The American-bred chief sire Ontario HF (Monarch AH – Orzonna/Pepton), standing at stud at Tarnawka (in the Rzeszów district) since 2007, made a splashing entrance at the Warsaw track in the 2012 season as the sire of get registered in the Polish Arabian Stud Book (PASB). According to the official statistics published on the website of the Polish Jockey Club, Ontario placed first in terms of the amount of money won – 17 racing horses won a total of 216,140 PLN. The second spot went to Akbars (Nougatin – Arka/Karnaval) – 151,860 (8 horses) and the third to Ganges (Monogramm – Garonna/Fanatyk) – 119,550 (26 horses).
In the 2012 season victorious get by Ontario HF were the following 4 year olds: Addis – 3, Ekorix – 2, Wasilew – 2, Wielki Damati, Evilla and Mizara – 1 each; 3 year olds: Netka and Migma – 3 each, Wielka Damira – 2 and Wares, Fibia and Auza – 1 each; without victories were Manoria (4yo) and Galaxy, Mohamedia, Elegra and Merlini (3yo). Last year 12 horses by Ontario scored a total of 21 victories.
During two seasons (2011–2012) 19 horses by Ontario HF made it to the start line: in 2011 – 7 and in 2012 – 17. Fourteen of them won a total of 29 victories:
Addis – 5 (2 times as a 3yo, incl. I gr. Pepton Prize, 3 times as a 4yo, incl. I gr. El Ghazi Prize).
Wielki Damati – 4 (3 times as a 3yo, incl. I gr. Eldon Prize and B cat. Piechur St., 1 time as a 4yo – Criterium St., second in the Derby and Bogdan Ziemiański Memorial.
Ekorix – 3 (once as a 3yo and 2 times as a 4yo)
Wasilew – 3 (once as a 3yo, 2 times as a 4yo)
Manoria – 1 (as a 3yo)
Temmuz – 1 (as a 3yo)
Evilla – 1 (as a 4yo)
Mizara – 1 (as a 4yo, in Dąbrówka)
Netka – 3 (incl. B cat. Bask St. and A cat. Sambor St.).
Migma – 3 (incl. I gr. Orgia Prize and B cat. Sasanka St.).
Wielka Damira – 2 (second in the B cat. Sasanka St.).
Auza – 1 (four times second place).
Fibia – 1 (second in the Amurath St.).
Victorious on their debut were only Netka and Wares.
No races were won at the age of 3 by the following horses: Etoria (sixth upon her debut and ended her career), Merlini (once second), Elegra (twice third), Galaxy (sixth and seventh) and Mohamedia (raced once and was last in a field of 8 horses, four times withdrawn due to injury).
The (indeed) great Wielki Damati
The palm with no question goes to Wielki Damati [Great Damati] (out of Wielka Dama/El Amor), bred by Krzysztof Zakolski and owned by trainer Jan Głowacki. He put on a wonderful finish in the Derby, coming in second behind Pirat (Akbars – Parafraza/Arbil), surely besting the weakening favorite Hyaff Al Khalediah, son of the famous Tiwaiq. He confirmed his great racing talent in the Criterium St., stripping Pirat of the victory over the final meters, after a beautiful fight.
Also standing out among 4 year olds was the bred by Zbigniew Górski Addis (out of Amina/Murat Gazon), trained by Małgorzata Łojek. He won three races. Two races were won by the unevenly performing Ekorix (out of Elba/Gabaryt) and Wasilew (out of Warta/Wermut), who likes to push the pace. One victory went to the rather average Evilla (out of Erynia/Ghent).
Wielki Damati will continue his battle against the top racers at the age of 5. We shouldn’t expect a significant improvement from Addis and Wasilew, who was transferred after the season’s end from the stable of Michał Romanowski under the care of Sergiusz Zawgorodny. Ekorix and Evilla have finished their racing careers.
All line up for the Derby!
All appears that the get of Ontario HF will be calling the shots in the Derby run of 2013. Participants will probably include: the best 3 year old of the previous season, f. Netka (out of Nesstika Bint Ness/Gips) and her only slightly less talented stable mate Migma (out of Minorka/Wermut). Both fillies, bred by Tarnawka Stud, are trained by Janusz Kozłowski. They won three races each. In the Sambor St. (A cat.) Netka proved superior to the solid favorite trained by Adam Wyrzyk, Master Bars (Akbars – Mergissa/Ganges), bred and owned by Krzysztof Litwiniak. Aspiring to the Derby are two more horses by Ontario HF: son of the superb Wienerva (a winner of 10 stake races), Wares, bred by Jan Głowacki and trained by his son Bartosz, and the daughter of the Oaks-winning Fiszka – Fibia, bred by Tarnawka Stud, owned by Krzysztof Falba, trained by Dorota Kałuba.
How Tarnawka Stud (previously: Kielnarowa) grew in strength
Life has a funny way of throwing things in your way. Without intuition, a bit of luck, some risk and friendly advice you wouldn’t be where you are now.
