Godolphin Australia Managing Director Vin Cox said Bivouac's latest impressive Group 1 success in the Darley Sprint Classic at Flemington on Saturday had vindicated the decision to race on with him as a 4-year-old and he was very much now on the radar as a dual hemisphere stallion prospect for the global Darley operation.

Having proven himself a sprinter of the highest order with his dominant 3.25l win on Saturday, the one box Bivouac would need to tick to confirm his future of a shuttle stallion would be a victory in a top-flight race in the Northern Hemisphere.

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The first Southern Hemisphere foals by World Champion sprinter HARRY ANGEL

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Trainer James Cummings indicated that Bivouac could tackle races in Dubai and at Royal Ascot next year, while Cox also suggested the G1 July Cup at Newmarket as another possible option.

"It’s very much on the radar to head to the Northern Hemisphere, whether it be Royal Ascot or Newmarket," Cox told TDN AusNZ.

"We will sit down and work that out. We will just let the dust settle and map a plan to head north. It's certainly worthwhile considering."

Exceed And Excel was unable to make an impression when he contested the July Cup in 2004, his lone Northern Hemisphere run, but that was off the back of a viral infection scuppering his shot at Royal Ascot that year.

He was subsequently able to build a phenomenally successful global stallion career, which has seen him produce over 1500 winners across 39 countries. Among that list are 178 stakes winners, with 103 of those foaled in the Southern Hemisphere and 75 in the Northern Hemisphere.

The achievements of his sire certainly play in Bivouac's favour when it comes to his prospects of succeeding as a reverse shuttle stallion.

"His own sire, Exceed And Excel, is without doubt the most successful reverse shuttle stallion of all time and it would be fantastic to keep that legacy going in the Northern Hemisphere," Cox said.

"We will see how he performs and where he sits in terms of his stallion profile and racing profile, and where he is best placed. From a global perspective from Godolphin, if we can add that string to his bow, as a Northern Hemisphere winner it will assist the decision to shuttle him."

Group 1 vindication

The decision of Godolphin to race on with the G1 Golden Rose S. and Newmarket H. winner as a 4-year-old may have surprised a few, but with Darley adding another son of Exceed And Excel to its roster in 2020 in Microphone, and with confidence that Bivouac was a horse yet to hit full maturity as a racehorse, it was one which made sense, albeit with a degree of risk.

"With these valuable colts, it is a risk to race them on, because, more often than not, it can go the wrong direction with them. But he has always been a horse that has handled himself beautifully temperament-wise, so it was never going to be a threat, physically or mentally for him, to continue racing," Cox said.

"He was an obvious horse for us to keep in training. Fortunately, it has bounced the right way and it was with a scintillating performance in the Darley Sprint Classic, nonetheless."

It was in the inevitable comparisons with Microphone, a winner of the G1 Inglis Sires' in 2019, that Cox and Cummings were able to see the potential for Bivouac to race on as a 4-year-old.

"As a young horse, he was a dual stakes winning 2-year-old who just missed a Slipper spot. We had two Exceed and Excel colts that were very good 2-year-olds that year. One was Microphone and the other was Bivouac," he said.

"Microphone was a heavier type and not as easy to handle, and this bloke was just that bit more mature. He was an athletic type as a 2-year-old and always mentally very relaxed. He was just a horse that you knew could handle the rigours and pressures of racing as an older horse.

"He's developed, and he is really good in the coat and skin. The last couple of weeks, he has really blossomed. James was particularly confident going into yesterday."

A performance of pure class

Saturday's race panned out exactly as Cox, Cummings and jockey Glen Boss would have hoped, with Bivouac able to camp off a hot speed set by Nature Strip (Nicconi), before being unleashed at the 300 metre mark and charging clear to a victory that is likely to feature as the chief piece of marketing for his stallion career for years to come, complete with the requisite pose from Boss crossing the line.

"You don't see them win Newmarkets and Darley Sprints down the Flemington straight like that yesterday with Bossy up in the irons with at least 50 metres to go. That's a dominant win," Cox said.

