Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
An online purchase based on the quality of her yearlings, Flamboyant Lass (Stratum) looks to be an outstanding investment for Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA). Jim Clarke purchased her in July 2025 via Inglis Digital for $47,500 with her rising 2-year-old by Home Affairs still an unknown prospect. Clarke told TTR on Sunday that she’ll be heading to the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in May, in foal to Storm Boy.
Chairman’s Sale benefits from Slipper victory
Flamboyant Lass, a 13-year-old mare, has seven live foals with her latest being a Stay Inside yearling filly. Her six foals to race are all winners, but this wasn't the case when Clarke Bloodstock purchased her.
“Bruce Slade and I bought her specifically to go to Storm Boy. She’s in foal, and is off to the Chairman’s Sale,” said Jim Clarke of Flamboyant Lass.
Jim Clarke | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“I've seen pretty much all of her yearlings go to sales over the last few years and she's always consistently produced good looking horses.
“I've seen pretty much all of her (Flamboyant Lass) yearlings go to sales over the last few years and she's always consistently produced good looking horses.” - Jim Clarke
“She'd had Nitrous, who was a stakes performer early on in her career, and then a few of those other unraced ones in the wings that all made reasonable money as yearlings and all were in the hands of very capable trainers, so we thought there was potentially some upside in her produce record, but we weren't necessarily expecting something as fruitful as Guest House to come along.”
Guest House (Home Affairs), who won Saturday’s G1 Golden Slipper, had been a $270,000 purchase by Mick Price Racing and Breeding, Roll The Dice Racing and Rogers Bloodstock from the Newgate Farm draft at the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Since the purchase, she has obviously left a G1 Golden Slipper winner, but she’s also been very active with four of her foals winning this calendar year. Command Approved (Spirit Of Boom) won at Toowoomba in February and has won six of his 42 starts.
Guest House winning the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Her 4-year-old gelding Pierant (Pierro), who was a non-winner in July 2025, won at Tweed River in January, and 3-year-old gelding Gambler (Capitalist) won at Hawkesbury in February and has two wins from 12 starts.
“Bruce and I were both involved in Storm Boy, and he's a horse that I thought was going to be a really popular high profile first season stallion. He was an incredibly talented 2-year-old, and he's got a fantastic pedigree as well, so we thought physically, and on her breeding, it would be very good mating for her.”
Flamboyant Lass | Image courtesy of Inglis
Flamboyant Lass won a Sydney juvenile race at her second start, then went to Melbourne where she was third in the G2 Blue Diamond Prelude (f) to Fontiton (Turffontein). At three she won again in Sydney and was second in the Listed Reginald Allen Handicap before running fifth in the G1 Flight Stakes.
This is also the family of the four-time Group winner Attention (Stratum) and the classy Group winner Pasikatera (Thunder Gulch {USA}).
Two out of three for Love Racing
Guest House is the first Group 1 winner for first season sire Home Affairs, and he has three stakes winners from his first crop, G1 Golden Slipper winner Guest House, Listed TAB 2YO Plate victrix Gin Twist, and New Zealand-based G2 Eclipse Stakes winner Kinnaird.
Guest House and Gin Twist were both bred by Rob Love’s Love Racing, with Guest House bred in conjunction with Henderson Racing and G1G Bloodstock. James Harron manages Love Racing’s bloodstock interests.
“She was raced by a syndicate that included David Henderson (Henderson Racing) and Gary Diamond (G1G Bloodstock) and we purchased a large interest in her privately for Rob Love’s Love Racing, from the Waterhouse stable,” Harron said.
James Harron | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“She was a terrific mare and she’s had fantastic sales results. She throws a beautiful type and Guest House was a lovely big strong horse. It’s just incredibly exciting.
“The mare was getting on a bit, so we sold her, but they’ve kept a beautiful filly from her. Now they've got a lovely daughter to hold on to. It was a nice insurance policy to keep her filly and thankfully they got the update and it’s great.
