Buy of the Weekend: Lees keeping it in the family with Oaks winner You Wahng

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

You Wahng (So You Think {NZ}) launched herself into the spotlight on Saturday by snatching victory in the G1 Queensland Oaks, claiming her third win and first stakes win in nine starts. The 3-year-old daughter of multiple city-winning Casino Prince mare Wahng Wah was a $150,000 purchase for trainer Kris Lees and Bahen Bloodstock at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2023.

With her prize money now sitting just under the $600,000 mark, You Wahng is already proving to be a fantastic return on investment for connections, with her value rising immediately with the victory.

You Wahng may have flown under the radar of a few punters, just as she flew under the radar at the sales, but her third placing to Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) in the G1 Australian Oaks was signal enough of her ability - and it’s a good thing Lees knows a thing or two about investing in a family.

Family affair

Danny Greer, racing manager for Lees, noted that Lees tends to be drawn to the offspring of mares he previously trained, and a daughter of Wahng Wah had plenty of appeal.

Lees sent Wahng Wah out to victory on her debut as a 3-year-old - just as he would with her daughter - and prepared her to collect five wins and over $200,000 in prize money across her career.

“Kris targets mares that he’s previously trained or has had something to do with the damline,” Greer said. “There’s stallions that are popular with any kind of trainer, but he’s more interested in the dam’s side and then, if they’re by a decent stallion, you don’t have to look too far into it.”

Lees also trained full sister So Newchee Thinks to three wins before her retirement last year; having already succeeded with the progeny of So You Think (NZ) and the dam made her an attractive buy. And key to it all is Lees’ ability to be patient.

“It depends on the bloodlines of a horse and what Kris is seeing in front of him as to whether it’s worth persevering with certain (slower to mature) horses,” Greer said. “Most of his successes in the past have been with horses that have developed with age.

“So I think he's quite a patient trainer with the horses that he buys. He's willing to give them plenty of time.”

Always going places

Riversdale’s Nick Hodges, who offered You Wahng on the Gold Coast recalls the filly as a “lovely yearling”.

“She was an average size, but had a really good walk and a really good depth of girth,” he said. “And she had a lot of energy. She was one of those fillies always wanting to go places.

“I looked back at her yearling video out of interest and she’s just so active. I remember her being a bit of a nightmare to take a photo of, she didn't want to stand still long enough.”

Two years before, the farm had offered her full sister Street Gossip, who was purchased by Mark Newnham for $140,000 at the same sale.

Street Gossip would also have an affinity with Queensland racing, landing the Listed Princess Stakes as a 3-year-old and running third in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet at her next start. Sent to New Zealand after selling at last year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale for $185,000, she won her first start in her new home.

Breeder Jeremy Kessell, of Wall Street Thoroughbreds, has retained So Newchee Thinks, who is in foal to Coolmore shuttler Starspangledbanner.

“It’s fantastic for him to have a filly at this early stage to breed with out of a mare that’s thrown a Group 1 winner.”

Wahng Wah is only a young mare, with three winners from four to race, and she produced a colt by So You Think in the spring. Hodges has heard positive reports about her 2-year-old, Listen Sweetheart (Pierro), who was purchased by Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock for Pinecliff Racing for $240,000 at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

“She’s with John Sargent, and they’ve got a very high opinion of her,” Hodges shared. “(Wahng Wah’s foals) are fairly typical quality horses, without maybe being the kind of powerhouse that a lot of buyers are looking for.”

Strength in the sireline

Some of that could be on account of her sire, So You Think; the rising 19-year-old will stand this season for $44,000 (inc GST), and Hodges recognises that he may be overlooked slightly by the buying bench, despite his evergreen ability to produce a winner.

“He's been such a consistent sire over the years,” Hodges said. “His yearlings still sell well, but he’s gotten to the stage that they're not as sought after as the sexier stallions. But, jeez, his statistics are very good.”

With progeny in both hemispheres, the son of High Chaparral (Ire) operates at a 66 per cent winners to runners strike rate and has produced 62 stakeswinners as well as a further 48 stakes performers, accounting for over 10 per cent of his progeny to race.

You Wahng becomes his 12th Group 1 winner and his sixth individual stakeswinner this season, and he is currently just five individual winners short of beating his seasonal record.

So You Think finished the yearling sales season on a $146,928 average, just below You Wahng’s ring price. The strength of his fillies have been recognised this season when $1.15 million, the highest price for his offspring to date, was paid by Glentree Thoroughbreds and Badgers Bloodstock for a daughter of G1 VRC Oaks winner Personal (Fastnet Rock) at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

“He’s a great sire to get your young mare off to a good start.”

“We have a few So You Thinks in the stable,” Greer shared. “He’s always a sire we’re quite keen on. I think some people may (overlook him), just probably because there's so many boom, young stallions in the mix now. Maybe they forget about his potential, because he's been a pretty good stallion."

The High Chaparral sireline was out in force on Saturday, with the trifecta in the G1 Queensland Derby all being by sons or grandsons of the former shuttle sire.