Saturday summary: Electric Amelia's Jewel shines with Northerly Stakes triumph

Cover image courtesy of Western Racepix

Amelia’s Jewel shines in Northerly Stakes romp

Since the day Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni {Fr}) broke her maiden last March she has very much been a talking horse, with many chalking her down that day as a potential superstar in the making and on Saturday at Ascot her star shone the brightest as she breezed to her first top-flight win, with a victory over her older rivals in the G1 Northerly S.

With this latest win, Peter and Annie Walsh's of Amelia Park Racing-bred and raced daughter of Siyouni’s (Fr) prizemoney earnings soared past the $1 million mark and now stands at $1,668,100, while the win also provided her trainer Simon Miller his first Group 1 winner.

She also becomes only the fourth filly to win the Group 1, which was formerly known as the G1 Kingston Town Classic, following up the wins of Perfect Reflection (More Than Ready {USA}) (2015), Arcadia Queen (Pierro) (2018) and Kay Cee (Playing God) (2019), who, like Amelia’s Jewel, were all incidentally 3-year-olds when they landed the race.

“I’ve been peppering away and at some stage, it was always going to happen,” Miller said of his first Group 1 win. “To be honest, it doesn’t worry me if I didn’t (win one).

“I just love winning whether it be here or a Northam maiden. I’m a competitive bastard and I love winning.”

Faced with what many believed to be her stiffest task yet, Amelia’s Jewel was not settled in usual spot at the back by her regular rider Patrick Carbery, instead choosing to bury the 3-year-old in midfield, with a furious pace being set up front.

As the pace began to collapse, the filly weaved her way through the pack, hitting the front with 150 metres left to travel and eventually sauntered away with a facile 1l victory over Ironclad (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Steinem (GB) and Godolphin's dual Group 1 winner Cascadian (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) finished third and fourth respectively.

“Isn’t she a good filly? She’s just a freak. She’s got an unbelievable engine with a huge stride and a great brain,” Miller continued.

Crowning glory

Peter Walsh, of Amelia Park Racing and Breeding, said Amelia’s Jewel’s win was his crowning moment in about five decades in racing.

“I’ve waited 50 years for that but it’s worth it,” Walsh said. “It’s a bit surreal. I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.

“We think she’s a superstar, we love her and she’s brought so much joy to us.

“I’ve got to give credit to my wife Annie, who was behind all this. She said, 'Peter, grow some balls and bloody buy it (Bumbasina)'.”

Amelia’s Jewel is out of Bumbasina (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), who was purchased on behalf of Walsh by Astute Bloodstock’s Louis Le Metayer for 75,000gns (AU$133,700) at the 2018 Tattersalls July Sale and the Irish-bred daughter of Canford Cliffs (Ire) is one of only a small group of mares covered by the stallion on Southern Hemisphere time this year.

Bumbasina’s colt by Merchant Navy was purchased by Yenrise for $160,000 at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale this year and her colt by Darley shuttler Blue Point (Ire) is catalogued for the upcoming Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

The colt will be offered as part of the Segenhoe Stud draft and is catalogued as Lot 690.

With this latest win, Amelia's Jewel becomes the eighth Group 1 winner for her sire Siyouni, who is set to stand the 2023 season at the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval in France for a fee of €150,000 (AU$232,500).

Prise De Fer finally gets his Group 1

Likeable gelding Prise De Fer (NZ) (Savabeel) added a much-deserved Group 1 win to his record when he won the G1 Captain Cook S. at Trentham on Saturday and in the doing so handed Waikato Stud’s multiple Champion Sire Savabeel with his 28th elite-level winner.

After a whole host of stakes race wins and five placings at the highest level, the Te Akau-owned and Mark Walker-trained gelding battled on bravely to finally add a coveted Group 1 to his CV, beating Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) by 0.5l, while Chase (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) was the same distance away in third.

Assistant trainer Sam Bergerson was on hand for Te Akau Racing and was delighted that the stable favourite had finally cracked it at the highest level.

“He’s been so genuine throughout his whole career,” Bergerson said. “I think this was his 14th go at a Group 1, so to see him finally get a result is wonderful.

“The only instruction Michael had was to get on Aegon’s back and see how far he could take us (into the race).

“He’s definitely a stable favourite, a bit of a character and everyone at home has had to deal with him, so this is quite amazing.”

The 7-year-old gelding was purchased by Te Akau’s David Ellis for NZ$100,000 at the 2017 edition of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka and he is out of the unraced Snippets mare Foiled, who has produced a further four winners including G2 Sapphire S. winner Belong To Many (Belong To Me {USA}).

Belong To Many herself is the dam of G3 Caulfield Guineas winner Native Soldier (Sepoy).

Impendabelle too classy

Darley’s second-season sire Impending was provided with his first stakes winner courtesy of Impendabelle’s victory in the G2 Wakefield Challenge at Trentham on Saturday.

Having delivered an impressive debut maiden victory on October 23, the Tony Pike-trained filly took her unbeaten record to two as she overcame a few worrying moments to pull a victory out of the fire, eventually getting the better of Believe In Magic (Not A Single Doubt), beating her by 0.8l. Dapper (Shooting To Win) was another 2.5l further adrift in third.

After beginning well, she drifted towards the rear of the eight-horse field, with rider Michael McNab searching for daylight entering the home straight as he found himself caught in traffic at a vital stage of the contest.

