‘When they’re good, they’re very, very good’: The making of Tempted

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

There is something about the Street Cry sire line. Winx won 25 Group 1 races, Zenyatta won 19, and Anamoe collected nine. They were very different horses, racing in different countries and over different distances, but all possessed that rare quality that separates the very good from the exceptional.

Now there is Tempted (Street Boss {USA}).

Her victory in Saturday’s $20 million The Everest added another chapter to the Street Cry story, while giving Godolphin a particularly satisfying result. Tempted is the product of three generations of investment in a female family that has produced its share of talent, along with a few challenges.

And her sire, Street Boss (USA), was once standing in Australia for just $11,000.

“When they’re good, they’re very, very good,” Godolphin’s Head of Stallions Alastair Pulford said.

“They can throw you an absolute superstar. Street Boss obviously gets plenty of stakes winners besides, but when they’re good, they’re very, very good.”

A reversal of fortunes on Everest Day

Twelve months ago, Tempted had to settle for second behind Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) in The Everest. On Saturday, the pair again filled the first two placings, but this time it was the Godolphin mare who came out on top.

The victory extended Tempted’s unbeaten run in 2026 to six races and took her career record to 10 wins. It was her second Group 1 success, following the Surround Stakes in the autumn, and lifted her earnings beyond $14.5 million.

For a mare who has been carefully managed throughout her career, the result was another endorsement of the patience shown by her connections.

Her spring target had always been The Everest, although Godolphin is already considering whether there might be another assignment before she heads for a spell.

“We’ll talk about what’s next. Her spring target was today (The Everest),” Godolphin Racing Manager Jason Walsh told racing.com on Sunday morning.

“I’d love to give her the opportunity down the straight because it does give us some information for the autumn and potentially some international campaigns, as well, next year and beyond. At some point we’d love to point her down there (the Flemington straight).

“She would have to come out of The Everest bucking and kicking, as I’m sure she will. Ciaron and his team’s advice will be paramount in that decision.”

The prospect of an international campaign is an intriguing one for a mare who has already established herself among Australia’s finest sprinters.

For Godolphin, however, there is another reason to savour her success. Tempted is the latest reward from a family the operation has been developing for almost two decades.

The $825,000 purchase that started it all

In 2007, Godolphin paid $825,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for a filly by Elusive Quality (USA) from the G1 VRC Oaks winner Bulla Borghese (Belong To Me {USA}).

Named Melpomene, she won three races and earned black type with placings in the Listed Twilight Glow Stakes and Listed Dark Jewel Classic.

Her daughter Calliope (Exceed And Excel) was better again, winning the G2 Magic Night Stakes before retiring to Woodlands, Godolphin’s NSW breeding property.

It was from Calliope that Tempted emerged, although Pulford says the family has never been entirely straightforward.

“As Ciaron has noted, she’s not straightforward. Ciaron describes her as a bit fruity. Her mother was quite uptight and Tempted is a bit the same way. She’s maturing into it now, but she needed taking quietly as a younger horse.”

That temperament goes back at least another generation.

“They’re not loopy, but they need quiet handling. Melpomene is by Elusive Quality, that’s probably where the temperament comes from. The Elusive Qualitys were not known for their calm behaviour.”

Elusive Quality was an outstanding stallion, producing 137 stakes winners, including 17 at Group 1 level, among them Golden Slipper winner Sepoy. But his progeny could come with plenty of personality.

It is a characteristic that has persisted through the generations, without preventing the family from producing serious racehorses.

“She’s a beautiful quality filly. From the time she was broken in and went into work, in those days with James (Cummings), she was always highly regarded,” Pulford said of Tempted.

Under Ciaron Maher, that early promise has developed into something exceptional.

Calliope’s growing reputation

Tempted is now the standout performer from Calliope, but she is far from the mare’s only success.

Her first foal, Kallos (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), won seven races, including three at stakes level headed by the G2 Danehill Stakes, and earned more than $875,000.

Her second, The Muses (Lonhro), never raced and was subsequently sold by Godolphin for $160,000 as a broodmare in foal to Pinatubo (Ire).

Then came Rhesus (Lonhro), who managed two placings from his first five starts before being sold online for $12,000.

He has since enjoyed a productive second chapter for new connections, winning six races and more than $160,000. His latest adventures took him to this year’s Birdsville Cup carnival, where he won two of his three starts.

After an empty season, Calliope produced Tempted, followed by Zambales (Pinatubo {Ire}), who has already placed in the G2 VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes.

The mare also has a yearling filly by Anamoe, bringing together two of Godolphin’s most successful recent performers.

