New Zealand’s proven sire ranks received a blow this week with news from Windsor Park Stud that their Group One producing sire Golan will be resting from shuttle duties in 2009.

Red tape surrounding the importation of the horse in addition to increased costs with the shuttling process and insufficient early bookings have meant the Coolmore owned horse will be staying put at his Irish base for the coming southern hemisphere breeding season.

Windsor Park Stud proprietor Nelson Schick was philosophical about the announcement, clearly frustrated the stallion will not be returning south for his seventh consecutive New Zealand season.

“It is disappointing but shuttling stallions requires a level of support to make the process viable. We felt that with the success of Golan’s progeny both here and in Australia we would get enough early support to be able to bring him back. However in the current economic conditions this has not materialized, so after shuttling for six straight seasons it has been decided to rest the horse this year,” Schick said.

The red tape surrounding the importation of the horse stems from a change in quarantine protocols with Irish-based stallions now having to travel to England to complete the quarantine process. In previous years, Coolmore has operated its own quarantine facility in Ireland.

While the Cambridge nursery intends to recommence shuttle duties with Golan in the 2010 season, the omission of the sire from the 2009 New Zealand stallion ranks is a blow for the New Zealand breeding industry.

A classic influence of growing note, Golan has sired 10 stakes performers from his southern hemisphere crops, the clear highlight being the Gr.1 VRC Derby win of Kibbutz. The current season has been a sterling one for the son of Spectrum, holding down a top 10 spot on the New Zealand sires’ premiership courtesy of seven individual stakes performers, and 24 winners.

Leading the way has been the dual stakes winning three-year-old Le Baron, who won the Listed ARC Great Northern Guineas Prelude, before the taking the Group Two Great Northern Guineas two weeks later. Another contributor to the sire’s season’s takings has also been Sarge In Charge, the Liam Birchley trained galloper who crossed the Tasman to run second place in the 2009 Karaka Million.