Cover image courtesy of Racingfotos

On the back of outstanding success over the past few decades, the Windsor Park Stud/Coolmore Stud partnership continues to thrive and New Zealand breeders stand to benefit from such a great horse as Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) heading to their shores.

Such as they did when High Chaparral (Ire) and Montjeu (Ire) stood at the Cambridge nursery; from that base siring the likes of So You Think (NZ) and Tavistock (NZ).

Not only does access to such stallions afford breeders the opportunity to produce such high-class gallopers, but it leads to long term benefits as shown by those two horses, themselves outstanding stallions.

And successful broodmare sires; So You Think the damsire of G1 Golden Slipper S. heroine Fireburn (Rebel Dane) whilst Tavistock's (NZ) daughter Lilahjay (NZ) produced Mr Brightside (NZ).

The G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère winner Siyouni (Fr) is already proving his value to local breeders as the sire of four Australian stakes winners including the G1 Northerly S. winner Amelia's Jewel and his first commercial son to stand in Australia - St Mark's Basilica (Fr) - has served two strong books of mares at Coolmore.

Standing in 2024 at a fee of €200,000 (AU$330,100), Siyouni had yearlings sell for up to $3.6 million last year.

So now it is New Zealand's turn to access the Siyouni genes and they don't come much better credentialled than Paddington, a horse who went from great to even greater in such a short time span, recording four Group 1 victories within 68 days.

A brilliant performer

Bred in Ireland by Dayton Investments, Paddington - whose name secured him plenty of attention amongst UK racegoers - was purchased by Coolmore for €420,000 (AU$693,100) at Arqana.

His 8l fifth in a maiden at Ascot in September 2022 was hardly an auspicious debut but it was all up from there, the bay at his next outing recording a dominant 5l victory at The Curragh, trainer Aidan O'Brien telling the press that he had been green at debut had “always shown a bit of class.”

The trainer was not getting too carried away after Paddington's first up win in a handicap at Naas the following March, saying that he was “very happy with him,” hinting that bigger things were to come.

After Paddington was able to rise in class when taking out the Listed Tetrarch S. at his next start, O'Brien declared himself to be “delighted” with the young horse. And he was all the more so when he put 2l on his rivals in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas.

“He was always a beautiful mover but you are never sure until they do it,” he told the press, describing Paddington as “a very exciting horse - a fine, big, good-looking horse who is maturing very well.”

From there it was off to Royal Ascot where Paddington won the G1 St James's Palace Stakes by 3.75l, again impressing O'Brien who noted that “he is able to quicken very well - that is the big thing, it is what makes good horses great.”

“He has a lot of class,” jockey Ryan Moore said - “he took me there quite easy and when he put his foot down, he found plenty.. he is a proper horse.”

It was from that time that Paddington began to stamp himself as a rather different horse with the stable reporting that instead of losing - or maintaining weight - he was putting it on.

“It is strange for a horse to do that,” O'Brien said - “he's been progressing with every run and he's getting heavier, stronger, quicker and more confident. He came out of Ascot in an unusually good way - it is surprising what he is doing.”

Emerging victorious from a memorable battle with Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G1 Eclipse S., Paddington did not let demanding going stop him with another easy win at his next start in the G1 Sussex S.

A win which prompted Moore to report to press that “it is a hard thing to say but he gives you the feel that he’s as good a horse as I've ridden - he is exceptional.”

And it was an exceptional record, Paddington the first horse to win those particular four Group 1 races.

The Sussex did however take its toll, Paddington third of four as favourite in the G1 Juddmonte International S. with Moore noting that he felt a bit flat. He was out of the placings in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. at his next a couple of months later - racing too keenly fresh.

A trip to the Breeders' Cup meeting was considered but ruled out in October when connections announced that the horse was suffering from the effects of an infection.

And so Paddington retired - as the winner of seven (four in Group 1 company) of his 10 starts to Coolmore's Irish base at a fee of €55,000 (AU$90,700) whilst New Zealand breeders are able to access him at NZ$35,000 (plus GST).

Schick thrilled for Paddington to join the Circus

Bred on a 4 X 4 cross of Nureyev (USA) with a strain of that great stallion's legendary three-quarter brother Sadler's Wells (USA) and his close relation Lt Stevens (USA), Paddington has plenty of depth to his pedigree.

