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Certain select top level races are often referred to as 'breed shapers'. The same must be said of champion trainer Gai Waterhouse due to the impact her professional skills have had on Australian breeding at all levels.

Many studs and stallion owners are beholding to Waterhouse for the considerable role she has played in identifying, grooming and promoting many of the sires that now dominate Australia’s racing and breeding landscape.

If one was to ask anyone with even just a passing interest in racing to name a champion Australasian stallion, most would probably come up with Redoute’s Choice, Fastnet Rock, Zabeel or Snitzel.

Others may list Encosta De Lago, Northern Meteor or High Chaparral. Add Choisir, Sebring, More Than Ready, Stratum, Flying Spur and Al Maher and you have pretty well covered the cream of the crop in terms of Australian stallions.

Apart from all being brilliant stallions, what do these notable sires have in common?

They have all, in different measures, been very good to Gai Waterhouse and in turn very good for the industry.

In terms of all-time wins with the progeny of a particular sire, Waterhouse is currently in the number one position with the stock of Fastnet Rock, High Chaparral, Northern Meteor, More Than Ready, Flying Spur and Al Maher.

She currently sits second on the ladder as the leading trainer of progeny by Snitzel, Redoute’s Choice and Zabeel, third with progeny by Choisir, Sebring and Encosta De Lago and fourth with Stratum.

“It cannot be stated enough just what an achievement this is. To be the all-time leading trainer of the progeny of one top line stallion would be a magnificent effort, but six is simply extraordinary,” said Armstrong.

Armstrong compiled the following sire by sire analysis of Waterhouse’s results with leading stallions, as at May 20:-

FASTNET ROCK: He is top of the list for Gai with 66 wins from 27 individual winners by the Coolmore’s grand stallion. Her best Fastnet Rock to date would arguably be the G1-winning mare Driefontein (Fastnet Rock x Follow Gold) who made $2.3 million for her connections.

HIGH CHAPARRAL: Waterhouse currently has 39 wins by the late shuttle sire compiled by 10 individual horses and is four more total wins than the next best trainer. Her best High Chaparral would have to be the Caulfield Cup winner Descarado (High Chaparral x Karamea Lady) who made $2.6 million dollars on the track.

NORTHERN METEOR: Waterhouse nurtured and developed this now deceased powerhouse sprinter into a top stallion prospect and has been the biggest and most successful supporter of his progeny. Her results with his progeny outstrip al others with 48 wins from 21 individual winners. The trainer with the next most total wins is currently on 19. Her top class Northern Meteors are led by G1 winners Cosmic Endeavour, Amanpour, Romantic Touch and Speak Fondly while Najoom has won several Group and Listed races.

MORE THAN READY: When you think of More Than Ready you immediately think of Waterhouse’s 8-time G1 winner More Joyous (More Than Ready x Sunday Joy). Waterhouse won 21 races with the mare and she is by far the most successful More Than Ready product in Australia with earnings of more than $4.5 million. Waterhouse is by far the most successful trainer of the breed, having trained a total of 42 individual winners of 90 races by the veteran sire, 42 more than the next best trainer.

FLYING SPUR: Waterhouse has trained close to twice as many winners by the now retired Flying Spur as the next best trainer with 90 wins courtesy of 40 individual winners. The best has been dashing filly Montana Flyer (Flying Spur x Montana Downs) who won three Group races for the stable.

AL MAHER: Waterhouse’s dominance with the Al Maher breed - another of her own G1 winners- is extraordinary. She has won 38 races from just nine individual winners, close to twice as many with the breed than the next most successful trainer. She has trained 75% of his G1 winners –Diamond Drille (Al Maher x Damzelle Pedrille), Fat Al (Al Maher x Fatoon) and Almalad (Al Maher x Ilhaam). Remarkably all three won their G1 races over 1600m, the same trip that Al Maher excelled at when he won his G1 in the Australian Guineas.