Angled into a tight gap, the filly showed her mental toughness beyond her years, bursting between runners to hit the front at the 200 metres before drawing away in the closing stages.

McNab admitted he wasn’t overly worried with the spot he found himself in when the pressure went into the race as he had faith in his mount’s ability to find her way through the pack.

“It may have even been too easy as she was all over the show, but only handy horses can do that as she was super.”

Bred by the Smithies family under their Monovale Holdings banner, Impendabelle was an NZ$80,000 purchase from the Hallmark Stud draft at Book 1 of the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka in March.

Impending, a dual Group 1-winning son of Lonhro, has sired 18 winners overall and he stood at Darley’s Northwood Park base for a fee of $22,000 (inc GST) in 2022.

Impendabelle was also the headline act of a brilliant day for fellow Darley stallion Exceed And Excel as a broodmare sire, with daughters of the son of Danehill (USA) producing a further four winners including Garibaldi (I Am Invincible) who won the G3 George Moore S. at Doomben.

A So You Think (NZ) half-sister to Impendabelle will be offered as part of the Landsdowne Park draft at Book 1 of next year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale.

Sacred Satono lands Bonecrusher

Progressive 3-year-old Sacred Satono (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) chalked up his first victory at stakes level when he produced a gutsy display in the G3 Bonecrusher S. at Pukekohe on Saturday.

The Bruce Wallace and Grant Cooksley-trained colt looked to be working hard at the 200-metre mark but battled bravely to defeat The Intimidator (Toronado {Ire}) by 0.3l. I'mintowin (Contributer {Ire}) came home another 1.5l away in third.

“He had come on nicely from that run last time and we were pleased with him coming into today,” Cooksley said. “He won it nicely as he fought back well when the two of them came together.

“I don’t think he actually saw the other horse initially but when he did, he pulled out the extra effort and won quite easily.

Cooksley revealed the main target for the 3-year-old would be the R. Listed Karaka Million 3YO Classic at Pukekohe on January 21.

In winning the Group 3, the colt becomes the second stakes winner for the Rich Hill Stud resident Satono Aladdin (Jpn), joining G3 Blue Sapphire S. winner Grand Impact (NZ). The stallion stood for a fee of NZ$12,500 plus GST in 2022.

Out of the winning mare Belle Joie (Mellifont {USA}), Sacred Satono was a NZ$34,000 buy for his trainer from the Rich Hill Stud draft during Book 2 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka in 2021.

A half-sister to multiple Group 1-winning Champion King Mufhasa (NZ) (Pentire {GB}), Belle Joie is the dam of another three winners including Group 3-placed gelding Simbaah (NZ) (Pentire {GB}).

Stroll ends Chinny Boom’s clean run

Talented mare Stroll (Snitzel) handed Chinny Boom (Spirit Of Boom) the first defeat of her career when she got the better of the daughter of Spirit Of Boom by the narrowest of margins in the Listed Mode S. at Doomben on Saturday.

The Steven O'Dea and Matthew Hoysted-trained Stroll stayed on bravely to stave off the late advances of Chinny Boom, who finished with a flourish after being slow out of the gates. The winning margin was recorded as 0.1 and Sunshine In Paris (Invader) was another 0.5l back in third.

Raced by Proven Thoroughbreds, Stroll was adding a second stakes win to her CV having taken out the Listed Bill Carter S. on June 4 and Hoysted said she will now likely be aimed at the G3 Vo Rogue Plate at Doomben New Year’s Eve, before being prepared for a crack at the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas at the Gold Coast on January 14.

Bred by Gerry Harvey’s Baramul Stud, Stroll was purchased by her trainers and Proven Thoroughbreds for $450,000 and she is out of winning mare Walk The Streets (Street Cry {Ire}) herself a daughter of Listed winner Kakakakatie (Zeditave) who is dam of stakes-placed duo Sebrakate (Sebring) and Quattro Katie (Zoustar).

In 2020, Walk The Streets foaled a sister to Stroll, while in 2022 she produced a filly by Zoustar and her brother is set to go under the hammer at the upcoming Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, which gets underway on January 10. The colt is consigned by Baramul Stud and catalogued as Lot 537.

Magic Millions plan for Skirt The Law

Having broken her maiden with an eye-catching performance at Doomben on November 12, the Tony Gollan-trained Skirt The Law (Better Than Ready) returned to the scene of that triumph and produced an even more dominant win to bring up her second victory in as many starts on Saturday.

The 2-year-old filly gave her supporters very little to worry about as she barely broke a sweat, crossing the line 5.3l ahead of Torque I Tee (Shalaa {Ire}).

The daughter of Better Than Ready is likely to be aimed at the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast on January 14.

“We felt coming to the races first-up, she was a bit underdone … We have always had a good opinion of this filly and the improvement in her was there to be seen today (Saturday),” Gollan said.

Bred by Lyndhurst Farm, the home of her sire Better Than Ready, Skirt The Law is out of Listed-placed mare Outlaw Kate (Exceed And Excel).

The daughter of Exceed And Excel is from the Listed-winning Invincible Spirit (Ire) mare She’s Got Gears, meaning she is a half-sister to G1 William Reid S. winner Masked Crusader (Toronado {Ire}).

Skirt The Law was purchased by her trainer, John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA) and Black Soil Bloodstock for $170,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale earlier this year.