Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Caulfield: G1 CF Orr S., $750,000, 1400m
The 100th running of a major race should be special and this edition of the G1 CF Orr S. did not let anyone down - the popular mare Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) so gamely fighting back after being challenged by a gutsy Buffalo River (USA) (Noble Mission {GB}) only to have Mr Brightside (NZ) (Bullbars) storm down the outside late.
It was like one of the CF Orrs of the past - in which the best of the spring horses returned in winning style and there is plenty of family history involved here with the Hayes boys the third generation to win - the latest Lindsay Park success in this race being Jeune (GB) in 1995.
Recording his fifth win at Group 1 level, Mr Brightside was having his first run since his second to Pride Of Jenni in the G1 Champions Mile in mid-November.
The winner of over $11.4 million in stakes, Mr Brightside was bred by RI and Est Late M.A.G Johnson and purchased by Phill Cataldo Bloodstock (BAFNZ) for NZ$22,000 at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling Sale.
Later passed in with a reserve of NZ$50,000 at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale - Mr Brightside is one of the three stakes winners for his Orange Court-based G3 CS Hayes S.-winning sire who serves only small books of mares.
Mr Brightside's dam is the unraced Lilahjay (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) who has changed hands several times and never for much - sold as a weanling for $1400, later online for $500 and then for $3000!
Also dam of the Hong Kong-based, eight-time winner Will Power (NZ) (Power {GB}) and a couple of winners in New Zealand, Lilahjay was not served in 2022 so no foal last year, her latest being a 2022 born filly by Darci Brahma (NZ).
Her 2-year-old by that same stallion has been named Lady Brightside (NZ) and is a member of the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young stable.
Lilahjay is a granddaughter of the classy broodmare Delia’s Choice (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}) whose six winners include the Group 1 winners Foxwood (NZ) (Centaine) and Celtic Tiger (NZ) (Jetball) - the former going on to produce the G3 Frank Packer Plate winner Rockwood (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}).
Also third dam of the Singapore-based, multiple Group 1 winner Mr Clint (NZ) (Power {GB}), Delia’s Choice is a full sister to the multiple Group 1 winners Sovereign Red (NZ) and Gurner’s Lane (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}).
Boasting Sadler’s Wells (USA), Sir Ivor (USA) and Secretariat (USA) crosses, Mr Brightside is also line-bred to the outstanding mares Natalma (USA) (Native Dancer {USA}), Lalun (USA) (Djeddah {Fr}), Somethingroyal (USA) (Princequillo {Ire}), Almahmoud (USA) (Mahmoud {Fr}) and Flower Bowl (USA) (Alibhai {GB}).
G2 Rubiton S., $300,000, 1100m
Having his first run since early September, the handsome Kallos (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}) charged home to record his third win at Group level and his fourth in stakes company.
One of the 176 stakes winners for his former shuttling sire, the Godolphin homebred is the first foal for the G2 Magic Night S. winner Calliope (Exceed And Excel) whose full brother Zethus won the G3 Canonbury S.
And whose stakes-placed half-sister Thalia (also by Medaglia D'Oro {USA}) out of the stakes-placed Melpomeme (Elusive Quality {USA}) produced last year's G3 Star Kingdom H. winner Bacchanalia (Exceed And Excel) and the Listed winner Aquitaine (Exceed And Excel).
Kallos is a great-grandson of the G1 VRC Oaks winner Bulla Borghese (Belong To Me {USA}) whose six winners include the G2 Furious S. winner Bound For Earth (Northern Meteor).
Calliope was served last spring by Brazen Beau after foaling a colt by Pinatubo (Ire). Her yearling filly by Street Boss (USA) has already been named Tempted.
Kallos is one of the three stakes winners amongst the 28 winners from 37 runners by Medagalia D'Oro out of mares by Exceed And Excel with the other two - Crown Prosecutor and Astern - both Group 1 winners.
Kallos boasts multiple strains of the prolific Frizette (USA) (Hamburg {USA}) family... Djeddah (Fr), Tourbillon (Fr) and Bailjumper (USA) in his sire and Jet Pilot (JSA), Lomond (USA), Mr Prospector (USA) and Elusive Quality (USA) in his dam.
