Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
Despite taking to stakes company on her very first start, the market installed Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou’s Facile (Trapeze Artist) as the odds-on favourite for Saturday’s juvenile feature at Randwick.
The 2-year-old filly was highly regarded, having overturned G3 Gimcrack S. winner Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar) with ease in her latest workout to make it two impressive trial victories from as many attempts.
At the 300-metre marker, the race looked to be unfolding largely as the market suggested it would, with Facile on the rail and leading the field home. However, Saltaire was not to be overlooked. With Kerrin McEvoy deploying his challenge, she drew upsides the pre-race favourite and the pair tussled all the way to the line, with Saltaire eventually prevailing by the narrowest of margins.
“She was tough,” Malone told TDN AusNZ. “She’s only had the one start, but there was no real talk on her at all. I’m not a big punter but I backed her - I couldn’t believe the odds of 20-1 when Blanc De Blanc was 5-1.”
Reopposing her on Saturday, it was the Michael Freedman-trained Blanc De Blanc (I Am Invincible) who just got the better of Saltaire when they both ran on debut at Newcastle on November 27.
Malone might not be much of a punter, but with Blanc De Blanc sent off at $1.12 that day, the eventual 0.23l margin suggests he was quite right to question the pair’s relative odds on Saturday. And, in his opinion, that debut result may well have been reversed had Blanc De Blanc not been steered by Australia’s Champion Jockey.
“She (Saltaire) was tough. She’s only had the one start, but there was no real talk on her at all. I’m not a big punter but I backed her - I couldn’t believe the odds of 20-1 when Blanc De Blanc was 5-1.” - Mick Malone
“Not knocking the jockey, he rode her really well, but James McDonald is just unbelievable and that’s probably the only reason she got beat at Newcastle because James McDonald lifted his horse better than we did.
“She’s just a gallant little filly. Probably being by Star Turn and the others being by Vinnie (I Am Invincible) and Trapeze Artist, she was probably just overshadowed by their stories a little bit.”
A quick return
Saltaire’s victory netted connections a princely $291,000, a little over double their initial investment of $140,000 when securing her at the 2022 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. With Malone responsible for selecting her there, he was quick to recall the impressive physical specimen presented as part of the Vinery Stud draft earlier this year.”
Saltaire as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“I buy a fair few horses, not as many as some, but of all the horses at Classics, she was a standout to me. From the second I saw her I couldn’t believe how good she looked,” Malone said.
A bright chestnut typical of Star Turn, Saltaire was a notably strong yearling, with the only negative mark against her physical attributes being her height, as Malone admitted she was a little on the short side.
“She was , but she stood over ground too,” he recalled. “For me, they can be short of leg as long as they stand over lots of ground - then you can forgive them for being a bit small. And, often those horses grow out a lot more. It’s the ones that are short of leg and short of back that I’m a bit more wary of.”
“She (Saltaire) was (short), but she stood over ground too. For me, they can be short of leg as long as they stand over lots of ground - then you can forgive them for being a bit small.” - Mick Malone
Malone’s prediction proved astute, judging by the reports from Saltaire’s trainer, John O’Shea.
“If I talk to John now and ask him: ‘How’s that little filly?’ He says: ‘She’s not so little anymore!’
On the up
Having shaped up as Malone had hoped, the once diminutive filly broke new ground pedigree-wise in more ways than one with her first stakes victory.
Saltaire is the youngest of three named foals from the unraced Testa Rossa mare Testa Sarah, whose own dam Port Isabel (Encosta De Lago) has yet to produce a stakes winner. So, with her victory on Saturday, Saltaire is the first to provide such a significant update within the first two generations of her pedigree - which will be much to the delight of ‘A Byer’ who purchased Testa Sarah for just $3000 on the Inglis Digital May (Late) Online Sale earlier this year.
Mick Malone | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Although he humbly notes that many of his purchases fall far short of the achievements of Saltaire, Malone is a much-experienced assessor of young stock, and discussion of her pedigree leads to an interesting insight from the Kitchwin Hills studmaster.
