‘What dreams are made of’: Ozzmosis delivers poignant Coolmore success for Darby

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Having won the stallion-making contest himself in 2013, Zoustar made the Coolmore Stud S. his own five years later when siring the first three horses across the line, and on Saturday the Widden Stud flagbearer sired his second winner of the Flemington showpiece when star colt Ozzmosis proved not for catching in the $2 million contest.

Beating fellow stallion prospects I Am Unstoppable (I Am Invincible) and Shinzo (Snitzel) in the process, the Bjorn Baker-trained Ozzmosis confirmed his status as one of the most exciting colts of his generation with a dominant display down the Flemington straight, and there is plenty in his pedigree to suggest that he will be more than capable of continuing the success of his distinguished sireline when the time comes for him to retire to stud.

Bred by China Horse Club, who bought back into the colt earlier this year as part of the Newgate colt’s syndicate, Ozzmosis is out of the multiple stakes-winning mare No More Tears (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), who hails from the increasingly influential Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}) family that has produced the likes of last season’s leading 2-year-old filly Learning To Fly (Justify {USA}), as well as young stallions Splintex and Acrobat, in recent times.

Ozzmosis’ sire Zoustar, grandsire Northern Meteor and great-grandsire Encosta De Lago all won the G1 Coolmore Stud S. before going on to have hugely successful careers at stud, and the significance of winning such a pivotal race for his future credentials as a stallion was not lost on Darby, who had the utmost faith in the valuable colt from day dot.

“Bjorn (Baker) and I spoke about it during the week, this is such a big moment,” he told The Thoroughbred Report. “The Coolmore Stud Stakes is one of the elite 3-year-old races that everyone wants to win and he’s the first Zoustar colt to win a Group 1, which is another fantastic feat.

“When I replayed the race over and over again, gosh there is so much Zoustar about him in the way he stretched his neck out and carried his head across the line.

“For a colt, his temperament is unbelievable and he really has had that x-factor from day one. When he had his very first gallop he put his partner away by 10 lengths and he showed that ability right the way through to an official 2-year-old trial at Randwick, but physically he just wasn’t there yet.

“He had a minor setback as a 2-year-old that kept him out of tackling a (Golden) Slipper, but he was always going to get better and better and if you can’t be winning a Slipper, this is the next race you want to win for a young horse.”

Ozzmosis’ victory in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. is the result of a long-held and well-executed plan by his connections, although that plan hit a slight bump in the road when he lost his unbeaten record with a third place finish in the G2 Roman Consul S. last start.

Until then, Ozzmosis had yet to be beaten, not even in a barrier trial, and Darby believes that tasting defeat for the first time has been the making of the star colt.

“We thought we had the horse all along and like many times in a good horse’s career you hit that speed bump where you taste defeat for the first time and it sort of knocks your confidence, but Bjorn never wavered,” he said.

“The horse really came on physically and maturity wise from that second run. In hindsight, he almost came of age from that. Ever since that defeat he was a different horse, that’s the only way to describe it.

“He raced right up to the ability that we always thought he had and I’m just speechless. These sorts of horses are what dreams are made of.”

By the time the cheers from Ozzmosis’ ecstatic ownership group reverberated around Flemington, the famous blue, white and gold silks of Darby Racing had already graced the winners enclosure twice at Rosehill Gardens courtesy of I’mintowin (NZ) (Contributer {Ire}) and Salisano (Shalaa {Ire}), prompting similar scenes of jubilation from a large group of owners on course in Sydney’s west.

Whilst Darby would normally be front and centre amongst those wild celebrations, he was unable to make it to either Rosehill or Flemington on Saturday, having opted to watch the races beside his gravely ill father.

During such an understandably difficult time, a red-letter day for the syndicate was a most welcome tonic for Darby and his family.

“I would have loved to have been down there, but I was actually at home because my dad is very, very crook with terminal cancer,” an emotional Darby revealed.

“It has been a tough week all round for many different reasons. Even the week of racing wasn’t that kind to us, we weren’t getting the results, so to get a treble, including a Group 1, is just so special.

“I’m dedicating this win to my dad. He is still with us and kicking along and I’m just so thrilled for him. It’s such an emotional day.”

Only the beginning

Darby senior was undoubtedly bursting with pride as his son’s leading syndication business unearthed its latest superstar, following on from the likes of G1 Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and fellow elite-level scorer Yankee Rose (All American), the latter of which is still making headlines as the dam of this year’s Japanese Triple Tiara heroine, Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}).

