Over the weekend, juvenile filly Primetime Emmy (Extreme Choice) won the G3 Prix Eclipse Tattersalls at Chantilly, becoming a rare example of an Australian-born European juvenile winner. Bred and raced by Matthew Sandblom, the filly has a few options ahead of her with the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies being the most likely target. Trained by Francis Graffard, she has now won two of her three starts.
“It looks like the Breeders' Cup is going to be the main priority,” Sandblom said.
“It looks like the Breeders' Cup is going to be the main priority.” - Matthew Sandblom
“While there is a Group 2 in France that would be suitable for her on October 10, Francis does not believe that she can compete in that and the Breeders' Cup. And even though there is a US$200,000 late entry fee (for the Breeders' Cup), it still could be worth it on the point of view of the value of the filly and of the stallion.”
Any discussion of coming home for the G1 The Everest was quickly dismissed as logistically too difficult, and the prospect of winning a Breeders’ Cup race is a much higher global value proposition for both Primetime Emmy and her sire Extreme Choice.
Matthew Sandblom | Image courtesy of Kingstar Farm
Extreme Choice is one of only two stallions in history to sire the winners of the G1 Golden Slipper, G1 Blue Diamond Stakes and G1 Melbourne Cup; the other being Sir Tristram (Ire). If he can add a G1 Breeders’ Cup race, he’ll truly be in rarefied territory.
Sandblom owns shares in Extreme Choice, who won the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes and G1 AJ Moir Stakes. He is the sire of 20 stakes winners from 225 named foals, with six of them at Group 1 level.
“He’s a freak! He is the best stallion I have ever been associated with. He makes me look like a genius breeder,” Sandblom said.
“He’s a freak! He is the best stallion I have ever been associated with. He makes me look like a genius breeder.” - Matthew Sandblom
“When he won impressively on debut as a 2-year-old, Henry Field, Gavin Murphy, Suman Hedge and I bought approximately 10 per cent of him. He won another race, and we increased our share. He then won the Blue Diamond and we bought more of him again.
“After he won another Group 1 at three, we eventually acquired the majority of the horse.”
Extreme Choice | Standing at Newgate Farm
Helping Extreme Choice in more ways than one
Sandblom began this bold experiment to run an Australian-bred juvenile in France back in 2022 when his mare Princess Emmy (NZ) (King’s Chapel) was selected for Extreme Choice. She was already the dam of Group 3 winner Thurlow (Sebring) and Listed winner Three Kings (Sebring).
“This was a long-term project, and plans like this very rarely work. I think this may even be the first time an Australian-bred horse has come to Europe and won a Group race as a 2-year-old. It simply doesn’t happen,” Sandblom said.
Princess Emmy (NZ) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“I thought our best opportunity to win in France was to use the advantage of the horses having been raised in Australia. They enjoyed an additional summer and never had to go through a winter. They arrived here in April after enjoying excellent conditions for their development. My plan was to begin early, and try to produce a good 2-year-old and beat the Europeans.
“I don't think you can realistically beat Europeans at their own game and try and send Australian bred stayers over there unless they're an absolutely exceptional horse like So You Think was.”
Racing historian Graham Caves told TTR that this type of experiment was first attempted when the Honourable James White bred two horses, Kirkham and Narellan who were both by successful sire Chester, to Northern Hemisphere time and shipped them to England in 1889 for the 1890 Epsom Derby. White’s experiment failed, and other attempts have been rare.
Caves believes Primetime Emmy is the first Australian-bred juvenile to win a group race in Europe.
Gallery: Graham Caves archives
“My logic has always been to go with your strengths, hence taking sprinting 2-year-old types and try to use the advantages of the different seasons. Don't send them too young. Send them when you know that they've got something to offer because it's a very expensive exercise otherwise,” Sandblom said.
Primetime Emmy, who was born in January 2024 which makes her a Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old (born in the 2023/24 season) and a Northern Hemisphere 2-year-old.
As well as Primetime Emmy, Sandblom sent over Extreme Dream (Extreme Choice) who is out of winning mare Sweet Bouquet (Dream Ahead {USA}). Extreme Dream is currently unraced.
The pair were exported to France in early April 2026, after they’d been educated and Sandblom had a reasonable idea of what quality they had.
Primetime Emmy | Image courtesy of Paris Turf
“I believe Extreme Dream is even better than this filly. Remember her name. She should race within the next four to six weeks, and she is probably faster than Primetime Emmy. If the two Extreme Choice fillies I brought here both become stakes winners—and perhaps Group 1 winners—that would be quite extraordinary.”
