Written by Paul Vettise
Sun Stud is hoping to stretch its current run of racing luck further afield to Queensland where the lightly-tried and regally-bred Chains Of Honour (Redoute’s Choice) will attempt to add black type to his record at the first time of asking.
The Victorian-based operation celebrated success in its home state on Wednesday when Blossom On Snow (Sebring) remained unbeaten after two appearances with her victory at Caulfield and home bred, Chains Of Honour, has also made a bright start to his career.
Blossom On Snow
The 3-year-old has suffered one defeat in three starts and will face his toughest test at Eagle Farm in the G3 Grand Prix S., which has been moved from its traditional winter date in a bid to boost its profile.
Chains Of Honour was a debut winner over 1600 metres and was given a break following an unplaced run and resumed with further success over 1800 metres at Hawkesbury.
"He had three trials and three jump-outs for his first win and two trials and some jump outs this time," said trainer Gerald Ryan, who also won a race with Chains Of Honour’s brother Heroic Fighter.
"He is a horse who comes to hand quickly. I have been thinking about Chains Of Honour as a Queensland Derby horse for some time and this will be the first step."
Staying pedigree
Chains Of Honour is bred to stay as a son of the G1 VRC Oaks winner Faint Perfume (Shamardal {USA}), who was purchased by the stud for $700,000 when offered by Think Big Stud at the Inglis Sydney Broodmare Sale in 2016.
“His pedigree suggested he was always going to get better with time and over more ground,” Sun Stud Operations Manager David Grant said.
“His pedigree suggested he was always going to get better with time and over more ground.” - David Grant
“We’ve got a 2-year-old by Snitzel called Maranoa with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott who is out spelling at the moment, but they quite like him.
“She was booked to go back to Snitzel, but she ended up going over her foaling date and she ended up being bred to National Defense. She’s got a really good Thronum filly at foot and our best three or four foals are by Thronum.”
Thronum was a Group 2 winning son of Snitzel, but he has experienced fertility issues since his retirement.
Thronum | Standing at Sun Stud
“Fertility wise he hasn’t been great. We haven’t had any problems with our own mares, we’ve got pretty much everything in foal to him, but with walk-ins he has.
“He finished his first season at about 50 per cent and he’ll be about the same this year. I sent one of my own mares to him and she went in foal straight away so it’s been a tricky one.”
Filly blossoming
Meanwhile, it’s been plain sailing for the 3-year-old filly Blossoms On Snow, who followed up a debut win at Wangaratta with a bold front-running success at Caulfield on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of improvement to come from her and she looks like she can be a black type filly,” Grant said. “There aren’t that many options this time of the year, but there are plenty in the early autumn.
“It was a bit of a surprise that she won so easily first-up and it was nice to see her win again. She still does a few things wrong and will get better with age. She’s from an old Woodlands family and they tend to improve with time.”
Blossom On Snow as a yearling
Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Blossoms On Snow was bought out of Newhaven Park’s Inglis Sydney Easter Yearling Sale line-up for $150,000 and is a half-sister to the G3 How Now S. winner Detours (Ad Valorem {USA}).
Their dam Hairpin (Octagonal {NZ}) was stakes placed and is a half-sister to the dam of the G3 Danehill S. winner and G1 Newmarket H. placegetter Aichi (Strategic).
