Glorious Goodwood winner another string to the bow of venerable Punjab stud

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Here, Kitty Trice speaks to Surbirinder Singh Sidhu about his stud's new recruit Asymmetric – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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Surbirinder Singh Sidhu is a man on a mission with a blend of three young but established stallions forming part of his Mebajeona Stud Farm in India.

British and Irish sires moving to India continues to make headline news, with Territories and Mutasaabeq two recent big names, and now Sidhu, in conjunction with his stallion syndicate, the Northern Lights Syndicate, has acquired the services of Asymmetric, winner of the Group 2 Richmond Stakes and third in the Group 1 Prix Morny as a juvenile.

The five-year-old son of Showcasing started 2024 at Ballyhane Stud before being moved to Starfield Stud, but has since been recruited to join the Punjab syndicate alongside the Group 3-winning Kodiac horse Sporting Chance and class act Cable Bay.

Mebajeona Stud Farm recently celebrated a 60th anniversary, having started life in 1963, and the family run farm has certainly pulled its weight in terms of producing top-class performers locally.

They include Indian 1,000 Guineas winner Vijays Pride, along with the likes of Plenipotent and Montpelier.

On how the farm competes for stallions heading from Britain and Ireland to the country, Sidhu explained: “We have a syndicate of four breeders called the Northern Lights Stallion Syndicate and we’ve teamed up to buy horses regularly for the past few years now.”

Sporting Chance was a classy performer for Simon Crisford in the colours of Abdulla Al Mansoori, winning the Group 3 Prix Eclipse at Maisons-Laffitte and Listed Ripon Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy in his first season of racing in 2018, before winning again at Listed level at Meydan the following February.

Cable Bay: sire headlines the Mebajeona Stud Farm rosterCredit: Highclere Stud

The half-brother to the Listed-placed Eidikos had previously stood in Norway and produced winners despite limited numbers, while he has reportedly been well received at his new home.

Sidhu said: “The first stallion we bought was Sporting Chance, a son of Kodiac out of a Giant’s Causeway mare.

“He has his first yearlings to sell in India this year; he stood in Norway previously and covered a few mares. He had only five named foals there, three of which have won and the other two have placed.

“In India, getting 60-70 mares is a good book, and he got about 70 or so in his first season. We’ll be sending out more than 50 of his progeny to race next year as two-year-olds.”

A more familiar name is Cable Bay, the source of talents such as Australian Group 1 winner Uncommon James, multiple Group winner and Group 1-placed Liberty Beach, this year’s promising Newbury Group 3 scorer No Half Measures, and Commonwealth Cup runner-up Dragon Symbol, himself a new sire at Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Cable Bay had initially stood at Highclere before his relocation to India a couple of years ago.

“The second horse we bought was Cable Bay, who we bought the year before last and since we bought him he's had a Group 1 winner in Australia,” said Sidhu.

No Half Measures: filly on the up for Cable BayCredit: Edward Whitaker

“Recently his filly No Half Measures won a Group 3 and ran fifth in the Abbaye on Arc day, while the other day he had a horse run second in a Group 2 in Australia.

“He’s getting three or four winners every week between Australia and England. Unfortunately he’s subfertile, so he doesn’t get many mares in foal, but we’ve got 22-24 mares in foal to him this year.”

Despite acquiring two stallions, the team was on the lookout for another and he turned out to be Asymmetric.

He was acquired through a long-term connection to Sidhu, one which amounts to a formidable partnership.

He said: “This year we were looking to up our game even further and so, with a friend of mine called Peter Hickey, we bought Asymmetric, who is a son of Showcasing.

“Peter and I go back a long way; we bought Dan Excel [known as Dunboyne Express when a dual Group 3 winner for Kevin Prendergast] together for a client of mine in Hong Kong. He went on to win three international Group 1s and won nearly $7 million in prize-money.”

Asymmetric signals a new chapter for the stud as a high-class juvenile and a half-brother to this year’s July Cup winner Mill Stream, who is set to commence stallion duties at Yeomanstown Stud in 2025.

Asymmetric: "We’re going to try to support him with at least 60 mares"Credit: Mark Cranham

Sidhu said of Asymmetric, who started his racing career with Alan King: “He’s one of the better two-year-olds to come to India because he won his first two starts, was a head second on his third in a Group 2, then won a Group 2 on his fourth start. He was also third in the Prix Morny.

“We’re going to try to support him with at least 60 mares; if he can handle it well, then he might get another ten.”

Indian buyers were a theme of last year’s breeding stock sales and Sidhu expects there to be plenty of activity again in the coming weeks.

“I think it will be a similar story this year, with around 100 mares coming to India from Britain and Ireland, if not more,” he said.

“Tasleet stands at my friend’s farm, which is only an hour away from here. Every breeder is trying to do their best and compete in a competitive environment.

“Racing is competitive here, although we’ll establish the industry’s true health only in a few years’ time as it’s been penalised by the GST [Goods and Services Tax] Council.”

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