"When he let down, if you listen to the call of Matt Hill, he said - 'Bivouac explodes', and that is exactly what he did. He just held him up, held him up, held him up and then bang! away he went. I was one of the few fortunate people to be there to watch it and it was very exciting indeed."

Cummings has indicated Bivouac could use the G1 Black Caviar Lightning in February as a launching point for his global campaign in 2021, but there is also a chance that may not be the last Australian race fans see of him.

It is not beyond the realms of possibility, should his form warrant it, that Godolphin keeps him in work as a 5-year-old and he has a second shot at The Everest, a race he ran second in behind Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) this year.

"That would be another step again, to go that deep and into his 5-year-old year, but if he is in the form he is in right now, it is certainly worth consideration," Cox said.

Cover image courtesy of Breeders' Cup

Spendthrift Australia's General Manager Garry Cuddy had a little bit more than a professional interest in Authentic's Breeders’ Cup Classic performance, as a micro-shareholder in the G1 Kentucky Derby-winning colt, along with his mum Robyn, for whom he also purchased a share.

For the second time in a couple of months, Cuddy had an unforgettable Sunday morning watching on TV from Spendthrift Australia's Victorian base as Authentic delivered an authoritative 2.25l victory in track record time.

"It’s fantastic for the brand, as we said after the Derby, nobody could begrudge Mr Hughes a win in that race. For the horse to turn up two months later and to take out the Classic, it’s fantastic. The main thing was today, he was wearing Mr Hughes' colours, which would have made it that bit more special for him," Cuddy told TDN AusNZ.

"It’s great to be a part of it, from a Spendthrift perspective, with the added bonus of being a microshare-holder makes that all the more special and being able to share it with Mum is about as good as it gets."

Ridden for speed by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, Authentic led the Classic field early on, doing so with a minimum of fuss, with stablemates Improbable (USA) (City Zip {USA}) and Maximum Security (USA) (New Year’s Day {USA}) deferring.

They began to edge closer to the front-runner as they raced into the final half-mile, but Authentic remained strong up front while Improbable tried to make a race of it wide on the turn. Holding firm into the straight, Authentic kicked on gamely and was home safely ahead of Improbable.

Global Campaign (USA) (Curlin {USA}) raced prominently throughout and finished third, 2l ahead of Tacitus (USA) (Tapit {USA}), who rallied from next to last for fourth.

Manny Franco elected to take back favoured G1 Belmont S. hero and Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law (USA) (Constitution {USA}) off the early pace in third, but he offered no rally and finished sixth.

Cuddy said the depth of the field that Authentic defeated made the victory all the more special.

"Before the race, they had nearly talked me out of the fact he was going to win, because it was so strong. Every other horse had something else to talk about and there was so much strong form heading into the race," he said.

"I think Bob's plan was to let them eyeball him on the turn, because that tended to put him into another gear."

The final time of 1:59.19 established a new Keeneland track record for 1 1/4 miles, besting’s American Pharoah’s (USA) final clocking of 2:00.07 in his Classic victory five years earlier.

Authentic joins fellow Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand (USA), Alysheba (USA), Sunday Silence (USA), Unbridled (USA), and the Baffert-trained American Pharoah to defeat their elders in the Classic. Baffert also won the Classic with fellow 3-year-olds Bayern (USA) (2014) and Arrogate (USA) (2016).

“You know what, they were all training so well and he was training well,” Baffert said. “I think Johnny (Velazquez) got to know him a lot better and he’s just a quirky guy. But when I saw him out there, he’s catching up with these older horses. That’s what they do at this time of year, what a horse. He’s the real deal.”

A debut winner sprinting at Del Mar two days shy of a year ago, Authentic aired by 7.75l in Santa Anita’s G3 Sham S. in early January. He was a powerful winner in the G2 San Felipe S. March 7, then suffered his first career defeat, finishing second to Honor A.P. (USA) (Honor Code {USA}) in the G1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.

