There’s a certain irony about Saturday’s G3 San Domenico S., a race named after a superstar gelding that has become a stallion’s haven.
In its last five runnings, the San Domenico has been won by Anders, Exceedance, Graff (NZ), Pariah and Star Turn, all of whom are currently, or about to be, at stud, while before that the race throws to Nostradamus, Foxwedge, Duporth, Charge Forward and Testa Rossa.
In fact, since the latter’s victory in 1999, when he outsprinted Easy Rocking by less than 1l in a race that also included Shogun Lodge (Grand Lodge {USA}), only six fillies have won the San Domenico. They include Snitzerland (Snitzel) in 2012, Gold Edition (Lion Hunter) in 2006 and Regimental Gal (General Nediym) in 2003.
At a glance, the numbers are historically in favour of the boys.
Since Testa Rossa’s victory in 1999, there have been 22 editions of the race. Of these, 13 have been won by stallions, six by mares and only three by geldings. Going back further, not much is different.
Before Testa Rossa, past winners (up to the San Domenico’s inaugural running in 1980) include General Nediym, Our Maizcay, Show County and Sir Dapper.
In a nutshell, across the race’s 40-year history, it has been won by colts on 24 occasions, fillies on 11 occasions and geldings only five times.
The San Domenico isn’t the only race on Sydney’s early spring schedule that can boast such stout stallion potential, but it does throw light on some of the potential future stars of the stallion barns.
Recent winners
Last year’s winner of the San Domenico was the Not A Single Doubt colt Anders, who will cover his first book of mares at Widden Stud this spring at $16,500 (inc GST). Anders’ victory in the race last year came in quick succession after his winning of the Listed The Rosebud a fortnight earlier and, within three weeks, he was snapped up by Widden for stallion duties.
Anders | Standing at Widden Stud
Exceedance, meanwhile, who won in 2019, defeated Bivouac in his San Domenico victory. Both colts are now at stud. Exceedance, retired to Vinery, won the G1 Coolmore Stud S. following his win in the Rosehill race, and the San Domenico is one half of his Group-winning resume.
Graff, the 2018 winner, will cover his first book of mares at Kitchwin Hills this spring and, like Exceedance, the San Domenico is one of two Group races on his resume, the other being the G2 Caulfield Sprint.
Pariah, similarly, won the San Domenico and G3 Canonbury S. before his retirement to Arrowfield in 2018.
Who’s next?
This year, the field for the San Domenico S. is looking a good one, even with the transfer of the Rosehill meeting to Kembla Grange and the possibility of rain-affected going. Notably, the entire field is made up of colts.
Golden Slipper hero Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) is returning for co-trainers Richard and Michael Freedman, while also resuming for the first time since respective juvenile campaigns is Captivant (Capitalist), Kalashnikov (Capitalist), Gleneagles (Capitalist) and Ranch Hand (Fastnet Rock).
Saturday’s field will also feature a number of colts that have already banked a run this season, including the Godolphin colt Paulele (Dawn Approach {Ire}), who was a last-start winner of the Listed The Rosebud, plus Remarque (Snitzel) for Arrowfield, In The Congo (Snitzel) for the Newgate-China Horse Club partnership and Mazu (Maurice {Jpn}) for Triple Crown Syndications.
Maotai (Not A Single Doubt), in the colours of the Fung family’s Aquis Farm, will complete the 12-horse field.
Among them all, there are some obvious stallion prospects.
Stars on the rise
Stay Inside is already a valuable future sire for Newgate Farm, which in February purchased a major share in the colt with a view to his stallion career. It was a smart move because Stay Inside kept the faith with his Golden Slipper victory a few weeks later.
The Newgate colt has the added benefit of Extreme Choice as his sire, with that stallion recently crowned Australia’s Champion First Season Sire, narrowly edging out Capitalist by progeny earnings.
Paulele meanwhile, who co-heads the betting on recent form, has proved an excellent and consistent sprinter already for team Godolphin, with a last-season victory in the G3 Kindergarten S. Speaking last week, trainer James Cummings said the colt was on-song for competition after The Rosebud victory.
“He’s a lovely colt who’s blessed with a wonderful turn of foot,” Cummings said. “He’s going to be even better suited in the San Domenico.”
“He’s (Paulele) a lovely colt who’s blessed with a wonderful turn of foot. He’s going to be even better suited in the San Domenico.” - James Cummings
Paulele is the product of Dawn Approach’s (Ire) fourth crop of foals in Australia. The Darley former shuttler, and outstanding four-time Group 1 winner in England and Ireland, visited Australia for five seasons in total, from 2014 to 2018.
Interestingly, Paulele was Dawn Approach’s second winner of the Listed The Rosebud this month, the stallion also siring the 2019 winner, Dawn Passage.
Paulele
For Arrowfield, Remarque is a full brother to the 2018 Golden Slipper winner Estijaab (Snitzel), and as such comes with an exceptional case for stud already. He was third to Paulele in The Rosebud and boasts a record of three starts to date for a win and a third. He was unlucky in the autumn when fifth in the G2 Todman S. behind Anamoe (Street Boss {USA}).
By most accounts, Saturday’s San Domenico S. is a strong edition of the race – all colts, all winners representing some of the hottest stallions in Australia.
However, and as the saying goes, there can only be one winner, albeit this hasn’t precluded the San Domenico from big-sire names in its past.
Previous also-rans in the sprint feature have included Fastnet Rock, who was second to Charge Forward in 2004, while Pins was unplaced in Testa Rossa’s year and Spirit Of Boom was fourth in 2010. All Too Hard was third to Snitzerland in 2012, while Vancouver and Headwater were both unplaced behind Japonisme (Choisir) in 2015.