Being a member of the Nureyev sireline is something that gives Windsor Park Stud's Rodney Schick something nice to recall - the fact that he got to spend time with that outstanding son of Northern Dancer (Can).

“I was working for his farrier when I was in the United States - he was an awesome horse.

“I was also lucky enough to see both Siyouni and his sire Pivotal race and I think Paddington has thrown very nicely to the sireline.

Described by Coolmore's Tom Magnier as a horse who “really just ticks every box - we believe that he is the most exciting horse to go to stud in New Zealand in a very long time. We are delighted to continue our great relationship with Windsor Park Stud.”

As is the stud's Rodney Schick who admitted to being “very, very excited!”

“We had a launch day for him here today and are confident that he is going to attract a good book of mares as he has done in the Northern Hemisphere.”

“He is a history-making horse, exceptional from the beginning being a top-drawer yearling and he was a champion miler by an exceptional stallion.”

Joining fellow Coolmore multiple Group 1 winner Circus Maximus (Ire) on the Windsor Park roster, Paddington is an exciting horse not only in regards to ability and performance but also on pedigree.

One of the 74 stakes winners and 10 Group 1 winners for his Haras de Bonneval-based sire, Paddington is out of the Listed winner Modern Eagle (Ger) (Montjeu {Ire}).

Her dam Millionaia (Ire) (Peintre Celebre {GB}) raced just four times but showed class running second in the G1 French Oaks. Also the dam of the Listed winner Mighty Blue (Fr) (Authorized {Ire}), she is a daughter of the G1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Moonlight Dance (USA) (Alysheba {USA}) whose dam Madelia (Fr) (Caro {Ire}) was one of Daniel Wildenstein's “what if” horses.

Four starts, four wins including the G1 French 1000 Guineas, the Prix Saint-Alary and the French Oaks; in the latter breaking a bone in her foot defeating Trillion (USA) (Hail To Reason {USA}) whose subsequent Group 1 efforts would frank that form.

Madelia produced five winners including the G2 Dante S. winner Claude Monet (USA). She is also ancestress of the Group 1 winners Aventura (Jpn) (Jungle Pocket {Jpn}), Alsacia (Per) (Koko Mambo {Per}), Vela Azul (Jpn) (Eishin Flash {Jpn}) and Veuve Fourny (Brz) (Christine's Outlaw {USA}).

Ancestress of this prolific family is the influential Point Duty (GB) (Grand Parade {GB}) who has 375 stakes winners amongst her descendants - Paddington one of the 50 Group 1 winners.

And several of those horses have enjoyed successful stud careers, namely Ringaro (USA), Amerigo (GB), Mount Hagen (Fr), Ruantallan (GB), Horse Chestnut (SAF) and Hornbeam (GB) who appears in local pedigrees as the dam sire of Lunchtime (GB).

Paddington's first two damsires - Montjeu (Ire) and Peintre Celebre (USA) - won the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe whilst his third dam sire is the G1 Kentucky Derby hero Alysheba (USA).

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Bred by Waikato Stud, Atishu (NZ) was taken to the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale where she caught the eye of New Zealand syndication company Go Racing who had already enjoyed big race success with the Savabeel breed.

Racing the 2017 G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner Hasahalo (NZ) for whom they paid NZ$110,000 (and who fetched NZ$670,000 as a broodmare), the Go Racing team liked what they saw when inspecting Atishu as a yearling.

“She was a nice, athletic Savabeel - very much in the style of the Savabeels, like Hasahalo, who we have had luck with,” Go Racing Racing Manger Matt Allnutt said.

Secured for NZ$260,000, Atishu took a little while to break through; always showing ability but remaining a maiden after her debut campaign - one in which she was three times placed from four starts.

It would be at the second run of her second campaign that she would breakthrough, lifting late to win a 1400-metre contest at Pukekohe Park in March 2021. It was all up from there, Atishu winning her next three including two in Listed company.

It was one of those wins - the Listed Inglewood S. at Riccarton that Allnutt looks back upon with particular fondness.

“Leading into the race we thought we might see something special and after winning that race by 7l we knew we had something.”

Something good enough to head to Australia where she was placed in the care of Chris Waller, kicking off her Sydney career with an impressive performance at in a 1400-metre BM88 at Randwick in August 2021 - overcoming trouble in running to put 1.25l on her rivals.