Whilst Ozzmosis is yet to reach the same dizzy heights as those two Darby-raced superstars, he is well on his way according to the syndicator, who feels the best is yet to come from the son of Zoustar.

“From Darby Racing’s point of view, the company has been going 17 years and this is probably the biggest moment since She Will Reign won the Golden Slipper,” Darby said.

“Both She Will Reign and Yankee Rose, for different reasons, hit the pinnacle, but this bloke is quickly catching those two. What I like about him is that, where they were good at two and even three, this bloke is going to get better as a late 3-year-old and 4-year-old.

“He’s worth a fortune and he’s only just beginning. He’s always been a horse that was a little bit behind in maturity and we’re just starting to see him come into his own now.

“Look out over the next 12 months.”

Just how those next 12 months play out is yet to be decided by Ozzmosis’ connections, but Darby all but confirmed that the lightly raced 3-year-old will bid to add to his burgeoning CV next season, provided that he remains at the peak of his powers.

Darby expects that to be the case and some, with a shot at the $20 million The Everest already identified as a possible target should he race on as a 4-year-old.

“We always talk about these sorts of things and generally a stud will race them on for as long as they’re in form,” Darby said. “You mainly see those late 3-year-olds rushed off to stud because their form has tapered off or they have sustained an injury.

“Without talking to Henry (Field), I’m sure if he’s still in great form come the end of his 3-year-old career he’ll race on as a 4-year-old, but there’s plenty of water to flow before then.

“It’s a long way off, but I’d love to aim him up at an Everest next year. That would be ideal I think, and obviously try and win another Group 1 race in the autumn.”

Everest on the radar

Having paid an undisclosed sum to buy into the ownership of Ozzmosis back in June, Henry Field did his utmost to secure his new acquisition a berth in this year’s The Everest, but no slotholder was willing to roll the dice with the untapped 3-year-old.

At the time the Newgate colts partnership bought into the horse, Ozzmosis had yet to even compete at stakes level, but in the wake of Saturday’s G1 Coolmore Stud S. victory, the lightly raced colt is already being considered as one of the leading contenders for The Everest in 2024.

It was a bold play from Field and his partners at the time, but Ozzmosis has proven to be worth the gamble in every sense of the word.

“We begged and pleaded every slotholder to have us in their slot for The Everest, but we couldn’t get a deal done and that might have been a blessing in disguise,” Field told TTR AusNZ.

“He showed the class yesterday to suggest that he should be a serious Everest horse in 2024 and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that there is more to come.

“We have built our business buying in on potential - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, it’s a bit like venture capital - but the thing that was so appealing to me when we bought into this horse was that he just had so much more maturity to come. He was so far away from the finished article and that’s what really turned me on when we purchased him.

“Bjorn is very big on the E-Trakkas, heart rate score and recovery data, and he says he has never had a horse rate like this. He’s a very special colt.”

Ozzmosis will become the first son of Zoustar to stand at Newgate Farm once his career on the track comes to a close, and given the success of his sireline in premier races like the G1 Coolmore Stud S., Field is unequivocal in his belief that Ozzmosis is one of the most exciting stallion prospects around.

“To think he is the fourth generation from that sireline to win the Coolmore is quite extraordinary,” he added. “Zoustar is a terrific sire and it was only a matter of time until he got the big gun colt, and on Saturday he got that.

“I suppose it’s not dissimilar to Northern Meteor himself - he was waiting for Zoustar to come along to be that flagbearer colt, and now Zoustar has Ozzmosis to be his flagbearer colt, so he’s a really important horse.

“These types of racehorses and stallion prospects are a very rare article and I have no doubt in my mind that he has the ingredients to be a very special stallion for us in time to come. These breeders who partner with us in our colts syndicate, they’re really a huge part of the equation as well, because when a horse like Ozzmosis goes to stud, he’s going to get an unparalleled opportunity, and that’s so important for any young sire.

“We’re very bullish on him and all credit to Scott Darby, he’s an incredible operator and is a guy of the highest integrity. It’s a genuine privilege to be involved with him and his team.”

Darby, who is similarly effusive in his praise for Field, was also quick to credit his team in the aftermath of Ozzmosis’ career-defining victory, with the syndictor casting his mind back to the day he was secured for $250,000 at Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2022.

With Darby struck down with COVID and confined to his hotel room, it was down to his business partner Mark Holland and the rest of the Darby Racing team to complete the final on-site inspections, and Darby recalls having to loosen the purse strings more than he initially hoped in order to secure Ozzmosis from the Sledmere Stud draft.