Saved by the wire in the G1 TVG.com Haskell S. July 18, Authentic showed no signs of slowing down, turning back Belmont winner Tiz the Law in the postponed Derby. He lost little in defeat coming up a neck short of the brilliant filly Swiss Skydiver (USA) (Daredevil {USA}) in the G1 Preakness S. last time on October 3.

“There were two races where he came back where he was really blowing hard,” Baffert said. “It was the Santa Anita Derby and the Preakness. So that means maybe I didn’t have him as sharp as I love to have them and he just struggled that day.

"But we got him back and I’ve got a great team and we just tightened the screws on him. He’s maturing right now and this is, I won it with 3-year-olds, and because this is when, the time of the year they catch up. It was a tough field, but I just told Johnny, I said, ‘This is the horse that you rode in the Derby. You can ride him with confidence'."

Marquee day for Spendthrift

Initially purchased for US$350,000 (AU$482,226) at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, by SF Bloodstock, who have substantial investments in Australia, chiefly through Newgate, and Starlight West, Authentic is now campaigned by a powerful partnership, headed by Spendthrift and including MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing.

“Oh, man, it’s such, it’s in such an unbelievably surreal year,” Spendthrift’s Eric Gustavson said. “To say that the horse has brought us a lot of light and excitement and distraction is an understatement. To have the off date Kentucky Derby and then the back to normal Breeders’ Cup and to be able to win those both in one year and with a 3-year-old, man, it’s too much.”

Spendthrift also campaigned three-time Breeders’ Cup champion Beholder (USA) and Mile upsetter Court Vision (USA).

The colt’s number of owners grew exponentially when the Spendthrift-backed micro-share syndicate MyRacehorse bought in shortly after Authentic’s run in the Santa Anita Derby.

“Yeah, well, I mean, this has been quite the ride,” MyRacehorse’s Michael Behrens said. “It’s an amazing ride. I could never have imagined that it would end like this. I mean, this is the pinnacle of racing. And when we set out to do this a couple years ago the idea was to celebrate this sport with as many people as possible, and to have 5314 people to have an ownership stake in Authentic, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. And the partnership with Spendthrift and Eric and Mr Hughes, it’s been tremendous having this opportunity.

“Wayne has given so much to the game over the years. He’s been in racing for 50 years and he bought Spendthrift in 2004 and made it into a business, and now to, with a lot of help from Johnny V. and Bob who are in the room here, to realise this dream, that sometimes it feels like you can only dream. It’s really not quite attainable, which is what makes it like so sweet, it’s unbelievable. But for Wayne, it’s everything, for us, for the team at Spendthrift, that’s the best part, that Wayne has reached the top of the mountain here and we get to celebrate with him.”

It was another big day for Spendthrift's marquee stallion Into Mischief (USA), with star filly Gamine (USA) breaking a track record in winning the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint by 6.25l, for Baffert and Velazquez.

"His stock are so fast," Cuddy said. "Gamine has broken the track record with her victory today and Authentic has gone and run the third fastest Classic in history. They're such tough horses and once they go, they just keep on going, they don’t stop."

Cover image courtesy of Symphony Lodge

The buying and selling of thoroughbreds during the COVID-19 pandemic has proven a difficult market to predict and the breeze-up sales have traditionally relied more heavily on international investors, who due to travel restrictions, have been unable to get to the Gold Coast this year.

The one principle that has held strong is 'quality always sells' and it is with that in mind, Symphony Lodge's Matthew Park believes his draft of 16 are well-placed to find new homes at the right price.

"We aren't just there having bought a cheap horse looking to make a few dollars. What we are trying to do is sell quality horses year after year and look for them to go on to the racetrack and win races," he told TDN AusNZ.

"Hopefully, like everyone, you have one or two really good horses a year. This year, more so than before, we upped the ante on the quality of horses we have purchased. We cut our numbers a bit and have been much more selective in terms of the horses we want.

"Given the market, it might have been a good move. We want to really up the quality of our draft rather than just our numbers from now on in. If you buy better horses, you get to sell better horses."