REDOUTE’S CHOICE: The most successful sire of the last decade has had a great impact on Tulloch Lodge. Waterhouse has trained 98 winners by the three-time champion sire courtesy of 38 individual winners, making him her second most successful stallion to date in terms of total victories. Her best Redoute’s Choice runner would have to be Lotteria (Redoute's Choice x Rose Reward) who won two G1 races and three other Group events.

SNITZEL: One of the boom stallions of the world with Waterhouse currently the second most successful trainer of the breed behind Snitzel’s own trainer Gerald Ryan. She has recorded 35 wins wih Snitzel’s progeny from 18 individual winners with the best of them being the iron mare Sweet Idea (Snitzel x Flidais) and Australian Guineas winner Wandjina (Snitzel x La Bamba), the latter yet another young sire prospect developed by Waterhouse. Sweet Idea won at least one stakes race every preparation. Waterhouse will be training the Snitzel x Vegas Showgirl colt, a half brother to champion mare Winx, she purchased for a sale topping $2.3 million at Easter.

ZABEEL: The immortal NZ champion stallion has provided Waterhouse with more winners than any other stallion. She has trained 109 Zabeel winners from 39 individual horses, placing her second on the all-time Zabeel list behind the Kiwi trainer Graeme Rogerson. Her most successful Zabeel has been Zacheline (Zabeel x Castel Cheline) who won two G1 Oaks races but the list of his high achievers for Tulloch Lodge has been s endless and range from one of her favourite mares Winning Belle (Zabeel x Kirin Belle) to the likes of iron jumper Valediction who recently won the Brierly Steeplechase at Warrnambool.

CHOISIR: Waterhouse is currently sitting third on the Choisir training ladder having had 33 wins from 13 individual winners. However her winning strike rate of 26% is by far the best in the history of the breed. The best Choisir to have graced Tulloch Lodge and now at stud was Proisir (Choisir x Prophet Jewel).

SEBRING: Waterhouse is the third most successful trainer of progeny by her own Golden Slipper winner, recording 15 wins courtesy of 10 individual winners. Sebring was only beaten once when caught in the last bound of the G1 Champagne Stakes and is yet another fine sire to graduate from the Waterhouse stable.

ENCOSTA DE LAGO: Waterhouse is the third most successful trainer of Encosta De Lago’s stock but is only five wins short of number one. She has trained 85 winners courtesy of 39 individual winners and her winning strike rate with the breed of 25% is almost twice as good as the next best. Her most successful Encosta De Lago so far has been Manhattan Rain (Encosta De Lago x Shantha's Choice), yet another young sire of huge potential. Her current star by Encosta De Lago is the super filly English (Encosta De Lago x Court), recent winner of the G1 All-Aged Stakes.

STRATUM: This Golden Slipper winner has produced 18 winners for Waterhouse courtesy of seven individual winners. This places her 4th on the Stratum ladder. The best Stratum to date for the stable has been Divine Calling (Stratum X Rubicall) who beat Cox Plate winner Shamus Award in the G2 Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley.

The above list contains three stallions trained by Waterhouse (Northern Meteor/Al Maher/Sebring) but her legacy to breeding extends far beyond these leading sires.

Consider that stallion rosters for the coming 2016 breeding season in Australia will feature at least 18 former Tulloch Lodge residents including eight Group One winners.

Among them are her Golden Slipper winners Pierro, Vancouver and Sebring, established sires Manhattan Rain and Al Maher and the yet to be tapped Fiorente, Wandjina and Hampton Court.

Other former Waterhouse-trained stars at stud this year include Al Samer, Dreamscape, Strada, Fighting Sun, Squamosa, Swift Alliance, War, Whittington, Proisir and Bull Point.

GAI WATERHOUSE SIRE STATISTICS

Top Five Stallions By Race Wins

Zabeel (109); Redoute’s Choice (98); Flying Spur (90); More Than Ready (90); Encosta De Lago (85).

Top Five Stallions By Individual Winners

More Than Ready (42); Flying Spur (40); Encosta De Lago (39); Zabeel (39); Redoute’s Choice (38).

Top Five Stallions By Winners To Runners

Choisir (26%); Al Maher (25%); Encosta De Lago (25%); Northern Meteor (24%); Snitzel (22%).