“I think sometimes we get carried away with what a pedigree should be. I think pedigree plays a much bigger role in stamina than it does in 2-year-old sprinters,” he explained. “If you like the horse, it lacks a bit of pedigree, but it looks sharp and early and has that good shape to it, then I don’t think pedigree is as relevant.
“They’ve just got to be able to get the oxygen into their lungs, utilise their shape and run for 1000 metres and then they’re a black-type horse worth $400,000. When you’re looking for a Cox Plate horse, then pedigree comes more into play.”
“They’ve just got to be able to get the oxygen into their lungs, utilise their shape and run for 1000 metres and then they’re a black-type horse worth $400,000. When you’re looking for a Cox Plate horse, then pedigree comes more into play.” - Mick Malone
That’s not to say that Malone ignores a page when faced with a physically precocious yearling at the sales, as part of his attraction to Saltaire was also in the cross she’s bred on. With limited evidence at the time for horses bred on the same Star Turn / Testa Rossa cross, Malone looked with encouragement at horses by Star Witness with the same damsire, which include G1 ATC Flight S. winner Global Glamour.
“I pointed out to Dan Macpherson, one of her owners, that the cross through Star Witness is really successful. The filly, when I looked at her, represented that look a bit.”
And so, in another show of prescience from Malone, Saltaire is now the first stakes winner bred on the Star Turn/Testa Rossa cross - one which appears to be gaining traction all the time.
Before Saltaire’s maiden victory, it’s one that produced six winners from eight runners. Two of those, Turnaquid and Startide, are 3-year-old fillies who have only this season recorded their maiden wins. So, is it a testament to Saltaire’s potential that she’s able to post a performance like Saturday’s so early on in her career?
Gallery: Progeny bred on the Star Turn/Testa Rossa cross
“She does look very much a 2-year-old,” cautioned Malone. “Although, it was 1000 metres yesterday (Saturday) and she was doing her best work late. So, I don’t know - she looks like a filly that has so much upside but, at the same time, when you get a filly who’s doing what she’s doing you really want to concentrate on their 2-year-old career.
“Albeit that it was a Restricted race it was Listed so she’s now got that black type part ticked off. She’ll have a little let up now and they’ll bring her back for the Millennium and then if all is well look towards the Slipper.”
Red-letter day for Star Turn
Although Malone was keen to impress that the G1 Golden Slipper is still a long way off, Saltaire is already a welcome addition to the CV of her sire, Vinery Stud’s Star Turn. She has doubled his tally of stakes-winning juveniles, joining the Kelly Schweida-trained Miss Hipstar who took out the Listed Dalrello S. at Eagle Farm in 2021.
Star Turn | Standing at Vinery
Miss Hipstar claimed that victory in May of her juvenile season, which means Saltaire has the notable claim of being Star Turn’s first pre-Christmas juvenile stakes winner. With victory on the same day also coming for her full sister, Avolonte, the siblings made up half of an impressive four-timer for their sire on Saturday afternoon.
Ask Malone and he’ll tell you that it’s all just further evidence of Star Turn being an undervalued outcross sire in Australia - and proof that the claim is more than just one made with the fleeting benefit of hindsight is the instalment of Graff, another son of Star Witness, on the Kitchwin Hills roster in 2021.
“We’re all desperate to find an outcross stallion that can suit these Snitzel mares, Testa Rossa mares - all those Danzig-line mares that there’s so much of. I’m standing Graff off the back of Star Turn.
“I’ve loved his progeny, I’ve always liked what he’s done, I think he suits so many Australian mares that we often find ourselves struggling to breed - the reason Graff stood out to me so much is because of Star Turn.
“I’ve loved his (Star Turn) progeny, I’ve always liked what he’s done, I think he suits so many Australian mares that we often find ourselves struggling to breed - the reason Graff stood out to me so much is because of Star Turn.” - Mick Malone
“Both Graff and Star Turn throw quite a leggy type of horse, and that often works well with those Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt mares.
“We’re all hoping and praying as we try to breed that next good horse and, for me, Star Turn has done enough to warrant sending nice mares to him. I’d imagine that this year he got a better mare than he has in the past. I know we supported him last year and again this year.
Despite many notable successes for the sire, Malone accepted that it can be a fickle game as he summarised: “He probably needed that next horse, and I hope it’s ours.”