G2 Autumn S., $300,000, 1400m
Showing plenty of heart wearing down the short-priced favourite Southport Tycoon (Written Tycoon), Snow Patrol (NZ) (Contributer {NZ}) did a fine job at just his fourth start.
Bred by the Wallbank family, he was sold by Lilywhites Lodge to Mick Price Racing and Breeding for NZ$170,000 and the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale.
The ninth stakes winner for his Mapperley Stud-based sire whose daughter Campionessa (NZ) was a brave second in the G1 Herbie Dyke S. not long before, Snow Patrol is one of only two foals produced by the unraced O'Rocker (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}) who sadly died young with her other son being the yet-to-race 2-year-old Beautiful Chicago (NZ) (Sweynesse).
O'Rocker's dam is the Canterbury winner Urban Rocker (Fastnet Rock) whose son Keefy (All Too Hard) is a two-time winner in Hong Kong. Urban Rocker's dam is the dual Group 3 winner Bhandara (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) whose dam Vedodara (NZ) (Kreisler {Ire}) won the Listed Hawke's Bay Guineas.
And she did a really good job at stud with all 11 of her foals to race being winners including the G1 Avondale Gold Cup winner Sharvasti (NZ) (Montjeu {Ire}) and the G3 Hawke's Bay Guineas winner Shastri (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}). And she is grandam of the Group winners Semari (Sebring) and Tourbillon Diamond (Olympic Glory {Ire}) from the family of the G1 Stradbroke H. winner Linton (Galileo {Ire}).
The seventh stakes winner line-bred to Royal Academy (USA), Snow Patrol is one of the 11 Contributer (Ire) runners out of an O'Reilly (NZ) mare, a cross which has produced nine winners; two other stakes winners including the Group 1 winner Campionessa.
G2 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies), $300,000, 1100m
Hayasugi (Royal Meeting {Ire}) made it two in a row, adding this Prelude to her resume on top of her previous start win in the G3 Blue Diamond Preview (Fillies).
Bred by MJ O’Donnell and Austramore and sold by Fairhill Farm to James Bester and C Mok for $47,500 at the 2022 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, she is a member of (and the first stakes winner) the debut crop of her handsome Leneva Park-based, G1 Criterium International-winning sire.
Her unraced dam China Road (Commands) has also produced the nine-time winner Dynastic (Love Conquers All) and the four-time winner Never Say Nay (No Nay Never {USA}) who are both city-placed.
Served last spring by Jacquinot and Royal Meeting (Ire), China Road has not had a great deal of luck in recent years with Hayasugi being her most recent foal.
China Road is a half-sister to the stakes-placed, multiple city winner Bejewelled (Anabaa {USA}) out of a half-sister to the Group 3 winners Alert Me (Genghiz {USA}) and Techniques (Palace Music {USA}) who is in turn dam of the Listed Black Opal S. winner You’re Canny (Canny Lad).
Hayasugi is one of two recent stakes winners from this family - last weekend's G3 Geoffrey Bellmaine S. winner Vagrant (Pariah) the other.
Bred on the same Invincible Spirit (Ire)/Canny Lad cross as I Am Invincible, Hayasugi can also count amongst her relations the Group 1 gallopers With Me (Covetous), Accomplice (Canny Lad) and Ugo Foscolo (NZ) (Zacinto {GB}).
G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts & Geldings), $300,000, 1100m
Going to the paddock as a winner - of the Listed Maribyrnong Trial S. - Bodyguard (I Am Invincible) - returned as one, stamping himself as a leading G1 Blue Diamond S. contender.
Bred by Emirates Park (who remain in the ownership), he was sold by them to the James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership for $1.6 million at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
One of the 103 stakes winners for his Yarraman Park-based, two-time Champion Sire, Bodyguard is the first foal produced by the unraced Tumooh (Fastnet Rock) whose dam is the G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Mossfun (Mossman).
Served last year by Justify (USA) and I Am Invincible having missed to Tassort the previous year, Tumooh has a Capitalist yearling colt who was purchased by Busuttin Racing for $300,000 at this year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Tumooh is a half-sister to the G3 Festival S. winner Dajraan (GB) (Frankel {GB}) from the family of the stakes winners Cat D'Antibes (Tale Of The Cat {USA}), Hostwin Achilles (Deep Field), Karli's Karma (Deep Field) and Eximius (Exceed And Excel).
