Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
The price of a yearling is the first big number an owner and a trainer sees, so it’s always nice to get that number covered at the horse’s very first start - a feat achieved on Saturday by Russian Revolution colt Seeiaye, a $65,000 graduate of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale who picked up a $107,000 (including bonus) cheque when winning the $160,000 Max Lees Classic at Newcastle.
Trained by Peter Snowden - who also trained his sire in partnership with Snowden’s son Paul - the 2-year-old Seeiaye bounced into his debut off of the back of two trials, having won the second one by a resounding length and three quarters over Max Lees eighth-placed finisher Regal Hustle (Dirty Work).
Jumping from barrier one under Joshua Parr, the colt was quick out of the gates to hit the front and never looked in doubt when sailing home to win by the same margin, with much more expensive $425,000 Gold Coast graduate Mysterial (Exceed And Excel) in second.
The first place cheque delivered $84,500 - already handily paying off that purchase price, and then some - plus the colt picked up a $22,500 BOBS bonus on top. Not a bad strike rate for small syndicator Capri Racing, who purchased just two yearlings at the sales earlier this year.
The pinhook
Seeiaye was bred by Reg Kemister - best known as the breeder of G1 Coolmore Classic winner Heavens Above (Street Cry {Ire}) - and is from the fifth crop of dual Group 1-winning stallion Russian Revolution, who stood at Newgate Farm for $71,500 inc GST in the 2022 season, reaching a career peak of $88,000 inc GST the following year.
The colt was first offered as a weanling at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale by Fairhill Farm, where he was a $27,500 purchase for Musk Creek Farm. Reoffered the following January in their Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft, he was knocked down to Capri Racing and Syndication in partnership with trainer Peter Snowden for $65,000.
Seeiaye as a weanling | Image courtesy of Inglis
David Kobritz, proprietor of Musk Creek Farm, wasn’t actually present at the weanling sale, but had engaged the services of Boomer Bloodstock’s Craig Rounsefell to purchase a weanling or two to round out the farm’s sales draft.
“I said to Craig, ‘if you find a weanling that’s worth buying, let me know’, and he gave me a call about this one,” said Kobritz. “He said, ‘this is quite a strong, racy colt that looks like a forward 2-year-old type’, so I left it up to him to bid. I guess the buyers were a bit off Russian Revolution because we thought we would be able to buy him at a good price, and we did.”
“He (Rounsefell) said, ‘this (Seeiaye) is quite a strong, racy colt that looks like a forward 2-year-old type’, so I left it up to him to bid.” - David Kobritz
Seeiaye has subsequently fit Rounsefell’s description, but the market’s cool attitude to the offspring of Russian Revolution unfortunately carried over to January. The son of Snitzel had 11 stakes winners at the time of the sale, but only the one Group 1 winner in Communist, winner of the 2023 G1 Randwick Guineas.
Even so, he posted a second consecutive season of over 110 winners at the end of the 2024/25 racing year and had his second best year for black-type performers, with six individual stakes winners, bolstered by the return of Libertad who won the G2 Victory Stakes in the autumn.
Russian Revolution | Standing at Newgate
“We brought him back to the farm and put him on the hills to develop,” Kobritz said. “He wasn’t overly big, but he was very strong and a typical sprinting type. We took him to Magics, but it was very hard to sell Russian Revolutions this year. He’s a stallion that’s very underestimated, he gets plenty of winners, but the market is very fickle. Either they like the breed or they don’t, and that’s what the breeding industry has to contend with.
“He’s (Russian Revolution) a stallion that’s very underestimated, he gets plenty of winners, but the market is very fickle.” - David Kobritz
“The last few years, the buyers have been extremely fickle. We have found that buyers are zeroing in on certain stallions, those sell well, and everyone else gets left behind. Quite often there are well established stallions that are getting plenty of winners and they’re struggling. We have a Capitalist filly this year that was a real push to get into a sales catalogue.”
Back on the subject of Seeiaye, Kobritz added, “I guess in the back of my mind I thought we were going to bring him home and I was going to end up racing him, but the guys from Capri liked him and bought him, and the rest is history.”
David Kobritz and Teresa Poon | Image courtesy of Musk Creek Farm
The eye-catcher
Seeiaye was the cheaper of the two yearlings selected by Vince Ferraro’s Capri Racing this year, with the team also spending $120,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale for a Blue Point (Ire) half-sister to Flemington winner No Way Ever (No Nay Never {USA}).
Magics has been a happy hunting ground for Capri Racing in the past; the syndicator has previously selected the likes of Lavish Empire (Spieth {NZ}), winner of over $590,000 in prizemoney, and the five-time winners Denman Star (Denman) and Ready’s Girl (Better Than Ready) from the sale. None have blown the budget either; Lavish Empire cost $85,000, while the other two cost less than that number put together.
