo race over 1000m by an impressive 5 lengths at her fifth start.

The win of Ms Brown at Wangaratta is particularly significant as it credited Ekraar with his third individual 2yo winner from just the four starters in Australasia this season ( the others being Brave Warrior and Extra Explosive ). This tells us that those offspring that do make the racetrack as a juvenile certainly have the ability to make an impact at this level, a result likely to be continued especially if mares of a sprinting aptitude are bred to him.

Ekraar's own race performance demonstrated versatility, toughness, consistency and honesty as well as Class, racing in 5 different countries at Group 1 level over 5 seasons and without question it is these traits as well as his relaxed manner and superb temperament which were key factors in his winning $2.5 million on the racetrack.

It is also these same traits which are being passed on to his sons and daughters and which will see his name to the fore for many seasons to come.