Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
History will show there has been plenty of star racemares over the years that haven’t, for one reason or another, made successful broodmares.
It’s only a small sample size, but it appears Samaready (More Than Ready {USA}) doesn’t fall into that category. The 13-year-old mare may well be something very special, having delivered on the track and now in the breeding barn.
Remarkably, Samaready has produced two stakes winners from her first two foals, and on Saturday, she became a Group 1-producing broodmare when her blueblood son, Shinzo (Snitzel), with Ryan Moore in the saddle sporting Coolmore’s famous navy jacket, flashed along the rail to score a brilliant victory in the world’s richest race for 2-year-olds - the Golden Slipper S. at Rosehill.
Shinzo flashes home to win the G1 Golden Slipper S. at Rosehill | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
It’s quite the story, so let’s go back to where it all began.
On August 8, 2009, the two-time Sydney winner Samar (Secret Savings {USA}) - a half-sister to the triple Group 1 hero County Tyrone (Danewin) - foaled a brown or black filly by Vinery Stud’s champion shuttle stallion More Than Ready (USA).
Bredy by Gerry Harvey, the filly would be catalogued as Lot 29 and consigned by Vinery Stud at the 2011 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. There, Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock Agency (FBAA) paid $150,000 for the filly (which would be named Samaready), which, as it turns out, was a steal.
As a racehorse, Samaready showed above-average ability from day one. She won a 2-year-old race on debut at Flemington in December 2011, before thrashing her rivals in the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) two months later.
Samaready as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Sent off a warm favourite in the G1 Blue Diamond S. at her next start, the Mick Price-trained filly dropped her rivals soon after turning for home and dashed away to record a dominant 3l victory under Craig Newitt.
Predictably, connections’ sights turned to the G1 Golden Slipper, but not before a final tune up in the Reisling S. Samaready had little trouble accounting for her six challengers in that Group 2 event, and on the back of that, combined with her unbeaten record, the outstanding filly was the punters’ elect in a star-studded Slipper, one that included subsequent Group 1 winners Pierro, Snitzerland (Snitzel), Driefontein (Fastnet Rock) and Epaulette.
Watch: Samaready wins the 2012 Blue Diamond S. at Caulfield
Racing in the discernible Vinery silks, Samaready was ridden cold from her wide draw and flashed home late to finish third, 1.9l behind Gai Waterhouse’s unbeaten colt Pierro.
Samaready had just eight more starts before bowing out, but she added a second elite-level success, that being the 2013 G1 Moir S. at The Valley, where she bolted in, leaving the likes of Buffering (Mossman), Moment Of Change (Barely A Moment), Snitzerland and Epaulette in her wake.
Herself a half-sister to the Group 2 victress Night War (General Nediym), Samaready was retired after failing in G3 How Now S. in the spring of 2014 and finished with a record of six wins and two minor placings from 13 starts, for prizemoney of $1,669,800.
Samaready when racing | Image courtesy of Sportpix
A new career
Beginning life as a broodmare, Samaready was covered by Vinery Stud resident All Too Hard in September 2014, but, sadly, the foal was deceased after birth.
In the spring of 2015, the mare visited Arrowfield Stud’s Champion Sire Snitzel, and on September 7, 2016, a bay filly was born.
That filly was consigned by Vinery Stud as Lot 269 at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where Godolphin, who were returning to the Australian yearling sale market after an eight-year absence, pounced, purchasing her for $600,000.
Exhilarates as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Named Exhilarates (Snitzel), the James Cummings-trained filly enjoyed a successful juvenile season, which was highlighted by a win in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and a second-place finish in the G2 Riesling S.
Returning as a spring 3-year-old, Exhilarates claimed the G3 Quezette S. at Caulfield, before adding three Listed events (two in Melbourne, one in Brisbane) to her CV before retirement.
Exhilarates amassed $2.4 million in earnings during her 24-start career, which boasted six wins and nine minor placings.
The mare foaled a Street Boss (USA) colt last September, before missing to the same stallion.
Samaready experienced a few troublesome years in the breeding shed after giving birth to Exhilarates. Her All Too Hard colt of 2017 died soon after birth and then she slipped to Fastnet Rock and All Too Hard, before missing to I Am Invincible.
