Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Cylinder had already stamped himself as one of the best colts of his generation during his 2-year-old season, winning both the G2 Silver Slipper and G2 Todman S. before finishing a gallant runner-up in the G1 Golden Slipper S. at Rosehill in March.
A pair of impressive barrier trials saw him sent off at prohibitive odds of $1.50 for Saturday’s return to competitive action, and despite a few anxious moments for his supporters, the son of Exceed And Excel showed his class when it mattered most to edge out the race-fit Ouroboros (Harry Angel {Ire}) in a photo finish, making it a Darley-sired quinella in the process.
The form has a solid look to it too, with the previously unbeaten colt I Am Unstoppable (I Am Invincible) in third and last year’s G1 Blue Diamond S. hero Little Brose (Per Incanto {USA}) back in fourth, and while it may not have been the dynamic display that some were anticipating, Pulford is adamant that there is more to come from the James Cummings-trained entire.
“It looked to me like he wobbled a bit around Caulfield, which is not uncommon for horses having their first runs there, but he’s a star in the making,” Pulford said.
“He was always the top seed of our 2-year-olds and I think he’ll be the top seed of our 3-year-olds. He’s a smashing horse.
“He (Cylinder) was always the top seed of our (Godolphin's) 2-year-olds and I think he’ll be the top seed of our 3-year-olds.” - Alastair Pulford
“He was a very meritorious second in the Golden Slipper and it looks like he’s come back in the same sort of form, so I’m sure there’s plenty more ahead for him.
“He’s a definite Group 1 colt and he’s going to be a very exciting prospect over the next 12 months or so.”
Members of the Godolphin team, both in Australia and overseas, will now sit down and work out a plan for Cylinder’s spring campaign, with a race like the G1 Coolmore Stud S. down the Flemington straight likely to take high rank among his potential targets.
Alastair Pulford | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Runs in the family
While Cylinder will be pitched into Group 1 company sooner rather than later, the Godolphin team are likely to take a slightly more cautious approach with his half-sister Parisal (Astern), who got her preparation off to the best possible start with a stylish success in the G3 Toy Show Quality at Royal Randwick.
Just like her younger sibling, Parisal had caught the eye in winning both of her barrier trials prior to Saturday’s return to action, where she reeled in multiple Group winner Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) under a power-packed ride from Jean Van Overmeire.
Parisal winning a barrier trial on August 4 | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
The lightly-raced mare is quietly building a nice profile having won four of her past five starts, and Pulford is optimistic that her ceiling is yet to be reached.
“She’s got a tonne of ability,” he said. “She’s a filly on the up and I’d imagine she’s going to be a very nice 4-year-old mare for us.
“I’d say she’ll work her way up through the Group 3s and Group 2s and hopefully develop into a really high-class filly, but she’s got a bit of a way to go yet.
Parisal winning the G3 Toy Show Quality at Royal Randwick on Saturday | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“Her sire Astern is out of an Exceed And Excel mare, so she and Cylinder are very closely related.
“I’d hate to think what she’d make if she went to a sale tomorrow - she’s a very valuable proposition right now.”
“I’d hate to think what she’d (Parisal) make if she went to a sale tomorrow - she’s a very valuable proposition right now.” - Alastair Pulford
The same can be said of Parisal’s dam Circular (Street Cry {Ire}), who for the second time in the space of six months enjoyed a metropolitan double on the same day with her progeny.
Earlier this year, Parisal made it two wins on the bounce at Rosehill on the same day that Cylinder announced himself as a colt of huge potential with a breakthrough victory in the G2 Silver Slipper. The pair came agonisingly close to repeating the feat just a month later, with Parisal making her stakes breakthrough in the G3 Typhoon Tracy S. and Cylinder finding only Shinzo (Snitzel) too good in the $5 million Golden Slipper.
Three winners and two stakes winners from three foals to race is a brilliant start to Circular’s broodmare career, although her burgeoning record at stud comes as no real surprise given her blue-blooded pedigree.
Circular, whose four career victories on the track included the G3 Schweppervescence Trophy, is the best-performed racehorse to emerge from the Octagonal (NZ) mare Hexameter, who is herself a daughter of the modest racemare Sibylline (Chief’s Crown {USA}).
Circular winning the G3 Schweppervescence Trophy when racing | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Being by Octagonal, Hexameter is therefore a three-quarter sister to no less than four stakes winners, including Listed Dark Jewel Classic scorer Shannara, dual Group 1 winner Niello and, most significantly of all, Darley’s recently pensioned breedshaping stallion Lonhro - all three of whom are also by Octagonal.
Further down the page is the likes of Champion New Zealand 3-Year-Old Catalyst (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and Saturday’s impressive G2 Silver Shadow S. heroine Autumn Ballet (The Autumn Sun), providing further evidence that this is one of the finest producing families in the Stud Book.
“She was a pretty handy racemare herself and certainly had her share of ability, but she’s proving to be such a good broodmare,” Pulford said of Circular.
“She’s superbly bred - it’s one of those families that we inherited from the Inghams and is one we’ve had a lot of faith in. There’s plenty of winners, but the family has almost skipped a generation.
“She’s (Circular) superbly bred - it’s one of those families that we inherited from the Inghams and is one we’ve had a lot of faith in. There’s plenty of winners, but the family has almost skipped a generation.” - Alastair Pulford
“The second dam Sibylline was probably the weak link in the family, but Street Cry, in all his brilliance, has brought it back. He’s such a wonderful stallion and such a great sire of broodmares.
“It’s very pleasing to see that the family is really firing again and it’s going to be a terrific family for the future.”
Plenty more to come
The future that Pulford makes reference to certainly looks bright, with Circular due to foal a filly or colt by Group 1-producing stallion Brazen Beau in the coming weeks.
She also has a yearling filly by his Darley barnmate Bivouac on the ground, a filly whom Pulford is effusive in his praise for.
“Circular has a fantastic Bivouac filly who has just turned into a yearling,” he said. “Most people who have seen her would tell you that she’s our best yearling at Woodlands.
“Circular has a fantastic Bivouac filly who has just turned into a yearling... Most people who have seen her would tell you that she’s our best yearling at Woodlands.” - Alastair Pulford
“She’s an absolute standout and has been from the day she was born. It’s pretty exciting for what’s to come.
“That’s sort of the way we do things. We give them a proven stallion for the first few covers and then we’ll take a risk and send them to a young, unproven stallion.
“She had an Exceed And Excel which wasn’t much good, then she had the Astern (Parisal) and then another Exceed And Excel, which is Cylinder, then for the fourth foal we’re happy to go to an unproven stallion.”
Pulford also revealed to TTR AusNZ that Circular will be sent back to Darley’s flagship stallion Exceed And Excel this year, with Cylinder’s indubitable talent rendering it an easier decision than most.
Exceed And Excel | Standing at Darley, NSW
“She’s going to go back to Exceed And Excel, which makes all the sense in the world,” he added.
“As I said, it’s quite common for us to send these mares to the younger stallions and give those young stallions a go with a mare that we know is proven, but Exceed is obviously in the twilight of his career now.
“He’s 23 years old, so we’re not going to get many more cracks at him, if any, beyond this season. That’s why we thought we’d have one last crack at him with her, because she’s thrown such a good one by him.
“With Cylinder looking as good as he is it would be very nice to get a sister to him, or even a brother.”