A complete change of environment and training
Sandblom chose France for his experiment for the simple reason that he enjoys travelling there. But for both himself and Graffard, there’s been a lot of learning with training styles in Australia being very different to France.
“I like Francis and several of the other trainers, and I feel very welcome here. I already knew Chantilly because I had visited several times. It is very different from Australia, but it is magnificent,” Sandblom said post-race.
“The only thing I tell Francis is that he must not work these Australian horses as hard as the European horses. You need to preserve their freshness and, above all, their acceleration. They shouldn’t be worked hard every day.
Francis Graffard | Image courtesy of Graffard Racing
“Australian horses possess that acceleration. You mustn’t take it away from them because it is their greatest quality.”
Sandblom expanded on this post-race quote with TTR, talking about how he’s been learning the difference between training methods in the two nations.
“Australian horses possess that acceleration. You mustn’t take it away from them because it is their greatest quality.” - Matthew Sandblom
“This point about the training routines in different countries and in France versus Australia is an interesting one. I did go to the gallops this week to see Primetime Emmy do some work. I was surprised about how much work she was expected to do, probably two 800 to 900 metre gallops just off full pace on the loam surface,” Sandblom told TTR.
“And then she was expected to back up the next day and do a fast gallop on the grass before being expected to do similar work on the loam for the next couple of days.
“If you can compare this with the typical workload of an Australian trainer preparing a 2-year-old for a sprint race it would be a much lighter workload. They may be only doing fast work on two or three days of the week, then trotting, catering, swimming and walking machines on the other days.”
The impact of over-racing and training extends into breeding for Sandblom who wasn’t just talking about how French methods of training differ from Australia. He looks at the long term impact of a heavily raced horse on their breeding ability.
“I'm convinced that breeding stock stallions and mares ideally should not be over raced or overtrained if you want to have long-term success with them,” Sandblom said.
“I'm convinced that breeding stock stallions and mares ideally should not be over raced or overtrained if you want to have long-term success with them.” - Matthew Sandblom
“Look at the Extreme Choice stallion line. None of them for five generations had more than 10 starts.”
Extreme Choice won four of his eight starts. His sire Not A Single Doubt won four of his ten starts, and his sire Redoute’s Choice won five of his ten starts. Danehill (USA) was also lightly raced, winning four of his nine starts, and of course Danzig (USA) was unbeaten in three starts.
“You have to go all the way back to Northern Dancer himself who had 18 starts as a two and 3-year-old.”
Northern Dancer (Can) | Image courtesy of Breyer Horses
Northern Dancer (Can) won 14 times, seven times at two and seven times at three.
“This has gone from being an accepted wisdom to being backed up by science. It’s now known that stress can change your genetics to some degree. Be that a stressful environment, or pollution, or diet or how much physical stress you're under. And I think something similar applies to mares and how heavily they were raced and trained.”
Extending Extreme Choice’s season
The entire concept of sending juveniles to France came about because of Extreme Choice’s limited fertility. Sandblom and Newgate Farm’s Henry Field concocted an idea to extend his covering time period and serve a handful of mares to Northern Hemisphere time.
Other breeders joined the party. One of those was Gerry Harvey who sent eight mares to Extreme Choice in the summer of 2022 and into 2023, getting four mares in foal. The best of them so far is Omolong (Extreme Choice) who topped the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale in 2025 at $850,000 when sold by Baramul Stud to Yulong Investments. Born on December 19, he was unbeaten at two last season in two starts.
Omolong | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
“We looked for a way to produce more foals by him, even if they had to be born according to the Northern Hemisphere calendar. We continued breeding mares to him well beyond the end of the Australian covering season—in February, March and April,” Sandblom said.
“By then, his fertility had declined. He probably got only six of approximately 30 mares in foal—around 20 per cent—compared with his normal rate of approximately 35 to 37 per cent.
“Many of those mares had already been covered by several other stallions and were not particularly fertile. We were also in the middle of summer, and their reproductive cycles were different. It was therefore extremely difficult. I was fortunate enough to get two foals.”
Newgate continued the experiment the following year and took a group of four yearlings to this year’s Magic Millions National Yearling Sale. Extreme Choice now covers around 20 to 30 mares in the off-season in Australia.
“For it to have succeeded makes this one of the greatest moments of my racing career. I have won many Group 1 races, but this victory ranks among my finest memories.”
