Lonhro, the Black Flash who ranks as one of the best racehorses of modern times, claiming the Australian Horse of the Year title in 2003-04 and succeeding in 11 Group 1s, has followed up being champion sire for 2010-11 by booming into the new racing year with a stakes double at the Warwick Farm meeting on Saturday.

It was provided by Skytrain (won the Show County Quality) and Pinwheel (Warwick Stakes), first crop 6-year-old geldings trained by Peter Snowden for Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed, the owner of the Darley stud, the base near Aberdeen, Hunter Valley for Lonhro.

Succeeding for the tenth time in 24 outings and pushing his earnings over $800,000, the very genuine Pinwheel had included in earlier stakes performances wins in the W.J. Healy Stakes-Gr.3 (Eagle Farm), Ramornie Handicap-LR (Grafton) and Canterbury BMW Classic-LR, a second in an earlier attempt at the Healy and thirds in The Goodwood-Gr.1 (Morphettville) and Missile Stakes-Gr.3 (Randwick).

A brother to the Sydney winning filly Counterpane and a three-quarter brother to Shilo, an Octagonal winner of three races in Brisbane, Pinwheel is from Quilt, a Flemington second placegetter got by Danehill from Quarantieme, a sister to AJC Breeders’ Plate winner Take Your Partner by Bletchingly and out of the Vain Group1 placed Dancelot.

The Lonhro – Danehill mare cross is proving very effective. It has also produced stakes winners Denman (Gr.1 winner also at Darley), Dear Valley (won the Silver Shadow Stakes-Gr.3), Benfica (the T.J. Smith-Gr.1 at Eagle Farm) and Black Minx (two Listed wins at Eagle Farm) and stakes placed Merimbula and The Ruffian. In addition he has stakes performers by mares by the Danehill sires Commands and Flying Spur.

A three-quarter brother to Listed winner and Group 3 placed Omens (filly by Octagonal) and a half-brother to two stakes fillies, Manana and Accept, all products of Que Sera Sera, a Luskin Star winner out of a Todman mare, Skytrain was winning his first stakes on Saturday.

He had earlier in 17 starts won five times in Sydney, including three in succession in four weeks, and been runner up on four occasions.

Pinwheel and Skytrain are among 73 individual winners and11 stakes winners (five others stakes placed) in Lonhro’s first crop. He has had11 other first crop place and only four unplaced. He has also had 73 winners in his second crop and is already over 60 for his third.

To date Lonhro has 28 stakes winners to his credit, 19 of which were bred by the Inghams when they had the Woodlands stud, Hunter Valley, and all have been trained for Sheikh Mohammed by Snowden.

The Inghams bred and raced Lonhro, a son of the Sir Tristram Horse of the Year Octagonal and Shadea, a brilliant filly by the Mr. Prospector sire Straight Strike, and stood him at Woodlands before selling their breeding and racing empire to Sheikh Mohammed’s world wide Darley group.

Lonhro is predicted to be one of the most valuable sires to appear in Australia, not only because of his siring ability, but because most of his progeny are like him stand out near black individuals and he is an outcross for Danehill.

Lonhro has a budding sire dynasty with sons at stud including four in the Bluebloods 2011 edition of Stallions.Three retired in 2010 are Wanted (Darley), the high class sprinter-1600m performer 0’Lonhro (Larneuk stud, Euroa, Vic)  and Torch Relay (Park Crest, Westbury, Tasmania.

The other is 2011 newcomer Dissolved, a VRC Moomba Plate winner being launched at Eliza Park, Kerrie, Vic.