Turner had already secured a nice return on his initial small investment in the five-time winning mare Sneaky Tsu (Tsuimai), who he bought through the 2014 Inglis Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale, when her Nicconi colt sold through the Fairview Park Stud draft for $100,000 to Orbis Bloodstock at the 2018 Inglis Classic Sale.
Now named Joyful Fortune, the Nicconi 3-year-old has added further lustre to the residual value of his dam and the rest of the family, having made a huge impression for trainer David Hall and jockey Blake Shinn in racing away to a 4.75l debut success, stopping the clock at 55.07s. That set a new 1000 metre Class 4 record and was the third-fastest time ever down the Sha Tin straight.
Shinn barely seemed to move in the final stages on the chestnut gelding, who has created a considerable late-season buzz about him, having lived up to the hype created through his impressive trackwork and trial performances.
“You can see it all in the mornings but you need to see it on race day,” Hall said.
“He’s given all the indications that he was going to go and do something like that. Maybe that bit of a tailwind made the time look more impressive but he’s a talented horse, there’s no question. From day one he’s looked like that. He’s got a beautiful action.
“We’ve concentrated on keeping his demeanour quiet and relaxed and that’s been working really well. His brain has been terrific for Hong Kong. He’s a perfect horse. He’s very well-behaved and a good doer in the stable – he’s only three so in six months he’ll be a stronger horse."
Joyful Fortune was initially named Cerritus in Australia when he won two trials under the eye of trainer Kim Waugh. Those performances were enough to see Orbis sell him on to Hong Kong owners in a private deal brokered by Bahen Bloodstock.
He was bred and raised on Fairview Park Stud at Grose Wold, and manager Linda Duckworth remembers a high-quality foal that she always felt would make an impression regardless of where he raced.
"He was a really nice horse. He always had a great walk on him. I remember, he had a lovely nature, just like the mare. She's a lovely big mare. I also remember he was a very nice horse at the sales," she said.
"He was a really nice horse. He always had a great walk on him." - Linda Duckworth
"He seems to have got that speed. It was great to see. We followed him when he won his trials in Australia, and then when he was sold to Hong Kong, so it was great to see him win last night."
A Sneaky success
Sneaky Tsu, a winner of five of her 19 starts under the care of Troy Corstens and John Sadler, is Turner's only broodmare at Fairview Park, a fact which makes the performances of Joyful Fortune even more special.
"We are very excited for the breeder. I have just got off the phone from him, he was ecstatic," Duckworth said.
"He's just got the one mare and he breeds to race or breeds to sell. He'll sell one and then keep one that sort of thing.
"He loves his racing and his breeding and he does a lot of homework, so it's paid off for him.
"Those type of breeders, the small ones, are getting few and far between, so it's great when they come out and do that and get a good result."
Sneaky Tsu when racing
She may have been a cheap buy, but Sneaky Tsu has some quality in her family, with her dam Grey Sneakers (Spectacular Spy {USA}) a sister to G1 George Ryder S. winner Quick Flick as well as Listed winning sprinter Super Espion.
Sneaky Tsu has produced just one foal since Joyful Fortune but now has some real momentum back in her breeding career.
"She's got a Stratum Star filly that is a really nice type again and she is in foal to Adelaide. Hopefully, she will go back to Nicconi this year," Duckworth said.
Fairview Park ready to test foal market
The victory came with a sense of timing for Fairview Park, which is presenting seven weanlings for sale at this week's Inglis Australian Weanling Sale in Sydney.
The draft features four fillies, two by Rubick, and one each from Shooting To Win and Supido, and three colts, two by Super One and one by Hellbent.
The Hellbent colt, Lot 128 from city-winning mare Bec Said No Credit (Flying Spur), is one of the highlights of the draft, while the two colts by Newgate's Super One, Lot 91 out of the unraced Foxwedge mare Valise, and Lot 247, out of the Choisir mare Jewel Of Honour, are both characterised as 'strong and good movers' by Duckworth.
Lot 128 - Hellbent x Bec Said No Credit (colt)
Lot 78, the Shooting To Win filly from the family of stakes winners Lightinthenite (Galileo {Ire}) and Happen (Zeditave), is one of the picks of the draft on type, while Duckworth also holds high hopes for the Rubick fillies, Lot 333 out of stakes-placed mare Tariana (Anabaa {USA}), and Lot 37, from the extended family of Group 2 winner and recent Group 1-producing stallion Rothesay.
"Inglis has done a great job to get it all together, and all we can do is present the horses and see how we go," Duckworth said. "You hope the market is there for them. But you just don't know and the current situation is a bit hard to read."
