Addeybb lands Queen Elizabeth under brilliant Marquand ride
The William Haggas-trained gelding triumphs over Verry Elleegant in another thrilling dual
Addeybb (Pivotal) and Tom Marquand retained their Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) crown with a battling success over arch-rival Verry Elleegant (Zed) at Randwick yesterday.
The William Haggas-trained Addeybb lost out to Verry Elleegant in the Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Rosehill three weeks ago but atoned for that effort under a prominent ride from Marquand, who sent Addeybb to the front entering the straight.
Verry Elleegant travelled powerfully on his outside but was unable to pass the son of Pivotal (Polar Falcon), who finished half a length in front of the Chris Waller-trained mare. Dalasan (Dalakhani) was a further head back in third.
It was the fourth win at Group 1 level for Addeybb, and the first in front of a crowd, having last year landed the Ranvet and Queen Elizabeth in Australia before finishing his season with success in the Qipco Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 2f) at Ascot. He also became the first northern hemisphere-trained horse to win three Group 1s in Australia.
Marquand, who will return to Britain after this weekend, was emotional after the race.
“It’s the closest I’ve been to tears for a very, very long time and I’m not all that old,” he said. “It’s been pretty tough being away from home for a few months and I’d do it ten times over for a moment like that.
“Last year was incredible but I couldn’t help but think what a shame it was for everyone to come down here and win a race of this magnitude with no crowd. I thought I was unlucky, but now I realise I’m twice as lucky because I rode my first Group 1 winners here last year without a crowd and it’s almost like doing it all over again. The atmosphere here is just incredible.”
Marquand, who wore a black armband in honour of the late Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, added: “What a phenomenal bid from William Haggas to bring him back down here because at points I was probably sceptical, as many were. All I can say is thank you, it’s been incredible.”
Addeybb broke slowly from barrier three and Marquand acted quickly to push him on to the heels of the leaders. Verry Elleegant appeared to pull hard in the early stages and was dropped back towards the rear of the field by James McDonald.
McDonald crept closer on the outside rounding the turn and issued his challenge down the straight, but the mare was no match for Addeybb this time around, who never looked like relinquishing the lead once at the head of affairs.
“How tough he was there, genuinely at the 300 [metres] I went into a state where it didn’t matter what was going on around me, it was just him galloping,” said Marquand.
“I was completely unaware of which horses were where, all I could feel was they were pushing him to the line. If ever there’s a horse to have at the 200 metres in a scrap, it’s him.”
Haggas was delighted his decision to send Addeybb back to Australia was rewarded, but admitted he was too nervous to watch the battle unfold.
“I have to say I couldn’t watch it really. Once he jumped, and jumped slow, and there was a bit of fiddling about early on, I walked out into the yard, because all the staff were watching on a big television,” Haggas said.
“One of the girls said she felt sick, it was a very emotional moment. I don’t think the other horses in the yard realise what’s going on, it’s a monumental moment.”
Seven-year-old Addeybb was sporting blinkers for the first time in the Queen Elizabeth and Haggas explained the decision behind the gear addition.
“Tom made the decision and I supported him. It was a good call by Tom, I was worried about the ground but this is a remarkably resilient horse and he proved it today.
“Last year it was fabulously successful, this year I thought everything was against us. We were delayed a week and last year it was a Heavy 8, today it was a Good 4 and I thought today it wasn’t our turn. But what an amazing horse, what a tough race.
“The first person who rang after the horses crossed the line was Chris Waller, and that shows what a sportsman he is. This is a tremendous day for racing, both northern and southern hemispheres, and we’re very proud to be part of it.”
Addeybb is one of 32 elite-level winners by Pivotal, who was retired from covering duty at the age of 28 earlier this year.
He stood 24 consecutive seasons at Cheveley Park in Newmarket and boasts a stud record containing a mammoth 241 stakes performers.
Addeybb is the only stakes winner out of Bush Cat (Kingmambo), who has produced seven winners from ten runners, including the Grade 3-placed Meer Kat (Red Ransom).
Sydney Cup goes to OTI’s import Selino
The Chris Waller-trained Selino (Champs Elysees) landed the Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) at Randwick yesterday under a brilliant ride from Ronnie Stewart, who notched his first Australian Group 1 win.
