Cover image courtesy of Three Bridges Thoroughbreds
Leading the way this season is exciting Adelaide 3-year-old Beau Rossa, who comes from Unencumbered’s second-to-last crop in 2017.
Co-bred by Three Bridges Thoroughbreds, who sold him for $80,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, the Will Clarken-trained chestnut recorded his second stakes win with a dominant performance in Saturday’s TAB Lightning S. at Morphettville. He romped to victory by 3.25l, improving his overall record to five wins and two placings from just 10 starts to date.
Beau Rossa is the best-performed of five stakes winners for Unencumbered, who won the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic in 2014 and retired to stand at Three Bridges in Victoria later that same year.
After covering a total of 489 mares across his four seasons at Three Bridges, Unencumbered sadly died in March of 2018 from complications after having throat surgery to treat progressive chondritis. He is now the sire of 128 winners from 206 runners to date.
The late Unencumbered
Beau Rossa heads that list with victories in the G2 Tobin Bronze S. and Saturday’s Lightning S., while Felicia and Mirette have been Group 3 winners and Free To Move and No Restriction have scored at Listed level. Free Of Debt finished third in the G1 Blue Diamond.
Three Bridges’ Peter Liston has taken real pleasure from Beau Rossa’s impressive performances in Adelaide this season.
"He's (Beau Rossa) done a very good job. I was out working this afternoon and didn’t actually see today’s race, but I was pleased to come in and read about it afterwards." - Peter Liston
“He’s done a very good job,” he said. “I was out working this afternoon and didn’t actually see today’s race, but I was pleased to come in and read about it afterwards.
“The horse’s dam (the Choisir mare My Choisir) is owned by some very good clients of ours. They come to the farm quite often, and they happened to notice some of the progeny of Unencumbered that we had here on the property. They really liked the look of them and decided to send the mare to him the following season.
“Beau Rossa was always a lovely horse, a very nice type and we really liked him. I think $80,000 was right on the reserve, and Will Clarken and his team have developed him very well. It’s been great to see.”
Beau Rossa’s heroics have been part of a season of racetrack and sale-ring success for the Three Bridges team and their graduates.
Their yearlings have sold for up to $700,000 – a colt by I Am Invincible out of Solar Moon (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who was bought by the Hong Kong Jockey Club at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale – while the racing stars include Haut Brion Her (Zoustar), co-bred and part-owned by Liston.
The Chris Waller-trained mare has had 13 starts for six wins and four placings, earning more than $1.4 million in stakes to date.
Haut Brion Her has claimed Group 2 victories in the Rose of Kingston S. and Sheraco S., as well as a second placing in the $1 million Yes Yes Yes S., fifth in the $15 million The Everest and fifth in the G1 The Galaxy.
Haut Brion Her
“She’s provided a few highlights for us this season, and she’s down with the pre-trainers at the moment and coming along well,” Liston said. “She’ll hopefully head back to Chris Waller again soon, and we’ll see what she can do next season. She’s an exciting mare.
“We’ve also had some great results in yearling sales, and I just think it’s been an amazing year for the sales despite all the challenges of COVID. The good results have just kept coming, and it’s been an incredible year. It’s a real credit to all of the sales companies, and it just shows the remarkable resilience of the industry.”