Bodyguard is one of the 13 I Am Invincible stakes winners line-bred to Canny Lad - damsire of I Am Invincible and third damsire of Tumooh.
I Am Invincible picks up nicely on strains of the G1 French 2000 Guineas winner Klairon (Fr) to whose family he is line-bred - and Tumooh boasts three crosses. Other I Am Invincibles out of mares carrying strains include the Group 1 winners Imperatriz, Viddora, Lombardo and Media Sensation.
G3 TS Carlyon Cup, $200,000, 1600m
It was a deserved win for Yonce (NZ) (Proisir) who had raced well at stakes level without actually earning black type - but now she has it!
Passed in at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale (Book 2) with a reserve of NZ$30,000 (later purchased by Ross McCarroll who trialled her before selling half to Australian interests), Yonce was bred by Lindsay De Souza and Todd Hartley.
The 17th stakes winner for her Rich Hill-based sire, she is out of the city-placed mare Ziva (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) whose dam is the G2 Emancipation S. winner Faith Hill (Danehill {USA}).
The dam of another two winners, Ziva - who died in 2020 - is a three-quarter sister to the Listed C.E McDougall S. winner Black Minx (Lonhro), dam of the recently retired dual Group 3-winning popular galloper So Si Bon (So You Think {NZ}).
Faith Hill's dam is the Group 3 winner Simply Believe (Kenmare {Fr}), grandam of the dual Group 2 winner Enjoying (Dundeel {NZ}) and the Listed winner Incredulous Dream (Press Statement).
Yonce is the 14th stakes winner for the Choisir/Zabeel (NZ) cross and the fifth (from 44 runners/25 winnres) for the more specific Proisir/Zabeel cross - one which has also produced the Group 1 winners Prowess (NZ) and Pier (NZ).
G3 Peter Le Grand S., $200,000, 1100m
Rounding off a highly successful day for Yarraman Park's I Am Invincible was Estriella, her sire's 105th stakes winner and the third for the day. His son Hellbent was also represented by a stakes winner whilst Brazen Beau had the third home - Brazen Style - in this race.
A $750,000 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduate sold by Arrowfield Stud to Ciaron Maher Bloodstock, Estriella was bred by Arrowfield and GSA Bloodstock.
She is one of the four foals produced by Madrigals (Lonhro) who had just the one start. Her 2-year-old daughter is also showing plenty of potential, at her debut last week finishing second in the G3 Taranaki 2YO Classic.
Served last spring by Maurice (Jpn) after foaling a colt by The Autumn Sun (having had the previous year off), Madrigals is a full sister to Pierro, half to the G2 Wakeful S. winner Ambience (Street Cry {Ire}) and full to the dam of the Listed Gothic S. winner Sandpaper (Snitzel).
Madrigals' two-time (in Australia and France)-winning dam Miss Right Note (Ire) (Daylami {Ire}) is a half-sister to the dual Group 1-winning European galloper Laverock (Ire) - the best Northern Hemisphere bred son of Octagonal (NZ).
Laverock's half-sister Song Street (Ire) (Shamardal {USA}) has also produced a smart one from this sire line - Lonhro's G2 The Ingham winner Loch Eagle.
Estriella is a descendant of the influential matriarch Prunella (GB) (Highflyer {GB}) as is I Am Invincible and she also boasts strains of Never Bend (USA) and his G2 Kentucky Oaks-winning dam Lalun (USA) (Djeddah {Fr}).
Te Rapa: G1 Herbie Dyke S., NZ$600,000, 2000m
Pulling on all her reserves of class, Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) was so tough winning her third race at the elite level... and Australian racing fans are hoping that she now heads this way as she did last summer when winning the G1 Australian Guineas.
Legarto was bred by W E Jeffries and purchased by Ancroft Stud for NZ$90,000 from the Highline Thoroughbreds draft at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale (Book 2).
One of her Rich Hill Stud-based sire's 16 stakes winners and six Group 1 winners, she is the third named foal and third winner for the two-time winner Geordie Girl (NZ) (Towkay) whose tough son Locally Sourced (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}) has won 10 races and whose daughter Emanon (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}) is also a 10-time winner and stakes placed in late December.
