A broodmare coronation awaits in the Tattersall’s Tiara
More than just the final Group 1 on the Australian racing calendar, the Tattersall’s Tiara has proven a rich source of future star broodmares over the years.
When Bonanova (Star Way) ended her career with a second successive victory in the end-of-season fillies’ and mares’ contest, the Winter Stakes (Gr 3, 1500m) at Eagle Farm in 2000, it set the scene for a much-anticipated breeding career.
The Jim Fleming-owned and Grahame Begg-trained mare had been an elite performer on the track, winning an Emirates Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) in between her Winter Stakes successes, while she was also placed four times at Group 1 level in her career.
She began her breeding career at Fleming’s Tyreel Stud and from her first four foals at the farm produced two stakes winners, Bonaichi (Fusaichi Pegasus) and Prima Nova (Danehill Dancer).
The latter of that pair would attempt to emulate her dam in the 2009 Winter Stakes – then upgraded to Group 1 level and dropped to 1400 metres – but would fall less than a length short of reeling in the winner, Russeting (Commands).
As a sister to fellow Group 1 winners Telesto and Fraternity, from the extended family of Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight) and with a formidable race profile, Bonanova was always going to be worth plenty as a broodmare. In 2008, the market got their chance.
Offered through a Tyreel Reduction Sale by Inglis following Fleming’s passing as a part of a draft which included Milanova (Danehill) – who sold for a still record $5 million – Bonanova sold for $700,000 to Neil Jenkinson. She joined the Hutchins’ family Element Hill operation and would produce another five winners.
She remains the only dual winner of the race, now named the Tattersall’s Tiara, in its 31-year stakes history, and is among only four of those winners to go on to produce multiple black-type winners.
Two of those mares won the race before her, with 1993 winner Rich Pageantry (Rubiton) the dam of two stakes winners and Razor Blade (Blazing Sword), the victrix in 1998, producing four black-type winners, among them Group 1 winner Flamberge (Exceed And Excel).
Since Bonanova, the only Winter Stakes winner with multiple stakes-winning progeny is Nova Star (Iglesia) who has two. She won the inaugural edition run at Group 1 level in 2007.
The 2001 Winter Stakes heroine Porta Roca (Barathea) would have an internationally significant breeding career as the dam of Dubai World Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Monterosso (Dubawi), while she is also the granddam of William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Silent Sedition (War Chant).
The other stakes-producing winners of the Winter Stakes/Tatt’s Tiara this century are Heptonstall (Octagonal), La Sizeranne (Stravinsky) and Absolut Glam (Snowland), while a further six have produced stakes placegetters.
All in all, since the year 2000, winners of the race have produced 96 starters for 75 winners and eight stakes winners.
Progeny record of Winter Stakes/Tattersall’s Tiara winners since 2000
| Progeny record | ||||
| Year | Winners | Runners | Winners | SWs |
| 2022 | Startantes | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Tofane | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Not Held | – | – | – |
| 2019 | Invincibella | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Prompt Response | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Tycoon Tara | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | Miss Cover Girl | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2015 | Srikandi | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2014 | Cosmic Endeavour | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2013 | Red Tracer | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2012 | Pear Tart | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2011 | Yosei | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2010 | Melito | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 2009 | Russeting | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 2008 | Absolut Glam | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 2007 | Nova Star | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| 2006 | La Sizeranne | 11 | 9 | 1 |
| 2005 | Charmview | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| 2004 | Miss Potential | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003 | Mon Mekki | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| 2002 | Heptonstall | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| 2001 | Porto Roca | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| 2000 | Bonanova | 10 | 8 | 2 |
But beyond progeny performance, what has become increasingly evident since the race was upgraded to Group 1 status in 2007, is the residual value of those winning fillies and mares.
Nine winners of the Tiara since 2008 have been subsequently sold at public auction with an impressive average price of $1.3 million. Recent winners to break the seven-figure barrier include Tofane (Ocean Park) (2021) at $3.1 million, Invincibella (I Am Invincible) (2019) at $1.3 million and Srikandi (Dubawi) (2015) at $2 million.
Several of these high-priced Tiara winners have also begun returning that investment through their progeny. Srikandi; the 2014 winner Cosmic Endeavour (Northern Meteor) and the 2018 winner Prompt Response (Beneteau) have all produced $1 million-plus yearlings early in their breeding careers.
The commercial appetite for elite mares has never been stronger and you only have to look at the field from last year’s Tiara, won by Startantes (Star Turn), to see that demand in action.
Of the 17 mares/fillies who contested that race, five have been sold since at public auction: Snapdancer (Choisir) ($3.2 million), Vangelic (Vancouver) ($1.5 million), Wandabaa (Wandjina) ($800,000), Yamazaki (Real Saga) ($400,000) and Enchanted Heart (Shamus Award) ($295,000).
Third-placed Palaisipan (So You Think), who contests the race again this year, has been recently privately sold to Northern Farm, while two others in last year’s Tiara – Away Game (Snitzel) and Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt) – were sold for $4 million and $2.7 million respectively at sales in advance of the race.
Indeed, looking at the beaten brigade of the Tiara over the years reveals several future star broodmares have contested this race, including the dam of the legendary mare Winx (Street Cry).
While her famous daughter may have won 25 Group 1 races, Vegas Showgirl (Al Akbar) contested four elite races herself without success, including her 17th placing in the inaugural Group 1 edition of the Winter Stakes in 2007.
Six combatants from that 2007 edition would go on to become stakes producers, including the first three across the line, but none with a record to match Vegas Showgirl.
The following year, the David Hayes-trained Anamato (Redoute’s Choice) finished tenth in the Winter Stakes, beaten five and a half lengths by the winner Absolut Glam. It wasn’t the best performance of her career, but she would go on to become the dam of another Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) winner, Anamoe (Street Boss), as well as a second stakes winner Anamba (Shamardal).
Pontiana (Redoute’s Choice) was another future Group 1 producer who contested the race. She led up the field turning for home in the 2011 edition before finishing tenth, some five and three-quarter lengths behind the winner Yosei (Invincible Spirit).
In the breeding barn she has produced a trio of stakes winners, including Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner and Cornwall Park Stud stallion Inference (So You Think). She is also the maternal granddam of this season’s multiple Group 1 winner Jacquinot (Rubick), who is set to start his breeding career at Widden in 2023.
The Michael Moroney-trained mare Bonnie Mac (Thorn Park) only had one start at Group 1 level. She trailed home the field in the 2012 edition of the Tiara, finishing 18th. In the breeding barn she produced three stakes winners, among them Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner and now Vinery Stud stallion Exceedance (Exceed And Excel).
The record of those also-runs in the Tiara will buoy the connections of the 22 fillies and mares (including five emergencies) who accepted for Saturday’s race.
Some of these have already been traded as race fillies. As well as Palaisipan, there is Electric Girl (Declaration Of War), sold for $520,000 at the recent Inglis Chairman’s Sale, Chaillot (Testa Rossa), a $400,000 buy for Trilogy Racing last year, and Salateen (I Am Invincible), purchased by Rosemont Stud for $300,000 in 2021.