“The mare was getting on a bit, so we sold her, but they’ve kept a beautiful filly from her. It was a nice insurance policy to keep her filly.” - James Harron
Harron purchased Flamboyant Lass’ first foal Nitrous (Deep Field) from Newgate Farm for $450,000 and he ran second in the Listed Talindert Stakes before being on-sold to Hong Kong where he’s taken his career record to six wins with earnings over AU$1 million. Command Approved sold to James Bester for $170,000, while Lovebird (I Am Invincible) cost $850,000 bought by Sheamus Mills Bloodstock (FBAA). She was a winner at her second start. Her 3-year-old Gambler was a $360,000 yearling who was on-sold recently via Inglis Digital to Darby Racing for $115,000.
Nitrous | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“Rob has been a big supporter of Home Affairs. It's quite incredible that he’s bred both of them and we backed up in year two and he's got some beautiful Home Affairs stock at Newgate as well,” said Harron.
“Home Affairs is a horse which we greatly admired, and we supported him very heavily from the get go, and it's just amazing for Rob to be one of the breeders of a Golden Slipper winner and also Gin Twist.”
“Home Affairs is a horse which we greatly admired, and we supported him very heavily from the get go.” - James Harron
Gin Twist is trained by Lindsay Park and is out Twist Tops (Beneteau) who won the R. Listed Inglis 2YO Classic Stakes (now named the R. Listed Inglis Millennium). Twist Tops’ Home Affairs yearling colt sold at the 2026 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $200,000 to Gao Sanxiong.
Gin Twist's pedigree had another update on Sunday when Twist Tops' 5-year-old gelding Beneficiary (Justify {USA}) won his fourth race in succession at Hobart for trainer Barry Campbell.
Gin Twist | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Home Affairs is the sire Australia needs now
With Home Affairs improving from two to three, the future looks bright for his progeny too.
“To see him (Guest House) winning a Golden Slipper is very exciting for them because he always looked like a horse that would keep growing and developing into himself. I think for him to have done what he's done in a Blue Diamond and in a Golden Slipper already is amazing,” said Harron.
“He could be a horse, who I would imagine will really train on to be a fantastic 3-year-old as well. It’s very exciting for them (the trio of breeders) and fair play to the connections for finding him and doing such a great job with him.”
Home Affairs stood his first season at Coolmore Stud for $110,000 inc GST and has 145 2-year-olds in that crop. Dropped to $99,000 for his second season, he has 141 yearlings, with 163 foals in his third crop at a fee of $82,500.
Home Affairs | Standing at Coolmore
“I think he's just shooting the lights out. There's been a very good vibe about him. A lot of his stock looked very progressive, both what they've shown on the track and also physically,” said Harron.
“He looks like a stallion who can really go right on with the job. And Australia is dying for these horses. We need more proven horses in the marketplace. For a horse of his profile, who gets good looking yearlings, and he’s got a wonderful race record and a fantastic pedigree. He's got everything you want at a time when we desperately need (proven horses) in the marketplace.
“He looks like a stallion who can really go right on with the job. And Australia is dying for these horses. We need more proven horses in the marketplace.” - James Harron
On buying more at Easter, Harron said, “We're always looking out for them. No doubt it's going to help them at Easter, so those breeders who supported him will be particularly happy. You've got to back these horses and if you get it right, there's really big upswing.
“He was a horse which a lot of people got on early and they stuck with him, and now they'll get paid handsomely for it because it looks like it's just a start. He'll get the momentum now and the sky's the limit.”
And one for the trivia files, the G1 Golden Slipper provided Stratum with his second Group 1 winner as a damsire. The Widden Stud stallion died in 2016, and he was a rare commodity as a G1 Golden Slipper winner who also sired a Golden Slipper winner in Crystal Lily. He’s the first Slipper winner since Flying Spur to have won the race, sired a winner of the Slipper, and features as the damsire of a winner of the race.
The late Stratum | Image courtesy of Sportpix
All up, Stratum had seven Group 1 winners among his 47 stakes winners, and now as a damsire, he has 15 stakes winners. His other Group 1 winner as a damsire is Lindermann (Lonhro) who ran second to Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) in Saturday’s G1 George Ryder Stakes.
