Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
It always starts with a choice; of what stallion to send your mare.
Matthew Sandblom retained G1 Myer Classic winner I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible) - who lived up to her name when collecting nine Group victories on the track - after she failed to make her $1.5 million reserve at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale and sent her to Deep Field, whose first crop of 2-year-olds had just yielded a tremendous 21 winners, including two stakes winners.
His second and third seasons would go even better, and Shane Nichols Racing would outlay $800,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2022 for I Am A Star’s first foal, a colt who would be named Orion The Hunter (Deep Field).
While Sandblom admits the gelding didn’t live up to his initial promise, his quality and the quality of the mare’s second foal, I Am A Rockstar (Fastnet Rock), prompted Sandblom to consider a shot at Extreme Choice.
Esha as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“The initial thought was, obviously, Extreme Choice is an amazing stallion,” Sandblom said. “I didn't do it in the first year or two just because both the mare and the stallion are a bit on the small side, and first foals can be the same, so I didn't want to risk a very small foal. Once she'd had a couple of foals, I thought that would be the time to do it.
“And obviously we've liked the result so far because we've gone back to him twice in a row. It’s also good that she is a young, fertile mare, which certainly helps with Extreme Choice’s fertility not being the best.”
“Obviously we've liked the result so far because we've gone back to him (Extreme Choice) twice in a row.” - Matthew Sandblom
Going in foal on a first cover to Newgate Farm’s fertility-challenged but statistically phenomenal stallion in 2021, I Am A Star delivered a chestnut filly the following spring, now named Esha - who sailed home in a Moonee Valley 3-year-old handicap last Saturday by three and a half lengths.
She delivered the same margin when winning on debut back in May, effortlessly outpacing R. Listed Inglis 2YO Banner runner-up Chisholm (I Am Invincible), and had the same style, hitting the front early and not letting anyone else get too close. The mating is clearly a match made in heaven.
I Am A Star promptly returned to Extreme Choice to produce two more fillies. The yearling, Sandblom shared, will most likely arrive at the Gold Coast in January in Newgate’s draft, while the freshly turned 2-year-old has headed to Michael Freedman.
Star potential
Shane Nichols must have liked what he had seen in I Am A Star’s progeny, despite Orion The Hunter’s five wins mostly coming at country grade, because he signed the docket with Kia Ora Stud last year for Esha to the tune of $900,000. Newgate Farm again presented the filly in their Magic Millions draft.
“Orion The Hunter won a couple of good races in town, but then just didn’t go on with it,” Sandblom, who retained a share in the now gelding, recalled. “He seemed to reach his level and then go fractionally backwards. I know he (Nichols) put some of his own money into him, so he had high hopes, and it wasn’t like it was a cheap horse either.”
Mathew Sandblom | Image courtesy of Kingstar Farm
Sandblom, who bought back into Esha for 50%, has higher hopes that it will be a strong fillies family, following in I Am A Star’s footsteps.
“Three fillies in a row by Extreme Choice, it’s a great combination,” he said. The price tag certainly demonstrates that. “In fact, the Newgate syndicate were actually the underbidder on her (Esha). Henry Field liked her quite a lot and tried pretty hard to buy it for that syndicate at the time. They were pretty keen on her. She may end up being the one that got away.”
“In fact, the Newgate syndicate were actually the underbidder on her (Esha).” - Matthew Sandblom
The as of yet unnamed juvenile made $400,000 in the same ring this year to the bid of Anthony Cummings Thoroughbreds, but Sandblom can understand why, given the performance of the mare’s first two offspring.
“It was actually quite hard this year because the first two hadn't set the world on fire,” he said. “And then they're not big horses out of this mare. This one actually passed in in the ring - she’s actually a similar size to Esha, but the mare hadn’t been proven yet, so there was a lot of doubt in the market.
“So she actually got passed in and then Anthony Cummings said, ‘well, I'm interested in her’. So I said, ‘well, Anthony, if you can sell half of her, then I'll keep the other half. So he got a client of his involved, Tony McAnulty, who's also been involved in El Castello and She's Extreme. He really likes Extreme Choice as a stallion, so he came in for originally 30%.
Anthony Cummings | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“And then when Anthony was sort of pushed out, he said, ‘I'm happy to cover up to 50%, and if you're happy, I like Michael Freedman to train it’. So I said, ‘I'm fine with all that’.”
Michael Freedman’s ability with juveniles and role as the trainer of Stay Inside sealed the deal.
“He certainly knows how to train an Extreme Choice,” Sandblom asserted.
Belief from the beginning
Despite not using him in I Am A Star’s first two seasons at stud, Sandblom has always believed in Extreme Choice.
“The Newgate partners bought into him before he won the Blue Diamond in a small way,” he said. “And then after he won the Blue Diamond and we had an option to buy more, we bought more. Then after he won the Moir Stakes, we bought more of him again. So we certainly ended up with a pretty strong position in him.