With the Sale itself moved to November due to the COVID-19 related disruptions, Oakey-based Symphony Lodge has had to take a slightly different timing with its 2-year-olds, who have all breezed-up either last month or last Friday at the Gold Coast.

"We knew early on that the Sale would be delayed, so we do all our education, breaking-in and barrier work, and then there is probably a six week build up into the breeze-up. They have that campaign into the breeze itself and so we just changed the spell time. We just brought them in a little later than we usually have," Park said.

"We timed our run into the Sale with the same framework. The biggest thing is that they are more boys now than they might be normally. Some of them are starting to turn into stallions."

While quality was one focus for Symphony Lodge in assembling its draft, so too was variety, with 16 different stallions represented. Park said the breeze-up sale market was generally more interested in a wider range of types of horses than a yearling sale, and it was important to reflect that.

"They are a very correct and are nice types and their pedigrees will suggest where they can go and what they can do," he said. "We've got different sorts of horses. We've got horses by Starcraft and Written Tycoon, who are more of the 3-year-old horses. Then you have got your Territories and the Sir Prancealots, which are more the early 2-year-old type."

Territories colt puts himself forward

The colt by Territories (Ire), Lot 45, put himself up in lights with he fastest breeze-up at the Gold Coast session last Friday, stopping the clock at 10.30s. Park said in his experience it was as much about the way a horse worked as it was about the time they record.

"It’s very important that they breeze-up well but it's not just about times. It's also their actions and how they handle themselves in the breeze-up. Buyers like to see a nice fluent action with their horse and if they run time, then that’s almost a bonus," he said.

Watch: Lot 45 breeze-up

The action and the bonus were both there with the colt by Territories, who was a $110,000 buy from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January from the draft of Oaklands Stud.

From the first crop of Darley's shuttle stallion son of Invincible Spirit (Ire), he is out of Rosalita (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who has already produced three winners and is a winning three-quarter sister of Sharp Hill (Danehill {USA}).

"He's a beautiful colt and probably one of the nicest horses you would see on the grounds, especially in our draft. He really stands out as a forward type of horse," Park said.

"In saying that, for a fast horse, he is so casual. On the ground and in his work, he just lets down and gallops and eases back down. He's not that natural looking faster horse, it is just from his length of stride where he gets his speed. He's just an athlete."

"He's 520kg, and around 16 hands, so he is a big, strong boy too. He's just a quality individual."

There has also been plenty of interest in another colt by a first crop shuttle stallion, Cornerstone Stud's Sir Prancelot (Ire).

Lot 182 is out of Index Hugger (Danzero), the half-sister to Listed winner Flying Alpha (Flying Spur) out of the family of Group 1 winner Melito (Redoute's Choice). He cost $40,000 through the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale.

"We keep a good eye on what happens overseas with these pedigrees and these stallions. The market we sell in is genuinely internationally based and they take a lot of weight in what happens in Europe and in America," Park said.

"We targeted him as the nicest one we saw by that stallion. He's been a real little gentleman in his work and has been showing us good potential."

Lot 109 is a Written Tycoon gelding described as a standout by Park and shapes as one who might appreciate distance in time. He is out of a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Volkstock'n'barrell (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}). His half-brother Newzeel Deal (Dundeel {NZ}), was fourth in a Listed race at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day.

Park also harbours strong expectations for Lot 24, who is by Nicconi out of Listed winner Noesis (Exceed And Excel).

"The Nicconi I have is a nice horse. He looks a real hard running horse, a bit like Nature Strip, where he just gets out and goes. He's more of an old style Danehill horse, a big scopey horse but light on his feet," he said.

Local buyers to the fore

The lack of international presence is expected to be another COVID-challenge this week and Park said he thinks this could present opportunities for local buyers to get more involved.

"There has been a big push for the Australian market this year, whether they can absorb that or not, we’ll see. That's the stronger market though," he said.

"Hong Kong will still be in for the big top line stuff, they are always picky, but there will be some good buying there in the middle and the bottom. The quality horses always seem to find a good home, but it will be a different year, that's for sure."