Written by Jessica Owers
Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
This Saturday at Rosehill Gardens, The Everest Carnival will come to a close for Sydney’s reinvented calendar of spring racing, and one of the feature events on the final card is the 1100-metre Golden Gift for 2-year-olds.
First run in 2019, the million-dollar sprint has already posted significant winners to its honour roll. Sejardan, a Sebring colt, was last year’s hero and a winner of three Group races, including the G3 Todman S. and, most recently, the G3 Red Anchor S. at Moonee Valley.
The inaugural winner, Dame Giselle (I Am Invincible), ended up a near clean-sweep winner of the 2020 Princess Series with the Group 2 haul of the Furious S., Reisling S., Silver Shadow S. and Tea Rose S. In fact, all three of the Golden Gift’s past winners, including Sneaky Five (Fastnet Rock) in 2020, have trained on to win Group races.
Dame Giselle, the inaugural winner of the Golden Gift in 2019 | Image courtesy of Sportpix
It gives the young race plenty of credibility, therefore, as an early juvenile event and, with three in this weekend’s field, Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker has a tidy hand.
The most fancied of his runners is the 2-year-old colt Disneck, an oddly named son of first-season sire Trapeze Artist.
Disneck is among four horses in single figures for the Golden Gift market and, with a debut trial win to his name just last week, he’s one of his sire’s more prominent early runners.
Disneck as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“That trial was excellent,” Baker said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “He’s got a very good temperament. He’s laid-back and he’s got an excellent gate on Saturday. He’s had only the one trial over 740 metres so far, but he has done plenty of work at home and he’s an exciting proposition, for sure. He’s not unlike his father, either, with his big, baldy face.”
Disneck was bred by Phoenix Thoroughbred and consigned by Gooree Park Stud to this year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. He sold for $200,000 to Baker and Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA), and was one of 18 yearlings by Trapeze Artist in the catalogue.
Collectively, they were the first crop of Trapeze Artists to appear in the sale ring as yearlings and they sold well, a filly realising the best price among them at $430,000 when going to Suman Hedge from Vinery Stud, and Disneck being well-among the top 10 of prices.
His dam, Lindisfarne (USA) (City Zip {USA}), was a stakes winner in America, and she was imported to Australia in 2017 then sold by Newgate Farm at that year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $400,000 to David Lucas. At the time, she was in foal to Tapit (USA).
Disneck is Lindisfarne’s third foal and Baker remembers the youngster at the Classic Sale.
“He was well-put-together with a good attitude, and he’s got a little bit of pedigree,” the trainer said. “We were thrilled to get him. We thought at the time that he was good value, and I hope it works out that way because you never know.
“I was unlucky enough to have Champagne Cuddles run second to Trapeze Artist in the Golden Rose, so I was pretty familiar with him and he was a very good horse.”
“We were thrilled to get him (Disneck). We thought at the time that he was good value (at $200,000), and I hope it works out that way because you never know.” - Bjorn Baker
Trapeze Artist, who is standing at Widden in New South Wales this spring for $55,000 (inc GST), has had just three runners to the track in his first crop. None have been winners yet, but on Saturday he’s a live chance with both Disneck and Flying Trapeze, the latter for Gary Portelli, in the Golden Gift.
Flying Trapeze was bought by Portelli at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, costing $85,000 from the Widden draft. He’s a son of the Bernardini (USA) mare Coromandel, who is a full sister to the four-time Group winner Toydini.
Trapeze Artist | Standing at Widden Stud
Baker’s trio
With a three-pronged attack in the Golden Gift, Baker also has in the race the I Am Invincible filly Infatuation, as well as Line Of Law for Russian Revolution.
Line Of Law was a trial winner on October 28 for the trainer, and this filly was bred by China Horse Club from the Sebring mare Inside Line, who is a half-sister to the Listed winner Come Fly With Me (More Than Ready {USA}).
Line Of Law was another purchase by Baker and Clarke Bloodstock at this year’s Classic Sale. They paid $160,000 for her from the draft of Sledmere Stud.
Line Of Law as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Infatuation, meanwhile, was picked up for $400,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. This filly was sold by Yarraman Park, and Baker and Clarke were in partnership with MyRacehorse for her purchase.
She is the fourth foal from the Strada mare Sweet Kiss, who was third in the R. Listed Inglis Nursery, and Sweet Kiss is a half-sister to the Not A Single Doubt filly Gotta Kiss, who was second in the G1 JJ Atkins S., G3 Vo Rogue Plate and Listed Mode Plate.
Infatuation, unlike the others, has already raced. She was fifth on debut in the Kirkham Plate on October 22.
Infatuation as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“Line Of Law goes really well,” Baker said. “I thought Infatuation was very good first start without a lot of luck. This one on Saturday is a big-money race and to get a piece of it probably cements them as getting into the Magic Millions and the Inglis race series. If they can run top three, it puts them well on their way in getting into the rich restricted races.”
For Baker, the presence of the relatively new Golden Gift is a big target in the spring, but its relevance, like any race, is dependent on where his team sits at the time.
“The 2-year-old races are always super-competitive, and there’s no point going there if you don’t think you’ve got a pretty handy horse,” he said.
“The 2-year-old races are always super-competitive, and there’s no point going there if you don’t think you’ve got a pretty handy horse.” - Bjorn Baker
The Golden Gift field on Saturday is bumper-like with 14 in the field plus emergencies. It includes the James Harron colt Mexico (Capitalist), and a $700,000 I Am Invincible colt from Into The Mist (Redoute’s Choice) called Misty Legend for Bon Ho.
Coincide, the half-brother to the dual Group 1-winning Frankel (GB) colt Converge, is among them, as is Godolphin’s full brother to the Group 3 winner Manicure (Exceed And Excel) in the shape of the Kirkham Plate winner Barber (Exceed And Excel).