Geordie Girl is a full sister to the Listed winner Rapid Kay (NZ) and half-sister to the Listed winner Kekova (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}).
Hailing from the family of the New Zealand Champion 2-Year-Old Ballybrit (NZ) (Wandering Eyes {Ire}), Legarto boasts crosses of the outstanding mares Natalma (USA) (Native Dancer {USA}), Lalun (USA) (Djeddah {Fr}) and Aurora (GB) (Hyperion {GB}).
Geordie Girl was due to have foaled another Proisir last spring having missed to him the previous season. She'd had the previous two years off with Legarto her most recent named foal.
G1 BCD Group Sprint, NZ$400,000, 1400m
With her four placings at the elite level, nobody was going to begrudge the honest and aptly named mare Bonny Lass (NZ) (Super Easy {NZ}) her first Group 1 success.
One of the seven stakes winners - and the first Group 1 winner - for her Hallmark Stud-based, Singapore stakes-winning sire, the homebred for Sandy Moore is one of the three winners produced by the stakes-placed, three-time winner Posh Bec (NZ) (Le Bec Fin {NZ}) with another of those - Clark Kent (NZ) (Super Easy {NZ}) - being stakes placed.
Due last year to have again foaled to Super Easy (NZ), Posh Bec is also dam of a yet-to-be-named 2-year-old filly by Shocking who was purchased by Eales Racing for NZ$40,000 at this year's New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale.
Posh Bec is a half-sister to the Group 3-placed, multiple Hong Kong winner Time To Celebrate (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) from the family of the durable stakes winners King Of Ashford (NZ) (His Royal Highness {NZ}), Fairway Wish (NZ) (Sandtrap {USA}) and Govicar (NZ) (Pat's Victory {USA}).
Bonny Lass has an interesting pedigree with Darci Brahma (NZ) and her dam sire Le Bec Fin (NZ) (both being grandsons of the classy race and broodmare Richebourg {NZ} {Vice Regal {NZ}})... providing for a 4 X 4 cross.
G2 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic, NZ$175,000, 2000m
Showing her class as she got clear late, Molly Bloom (NZ) (Ace High) recorded her third win at Group level on the back of success in the G1 NZ 1000 Guineas and the G2 Eight Carat Classic.
Bred by Seaton Park and sold by them to Wexford Stakes for NZ$150,000 at the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale, she is the first stakes winner from the debut crop (one which has produced another eight winners) of her Rich Hill-based, G1 VRC Derby and G1 Spring Champion S.-winning sire, a regally bred High Chaparral (Ire) horse from the family of Danehill (USA) and Northern Dancer (Can).
She is the first foal for the lightly raced Dancilla (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}) who won a 2000-metre New Plymouth maiden from just seven starts. Her second foal is a full sister to Molly Bloom but she missed the following season and was due to have foaled last year by Proisir.
Dancilla is out of the stakes-placed, three-time winner Nordic Dancer (NZ) (Generous {Ire}) who produced another four winners including the dual Group 3 winner Decorah (NZ) (Pins).
Nordic Dancer's two-time Moonee Valley-winning dam Danish Habit (Danehill {USA}) is a half-sister to the wonderful galloper Rough Habit (NZ) (Roughcast {USA}) whose 11 Group 1 victories earned him two New Zealand Horse of the Year titles.
His dam Certain Habit (NZ) (Ashabit {GB}) also produced the two-time Group 3 winner Citi Habit (NZ) (Citidancer {Ire}) and the dam of the G1 Livamol Classic winner Addictive Habit (NZ) (Colombia {NZ}) and the G3 Canterbury Gold Cup winner Branson (NZ) (Personal Flag {USA}).
Bred on a 4 X 4 cross of Danehill (USA), Molly Bloom also boasts crosses of that stallion's grandam, third dam and fourth dams - Spring Adieu (Can) (Buckpasser {USA}), Natalma (USA) (Native Dancer {USA}) and Almahmoud (USA) (Mahmoud {Fr}). As well as duplications of the Canadian Oaks heroine Flaming Page (USA) (Bull Page {USA}) and Special (USA) (Forli {Arg}).
