By Bren O'Brien
When Yes Yup Yay steps out for Gold Coast trainer Melissa Leitch in a 2-year-old race at Doomben on Saturday, she will become the first of No Nay Never's (USA) Australian progeny to race.
An 8.5l trial winner on her home track earlier this month, Yes Yup Yay is poised to give a strong first impression of how her Coolmore-based sire's first Australian crop will perform on the track.
Anticipation is high for the son of Scat Daddy (USA), who was Europe's leading first season sire in 2018 with six individual stakes-winners, and whose Australian service fee has risen from $11,000 (inc GST) in his first two years to $44,000 (inc GST) in 2019, his fourth season of shuttling.
Watch: Yes Yup Yay trial
"They are out and out sprinters by the look of them," Leitch said when asked about the No Nay Nevers.
"I think she looks like her father. Some others say she's not, but she seems to have a lot of her father's attributes.
"If you see her at the races on Saturday, you'll think wow she looks like a 3-year-old colt, not a 2-year-old filly that's for sure. She's got a bit of wow factor about her."
"If you see her at the races on Saturday, you'll think wow she looks like a 3-year-old colt, not a 2-year-old filly that's for sure." - Melissa Leitch
Leitch is in an interesting position to assess the No Nay Never impact on the filly, having also trained two of her half siblings, Honour'n'strength (Foxwedge) and Courage Within (Foxwedge).
Out of Snippet Street (Street Cry {Ire}), both of those horses were multiple winners, but took a lot longer to mature.
"She's a lot more professional and she's a lot more forward than they ever were at that stage. She's probably two years ahead of them," she said.
"All she does is eat. She's a very good doer and has coped with everything like a professional. She is like dealing with an old stager and just takes it all in her stride. She picks it up quick and has been easy to train."
Yes Yup Yay was purchased out of the paddock by a couple of Leitch's best supporters and while she was offered through the Magic Millions National Sale, where she was passed in short of her $40,000 reserve, the intention was always to retain and race her.
She is the only horse that Leitch currently trains and as a result she has been getting 100 per cent of her attention since coming into work.
"She's a typical 2-year-old in that she changes from day to day and is growing all the time. She's well put together, sound and has got no issues and always looked like a runner," she said.
Melissa's mentor Gerald Ryan encouraged her to just 'go for it'
Off the trial win, where the filly jumped to the lead and just got further in front, Leitch was looking for a suitable race for her and while the 1200 metres of Saturday's race is not ideal, she thinks she is up to it.
"It’s not the ideal race for her but there are not a lot of options, so I had to go to the 1200 metres. I don’t think she's a 900 metre horse, but I was a bit worried about the 1200. I spoke to a good friend of mine and mentor Gerald Ryan and he didn’t seem too concerned, and said go for it," she said.
"I've only got her at the moment. As they say, you only need one good one."
Magics ambition
A successful debut on Saturday could see Leitch set her sights a little higher with a view to the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January.
"If she runs a really good race on Saturday, we will keep going. We’ll give her 10 days on the water walker up at Burrum where she was educated, because she's been in a while," she said.
"Whether we keep ticking her over on the water walker and treadmill or send her to the paddock, we'll make that call on Saturday. But her shins are great at the moment, there's no setbacks there. We will just wait and see."
There have only been three of No Nay Never's first Australian crop of 51 foals to have trialled so far, the other two being the Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained No Never No More in New Zealand and the Peter and Paul Snowden trained Stoical at Moe.