Unfortunately, her most recent pregnancy to Anamoe was unsuccessful, but Godolphin has no intention of abandoning the mating.

“She’s unfortunately slipped this year to Anamoe, but she’s going back to him. She’s up for a cover any day now, actually,” Pulford said.

The prospect of a full sibling to her Anamoe yearling, and a close relative to an Everest winner, gives the family another fascinating chapter still to come.

It also puts that $825,000 investment in Melpomene into perspective. Her granddaughter has now earned more than $14.5 million, and the family’s value to Godolphin extends well beyond what Tempted has won on the racetrack.

Street Boss: From $11,000 to an Everest winner

If Tempted’s female family is a story of patient development, her sire’s Australian career follows much the same pattern.

Street Boss was a member of Street Cry’s first crop, which also produced the remarkable Zenyatta and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense (USA).

He was no precocious juvenile sensation. His best racing came at four, when he won two Grade 1 races in America before retiring to stud.

According to Pulford, his relatively late development was partly a consequence of how he was managed.

“The thing about Street Boss was that they all said he was the best-looking Street Cry in his first crop. He was bought by a guy who didn’t like racing 2-year-olds, so he didn’t really get going early, but he obviously proved himself as a very good racehorse.”

His early years at stud in Australia were equally unremarkable commercially.

In 2009, he covered 72 mares at $16,500 inc GST. He did not return in 2010, and when he resumed shuttling in 2011, his fee had dropped to $13,750.

Even then, his book reached only 97 mares.

A further reduction to $11,000 in 2012 finally pushed his numbers beyond 100.

It was hardly the reception one might expect for a stallion who would go on to sire Anamoe, Tempted, Tentyris, Green Spaces and a succession of other Group 1 winners.

But Pulford believes the quality of mares Street Boss received in those early years was a significant factor.

“As a stallion, he also took a bit of time to get going. He probably didn’t cover the quality mares initially that he needed to be able to produce the really good ones, but once we worked out that he was a good stallion and we sent him mares like Calliope and Anamato, he’s paid us back in spades.”

The Quarterback, winner of the G1 Newmarket Handicap, emerged from his first Australian crop and gave an early indication of what Street Boss could produce.

Since then, the list has grown considerably.

For Godolphin alone, his progeny include nine-time Group 1 winner Anamoe, dual Group 1 winner Tentyris, G1 Australian Derby winner Green Spaces and the remarkably consistent Pericles, who has earned $7.2 million.

Outside the operation, his Australian Group 1 winners include Another Wil, Elite Street and Pinstriped.

“He’s been an absolute revelation. Our racing manager Jason (Walsh) says he’s been the backbone of our racing team for about four or five years now,” Pulford said.

“He’s done a remarkable job. What the Street Cry line is capable of, and Street Boss too, is throwing a really, really good one, an absolute champion. Winx, Zenyatta, Anamoe, and now Tempted.”

A cross that keeps delivering

One of the most productive aspects of Street Boss’s Australian career has been his affinity with daughters of Exceed And Excel.

Tempted, Tentyris and Elite Street are all bred on that cross, while Street Boss has also enjoyed considerable success with mares by Redoute’s Choice and Snitzel.

Anamoe is out of the Group 1-winning Redoute’s Choice mare Anamato, Green Spaces is from another daughter of Redoute’s Choice in Outdoor, and Pinstriped is out of the Snitzel mare Snitzel Blitz.

For an operation with generations of these bloodlines in its broodmare band, Street Boss has proved an exceptionally valuable stallion.

“He’s obviously in the twilight of his career himself because he’s 22 years old now, but he’s just done a remarkable job,” Pulford said.

“This crop, that also includes Tentyris and Green Spaces, is a fantastic crop, and he has nicked so well with Exceed And Excel which is great for us.”

Street Boss’s age means Godolphin is approaching the latter stages of a remarkable stallion career, but his influence is still being felt through some of the best horses currently racing in Australia.

And Tempted may yet have more to offer.

Her potential appearance down the Flemington straight would provide another test of her versatility, while the possibility of an international campaign raises the prospect of a much wider stage in 2027.

For Godolphin, the satisfaction goes beyond one spectacular afternoon at Randwick.

Tempted is the granddaughter of a filly bought at Easter nearly 20 years ago, the daughter of a talented but highly strung mare, and the product of a stallion whose early Australian books had to be encouraged with successive fee reductions.

The family has required patience, the sire took time to establish himself, and Tempted herself needed careful handling before her full ability could be realised.

Now she is an Everest winner, and another example of what the Street Cry line can produce when everything comes together.

As Pulford puts it: “When they’re good, they’re very, very good.”