Vince Ferraro | Image courtesy of Capri Racing and Syndications
“I’m only a small syndicator,” Ferraro said of his budget, which never really exceeds $150,000, nor does he ever buy more than a couple at a time. The Capri Racing ethos is based around a personalised experience with a syndicator that feels like family.
“I don’t wish to have 30 or 40 horses under my banner at a time. I don’t think you should spend overs on horses either. I think being under the $150,000 mark fits into everyone’s budgets as well.”
“I think being under the $150,000 mark fits into everyone’s budgets as well.” - Vince Ferraro
Ferraro bought the first yearling under the Capri Racing banner in 2018 - the aforementioned Ready’s Girl - and has since honed his selection criteria, sitting down with the catalogues far in advance of the sale to make his shortlist. The photos and videos uploaded closer to the sale itself help trim the list down even further ahead of physical inspections.
“I don’t go to all the sales,” Ferraro said. “Magics usually has the style of horse that I’m looking for. I make my shortlists and then I either make the decision to go myself, or send someone in my place to look at my shortlist for me.”
Seeing Seeiaye in the flesh is what cemented Ferraro’s desire for the colt, far more than his page; the colt is the second foal from unraced I Am Invincible mare Blue Blazers, a full sister to Singapore Champion 2YO and sire Super One and a half-sister to multiple Group performer Super Too (Hinchinbrook). At the time of the sale, the mare’s first foal Columbia Blue (Yes Yes Yes), a $150,000 Classic purchase for Proven Thoroughbreds, had yet to debut.
Seeiaye as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“If they hit me between the eyes, I tend to keep going and looking at them,” said Ferraro. “If there's no feel or no interest when I first see them, I just walk away.”
“If they (a yearling) hit me between the eyes, I tend to keep going and looking at them.” - Vince Ferraro
Seeiaye obviously left an impression, because Ferraro didn’t consult Peter Snowden - also in attendance at the sale - ahead of bidding, trusting his instinct that he had made the right call.
“He (Snowden) didn’t look at him before I bought him, afterwards I told him what I had purchased and if he was interested in training him,” Ferraro said. “That’s when he decided to go have a look, and that’s when he said he was happy to train him.”
Evidently Snowden saw the same potential that Ferraro did.
“You’re either born an athlete or you’re not,” said Ferraro. “That’s my theory in this game.”
The early type
Seeiaye caught the eye of Hannover Lodge principal Hinnerck Hüeppe, who broke him in.
“He’s very sharp and forward thinking,” Hüeppe said to TTR about Seeiaye in September, two months before his slashing debut. “He’s a very forward colt. He’s been a big improver since he arrived from the sales.”
“He’s always shown from day one that he’s got ability,” said Ferraro. “The first time that Hinnerck started working with him, he got back to me and said, ‘he’s just a cool dude and nothing’s a problem for him, he’s got a brain between those ears’. He’d call him Mr Perfection.”
“The first time that Hinnerck (Hüeppe) started working with him (Seeiaye), he got back to me and said, ‘he’s just a cool dude and nothing’s a problem for him'.” - Vince Ferraro
The pattern was the same when the colt arrived at Snowden’s Randwick base.
“The first couple of times he was there (at Randwick), Peter said he was good,” Ferraro said. “He didn’t over-emphasise it at the time, but then again, I would suppose a lot of trainers keep their cards close to their chests to make sure they’re right before they actually give someone that feedback.”
Nevertheless, the colt persisted, and stepped out in a trial at the end of October; he was beaten by the big ticket The Next Episode (Snitzel), but didn't take a backwards step and rolled on to another trial at the beginning of November, 10 days before his debut. The flash performance had Snowden’s mind on a race like the Max Lees.
“We’re always excited by the feature races, but I don’t direct where the horses should go,” Ferraro said. “I always leave it up to the trainer to decide when and where to go, they know the horses best. They’re with them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Peter has been in the game a long, long time and is probably a bit old school in his training methods, which is what I like.”
“I always leave it up to the trainer to decide when and where to go, they know the horses best.” - Vince Ferraro
The Max Lees has been a suitable jumping off point for a number of good stakes horses; the 2017 and 2018 winners Jonker and Strasbourg both landed themselves spots at stud, the former a Group 1 winner before his retirement, and 2023 winner Erno’s Cube (Rubick) won the G2 Reisling Stakes the following autumn. The future looks promising for Seeiaye, particularly given his win set a new class track record in the 900-metre dash.
Ferraro and his syndicate will savour the victory for now without planning too far into the future; “We’ll just enjoy the moment with the Max Lees win. We haven’t spoken about what’s next, that will likely happen in the weeks sometime.”
And Ferraro has his eyes on next year’s sales already, with January’s Gold Coast catalogue already whittled down to the first stage of his shortlist. There might be more sons of Russian Revolution on that list too.