Samaready when offered through the 2020 Inglis Chairman's Sale | Image courtesy of Inglis
Finally, her mating with Snitzel in the spring of 2019 proved a success and Samaready was offered, in foal, at the 2020 Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
Consigned by Vinery Stud, she was purchased by Coolmore Australia’s Tom Magnier for $1.8 million and on August 26, 2020, Samaready delivered a bay colt by the great stallion, making him a full brother to Exhilarates.
“We identified Samaready at the Chairman’s Sale in 2020 as a must-have. She had proven she could produce a high-class offspring and she was in foal to Snitzel, who we have a great deal of respect for, so we were happy to get her at $1.8 million,” Magnier told TDN AusNZ.
“We identified Samaready at the Chairman’s Sale in 2020 as a must-have. She had proven she could produce a high-class offspring and she was in foal to Snitzel, who we have a great deal of respect for, so we were happy to get her at $1.8 million.” - Tom Magnier
“The subsequent foal she produced was an outstanding physical since the day he was born and he never put a foot wrong as he went through the system from a foal to a weanling and being broken in here on the farm.”
The colt would be retained to race by Coolmore, in partnership with Sir Peter Vela, Debbie Kepitis’ Woppitt Bloodstock, Graham and Linda Huddy’s Peachester Lodge and others.
Trained by Chris Waller, Shinzo didn’t debut until the new year, finishing third in the G3 Canonbury S. on debut in January. His maiden triumph came two starts later in the G3 Pago Pago S, and on Saturday, Shinzo added his name to the Golden Slipper honour roll, becoming one of the most valuable horses in the land in the process.
Gallery: Shinzo through his development, images courtesy of Coolmore
“To go and source the mare and watch Shinzo develop and end up a Golden Slipper-winning colt is hugely rewarding for the entire team at the farm, who we have so much to thank for his success,” Magnier said.
“We have an incredible group of investors that put a lot of faith in us as a team to produce high-class stallion prospects, so to reward their faith by getting it right with Shinzo, who will retire to Coolmore, is most satisfying.”
“To go and source the mare (Samaready) and watch Shinzo develop and end up a Golden Slipper-winning colt is hugely rewarding for the entire team at the farm...” - Tom Magnier
Samaready missed to Justify (USA) during the spring of 2020, and in February, she was exported to Ireland, with Coolmore confirming she is now in America and has scanned in foal to the American Triple Crown hero on Southern Hemisphere time.
What next for Shinzo?
Magnier revealed Shinzo has pulled up well after his Slipper heroics and a decision on whether the colt presses on to the second leg of the Sydney Triple Crown - the G1 ATC Sires’ Produce S. (1400 metres) at Randwick on April 1 - will be made by Waller in the near-future.
“That will be left to Chris Waller and his team. He is a great trainer and knows the horse inside out,” Magnier explained.
“He was able to produce him for the Golden Slipper on Saturday in immaculate condition and get the job done.
Tom Magnier with Shinzo and his strapper after winning the G1 Golden Slipper S. | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“Chris will be able to make that call better than anyone, so we will leave it up to him.”
Magnier pointed to Shinzo’s “incredible temperament”, saying the colt has the ability to cope with everything asked of him.
“This colt has an incredible temperament and it’s been that way since he was a young horse here at Coolmore. He walked around the parade ring before the race on Saturday like an old professional,” he said.
“To win a race like the Golden Slipper, everything needs to go right, but when you have an attitude such as Shinzo, it makes the job easier for everyone, and going forward that will be an extremely valuable trait for a horse such as him.”
“To win a race like the Golden Slipper, everything needs to go right, but when you have an attitude such as Shinzo, it makes the job easier for everyone, and going forward that will be an extremely valuable trait for a horse such as him.” - Tom Magnier
Just like his sire and dam, there will come a time when Shinzo is retired to the breeding shed to commence the next chapter of his career.
Magnier is excited by the prospect of having Shinzo join Coolmore’s phenomenal stallion roster, one that includes young guns Home Affairs, Yes Yes Yes and King’s Legacy, as well as established stars Fastnet Rock, Pierro and So You Think (NZ).
“We believe Home Affairs is the most exciting young stallion prospect in Australia at the moment and he covered an incredible book of mares in his first season, last season, where he was the most popular first-season sire at stud,” said Magnier. “We really look forward to welcoming his first foals later this year and we will continue to support him accordingly as we believe he is an extremely important stallion to the Australian industry for a long time to come.
“To have Shinzo join Home Affairs in the stallion barn one day, owned by the same loyal connections, is hugely rewarding for everyone in the team here at Coolmore Australia.”
