Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
Arcora (Justify {USA}) stamped himself a spring Derby prospect in the 1800-metre Byerley Handicap on Saturday with a quarter-length victory over Bayou Music (Street Boss {USA}) to close out his juvenile season. The colt was a $225,000 purchase for his trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young from Coolmore Stud at last year’s Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
“It was great to see Arcora win the Byerley on the weekend,” said Tom Moore, marketing and nominations at Coolmore Stud. “He looks like a real live Derby chance in the spring. Trent and Natalie bought him for less than the sale average 18 months ago, and he looks to be particularly well bought at this point.”
“He (Arcora) looks like a real live Derby chance in the spring.” - Tom Moore
Bred by Katom, Arcora is the second stakes performer for his unraced dam Casuarina Forest (Fastnet Rock), whose first foal is multiple Group-placed miler Foxy Cleopatra (American Pharoah {USA}).
Arcora as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Busuttin Racing had also signed the docket for Foxy Cleopatra to the tune of $120,000 when she was offered at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in 2021, and she was offered at the Riverside Stables complex again earlier this year in Newgate Consignment’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale draft, selling to Woodside Park Stud for $220,000. In between, she was a winner at her second start and leaped into stakes grade at her third, running second to Renaissance Woman (NZ) (Reliable Man {GB}) in the G3 Ethereal Stakes.
The ultimate outcross
“Casuarina Forest has got a lovely family,” Moore said. “She’s a full sister to Paulownia, the dam of Lilac, who’s a Group winner by Justify this season. Trent and Natalie also had success with Arcora’s half-sister in the past, so they went back to the well, knowing they had a high class performer out of the mare already.”
“Trent (Busuttin) and Natalie (Young) also had success with Arcora’s half-sister in the past, so they went back to the well, knowing they had a high class performer out of the mare already.” - Tom Moore
Arcora is Casuarina Forest’s second foal, who delivered her fourth foal in 2023. By St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), he sold to Hayfields Racing and Intel Bloodstock (FBAA) for $170,000 at the Gold Coast this year.
“It’s also a family that has worked well with outcross, imported stallions previously,” Moore said. “It’s a family that is very much proven, but also continues to be improving.”
Tom Moore | Image courtesy of Inglis
Casuarina Forest is a full sister to G1 William Reid Stakes winner, consistent sire Foxwedge, Listed-winning She’s A Fox, and stakes-placed, stakes-producing Paulownia, as well as being a half-sister to Banksia (Redoute’s Choice), dam of G2 Alister Clark Stakes winner Bank Maur (Maurice {Jpn}) and Listed Oxlade Plate winner Namesake (Maurice {Jpn}).
She is also a full sister to She’s A Wildcat, dam of Listed Fernhill Handicap winner Untamed (Pierro) and city winner She’s An Artist (Trapeze Artist), who finished second in the Listed Creswick Stakes earlier this month.
Connections evidently liked the match with Justify (USA), as Casuarina Forest - and Paulownia - was sent overseas last year to be covered by him in Ashford Stud on Southern Hemisphere time, and has since returned to Australia to foal down. Their decision is more than justified after Arcora’s performances over the autumn and winter of his juvenile year.
Agarwood | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
Moore shared that Casuarina Forest had earned herself a spot in Wootton Bassett’s (GB) covering book for the spring, with her Justify foal due at the beginning of August. This will produce a three-quarter-sibling to Paulownia’s unbeaten juvenile Agarwood (Wootton Bassett {GB}).
“Agarwood is unbeaten in two starts, and I know the Waterhouse team have high hopes for her,” Moore said. “I believe she’s going to target the Princess Series in the spring in Sydney.”
Versatility is what people want
The Byerley victory rewards Arcora with ballot-free entry to the G1 Victoria Derby during Melbourne Cup week; a race that has been won in the past two years by sons of former Coolmore shuttler American Pharoah (USA), who shares his Triple Crown winning status with Justify.
American Pharoah’s stock have had a creeping influence on 3-year-old middle-distance racing in the last few years; 2023 Victoria Derby winner Riff Rocket would go on to claim the G1 Australian Derby and the G1 Rosehill Guineas as well, and Pavitra - one of his two G3 Kembla Grange Classic winners - ran second in both the G1 VRC Oaks and the G1 Vinery Stud Stakes.
Moore believes Justify’s impact will be felt over a wider range of distances.
“Justify is an extremely versatile stallion,” he said. “He can produce high class sprinters like Learning To Fly, Storm Boy, and Lilac, but he's obviously also capable of producing those middle-distance performers like Arcora. He's produced Derby winners in the Northern Hemisphere, as evidenced by City Of Troy - but City Of Troy was also an undefeated Champion 2YO winner of the Dewhurst.”