Luckless when fourth at the same track next time out, she atoned when stepping up in class and taking out the G3 Bill Ritchie S. Things did not go right (track conditions/slow starts/interference) for the remainder of that campaign and the following did not start well with further tardy beginnings.

“She had that quirky period where she was missing the start,” Allnutt recalled, happy with those issues were resolved when she re-found form over the winter of 2022 - back to her very best that spring when recording a two length victory in the G2 Matriarch S. at Flemington.

The following April the G1 Queen Of The Turf S. was added and she again found elite level form last spring - after running the in-form Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) to a length in the G1 Empire Rose S., she backed up a week later, racing away from Duais (Shamus Award) in the G1 Champion (Mackinnon) S.

Quickly into form this time in, Atishu got too far back when resuming in the G1 C.F Orr S. but was closer to the action and just too good in the G2 Blamey S. in early March.

Making it ten wins from 39 starts with a prizemoney tally in excess of $3.9 million.

And there is more to come with the G1 Australian Cup the immediate target followed by a Sydney campaign with the G1 Queen Of The Turf S. or the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. on the radar.

Whatever she does there, Atishu has already been a great mare for connections with Allnutt saying that “she has taken us on a helluva ride and we thought that whilst she is at the peak of her powers and in the peak of her value we would do the right thing by her.”

In finding a great home via the sales - Atishu bound to create plenty of interest and bound to end up visiting a leading stallion.

Especially as she is, Allnutt said, an ideal broodmare type.

“She is a lovely mare whose temperament holds her in good steed. And she has been sound all the way through.”

Atishu's 15 owners have, Allnutt noted, become close during their racing journey - something he takes great pleasure out of.

“As syndicators we really like to see people bonding over a good horse,” he said.

Allnutt's cohort at Go Racing - Albert Bosma - agreed and he is excited about Atishu's remaining runs, describing her as “a very special horse.”

“Right from day one she showed she was going to have an exciting future as she was able to run amazing sectionals. Her Group 1 wins have come in high-class races in Sydney and Melbourne and she was the clear winner on both occasions.”

Beating home some very nice types too - the likes of Duais, Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), Prowess (NZ) (Proisir), Montefilia (Kermadec {NZ}) and West Wind Blows (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

“The most important thing is, considering the form she is racing in, she will be able to head to the breeding barn with plenty in reserve,” Bosma said - “that is important to us.”

Bosma said it would be an emotional time as Atishu makes her way through the ring as part of the Chris Waller Racing draft.

“There will be mixed emotions for sure. She has provided us with so many thrills. It will be sad to see her leave the team, but we are also excited about what the future will hold for her and being able to see what she can produce.”

“Atishu is a wonderful prospect and we are honoured to have been entrusted to offer her at the National Sale,” Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said.

“She has been a star for her connections and we thank the Go Racing team for this amazing opportunity.”

Atishu is one of the 142 stakes winners and 33 Group 1 winners for her G1 WS Cox Plate and G1 Spring Champion S.-winning sire, a Waikato Stud-based son of the mighty Zabeel (NZ).

Bred on a 4 X 4 cross of Nureyev (USA), Atishu is a well-named daughter of the two-time winning No Excuse Needed (GB) mare Posy (NZ), sister to the New Zealand Champion 3-Year-Old Daffodil (NZ) whose three wins at Group 1-level include the AJC Oaks.

Served last spring by Ardrossan having slipped her two previous foals, Posy has as her most recent foal the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained 3-year-old Dream All Day (NZ) (Savabeel) who has been placed in a couple of jump-outs.

Also dam of the G3 Desert Gold S. winner Mazzolino - also by Savabeel, Posy hails from the same family as the recent very impressive G1 New Zealand Derby winner Orchestral (NZ) (also by Savabeel).

Champion New Zealand 3-Year-Old Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) is another member of this prolific family, which has as its ancestress the high-class UK broodmare Felucca (GB) (Nearco {Ity}).

Savabeel is already faring well as a broodmare sire, his daughters producing 26 stakes winners including the Group 1 winners Savatoxl (Kuroshio), Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) and Never Been Kissed (NZ) (Tivaci).

“Atishu hails from one of New Zealand’s great families on the rise,” Bowditch said.

“Orchestral is one of the most exciting prospects to come out of New Zealand and recent years and Waikato Stud have Mazzolino (served last spring by Super Seth), so you know the family is only going to be bred up to keep appreciating over the years to come.”

