International stallion Too Darn Hot had to be taken out of service for a period during the recent Northern Hemisphere breeding season, the untimely illness leading to the sire's shock withdrawal from Australian shuttling duties this spring.
The disclosure of the minor setback suffered at Newmarket's Dalham Hall Stud comes as those close to the rising star at Watership Down Stud, which owns the stallion in partnership with Godolphin, reflect on the enormous impact the sire has made on both sides of the globe in a short space of time.
In doing so, United Kingdom-based Watership Down Stud general manager Simon Marsh revealed the difficult commercial decision not to shuttle the highly promising sire to Darley's Hunter Valley operation Kelvinside this year had been made with the horse's best interests at heart.
"This year, he missed (almost) two weeks in the middle of the season. We felt that he was so important, and we felt that it was like a warning sign (to us) that for the welfare of the horse, the most sensible thing to do was to not shuttle him this year," Marsh told ANZ Bloodstock News.
"We are completely leaving the door open to him shuttling again in future years. It was a pure horse welfare situation. He recovered from it fantastically and he finished his season well. He's got as many mares in foal this year as he ever has done and the horse is back in great shape."
The sire of 12 individual Australian first-crop winners last season, headlined by Godolphin's homebred dual group 1-winning colt Broadsiding and five other stakes horses, champion European 2- and 3-year-old Too Darn Hot was awarded the coveted first-season sires' title with progeny earnings of AU$4.165 million.
During a period when Australian breeders are waiting for the next champions to emerge as successors to I Am Invincible, Snitzel, and Written Tycoon, news that Too Darn Hot would not be returning to Australia this season was seen by many to be a significant blow to the nation's commercial breeders seeking a sire on the rise, particularly one with such a deep outcross pedigree.
"We are disappointed for the Australian breeders as much as anything," said Marsh. "But as I say, this is not to say that the horse will never come back down again.
"We are grateful for the support the Australian breeders have given the horse over the past few years, none more so than from Peter O'Brien and Segenhoe Stud. It was fantastic that they were rewarded at Magic Millions this year selling a colt for AU$1.9 million. They have been great believers in the horse from the moment he went out there.
"As have the Darley and Godolphin team at Kelvinside who have been fantastic in looking after the horse and everything they've done to get the mares to him and get him to the stage that we're at now. The same can be said for the team at Darley in Newmarket."
Despite the fact Too Darn Hot is not returning to Australia this year, Marsh suggests that the sire is likely to cover up to 60 mares on Southern Hemisphere time from September to December.
