Retirement from use at Coolmore, Hunter Valley of the prolific world-wide source of winners Royal Academy after serving 16 mares in 2009 has left only one prominent sire son of the famous Northern Dancer product Nijinsky active.

Like Royal Academy produced when the1967 foaled Nijinsky was twenty, he is Sky Classic and he is now looking after his eighteenth book in America, standing on $10,000 at Pin Oak stud in Kentucky.

A 16.2 hands chestnut, the 24-years-old Sky Classic appears unique as a first class American racehorse and sire by Nijinsky in that he carries an Australian champion racehorse at the third generation in his maternal breeding. He is Todman’s two years younger brother Noholme, a stakes performer in Australia and America.

Back home Noholme followed a win in the AJC Champagne Stakes and seventh in the Golden Slipper at two with victories at three in the Cox Plate, Epsom Handicap, All Aged Stakes, Hill Stakes and C B Fisher Plate. He was recognised by many as the Horse of the Year.

After retiring from racing, he rose up from books of modest quality to be an important sire in America. His son Nodouble was twice champion handicapper and once champion sire and another, Shecky Greene, was named champion sprinter at three and second best behind Mr. Prospector at four. One of Nodouble’s sons, Semipalatinsk, was one of the best sires to stand in Queensland in the last thirty years.

It is one of Nodouble’s daughters, No Class, who has been a major cog in extending Noholme’s name in current American pedigrees. A Canadian broodmare of the year, No Class produced six stakes winners, including Sky Classic and Classy ‘n’ Smart, a champion filly and broodmare of year in Canada. One of Classy ‘n’ Smart’s foals, Smart Strike (by Mr. Prospector), has been North America’s leading sire twice.

Nijinsky’s swansong son Sky Classic was champion for Canada at two, three and four and North America’s best grass horse at five. In compiling 15 wins (13 stakes) from 29 starts, he twice set new course records for a mile and a half (2400m).

A Keeneland catalogue covering their January 2011 sale says Sky Classic has had 15 crops of racing age, 594 starters, 439 winners (53 SWs, six champions) of 1591 races and US$45million. His advertising credits him with ranking among the top one percent of American sires by percentage of Group1 winners, Group winners, stakes horses and winners.

One of the Group1 winners, Nothing to Lose, stimulated this review on Sky Classic and the Noholme input into American breeding. Nothing to Lose is a resident besides Clang at the Lucas family’s prominent Willowbend stud at Beaudesert in Queensland and he enjoyed the distinction of having his only runner to date from his first crop, Collector, romp to a 3.3 lengths win in the juvenile event at the Sunshine Coast on March 20.

A 16.2 hands bay got by Sky Classic from Cherlindrea, a stakes winning daughter of Nearctic’s influential grandson Clever Trick and a Roberto winner, Nothing to Lose turned in fine performances in senior company in three seasons of racing in America, appearing 15 times, all on leading turf tracks, for six wins, three seconds, a third, all told eight Group race cheques and US$809,000.

He was successful twice in four outings at two, won two Group 3 races at his only appearances at three and then at four performed so well in nine starts he was ranked North America’s equal seventh best older grass track performer. The highlight was a runaway four and a half lengths win in the $650,000 Group1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland.

A race review said Nothing to Lose ran one of the best trials for the American Breeder’s Turf Mile in winning the Shadwell. He went out one of the most fancied runners for the Breeder’s Cup race, but was unplaced on a problem surface.