The OTI Racing-owned import was carrying the bottom weight of 50 kilograms after running unplaced in five Australian starts since joining Waller from James Fanshawe’s Newmarket yard, and Stewart took full advantage of the light load.
The jockey was patient with the hard-pulling Selino and held him up towards the rear of the field before edging closer in the final 600 metres. Stewart positioned him five-wide turning for home and the Champs Elysees (Danehill) gelding scooted clear up the straight to win by one and a quarter lengths from Rondinella (Ocean Park). Miami Bound (Reliable Man) was the same distance further behind in third.
OTI Racing’s Terry Henderson, who was able to purchase a 50 per cent share in the lightly-raced stayer in partnership with Qatar Racing last September, was full of praise for Queensland-based Stewart’s ride.
“We were bottom weight and from the handicap we were very well weighted, with a horse that was very capable at two miles and a jockey that rode the horse to perfection really,” Henderson told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“It’s a very special win, we’ve been second in the Sydney Cup a couple of times and to finally win the race is great. To do it with Sheikh Fahad and Dave Redvers, it was really special. We’re immensely appreciative of the opportunity they gave us to buy into the horse and have him campaigned out here.
“Winning races during The Championships is a great thrill, we’re lucky enough to have won the Derby last year and now the Sydney Cup this year.”
Selino won two of his ten British starts, and placed twice in stakes company, before coming to Australia.
He raced once in the spring for Waller straight out of quarantine at Werribee, finishing eighth in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup (Gr 2, 2500m), before returning this preparation aimed at the Sydney Cup.
He was relatively unfancied at $26 off the back of a fourth-placed effort in the Chairman’s Handicap (Gr 2, 2600m) last weekend and Waller had a message for his owners, who had been concerned about his drift in the betting yesterday morning.
“Mr Henderson sent me a message this morning asking why he’s drifting in the betting and I said ‘anyone asking that question just tell them to double their bet’. Hopefully there’s some people that did take some notice,” Waller said.
“It’s a race he’s been set for all along and it’s very rewarding when it comes off. He’s a good stayer and he was sent to me in very good form, so I appreciate getting the opportunity to train him. It was a lovely, patient ride from Ronnie Stewart.”
All roads now lead to the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) for the five-year-old, who will likely need his rating to be bolstered in order to get a run in the Flemington showpiece.
“The Melbourne Cup will be his target,” said Henderson. “Because of the handicap system, he’s probably not guaranteed a run in the Melbourne Cup, which seems silly.
“I’ll talk to the Melbourne handicapper in the next week and see how he rates the race, but given he’s currently rated 90 out here, and normally to guarantee a run in the Melbourne Cup you need to be around 110.
“It’s almost inconceivable that a Sydney Cup winner wouldn’t be an automatic entry into the Melbourne Cup.”
Selino is the fifth elite-level winner by Champs Elysees, who died in 2018 aged 15.
Selino is one of five winners, and the first at stakes level, for Air Kiss (Red Ransom), an unraced half-sister to European Group 1 winner Invermark (Machiavellian), Group 2 winner Craigsteel (Suave Dancer) and Group 3 winner Inchrory (Midyan), a champion older stayer in Scandinavia in the late 1990s.
Hungry Heart’s Oaks win a sign of things to come for Yulong?
Have the Group 1 floodgates opened for Yuesheng Zhang and his enormous Australian racing and breeding operation?
Chinese businessman Zhang’s prized three-year-old Hungry Heart (Frankel), who defied the on-pace and rails bias to win the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Rosehill a fortnight earlier, proved this season’s superior staying filly in the Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m).
The performance backed up trainer Chris Waller’s judgment that the daughter of Frankel (Galileo) would handle the extra journey of the Oaks at Randwick after initially indicating she could drop back in distance after her Vinery success.
“As we said after her first Group 1 win a few weeks back, the international stage is what racing’s all about,” Waller said.
“People are recognising Australian racing for all the right reasons during Covid and when you’ve got a Frankel filly winning the Australian Oaks I think it’s pretty special.”
Hungry Heart ($5) defeated Adrian Knox Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m) winner Duais (Shamus Award) ($16) by a length and a quarter with a short neck back to Bargain (Ocean Park) ($10) in third.