“The National Broodmare Sale is the undisputed leading auction of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere,” he continued - “providing prospective buyers wonderful opportunities across all levels of the market.”

“We will have a truly world class line up of race fillies and mares as well as broodmares catalogued for the Gold Coast.”

Cover image courtesy of Coolmore

Most stallions don’t come up to scratch. That is the harsh but well-established truth of the thoroughbred breeding industry. And of the few who do make the grade, only a miniscule fraction produce the goods in both hemispheres. In the case of Justify (USA), Coolmore have created that rarest of commodities: a young sire who is not only delivering, but is delivering on a truly global scale.

From his shuttle seasons between the operation’s American and Australian farms, the US Triple Crown winner has rapidly emerged as a stallion of international consequence. He is already the sire of 44 stakes performers, six of whom have won in Group 1 company.

Four of those top-flight winners have struck at the elite level during their juvenile season, meaning Justify’s nascent stud record features an unbeaten European champion 2-year-old colt in City Of Troy (USA) and a European champion 2-year-old filly in Opera Singer (USA). Moreover, Just F Y I (USA) was not only one half of a Breeders’ Cup juvenile double with Hard To Justify (USA), but she was crowned the Eclipse champion of her generation in the US to boot.

In Australia he is, of course, represented by the hugely exciting Storm Boy, an unbeaten winner of the G2 Skyline S. and the short-priced favourite for the Golden Slipper on Saturday. Storm Boy has followed hot on the heels of Learning To Fly, who won last year's G2 Reisling S. and was well fancied for the Slipper herself, only to part ways with her rider before the race could develop.

But if Australian breeders now have as much reason to be excited by Justify as any, it hasn’t always been this way.

Dirt is a dirty word

When the son of Scat Daddy (USA) first travelled from Kentucky to Jerrys Plains, his profile meant he was met with respect as well as scepticism. While his pedigree and race record were a perfect fit for the American market, not all Australians would have read his attributes and achievements as transferable to the southern hemisphere scene - particular the inclination toward a dirt surface.

When it comes to stallion selection, breeders are, understandably, prone to operate on the basis of once bitten, twice shy.

“It’s not every day a Triple Crown winner arrives on Australian shores, so there was a lot of interest in the horse from the start,” says James Bester, a long-serving consultant to Coolmore.

“And obviously as an unbeaten Triple Crown winner his race record was 100% flawless, so he was respected for that. Australians are quite parochial, though, and there’s been a long history of super Northern Hemisphere racehorses who have come down and yet not managed to break through the sire ranks, so these horses are always viewed with a measure of caution.”

While No Nay Never (USA) was among those helping the Scat Daddy line take hold in the Northern Hemisphere, breeders in the Southern Hemisphere were still to feel its potency firsthand. And it wasn’t just Justify’s pedigree and race record that posed a question, either, but his considerable physical presence too.

“Both Johannesburg and Hennessy, who are further back in Justify’s pedigree, had been to Australia and done respectably well,” continues Bester. “But it’s not as if the Scat Daddy line was something that Australians couldn’t wait to get their hands on. So when Justify arrived, there were those who looked at him with scepticism.

“His Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont wins are, again, not credentials that the Australian market fawns over. And the fact he’s such a big horse didn’t really count in his favour either. He’s a very big unit, so a lot of Australians were cautious about whether or not he’d suit the Australian way of racing and 2-year-old style, where generally a smaller, shorter-coupled kind of horse has been more successful. So he had to convince the sceptics.”

But if some Australian breeders were content to hedge their bets, it soon became clear that the Coolmore partners were prepared to put their money where their mouth was.

Tom Magnier puts his hand up

At the 2019 Inglis Chairman’s Sale, shortly after it had been announced that Justify would shuttle to Australia, Tom Magnier stepped up to sign for the two most expensive lots, the $2,250,000 Maastricht (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and the $2 million Srikandi (Dubawi {Ire}).

Both were bound for Justify’s first Australian book.

Those acquisitions set the tone for what followed as Magnier and various partners invested heavily to secure a harem of blue-chip mates for Justify. At Magic Millions the following month, Magnier went to $1.55 million for Global Glamour (Star Witness), $1.45 million for Invincible Star (I Am Invincible) and $1 million for Savvy Coup (NZ) (Savabeel).

Magnier returned to the Gold Coast 12 months later and bid a record $4.2 million for three-time Group 1 heroine Sunlight (Zoustar), $2 million for Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt) and $1.3 million for Invincibella (I Am Invincible). All were bought to bolster Justify’s book.

