Stud value on the line for CF Orr's colt contingent

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

A field of just seven will face the starter for the G1 CF Orr Stakes on Saturday at Caulfield, and while those voting with their wallets are of the impression that it’s a match race between joint favourites Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) and Angel Capital (Harry Angel {Ire}), there are three members of the field with more than prizemoney riding on the Group 1 victory.

Bosustow (Blue Point {Ire}), Vinrock (I Am Invincible), and Angel Capital are all geared to head to stud eventually, and a coveted top flight win goes a long way to securing that spot and generating enough interest in the early years before their runners can do the talking. It’s especially important for the two of them that have yet to tick that Group 1 box, while Group 1-winning juvenile Vinrock has yet to match last season’s heights this spring.

Shifting the race from its traditional autumnal position to the spring brings with it a number of factors that could influence each colt’s chances; a weight drop for Vinrock and a smaller field at the back end of the spring carnival thins the opposition.

But that doesn’t make the race an easy win. All three still have to beat the four geldings filling out the field - and fend off each other.

A potential stallion-maker

The decision to move the CF Orr was announced by Racing Victoria in April, citing its proximity to the G1 Futurity Stakes - run two weeks from the CF Orr’s original slot and under the same conditions - as well as the need to continue to give Caulfield’s mid-November meet a Group 1 feature after the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes moves back to its original September slot.

With the G1 Memsie Stakes 11 weeks beforehand, the CF Orr will be one of the only two 1400-metre weight-for-age races run in the Victorian spring carnival.

In the CF Orr’s previous slot, it featured on the resumes of no less than eight stallions since 2000, four of whom were 3-year-olds at the time of their wins. Redoute’s Choice, one of these Classic year victors, stands out as the obvious champion of the group, but to measure all graduates against a shooting star would be unfair. The CF Orr was one of four Group 1s on his resume, along with the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes, the G1 Manikato Stakes, and the G1 Caulfield Guineas.

All Too Hard secured his victory en route to Champion 3YO Colt honours, having also won the Caulfield Guineas, and he also captured the Futurity Stakes the fortnight after his CF Orr. Alabama Express, a winning son of Redoute’s Choice, is already emerging as a talented sire with four stakes winners and eight stakes performers in his first two crops on the track.

Shinzig was the oldest winning entire, being a 6-year-old when he took out the race in 2007, followed by Lonhro who claimed the event in his 5-year-old season.

For the seven winning colts with progeny to race, all have produced stakes winners - to varying degrees of success - with 2023 Jacquinot’s first yearlings headed to the sales in 2026.

Since the 2000 edition, only five mares have managed to capture the CF Orr - although Typhoon Tracy (Red Ransom {USA}) was victorious twice as part of Peter Moody’s three-year run winning the race, which was bookended by Black Caviar’s (Bel Esprit) win in 2012. All other editions this century have been the dominion of geldings of all ages.

Racefit Angel ready to rock

The 4-year-old Angel Capital has already secured a spot in Yulong’s stallion barn, but a Group 1 win in weight-for-age company would significantly add to his allure.

Yulong’s 11-strong roster boasts a horse for every price point and type of breeder, and with G1 Galaxy Handicap winner Private Harry (Harry Angel {Ire}) also en route to end up in the stallion barn at the conclusion of his career, Angel Capital just needs to work out where he will slot in.

Trainer Chris Waller - who will also take over as Private Harry’s preparation when he resumes in the autumn - is more than aware of the value that Group 1 has on the entire’s resume.

“Obviously, it's going to be a great race,” he told racing.com on Friday. “I thought it might be a bit weaker. I thought we'd picked out an easy one, but it's great to see Jimmysstar there and a few others, so it will be a good contest.”

Angel Capital boasts five wins to date up to Group 2 level, but that one step beyond has eluded him to date. In three runs at the top level, his best finish has been when fourth by a length and a third in the Rupert Clarke earlier this spring, before he was far from disgraced running fourth by two lengths in the G1 The Everest.

“He had a trial last Wednesday in Sydney then travelled down Thursday,” Waller said. “He's very fit. He ran in The Everest a few weeks back and, as I said, the trial, so he's as fit as we can get him - we don't want to get him any fitter - we just want to keep him sharp.

“His run (in the Everest) was terrific. His sectional times would've probably been the best in the race.”

A light weight opens doors for Vinrock

Trainer Matt Laurie is the first to admit that the CF Orr was not originally on the agenda for the 3-year-old Vinrock.

“I can’t say it was the grand final we had in mind for him, that was the Caulfield Guineas,” Laurie said. “But he's come through it nicely and I think dropping back in distance slightly is probably going to be more beneficial to him.

“After the Guineas, Mr Zhang was quite keen to give him another run in a Group 1. He was there to run the Carbine Club, and then we decided to pull back and give him his chance in this.”

Like Waller, Laurie and the Yulong team were seeking that smaller field, but Laurie was quick to acknowledge the difficulty of the task being presented to the son of I Am Invincible by his rivals.