“It was a COVID year when we bought him and I actually give the kudos to my team, who do such a good job,” Darby said. “Mark Holland and Loren Wadsworth found him from Sledmere whilst I was stuck with COVID in the hotel room doing all the video work on the walks and what not.

“We had missed out on quite a few lots when he came up, and I gritted my teeth and paid more than I wanted to. I think from memory I put a value of about $200,000 on him, but we were getting outbid on everything and I remember ringing Mark to ask is this the one, is this the one we’re going for, and he said, ‘Yep, we love him’, so I said, ‘Right, I’m going hard’, bidding online from the hotel room.

“These days we’re not really flinching at $300,000, but back then in the COVID-era $250,000 was a lot of money for our company. Mark has been with me for years and years, he was on his last legs and was not well either, not from COVID, but he had to go home early, so it was battlefields.

“It’s a great story and I think nearly every horse from that year has won, including this guy.”

A different approach

Whilst Ozzmosis was unearthed by Darby and his team at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, the syndicate’s first winner on Saturday, I’mintowin, was sourced in a very different way.

Having already shown a decent level of form in his native New Zealand for trainers Peter and Dawn Williams, for whom he finished third in the G3 Bonecrusher S., I’mintowin was put onto Darby’s radar by bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo and Rob Waterhouse, who also helped secure one-time G1 Melbourne Cup favourite Goldman (NZ) (Verdi {NZ}) for the leading syndicators.

After I’mintowin’s original owners agreed to keep 50 per cent of the promising 4-year-old, Darby syndicated the remaining 50 per cent and moved him to the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable, with whom they had already enjoyed stakes success with fellow Kiwi import Goldman.

With two promising barrier trials under his belt in the lead up to his Australian debut, Darby was optimistic of a good showing from the son of Mapperley Stud’s Group 1-producing sire Contributer (Ire), but admitted he was pleasantly surprised by the ease in which he led from pillar to post in the BM78 contest.

“I think we were expecting a good run, but a bit like how Goldman hit the scene with a bang, we weren’t quite sure exactly what to expect,” he said.

“Like Gai and Adrian can do, they have got a result straight away. They’ve turned his whole racing pattern around, the speed maps had him all last based on his New Zealand form, but under Gai and Adrian everyone is out in front and doing what they do best.

“The right horse from over there (New Zealand) just seems to thrive under Gai and Adrian’s routine. I think he’ll only get better as well, this is only his first prep here.

“I thought it was a particularly good win first-up, doing it at both ends, and it looks like we’ll have a lot of fun with him going forward.”

Salisano, the horse who bought up a double on the day at Rosehill for Darby Racing, has similarly thrived for a change in environment, with the 4-year-old mare now unbeaten in three starts since moving to Nathan Doyle’s Newcastle stables having won two of her first three outings for her former trainer Bjorn Baker.

The progressive daughter of Shalaa (Ire), who now stands at Woodside Park Stud in Victoria, is bred in the purple, hailing from a three-quarter to sister to the dam of multiple Group 1-winning 2-year-old and now Coolmore stallion King’s Legacy. She also shares a pedigree page with the late Champion Sire Not A Single Doubt and Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Zizou (Fusaichi Pegasus {USA}), and is a half-sister to stakes-winning juvenile Lady Jivago (Beneteau).

Such precocity in her pedigree had Darby optimistic about her prospects as a juvenile, but any dreams of 2-year-old riches were quickly dashed owing to what Darby describes as a pretty ferocious temperament.

Much to his delight, Salisano is now showing Darby what her pedigree and physical attributes had always promised, and a gutsy victory in Saturday’s BM78 H. at Rosehill took the progressive mare’s burgeoning record to five wins from six career starts.

“She has been such a work in progress - she has been the hottest filly and has had so many issues,” Darby revealed. “She’s had barrier issues and is a very temperamental filly. All credit to Nathan (Doyle) and particularly Koby (Jennings), they have really sorted her out.

“There’s obviously really good ability there. She’s a half-sister to a pretty decent one that we had in Hussterical and she’s a lovely type as well. We loved her at the sale - she was a $200,000 Classic yearling.

“We thought that she’d actually make a really nice early 2-year-old and we had high hopes for her, but she really was a handful and when they’ve got temperaments like that you’ve really got to be patient.

“It’s really paying off now. I thought her ceiling might be Scone or Newcastle three runs ago, but after today I don’t really know where her ceiling is. She’s just getting better and better and she’s a pretty decent horse in the making.”

The same can be said of all three of Darby Racing’s winners on Saturday, and hopefully that trio, alongside the many other talented horses in Darby’s arsenal, can continue to provide a source of joy for Scott Darby and his family during such a difficult time.