Waller said: “She backed up that good run two weeks ago and it’s a good advertisement for our system.
“We had her running in the Golden Slipper and now she’s running at the extreme distance for a three-year-old filly, so thanks to my team and obviously a great ride by Kerrin McEvoy.”
Jockey McEvoy settled Hungry Heart in sixth place behind a steady tempo set, as expected, by Harmony Rose (Glass Harmonium).
“I jumped well and got into a spot not far from the front,” McEvoy said.
“I was happy with the rhythm that she got into. It was a different sort of race to last time out at Rosehill, and Josh (Parr, Harmony Rose) rated his horse quite canilly in front.
“I wasn’t (worried) as I was in a position to move into it when I wanted to and that is what I did. She was full of running from the 600 metres onwards.”
Yesterday’s Australian Oaks is Yulong’s third Group 1 victory Down Under – two of them provided by Hungry Heart and the other being 2020 Cantala Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Yulong Prince (Gimmethegreenlight) – since Zhang bought his first racehorse in 2014.
In the seven years since, Zhang has invested tens of millions of dollars in racehorses, broodmares, a growing number of stallions and pristine properties at Nagambie in Victoria to house them.
The quality and the sheer quantity of Yulong’s Australian thoroughbred portfolio suggests that the rise of Hungry Heart, a result of Zhang’s willingness to source bloodstock from around the world, suggests that his bottle green and white check colours will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
Grunt (O’Reilly), Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice), Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa), Yulong Prince and shuttler Lucky Vega (Lope De Vega) will be on the 2021 Yulong stallion roster and, given Zhang’s vision, the line-up may not end there.
Hungry Heart, meanwhile, has won four of her 12 starts, which includes a Sweet Embrace Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at two, and has prize-money earnings of $1.547 million.
The homebred filly, who went through the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2019 for $300,000 and is raced by April Zhang, is a daughter of the Pivotal (Polar Falcon) mare Harlech who was sourced by agent Sheamus Mills on behalf of Zhang at the 2016 Tattersalls July Sale before being covered by Juddmonte’s champion Frankel (Galileo) to southern hemisphere time.
Harlech is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Maamora (Dubawi) while Hungry Heart’s second dam is the Listed winner Zoowraa (Azamour) and her third dam, Beraysim (Lion Cavern), was also successful at stakes level.
Hungry Heart’s Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) yearling half-sister was passed in at the recent Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale by Yulong with a reserve of $650,000. She was not covered in 2019 but she visited Yulong’s first season sire Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice) last year.
“(Hungry Heart) is a very special filly with an international pedigree and we’re very proud of her,” Waller said.
“She’s matured with age, which you’d expect. She was a little on her toes as a two-year-old, just a baby learning what it is all about.
“The Zhangs are great investors and it’s fantastic to win an Oaks for them.”
Second Group 1 for Sebring mare Nettoyer
Valuable out-cross mare Nettoyer (Sebring), who became a dual Group 1 Randwick mile winner yesterday, is unlikely to be sold by her owners despite carrying an entry for an upcoming broodmare sale.
Nettoyer, as she has a history of doing, caused an upset in the Coolmore Legacy (registered as Queen Of The Turf Stakes) (Gr 1, 1600m), putting an exclamation point on her already impressive race record, as connections weigh the next phase of her career.
Her Warwick Farm-based trainer Wendy Roche, whose gallant mare also won last year’s Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) at big odds, has Nettoyer entered for next month’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale but there is a strong chance she will be withdrawn and retained as a broodmare.
The $580,000 Coolmore Legacy first prize will more than cover the service fee for the rising eight-year-old daughter of Sebring (More Than Ready) whose win did not come as a surprise to Roche after the mare’s performance in the Doncaster Mile.
“She missed the kick by three (in the Doncaster), she was 20 lengths off them and you can’t do that in a Group 1 against the world’s best horses,” Roche said.
“She only got beaten by 4.3 lengths. She needs pace….and she had that today. She’s only got two more starts and then hopefully if Godolphin’s listening, she’ll be going to Exceed And Excel.”