“Justify is an extremely versatile stallion ... He’s done a great job in Australia from just three crops to race.” - Tom Moore
This versatility is what has made Justify so popular across the buying spectrum. His sales averages have risen from a first crop average of $244,554 in his first season to $356,486 in his third, with his sole yearling sold at public auction this year (Justify did not shuttle in 2022) making $475,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
“He’s done a great job in Australia from just three crops to race,” Moore said. “He's got another number of progressive young horses that continue to go through the grades, and ones that will be back in the spring targeting Group 1 races.”
Just Feelin’ Lucky | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Amongst those, Moore highlighted the high class Just Feelin’ Lucky, who featured in Buy of the Weekend after her victory in the G3 Gunsyd Classic five weeks ago; bought and syndicated by James Bester and trained by Michael Freedman, the filly is currently back in work after her winter holiday.
Justify served his biggest book to date in 2023, with 119 foals reported on the ground in Australia in 2024, and 16 mares have been reported as making the return trip to visit him in the States last spring.
“He covered his biggest book in Australia and it was an extremely good book of mares,” Moore said. “So the yearling sales in 2026 are going to be full of extremely well-bred Justifys. He very much looks like he’s going to be on an upward trajectory here.”
Justify | Standing at Coolmore
While Justify will not be back down under this year, breeders will have access to two sons of his in City Of Troy (USA) - standing at $49,500 (inc GST) and reportedly already fully booked - and locally-bred top performer Storm Boy at $16,500 (inc GST).
“He's (Storm Boy) been perceived as being extremely good value, and equally popular with both Australian and New Zealand breeders.” - Tom Moore
“We’ve had a massive take up of Storm Boy since his announcement a month ago,” Moore said. “He's a horse with an extremely high profile going to stud. He’s a Group 1 class horse with a top pedigree and a massive profile, so he's been perceived as being extremely good value, and equally popular with both Australian and New Zealand breeders.”
The shuttle stallion’s value
Danehill (USA) was not the first shuttle stallion down under, but he has long been one of the most influential on Australia’s breeding landscape. Moore feels that the current crop visiting Coolmore this spring have the right credentials to carry it forward.
“The shuttle stallions at the moment couldn’t be doing any better here,” he said. “I suppose that's a reflection of the quality of horses that have been shuttling here over the last 10 years, and that's really coming to fruition now. We've been crying out for high class outcrosses, and there’s been a huge amount of quality in the stallions shuttling to the country recently - highlighted by City Of Troy, Wootton Bassett, Justify, St Mark’s Basilica.”
“We've been crying out for high class outcrosses, and there’s been a huge amount of quality in the stallions shuttling to the country recently.” - Tom Moore
Arcora’s family has been particularly successful with international lines; both of Banksia’s stakes winners are by Maurice (Jpn), and second dam Forest Native (USA) (Forest Wildcat {USA}) was not only prolific when married to Fastnet Rock, but also another Danehill son in Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire).
Danehill (USA) | Image courtesy of Sportpix
It’s worth noting that Justify over Fastnet Rock mares has an impressive strike rate of 23% stakes winners to runners - crossed over fellow Danehill son Redoute’s Choice generates 12% stakes winners to runners from much smaller numbers.
“So when you bring down horses of that quality with those pedigrees, that are complete outcrosses to our mares, and when you look at what's going on in the wider landscape of Australian breeding at the moment and consider the success that shuttlers have been having, you can see why people are really gravitating towards those quality options.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing Wootton Bassett’s first Southern Hemisphere crop turn three, and seeing St Mark’s Basilica’s first 2-year-olds after how well they have been received at the sales.”
Wootton Bassett (GB) | Standing at Coolmore Australia
It has long been noted that the domestic breeding population is primarily geared towards speed, so the injection of international blood is important to maintain the prestige and high rating of Australia’s Classic races. Those are the breeding grounds of our most influential local stallions, after all.
“I think we are extremely lucky to have access to sound, tough, quality stallions with deep pedigrees (with shuttle stallions),” Moore said. “We still need to breed Classic horses to target Guineas and Derbys, and Spring Champions. These stallions are likely to produce those types of horses in the future.
“To continue to thrive in the long term, we need high class stallions coming from all over the world and enhancing the Australasian gene pool. Races like the Derby, the Oaks, the Guineas, these are not pop-up races. They’re here forever. They are at the core of what our industry is all about.”
“Races like the Derby, the Oaks, the Guineas, these are not pop-up races. They’re here forever. They are at the core of what our industry is all about.” - Tom Moore
The Classics will be at the core of Arcora’s spring as well; as discussions post-race suggest his place in the Victoria Derby is all but guaranteed, all that needs to be determined is the path he takes to get there.
