Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
It’s all about the numbers with Tornado Valley becoming the fifth stakes winner for Bennett Racing this spring, and the third stakes horse from Rosemont Stud’s 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft.
An impressive start for Rosemont’s 2025 draft
Rosemont Stud took 14 yearlings to the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and sold 11 of them, including Tornado Valley (Too Darn Hot {GB}) who is out of Oklahoma Girl (Fastnet Rock).
“He was a lovely foal and did everything you’d wish for in his development and through every stage, and he was always a horse we were keen to take to the Gold Coast. He presented as a forward style of horse, and with Too Darn Hot going so well and out of a well related Fastnet Rock mare, it made sense to get him to an earlier sale,” said Ryan McEvoy.
“Funnily enough, him and the Fiesta colt who started favourite in that same race and ran fourth were two of the most popular colts in our draft.”
Ryan McEvoy | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The colt from Group 2 winner Fiesta (I Am Invincible), now named Carnevale (Pinatubo {Ire}), was on debut on Cup day in the G3 Maribyrnong Plate for the Hayes brothers at Lindsay Park. Carnevale was purchased by Lindsay Park for $700,000. “He goes to the Merson Cooper at the end of this month and he’ll be hard to beat, as he’ll improve out of that (run).”
“A filly in the same draft ran third in the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes back in October. I think we only had 12 or so in the draft and three have shown up already in stakes races which we are proud of.” The filly, One Day At A Time (Bivouac), ran third on debut in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial Stakes for trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy. She is owned by Pipeliner Bloodstock and was a $270,000 purchase by her trainers with Belmont Bloodstock (FBAA).
Eight others from the draft have been named at this early stage in their juvenile season. Rosemont sold Oklahoma Girl at the 2025 July Inglis Digital Sale to Big G Thoroughbreds for $9000.
Earlier than expected for Tornado Valley
Third on debut in the Listed Debutant Stakes, Tuesday’s Group 3 win was Tornado Valley’s second start. “It was great to see him doing what he’s doing so early. I’m not sure we pegged him as a horse who’d be up and going pre-Christmas, but it’s awesome to see him have that early stakes winning precocity,” said McEvoy.
“Ciaron (Maher) has indicated that he’s just going to improve. Even the stable didn’t have him as a Maribyrnong Plate winner two or three months ago, so he’s doing this on raw ability, which is exciting for his future. The Too Darn Hot’s tend to really improve through their autumn 2-year-old year and into their spring 3-year-old season.
“He’s a very straightforward sort of horse who potentially could find himself on the Gold Coast for the 2-year-old race up there.”
“He’s (Tornado Valley) a very straightforward sort of horse who potentially could find himself on the Gold Coast for the 2-year-old race up there.” - Ryan McEvoy
An impressive spring for Bennett Racing
The victory by Tornado Valley was the fifth individual stakes winner this season for Bennett Racing. Baraqiel (Snitzel) won the G1 AJ Moir Stakes and the Listed Carlyon Stakes, Warnie (Ire) (Highland Reel {Ire}) won the G2 Damien Oliver, Zou Sensation (Zoustar) won the Listed Weekend Hussler, and Jimmy Recard (I Am Invincible) won the G3 Vain Stakes.
Baraqiel | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“We are going great with a winner every weekend at the moment. Hopefully we can keep the momentum building. He’s our fifth individual stakes winner for the season already. It’s been a crazy start,” said Nathan Bennett.
“We’ve got one in the Oaks, Zouclaire who has shown good ability. She’s still a maiden but she’s been crying out for distance. We think she’ll run out the distance and she’s a nice filly in the making. If she runs in the top five, that’ll be huge.”
Thrown to the sire line
Nathan Bennett feels that Tornado Valley has thrown strongly to the sire line. “I think he’s thrown to Too Darn Hot, they all looked similar at the sale. He’s got that stocky build to him, they just look like powerhouses. You couldn’t have a hotter stallion at the moment. It’s got a good ring to it, a Group 3-winning Too Darn Hot colt,” said Bennett.
Tornado Valley as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Tornado Valley was sold by Rosemont Stud to Bennett Racing for $300,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
“Our yearling process is very strict. We are pretty harsh on them, and view every yearling seven to 10 times, and try to find a reason to take them off the list rather than keep them. We already know they are nice horses, but we want to tick every box before we bid on one.
“He certainly fitted that category. We thought he was the best Too Darn Hot colt on the premises at Magic Millions. I don’t know if we’ve been proven right, but he’s certainly started well.
“We thought he was the best Too Darn Hot colt on the premises at Magic Millions.” - Nathan Bennett
“He’s a ripping colt. It was a terrific win by him and he has a bright future ahead. We’ll probably head to the Magic Millions (2YO Classic) with him. He’s pulled up well. We’ll have a crack at that.”
Rosemont Stud were all praise for Bennett’s buying system too. “Credit to Nathan Bennett and his team. I thought they bought him well, he was a well-found horse, and really popular in our draft. His team are really flying. They are seeing them really well at the yearling sales. They were really bullish on this horse. We had the opportunity to stay in the horse, which is awesome, and we get to live that experience with his team and race a really exciting colt,” said McEvoy.
“The Pinatubo (half-brother) is potentially going to either the Gold Coast or Melbourne Premier, we are still working through that. He’s a lovely horse as well. We’ll make a call in the next few days. He’s an impressive colt himself, and Pinatubo had the second and fourth horses in that race which is pretty encouraging stuff for a young stallion.”
Rosemont’s investment into the sire
Rosemont Stud sent several mares to Too Darn Hot (GB) in 2024 when he didn’t shuttle to Australia, but was available in Europe to Southern Hemisphere time. They weren’t the only ones, with the Stud Book currently reporting 30 foals born this spring in Australia by Too Darn Hot so far.
Too Darn Hot (GB) | Standing at Darley
“We had our last mare foal down over the weekend, a mare called Khulaasa, who had a colt. She was part of that Shadwell dispersal, and we bought her and a few of her relatives back in 2021, and she’s a stakes winning 2-year-old. She had a lovely strong forward colt, not too dissimilar to Tornado Valley. If you look at his notes, they are almost identical in terms of weight, size and appearance.”
Khulaasa (Epaulette) won the G3 Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes as a 2-year-old. She had three foals in Australia before heading to Europe where she’s had a filly by Siyouni (Fr), before being covered by Too Darn Hot and coming home to foal this colt.