Nettoyer ($26) reeled in Probabeel (Savabeel) ($2.15 fav) by a short head with Quantum Mechanic (Deep Field) ($26) another one and three-quarter lengths away third.
Tommy Berry, who had ridden Nettoyer twice in barrier trials but never in her 40 previous race starts, was on board yesterday and was soon aware of the mare’s unique nature.
“Getting her to the barriers is the hardest part. We were going along at a leisurely canter and she went to put the brakes on at the bottom of the stewards’ tower and almost threw me over her head,” Berry said.
“But she was in a great mood today and when she is in one of those moods is when she is at her best.”
The Berry-Nettoyer partnership almost didn’t eventuate, with Roche having accidentally overlooked the nominations for the Coolmore Legacy. She was also without a jockey after Victoria-based Michael Poy rode her in the Doncaster the previous week.
“John (Berry, Tommy’s father) rang up and said ‘what about Tommy?’ and I said ‘yeah’ and then I rang a few people and they didn’t answer the phone,” Roche revealed post-race.
“Then I rang Tommy’s mum (Julie) and she gave me the number and then I got John to ring Tommy because I thought he would have a lot more pull than me, and he did.
“Tommy’s manager rang back the next day and said yes, but you’re not in the race. So I rang (co-owners) Greg White and his wife Jodie and they paid the late nom ($22,000), so I can pay them back now.”
The quirky mare loves pizza and, on occasion, beer but Roche had already upgraded the mare’s choice of beverage given the expectation of a bold showing in the Coolmore Legacy.
“I think the pizza’s on order and she’s already got pink champagne because we thought she would go close,” she said.
“She can have whatever she wants.”
Nettoyer, a $20,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale purchase by Dr John Crowley in 2015, has won seven races, five at Group level, and prize-money earnings a touch over $2.5 million.
Her career justifies Crowley and Roche’s decision to retain the mare after she failed to meet an $80,000 reserve at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale while connections also chose to race her on for another two seasons after initially entering her for the 2019 Chairman’s Sale.
Nettoyer is one of five winners for Cleanup (Dehere), a two-time-winning half-sister to Group 3 winner She’s Clean (Redoute’s Choice) and the stakes-placed Floyd (Not A Single Doubt).
Cleanup, who was in foal to The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice), was bought by Bromfield Park for $260,000 at last year’s Chairman’s Sale.
She had a September 4 filly and was then served by Darley’s champion sire Exceed And Excel (Danehill) last October.
Nettoyer is catalogued as Lot 41 in the Chairman’s Sale if connections have a change of heart and decide to offer her to the market.
The Showdown a demolition for Finance Tycoon
Ben Hayes has used Finance Tycoon’s (Written Tycoon) emphatic victory in The Showdown (1200m) to showcase his family’s state-of-the-art training facilities at a time when Lindsay Park is undergoing a pivotal generational leadership change.
Finance Tycoon, who had his first start last September, has raced six times in five months and two states, winning three times and earned more than $800,000 in prize-money during an extended juvenile season.
At Caulfield yesterday, in his first start since finishing fourth behind Artorius (Flying Artie) in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) in February, Finance Tycoon put a four-and-a-half length margin on his rivals, the closest being Literary Magnate (Written Tycoon).
Scissor Step (Toronado) finished third ahead of bold front runner Starry Legend (Zoustar).
“He was so strong to the line and he wasn’t stopping,” Hayes said.
“I think he showed everyone today that he’s a real quality horse and a fantastic horse to have in the yard.
“He’s a pleasure and he’s done a really good job because he’s been in (work) since the spring and hasn’t really had a break.
“To keep a two-year-old up this long and to win that impressively is such a good effort by the team at home.
“We find that we’re able to keep horses fresh for a long time and we find we can have horses winning at their ninth or tenth runs,”
Hayes, who has been training in partnership with his cousin Tom Dabernig since the departure of his Hall of Fame father David to Hong Kong last year, will join his younger brother JD Hayes at the helm of Lindsay Park from the start of the new season.
Dabernig has signalled his intent to step away from Lindsay Park and instead establish his own training operation.
Luke Nolen rode Finance Tycoon to victory yesterday, ensuring the colt went forward from barrier 13 to track Starry Legend, who was racing beyond 1000 metres for the first time.