“I have no doubt that if he was fully fertile, he would be the number one stallion in the next few years. He’s not, but he’s a freak of a stallion, especially when you look at the mares that went to him (in the early years).
“I’ve bred some very good horses by him and none of their dams have been particularly strong mares, except for I Am A Star. He just does an amazing job at upgrading mares, which other stallions just don't get out of the same sort of mares.”
“I have no doubt that if he was fully fertile, he would be the number one stallion in the next few years.” - Matthew Sandblom
Sandblom confessed that he hadn’t sent Extreme Choice many “top shelf” mares over the years, but he has seen the quality rise and rise in the stallion’s last few books, with particularly heavy support from Newgate themselves.
“Still, every year he gets a couple of top level horses out of a small crop,” Sandblom said.
The Newgate colts syndicate is always on the hunt for a new Extreme Choice, having in the past acquired his sire sons Tiger Of Malay and Don Corleone as yearlings, and have purchased two more this last sales season; the $400,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale purchase Extreme Force, out of Group-winning, Group-producing mare Chintz (NZ) (Savabeel), has yet to be assigned a trainer, and $925,000 Magic Millions purchase Morocco is in the stable of Anthony and Sam Freedman.
Sandblom bred this past season’s G1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Devil Night (Extreme Choice) and sold him to Yulong last year via Sandblom’s Kingstar Farm, and he expects the colt to hit a high bar again this spring.
Devil Night | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“He’s going to be very popular when he goes to stud, like Stay Inside is,” Sandblom said. “I would be surprised if Devil Night doesn’t win more Group 1 races as well. What he did in a very short preparation, his first preparation, was pretty amazing. And he wasn’t overraced, so I think there'll be a good chance of improving on his record as a 3-year-old.”
“I would be surprised if Devil Night doesn’t win more Group 1 races as well.” - Matthew Sandblom
Sandblom conceded that Extreme Choice’s yearlings don’t always impress on appearances, but that they more than make up for it once they get to the track - a fact that buyers have swiftly cottoned on to.
“He tends to produce good foals,” he said. “Then they sometimes flatten off a bit for a while and don’t look super impressive as yearlings. And then they tend to grow into themselves a bit more as two and 3-year-olds.
Extreme Choice | Image courtesy of Newgate Farm
“The same sort of thing happened with Too Darn Hot. The Dubawi line sometimes is not the most physically imposing line either. Now that people have come to understand what a good Too Darn Hot looks like, they're more willing to adjust their preconceived expectations about what they should be buying in terms of yearlings.”
Straight to the top
Esha was, of course, an extreme standout type herself. It’s such that Sandblom has lofty goals for the filly, with a jump straight into top flight company expected for her next start.
“The plan is we're going to go to the top level and go to the Moir,” he said. The G1 Moir Stakes is slated to run on September 6.
“Obviously we want to draw a reasonable barrier and not be on a bog track, which I think is pretty unlikely in Melbourne at this point. I guess you only get one chance at carrying 50kg over 1000 metres in these kinds of races.
“You only get one chance at carrying 50kg over 1000 metres in these kinds of races.” - Matthew Sandblom
“She's pretty bomb proof, even though she's only had two starts She just jumps and runs at a pretty high cruising speed and puts herself in it. I mean, obviously, the pressure of a Group 1 against open horses is a different kettle of fish to racing other 3-year-olds, but with that weight, you can afford to sort of use a bit of petrol early.
“She seems to kick on at the end, and even though she's only been over that over 1000 metres, I'm sure she'll get a bit longer.
“But if she drew an inside barrier, or the first four or five, I'm sure she'd be very hard to take the lead from.”
There’s always the risk that her low rating might deny her a start in the race, but it’s a bet that Sandblom is willing to take. Beyond that target, there’s plenty of good sprinting targets in her own sex and age group for Esha to take on. The future might hold distances further out - after all, Extreme Choice did deliver a G1 Melbourne Cup winner last year.
“She’ll definitely be kept at sprint distances up to 1200 metres this prep, I'd say,” said Sandblom. “The mother was very good over a mile, but I think with the Extreme Choice factor in there as well, it's speed on speed. There’s plenty of options for good sprinting fillies.”
I Am A Star | Image courtesy of Sportpix
As for I Am A Star, she is booked back into Extreme Choice for the 2025 season, having missed last year on one late cover. She will be joined by Nothin Leica Storm (Anabaa {USA}), the dam of Stay Inside whose chequered breeding history means she has only delivered two foals since her G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winner.
“If I get five or six mares in foal (to Extreme Choice), I'll be more than happy.” - Matthew Sandblom
“I've got probably 10 or 12 penciled in for him, but if I get five or six mares in foal, I'll be more than happy,” said Sandblom. “Esha certainly decides I Am A Star’s mating. Her matings are probably done for the next X number of years, because as long as Extreme Choice is still there, she’ll be visiting him.”