“It’s a small field, but a class field,” he said. “Angel Capital, Evaporate, Jimmysstar, they’re all very good horses. We'll see where we stand, but we're happy with how the horse has come on from the Guineas.

“He’s a good colt, he hasn’t had a lot go his way this preparation and he’s certainly up against some very smart horses, but the light weight brings him into contention.”

The shift from autumn to spring in particular benefits Vinrock who will carry 53kg instead of the 55.5kg that he would have carried in February. He gets in particularly well, given that he will lump 6kg less than any of his rivals, and arrives off the back of a tickover jump-out in early November.

“It's an interesting race with the drop in weight,” Laurie said. “He’s obviously been carrying a bit of weight lately, so he will notice it.”

Vinrock has carried 57kg in both of his most recent starts, including running fourth in the Caulfield Guineas behind Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun), and before that lumped 59.5kg to victory in the Listed Exford Plate.

When considering the race’s move from the autumn to now, Laurie thought that it was likely the race would have come onto the colt’s radar anyway, particularly given the victory of his future barnmate Alabama Express and the rising value of that stallion, who is of course the sire of Laurie and Yulong’s multiple Group 1-winning filly Treasurethe Moment.

“It’s the same race that Alabama Express won in the autumn of his 3-year-old season,” Laurie said. “I think it would have had to have been a consideration in the autumn prep for him, that's for sure, because realistically he's off to stud after the next campaign. That's it. Obviously positioning this race where it is now, it's just left this field a little bit smaller, but it is a quality field still. It’s not an easy task, but he deserves his chance.”

If Vinrock can prove himself here, the pressure eases slightly on the autumn campaign. Albeit in its original position, the CF Orr was the last race win and penultimate start for Alabama Express, whose stud fee increased to $66,000 (inc GST) this season in recognition of his offspring’s efforts.

“I think it's going to come down to probably getting the right ride,” said Laurie. “He needs to be injecting enough speed to maybe bring the others under a bit of pressure without going too much, too soon and being all out on his feet. It's going to be a delicate ride from Michael Dee.”

That top tier performance

Victory in the CF Orr would be a much-needed bump to Bosustow’s page; the half-brother to Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni {Fr}) was a talented galloper last season, winning the G3 Gold Coast Guineas and the R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas as well as placing at Group 1 level, but a Group 1 win would cement him a spot at stud. One of two stakes winners from two runners for his dam, he is now the only living colt out of Bumbasina (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), who passed away on November 5.

With Rosemont Stud featuring in his ownership, the top flight win makes him significantly more marketable, particularly with his sireline being less well-respected in Australia.

“I think he needs to go and win a Group 1 (before retiring to stud), I don't think there's any denying that,” Ryan McEvoy, Rosemont’s general manager of bloodstock, said. “He's Group 1-placed at two, he's Group-1 placed at three. But I think it's fair to say he'd need to add a Group 1 to his CV to become a commercial prospect anyway.

“He's a good looking horse, he's got a good pedigree. We think he's certainly capable of winning a Group 1, so whilst he’s showing us that ability, we think that will give him his opportunity.”

McEvoy shared that the race came onto Bosustow’s radar a month ago following his sixth in the $1.5 million Alan Brown Stakes at Rosehill. The race proved to be a fork in the road; would the 4-year-old press on to the $10 million Golden Eagle - and potentially have to do battle with the likes of Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun), then an unbeaten Group 1 winner - or head south for a crack at a Group 1 himself?

Connections opted for the latter, and sent him down the Flemington straight at the start of November in the G3 Rising Fast Stakes, where he ran a smart third at his first run back at 1200 metres since the Gold Coast Guineas.

“His run down the straight was pretty good for a horse that wasn’t specifically trained for the sharpness of a 1200-metre race at Flemington like that,” McEvoy said. “But I thought that race had plenty of merit in it and it sets him up nicely for Saturday to hopefully run a peak race for this campaign.

“While the Golden Eagle is probably now considered that (as good as a Group 1), (co-trainer) Annabel (Archibald) felt that this horse was more of a 1200 to 1400-metre horse.

"Historically Golden Eagle winners have more been pretty strong milers. A large number of the winners of the Golden Eagle have run in a mile race prior to it, and we just weren’t convinced he would be strong enough at the end of the race. We would like to think that the CF Orr suits him more.”

That still doesn’t mean anyone is under the illusion that it will be an easy task for the colt.

“We're well aware of what we're up against,” McEvoy said. “There's a couple of beauties there - Jimmysstar is arguably the most in form sprinter in the country and Angel Capital is really knocking on the door (for a win). They’re the two worthy favourites. It's just going to be interesting how it maps out.”

And if the CF Orr had remained in its autumnal slot? It could still have been on Bosustow’s agenda, although the allure of the Magic Millions racing carnival in January could have drawn him north first.

“There’s the option of going back there in January, there’s plenty of prizemoney options for him,” said McEvoy. But if a Group 1 is what’s on the menu ahead of a stud career, it becomes more pressing of a goal as the autumn looms. “We will get through tomorrow (Saturday), and then assess where he’s going.”