And these names were merely the tip of the iceberg, as Coolmore and their partners invested many millions in sourcing the best-credentialled mares on the market. As a result of the support of Coolmore and others, Justify served 373 mares during his first three Australian seasons.

The buying mission continued when, after a one-year hiatus, Justify returned to Australia in 2023 as Magnier went to $1.275 million through Inglis Digital for Miss Roseiano (Exceed And Excel).

This strategy produced some unintended upside too, as another of the mares bought for Justify was the $1.8 million Samaready (More Than Ready {USA}), who was sourced from the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in 2020. She was purchased carrying a Snitzel colt who turned out to be none other than Coolmore’s star homebred Shinzo, winner of the Golden Slipper in which Learning To Fly unseated her rider.

While Coolmore are well-versed in making stallions, Bester says the belief in Justify was something completely out of the ordinary.

“John Magnier and Coolmore supported Justify to a degree that I’ve never seen a stallion supported in probably 40 years of my association with them,” he says.

“Certainly not in the Southern Hemisphere anyway, not counting Sadler’s Wells and Galileo. Those of us associated with Coolmore were, at the time, given the mission of going out to find the very best mares that could be sourced for him. As a result he got some very, very good mares.”

Justify repaid that faith by delivering Learning To Fly, who was bred under the banner of the Coolmore-affiliated Katom. The $900,000 Inglis Australian Easter purchase, who is raced in partnership by a group including Coolmore, Kia Ora and Westerberg, was not only arguably the best filly of her generation, but her pedigree was an important signifier about Justify’s prowess as an outcross option.

She is out of Ennis Hill, a daughter of the influential, two-time champion sire Fastnet Rock. From just 13 runners, the Justify-Fastnet Rock cross has yielded nine winners and four black-type scorers. As well as Learning To Fly, there is the G3 John Grigg S. winner Star Of Justice, the US stakes winner Just Steel (USA) and, perhaps most significantly, Storm Boy, who was also bred under the Katom banner.

“Justify’s record with Fastnet Rock mares, for winners and stakes winners, is quite phenomenal,” says Bester.

“As an outcross, any stallion that shows himself to be such a fabulous mix with the broodmare population, or a large section of it, is going to start to find favour. Fastnet Rock, as was his sire Danehill, seems to be the kind of broodmare sire that mixes with a wide range of stallions. Fortuitously he’s showing that he nicks particularly well with Justify.”

The best is yet to come

While any prepotent stallion will ultimately prove capable of upgrading his mares, Bester says the platform that Coolmore have given Justify allowed him to showcase his prowess from the outset. And this early success could well be just the beginning of something far more significant.

“Coolmore’s support has been critical to his success because the horses that have made Justify have come from well-credential Fastnet Rock mares that Coolmore have supplied him with,” he says.

“That’s what produced Learning To Fly, that’s what produced Storm Boy and the others that are already out there – and to come.

“As we’ve seen with Sadler’s Wells, Galileo, Danehill and to some extent Fastnet Rock himself, that kind of success becomes self perpetuating. Once you’ve hit on a formula and you know the types of mares that suit a stallion and you start to get results, then more of those mares go to the horse and then his profile lifts and better and better mares go to him.”

Bester adds that being by Fastnet Rock is not the only similarity that Ennis Hill and Storm Boy’s dam, Pelican (NZ), share.

“Australian breeders and Coolmore soon realised that the ideal mare for Justify would be a medium-sized type, given he has real stature,” he says.

“So a medium-sized mare with a beautiful head and a very good action would be ideal. Interestingly enough, that is exactly what the dams of Learning To Fly and Storm Boy have. Both are mares with gorgeous heads, great action but not overly big. They have produced absolutely what one would want in a racehorse.”

Identifying where a horse’s ability comes from, and harnessing that in future matings, is one of the great challenges in the breeding business. Bester says that Justify’s ability on the track and at stud is underpinned by a set of physical attributes that are uncommon in their excellence.

“Like Usain Bolt wasn’t your archetypal short, squat 100-metre sprinter, Justify has a length of leg coupled with that immense physique,” he says. “He has the biggest, squarest hindquarter I might’ve ever seen; the longest, strongest forearm and gaskin that I’d seen in a horse of that calibre, atop the shortest cannons that I’d seen.

