The New Zealand thoroughbred industry was dealt a double blow on Saturday.
Following the early news that Cambridge Stud’s champion stallion Zabeel had passed away, Waikato Stud was saddened to announce that their Group One sire No Excuse Needed suffered a fatal paddock accident in the afternoon.
“No Excuse Needed was a sire who gave us some great thrills,” Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick said.
“He left the two Group One winners I Do and Daffodil and it was a real privilege to have raced both of these horses ourselves.
“Up until last year, he was also responsible for the stud’s $480,000 yearling price high thanks to his son out of Lodore Mystic who was bought by Peter and Kim McKay.”
Peter McKay also trained No Excuse Needed’s Karaka Million winner Vincent Mangano.
The handsome Machiavellian sire came to stand at Waikato Stud on the recommendation of New Zealand Bloodstock’s Andrew Seabrook and made an immediate impact.
No Excuse Needed, who was 17, was the leading first season sire in 2006-07 and won the champion New Zealand two-year-old sire title the following season.
He sired 17 stakes winners, with leading Group One ambassadors including the AJC Oaks-winning champion New Zealand three-year-old Daffodil and another Chittick family home-bred in I Do.
She won 15 races, the most of any horse to sport the Waikato Stud silks, six of which were at black-type level.
– NZ Racing Desk