Czesław Witko, when establishing his stud in 2001 in the Dynowskie Foothill, had first of all performance and endurance horses in mind. And he bred them for six years, until at the end of 2006, during his trip to the US, where he went to perhaps buy that “something”, he was persuaded by a known breeder and owner of racing Arabians, Longin Błachut, to purchase Ontario HF.
„It wasn’t that easy,” says Czesław Witko. “The owner of the stallion wasn’t sure whether to sell him, but ultimately – thanks to Longin, who is well acquainted with the American market – we sealed the deal. Present during this purchase was also the breeder, trainer and owner of Głowacki Arabians stud, Jan Głowacki. He already had significant racing successes, even greater than those of Błachut, so he also believed that it was best to strike when the iron is hot. Ontario HF lured with a wonderful, 90% Polish pedigree. His parents are American, but the
subsequent generations are pure Polish. The stallion is athletically built, has strong hindquarters, a slanting, long shoulder and solid legs. Despite his conformation of a race horse, he displays Arabian type and Polish beauty” sums up Czesław Witko.
Below is the pedigree and racing record of Ontario HF, as officially given on the website of Tarnawka Stud (www.sktarnawka.com).
Ontario HF is sired by the phenomenal race horse and outstanding sire – Monarch AH, who represents the sire line of Kuhailan Haifi d.b. Monarch AH’s sire – Wiking – represented the splendid racing bloodline from Janów Podlaski, stemming from the Laur (by Lotnik) daughter, Worskla. Among others, Worskla is the progenitor of: Derby winner Wosk, Oaks winner Sanna and her full sister (born in United States, but bred in Janów) AH Rapsodyn Blue, the winner of the IAHA Oaks. Wiking raced with success for 5 years in Poland and in the USA, but most importantly he turned out to be the best sire of racing horses in the US (and possibly in the world). In 1999 the total amount of prize money won by his descendants exceeded 5 million USD. In the same classification he was pursued by his own son – Monarch AH, who was at third place after the 1999 season in the American Evertime Ranking. Possibly this result could’ve been much better, but the stallion was sold in 2001 to the Middle East, and this fact makes it difficult to analyze the achievements of his descendants.
It should be stressed that through his legendary dam Sasanka, Monarch AH represents the marvelous racing line of the family of Sabellina. This one of a kind family was prolonged by Saracen’s dam – the Triple Crowned Sarmacja, winner of the Derby and the Oaks, as before her Sabellina, Santa, Sasanka and Saszetka. A worthy heir to Sarmacja is her daughter Savvannah – full sister to Saracen – who due to a change of trainer and the jockey shortly prior to the Derby didn’t win the blue ribbon, but was definitely the best horse of her crop and not only.
Ontario HF is also a representative of another excellent Polish line, originating from Orla from Janów Podlaski. His dam HF Orzonna was born in the USA, but conceived in Janów and exported in utero. She was a granddaughter of the phenomenal Triple Crowned Orla. HF Orzonna, an Oaks winner in California, finished her racing career with a result of 2/10 (7-2-0) 0+3+1.
As for a horse with such an impressive pedigree, Ontario HF – during his three year racing career – raced 22 times, always placing in the money, and won a total of 137,116 USD. In each of the 8 stakes in which he participated, he placed in the top three (and won four of them). Ontario HF won the prestigious Darley prize in the category of Best Four Year Old Horse of 2003, which is awarded by the Arabian Jockey Club.
After ending his career at the track he commenced duties as a chief sire at his maternal stud. In November of 2006 he was bought by Mr. Czesław Witko, who brought him to his stud at Tarnawka in January of 2007.
A stallion worth his weight in gold
In 2013 Ontario HF had more than 20 mares covered. The breeding fee is 2,5 thousand PLN.
“We haven’t frozen Ontario’s semen yet, but we probably will, as the French have expressed their interest in him. We are very interested what would result from the mating of our stallion and French mares, much better than the Polish ones in terms of racing talent,” says stud manager Piotr Bukała. “In Poland several breeders bought chilled semen from us, but we haven’t yet heard about the resulting foals.”
„The following horses have been entered to race in the 2013 season by Ontario HF: Esponna
(out of Elegantka z Izb/Mocny), Es-Fahan (out of E-Diva/Grafik), Wakat (out of Wiatka/Pamir) and Wespa (out of Wimejka/Wachlarz), but this doesn’t mean that there was a sudden decrease in the interest in our stallion in 2010. Not all breeders and owners send their horses to the track. However this year’s number of breedings shows that results from the track of his older get make the best promotion. We sell a lot of horses, recently a buyer from Morocco purchased a group of 20 Arabians, which included 9 mares in foal to Ontario HF and four foals by him. One thing is sure, this stallion is worth his weight in gold to us. His breedings and semen, as well as his get bred by us, are for sale. But he himself is not!”, sums up Piotr Bukała.
Read more: Wares: Derby winner and record holder!