“He has a truly remarkable ratio of forearm and gaskin to cannon. But at the same time he had a real power about him; he wasn't a leggy, skinny distance runner type. He’s a freak and he showed that on the racecourse. I see that now coming through in many of his progeny. They’ve got something freakish about them.”

That physical prowess manifested itself in one of the most remarkable racing careers in recent memory. In winning the 2018 Kentucky Derby, Justify broke the ‘Curse of Apollo’, becoming the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Run for the Roses without having raced at two. His gutsy Preakness win showed he possessed courage as well as outright class before he faced the acid test of the Belmont Stakes. He had such latent speed that some harboured stamina concerns for the mile and a half contest, but he again overcame all to become the 13th Triple Crown winner by an imperious length and three-quarters.

Although Justify proved he stayed a trip, Bester recounts a conversation with his trainer Bob Baffert in which he shared the view that the horse had so much raw speed that he could have won America’s premier quarter horse contest, the All American Futurity.

“I actually sat down with Bob Baffert when I was out in California and he said to me with 100 per cent authentic belief in what he was saying that Justify had so much speed that he could’ve won the Futurity with him, that’s how much speed he had,” says Bester.

“Sure, allow for a little bit of poetic license, but it did convince me that he thought this could be the fastest horse he’d ever trained. And he made the point that he was possibly the fastest horse yet he was an unbeaten Triple Crown winner, so remarkable was his cardiovascular capacity. I think that combination of speed and heart and lung superiority is what sets him apart.”

This athletic ability is allied to a deep pedigree that was skillfully crafted by John Gunther of Glennwood Farm in Kentucky, who sent his Ghostzapper (USA) mare Stage Magic (USA) to Scat Daddy during the 2014 breeding season, when the stallion was standing at just $30,000.

“When you delve into Justify’s pedigree there is such a backup of influential ancestors,” says Bester.

“In the first six generations he has four lines of Nijinsky, a double of Secretariat, six lines of Northern Dancer, four of Mr Prospector. These are the greatest genetic superpowers in the history of breeding, and they are just piled up in his pedigree. Then there’s the great Rasmussen Factor of the full sisters Preach and Yarn; that doubling up of influential females is not to be underestimated. Physically and in pedigree he offers a combination of qualities that I don’t think we’ve seen before.”

Looking toward Justify's sons

Moreover, Justify not only has the ability to leave his mark on the Australian scene but should find the opportunity too, with changing times ahead for the stallion ranks as the current heavyweights enter the autumn of their careers.

“I think the most important factor is that the current proven star stallions, they’re of an age where a serious replacement is urgently required,” says Bester. “Breeders are going to need a serious stallion to succeed those names. That’s the role I think Justify is going to play, Justify and his sons. I think he’s going to step into the breach and offer Australia a real superpower.”

Coolmore have already made the well-documented move to secure a controlling interest in Storm Boy, which could, in time, see him standing beside his sire on the Coolmore stallion roster. Victory in Saturday’s stallion-making Golden Slipper would more than vindicate their considerable investment in the colt.

“Coolmore have almost cornered the market for Group 1 sons of Scat Daddy at stud, and if Justify is the pinnacle of those, which he is, then of course one wants his best son,” says Bester.

“The Golden Slipper is absolutely the holy grail in Australian racing. For Justify to have a Golden Slipper winner in only his second crop, having arguably been unlucky not to have one in his first, it would put him right atop the mountain because you can’t achieve any more than that.”

Coolmore may have been the biggest believers in Justify from the start, but it is clear that others are now well and truly on board.

His 2024 yearling average is currently running at $308,269, a 46 per cent increase on 2023’s figure, and that is before the results from the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where he has nine blue-chip lots, have been factored in. He also served a 188-strong book of mares in 2023 when his fee was a very fair-looking $77,000. Among those were ten of Bester’s own mares.

“I have never, in more than four decades of observing these things closely, seen a stallion who has had at the same time the champion 2-year-old colt in Europe, the champion 2-year-old filly of Europe, the best 2-year-old in France in Ramatuelle, the champion 2-year-old in America with two Breeders’ Cup winners and the best 2-year-old filly in Australia last season and the best 2-year-old colt thus far this season,” says Bester.

“For a horse to completely dominate the world – and literally the world – of 2-year-old racing, I’ve never seen anything like it. I think Justify is showing every sign of becoming a breed-shaper worldwide.”