“I got the chance to amble into the race at my leisure and he took care of it,” Nolen said.
“You like them to put the foot on the throat of a race when asked and he did that. We invoked the mercy rule late and let him coast home.”
Nolen added: “He’s been a very good two-year-old – a model of consistency.
“His form reflects some of the best two-year-old form in the country, so he’s been placed well but continued to race well.”
Overcoming a minor throat issue after the Blue Diamond, Finance Tycoon, one of two foals to race for Darook Park (Darci Brahma), herself a half-sister to the dam of Group 2 winner Gypsy Diamond (Not A Single Doubt), was selected by UK agent Johnny McKeever at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the draft of Eureka Stud. He went to $150,000 for the colt on behalf of Hong Kong-based clients.
Darook Park has a yearling colt by Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo), a weanling colt by Encryption (Lonhro) and is back in foal to Spirit Of Boom.
High-five for Fastnet Rock’s Avantage
Te Akau’s queen Melody Belle (Commands) may be in the midst of a farewell Australian campaign, but her stablemate Avantage (Fastnet Rock) is forging quite a record of her own, bringing up her fifth New Zealand Group 1 win of the season and ninth overall at Te Rapa.
Avantage took out yesterday’s delayed running of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), the country’s last Group 1 race of 2020-21, a week after the race was meant to be held at Te Aroha but was transferred when the meeting was called off because of a slippery track.
Trainer Jamie Richards’ father and stable foreman Paul, who was in charge of the Te Rapa runners with his son at Randwick, described the champion mare as “tough” following her Breeders’ Stakes victory.
“She did a wee bit of work early but got a nice drag along outside the leader and was just too tough,” he said.
“Danielle went a bit wider on the home corner to find some better going, which left her a sitting duck.
“To her credit she just toughed it out. The only query was the rain affected track as she hasn’t won on soft going before, but physically and mentally she was first class.
“She is a very versatile mare that has just got better with age.”
Jockey Danielle Johnson also made it six wins, four at Group 1 level, on Avantage with yesterday’s hard-fought victory.
“Every time she heard the horses come around her, she just fought that little bit more,” she said.
“She didn’t win by much, but she still had plenty up her sleeve. She has been just a horse of a lifetime for me. I was lucky enough to get on her as a two-year-old and developed a relationship from then on.
“When Opie (Bosson) has been out of the country I have been able to get on her which has proved very lucky for me.”
Sent forward by Jonhson to sit outside the leader Familia (Makfi), Avantage railled when challenged, fending off Travelling Light (El Roca) and Coventina Bay (Shamexpress) in a tight finish to score by a neck. The pair dead-headed for second with Levante (Proisir) running fourth.
Before yesterday, Avantage had won four straight Group 1s this year, starting with the Railway (Gr 1, 1200m) on New Year’s Day at Ellerslie before landing the Telegraph (Gr 1, 1200m), the BCD Group Sprint (Gr 1, 1400m) and the WFA Classic (Gr 1, 1600m) at Otaki in February.
Her winning streak was brought to a halt by Melody Belle in the Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) but, in the absence of her stablemate, she was able to bounce back at Te Rapa.
The win was also significant for Te Akau, with Avantage bringing up the 144th victory of the season for trainer Richards, surpassing the previous record of 143 set by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman in 2017-18,
Bred by Southlanders Willie and Karen Calder, Avantage was bought by Te Akau’s David Ellis for NZ$210,000 from the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale. She has gone on to win 16 of her 27 starts and NZ$2.164 million in prize-money.
Avantage is one of four winners for the Listed winner Asavant (Zabeel), who is a half-sister to Hong Kong Group 1 winner D B Pin (Darci Brahma) and the stakes-placed Puysegur (Fastnet Rock). Her second dam, Pins ‘N’ Needles (Pins) was also a Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed mare while her third dam was also stakes-placed, Raining (Centaine).
Asavant, who is under the ownership of Sir Owen Glenn, has a weanling brother to Avantage and a two-year-old sister named Mystic Mermaid. She is being trained by Chris Waller. The mare was again covered last October by Coolmore’s champion sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill).
Melody Belle, meanwhile, promises to be the star attraction at next month’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale.