Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
Pierossa showed glimpses of talent, including when finishing second at Canterbury on her second start in May, a position she also occupied second-up this preparation. The filly finally lived up to expectations when tasting her first success on her next start at Gosford, a performance she has well and truly consolidated with Saturday’s Group 3 victory.
Linda Monds of Tyreel Stud offered the daughter of Pierro at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in 2021 on behalf of her breeders Austin Miller of Miller Thoroughbreds and Clive Landale from Mundiwa Pastoral and she was snapped up by Triple Crown Syndications for $120,000.
Pierossa as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
However, Monds' association with the youngster began well before yearling prep, having been entrusted to prepare her dam Edwina George (Testa Rossa) for her next mating with Dundeel (NZ).
Speaking to TDN AusNZ on Saturday, Monds said she had been impressed with her since she was a foal, so was not surprised to see her put it all together on the track in the Group 3.
“She was a lovely filly. We sold her on behalf of wonderful clients, Miller Thoroughbreds and Mundiwa Pastoral company. We actually had her and the mare when she was only 18 days old, because we managed the next mating for the mare. We then sent her back to Glenelg Park in Victoria when she was 45 days positive, so Pierossa was raised there,” explained Monds.
“She (Pierossa) was a lovely filly. We sold her on behalf of wonderful clients, Miller Thoroughbreds and Mundiwa Pastoral company.” - Linda Monds
“She was a lovely foal, very strong filly and was a well-put-together foal, so when they contacted us and asked us to prepare her for the Inglis Classic Sale, I was quite excited to see her and see how she had developed. She didn’t disappoint and she had developed into a very nice filly, so it has not surprised me to see her do well on the racetrack.”
Steep upward curve
Monds said she had been particularly impressed with how the filly has coped with the jump in grade, having only broken her maiden on October 27.
“To break her maiden and then come out and win a Group 3, I thought it was a well-run race and I thought the jockey, Sam Clipperton, did a very good job. She is going to be an exciting filly to watch and given a bit more time again, I think she can develop even more into a really lovely article,” she said.
Linda Monds
Monds said it was particularly satisfying to see a horse she had had a high opinion of as a yearling deliver the goods on the track.
“Sam said that after the race that it had taken a while to get the filly to know her job, but I think the penny is dropping and Triple Crown and their clients are going to have some fun with her,” said Monds.
“Sam (Clipperton) said that after the race it had taken a while to get the filly (Pierossa) to know her job, but I think the penny is dropping and Triple Crown and their clients are going to have some fun with her.” - Linda Monds
“It’s great when you sell a filly that you like and had a high opinion of, it’s nice to see them go and achieve what you thought they would and obviously Triple Crown saw what we saw in her. It’s nice to see her get the results.”
Lucrative spell
It has been a lucrative spell for Monds, having co-bred recent G3 Carbine Club S. winner Perfect Thought (So You Think {NZ}), under her Wallings Bloodstock banner, having sold the colt to DGR Thoroughbred Services for $120,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2021, while she also bred Wategos (Capitalist), who banked his third career win for trainer Bjorn Baker at Kembla Grange on Saturday.
Perfect Thought after winning the G3 Carbine Club S. | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
With the sales imminent, attention for Monds and her talented team at Tyreel is turning to yearling prep and she said every winner, whether bred by her or prepped at Tyreel for clients, are held in equally high regard.
“It is fantastic to have these results and to have something to poke its head up. We had Perfect Thought the other week and that was a great win. We had another winner today (Saturday) at Kembla, Wategos. He is lightly raced, but was impressive this afternoon,” she said.
“Every horse that we sell out of our draft, when they win, like any vendor, you get excited about their future. So it’s very nice.
“Every horse that we sell out of our draft, when they win, like any vendor, you get excited about their future. So it’s very nice.” - Linda Monds
“The yearlings are in the barn and we have a very nice draft of 14 yearlings heading to Magic Millions and it will be an exciting sale for us. We just had our last foal last Sunday, but we are still covering mares and the yearlings are in the barn, so for every stud farm it’s a very busy time of the year when the seasons are crossing over. But it is exciting and it’s great to get the yearlings in and watch them develop over that 10-week period.”
