Alizee all class in Flight Stakes
Coming from the tail of the field with a dramatic turn of foot in the straight, Godolphin’s star three-year-old filly Alizee (Sepoy) was a class above her rivals in winning last Saturday’s Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick.
At the line Alizee was two and a quarter lengths clear of the consistent Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt) with third placed Cellargirl (More Than Ready) the same margin further back. Race time was 1:34.83.
Starting favourite after her last start victory in the Tea Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), Alizee gave James Cummings his first Group One success since his appointment as Godolphin’s head trainer in Australia.
Even more significantly from a breeding viewpoint, Alizee is the first stakes winner in Australia and first Group One winner anywhere for her Darley-owned sire Sepoy (Elusive Quality), currently covering at Kelvinside, Aberdeen, NSW at a $16,500 fee after returning from his fourth shuttle season in Britain.
As one of the best Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winners of the past 35 years, much was expected of Sepoy when he retired as a sire in 2012.
He was not only a champion two-year-old who also captured the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) but also one of relatively few to train on at three years when he won five of his six starts, highlights being the Coolmore Stud Stakes (registered as the Ascot Vale Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m) and the Manikato Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
Sepoy’s dam Watchful (Danehill), closely related to Camarina (Danehill) and influential sire Canny Lad (Bletchingly), further instilled in breeders great confidence in Sepoy’s stud prospects with many believing he could go on to match the achievements of earlier Golden Slipper winners such as Vain (Wilkes), Marscay (Biscay), Flying Spur (Danehill), Todman (Star Kingdom), Rory’s Jester (Crown Jester) and others who became leading sires.
So far, Sepoy’s Australian runners overall have fallen short of the high expectations held for the young stallion but interestingly he has made a greater impact in Europe, being leading freshman sire in the Britain in 2016. In Europe, Sepoy has five black-type winners headed by Group Two winner Unforgetable Filly and Group Three-winning fillies Dabyah and Kilmah.
Alizee is a big, rangy type very different from her much more petite mother Essaouira (Exceed And Excel) who raced for the Freedman stable in Melbourne where she won a scamper for two-year-olds around Moonee Valley.
Essaouira has done surprisingly well as a producer as her first four foals to race are all winners and big, impressive individuals, most notably Alizee’s year-older half-brother Astern (Medaglia d’Oro), now standing his first season at Kelvinside.
A breathtaking type, Astern was a five-time stakes winner at two and three and although winner of the Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) circumstances were such that I doubt we appreciated the true depth of his ability as a racehorse.
While Alizee finished so strongly at the end of 1600 metres last Saturday, her pedigree suggests pure, short course speed. Her second dam Alizes (Rory’s Jester) was a dual stakes winner as a juvenile while her third dam La Baraka (Euclase), despite not having the best of front legs, famously won The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) in 1998.
La Baraka’s dam Triscay (Marscay) was a far sounder animal, a champion who won 15 races, seven as a two-year-old and five at Group One level. Triscay, like Alizee, was a Flight Stakes winner and proved supremely versatile in terms of her distance abilities, winning from 1000 metres and up to 2400 metres when her superior class against her own sex enabled her to capture both the ATC Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) and the Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) in 1991.
The construction of the pedigree of Alizee is something of a model for breeders to follow as it features a 3f x 3m double of Danehill (Danzig). Inbreeding or close linebreeding to Danehill is having mixed results but can be a powerful, positive factor if done the right way.
Champion sire Marscay also features 4f x 5f in Alizee’s background, which also has four lines of Northern Dancer (Nearctic), six lines of Northern Dancer’s dam Natalma (Native Dancer) and a cross of the brothers His Majesty and Graustark (both Ribot).