Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos
The owners of 4-year-old mare Gold Medallist (Pierata) may have had to be patient, but playing the waiting game has paid off dividends with the mare adding a fourth straight win on Saturday and keeping her unbeaten record intact. Her lifetime earnings have risen above the $105,000 mark, which makes her $12,000 price tag as a yearling seem like an absolute bargain.
Debuting on August 10 for Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, Gold Medallist pulled off a dramatic big finish to win at Echuca, and followed up the performance 18 days later with another victory at Bendigo, unhindered by the wet track. Given three weeks into her next start at Bendigo in mid September, she was again the winner in Benchmark 66 grade.
She stepped up to city class at Sandown on Saturday, and was yet again unable to be caught, succeeding by three quarters of a length over dual winner Coco Jen (Tosen Stardom {Jpn}) and city-performed Happy Link (Toronado {Ire}). For buyers Blueblood Thoroughbreds, she has been well worth the wait.
“We bought her for only $12,000, which was a very cheap purchase, and she’s been good for us all along,” said Blueblood Thoroughbreds Director Carol Walsh. “We have always had our hopes about her. It’s the first time that Blueblood Thoroughbreds have had a horse win four in a row from the start, that’s a bit of a record for us.”
A pedigree worth waiting for
Offered by Middlebrook Valley Lodge at the 2023 Inglis HTBA Yearling Sale, Gold Medallist was amongst the cheapest yearlings purchased by Blueblood Thoroughbreds that year.
Gold Medallist is also to date the cheapest offspring of Olympic Medal (USA) (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), an unraced half-sister to Group 3 winner Heavenly Curlin (USA) (Curlin {USA}) out of Encosta De Lago mare Taste Of Heaven. Olympic Medal’s other offspring through the sales ring have made as much as $225,000, which was the outlay for Gold Medallist’s older brother Mickey’s Medal (Brave Smash {Jpn}).
Gold Medallist as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“We went to the HTBA sale to look for a bargain,” said David Mourad, racing manager for Blueblood Thoroughbreds. “It’s a sale where you can find a cheap horse. She had a good pedigree, and she was always a bit small and a neat style of horse. I did note at the time that she would be one who would need a bit of time, which was reflected in the price.
“I did note at the time that she (Gold Medallist) would be one who would need a bit of time, which was reflected in the price.” - David Mourad
“But for the price that we paid for her, we were happy to spend that to secure such a good pedigree that we might have to be patient for. You just don’t know what they could turn into.”
Taste Of Heaven couldn’t hail from better stock herself; a daughter of Shantha’s Choice (Canny Lad), she counts the sires Redoute’s Choice, Manhattan Rain, and Platinum Scissors amongst her siblings, as well as the grandam of Schwarz. Such is the depth of her pedigree that Taste Of Heaven spent six years in the Northern Hemisphere, returning in 2020. Since her return, she has had three foals by I Am Invincible and delivered a colt by Home Affairs this spring.
Olympic Medal has gotten off to a wonderful start at stud with her first foal Mickey’s Medal now a five-time winner of over $450,000 for Annabel and Rob Archibald. Gold Medallist is her second foal, followed by the now 3-year-old Madesian (Justify {USA}) who was third on debut in mid September for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young. His trainers paid $80,000 for him at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where he was offered by the Alma Vale–Kitchwin Hills partnership.
Olympic Medal’s 2-year-old Street Boss (USA) filly has not been offered at public auction, and she is currently in foal to Aysar, a Listed-winning son of Deep Field and half-brother to Home Affairs who stands at Geisel Park Stud.
Olympic Medal (USA) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Under his Two Fillies Stud banner, Gold Medallist's breeder Nino Tufilli paid $90,000 for Olympic Medal when she was offered in 2021 by Segenhoe Stud at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale.
Based in Western Australia, Tufilli is the Operations Director of mining corporation Corescan and assisted Alma Vale Thoroughbreds in having an exceptionally successful Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale this year as the breeder of their top lot, a $650,000 son of Siyouni (Fr) out of Roselyne (Fr) (Dariyan {Fr}). The mare has an I Am Invincible colt to head to the 2026 sales, and unfortunately missed to the late Wootton Bassett (GB) this season.
Big things in small packages
Mourad chalked the small price tag largely down to the size of Gold Medallist, who he admitted was a small yearling being presented at one of the later sales in the year, and the unknown quality of being by then-first season sire Pierata, who had just been acquired by Yulong Investments.
David Mourad | Image courtesy of Import Racing
“I always thought she was going to take time, and if you saw her at the sale, you would have thought the same,” said Mourad. “I'm not too worried about that. I probably prefer them a bit smaller than a bit too big sometimes.”
“I probably prefer them (yearlings) a bit smaller than a bit too big sometimes.” - David Mourad
Originally debuting at Aquis Farm’s Victorian site for $44,000 inc GST, the son of Pierro had a modest debut sales season in 2023, averaging $136,307 with a median of $80,000. His first crop would turn out the Group 3 winners Coleman and Tobeornottobe, as well as four stakes performers, prompting a deserved rise in fee last year.
First season sires hold an attraction to Blueblood Thoroughbreds - and again, to circle back to both the price tag and the pedigree, there wasn’t much to lose from this level of punt into the unknown.
Pierata | Standing at Yulong Investments
“He was obviously a good racehorse,” Mourad said. “We are always keen to look at first season sires. If they performed well on the track and there's a bit of excitement around them, we do like to look at them and try to get a few in our stable. There's somewhat of a punt on what they might become, but sometimes it pays off.
“If they (first season sires) performed well on the track and there's a bit of excitement around them, we do like to look at them and try to get a few in our stable.” - David Mourad
“We never sold her as a horse that would get up and run early, so we sold her as, judging by the pedigree and her looks, a horse that’s going to take longer. We thought she might race as a 3-year-old and train on - obviously she didn’t (run as a 3-year-old), but she was always bought and sold on the basis that she would take some time, so we were fine with that.”
Slow and steady wins the race
“She hasn’t had any real setbacks or anything,” Mourad said. “She just purely wasn’t ready for that next stage of the preparation, but she has always shown enough to hold her place at Moody and Coleman’s stables. They have a bit of a boutique stable, so the horses really need to show enough to hold their place.”
Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman sent the mare for her first jump-out in March, and followed it up with a pair of jump-outs in July ahead of her August debut. While she neither won nor placed in any of her pre-debut hit-outs, Gold Medallist evidently was saving the best for raceday.
“If you told us six months ago that she would be four from four, no one would have believed you,” Mourad said. “She’s just really showed up on raceday and has that will to win, and obviously, we're all thrilled about it.”
“She’s (Gold Medallist) just really showed up on raceday and has that will to win, and obviously, we're all thrilled about it.” - David Mourad
While the majority of Blueblood's client base still desire that early horse that can hit the ground running as a 2-year-old, Mourad has found a core group that have the patience for a horse that will take longer to mature.
“Most people want a quick return, especially in Australian racing, since it’s all about 2-year-olds and speed,” he said. “So the horses that are going to take a bit longer are a harder sell and they can take a bit longer to sell. I wouldn't say we've got a huge amount of owners willing to wait, but I've found that the owner base that are willing to wait and be a bit patient, they are more understanding of the racing game.
“They can be a little bit easier to manage as well (as owners), because they don't have that expectation that a horse will get to the races quickly. They get into it expecting that they need to be patient. They’re a different type of owner.”
“I've found that the owner base that are willing to wait and be a bit patient, they are more understanding of the racing game.” - David Mourad
Not everyone has stuck along for the ride.
“There have been some owners who have sold out of Gold Medallist along the way, but that happens with every horse anyway, whether it be financial or a matter of opinion,” Mourad said. “So I won't say that everyone was patient enough to stick around with her, but those that have, they're being rewarded.”
Training on
“The line of thinking from Moody was that - win, lose, or draw - she would most likely go out for a spell,” Mourad shared. “She's done a really good job having four runs - for four wins - in her first racing prep. They'll have a look at her and see how she's come through the run before confirming that, but I imagine it's time to give her a break. It's probably a good time of the year to give her a decent enough break.”
Attention can then turn for a possible return in the late summer or early autumn, where the hope will be that the mare can continue to work through the grades. Mourad and the Blueblood Thoroughbreds team aren’t getting ahead of themselves.
“I don't think we need to be overly ambitious too early,” he said. “She's probably going to have a rating of 75, so we can continue to place her well and see if she can continue winning.”
The opportunities for prizemoney don’t shrink with age, in Mourad’s opinion, especially since Gold Medallist is now making her mark in city class.
“There’s good prizemoney for horses that take time and end up getting over a bit of ground,” he said. “I don’t think we’re lacking there. The race at Sandown that she won was a 4-year-olds and older mares race, so I don’t think we are lacking in those kinds of races at all.
“There’s good prizemoney for horses that take time and end up getting over a bit of ground.” - David Mourad
“I just think our market and our breeding stock is littered with speed and early runners and obviously there is the big dollars in 2-year-old racing. That's where everyone loves and wants a quick return. So you're never going to beat that market in terms of what people are after. But I don't think there's a lack of opportunity for horses that will take a bit of time. It's just each of their own. I think you'll find for her price tag, you probably know what to expect.”
