Big day for Woodside’s Shalaa as Mornington strikes Moir Glory
Underrated gelding becomes the second elite-level winner for his sire with a victory in The Valley Group 1
Left in Australia by his French owners, then offloaded from Arrowfield Stud to Victoria’s Woodside Park, Shalaa (Invincible Spirit) is now an Australian Group 1-winning sire after comeback king Mornington Glory’s impressive victory in Saturday’s Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) at The Valley.
Handing young trainer Gavin Bedggood his first top tier winner, and jockey Ethan Brown his fourth, Mornington Glory led throughout to beat a hot nine-horse field in the first edition of the Moir since its move from late to early September.
The win will be an enormous fillip for Woodside Park, with Shalaa now covering his second book at the Victorian stud for a fee of $19,800 (inc GST), down from the $22,000 (inc GST) he commanded in 2023.
Having shuttled for six seasons to Arrowfield, he was bought in April last year after a prolonged negotiation from his French owners Al Shaqab stud by Woodside owner Eddie Hirsch.
While Shalaa started with a bang in Australia thanks to Shaquero’s win in the 2021 Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) at the Gold Coast – a victory which was bookended by a pair of juvenile Group 3 triumphs – the former champion juvenile colt in France and Britain had subsequently somewhat struggled for traction in the Australian market.
But since his transfer to Woodside, the results have started to come for the 11-year-old stallion.
Shalaa sired the quinella in July’s Bletchingly Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) as boom sprinter Recommendation beat home Semillion, with a win in the Sir John Monash Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) coming prior that victory, while Recommendation added a third straight Group 3 win in last weekend’s Vale Black Caviar (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield.
And Shalaa might, in fact, have had the trifecta in the Bletchingly, had Mornington Glory not been scratched from the race. The handsome brown gelding has made up for it since.
Bred by Gooree Park Stud, Mornington Glory became Shalaa’s ninth Australian stakes winner two weeks ago in claiming Moonee Valley’s Norman Carlyon Stakes (Listed, 1000m).
And on Saturday he scored his fourth win over the course and distance in taking the Moir, as a $9 fourth-favourite.
He had 0.5 length to spare on the line from Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Hayasugi (Royal Meeting), with Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) victor Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon) a 0.3 further back in third, just ahead of $3.10 favourite Estriella (I Am Invincible) and second elect I Wish I Wish (Savabeel).
Having risen to a personal best finishing position of 28th on the Australian general sires’ table last season, Shalaa is now comfortably in the top five early in the new term, and ranks second on stakes winners and stakes wins, with two of each.
The Moir triumph was an emotional one for Cranbourne-based Bedggood, the former jumps jockey who has some 55 horses on his books, and was previously best known for his five-time Group winner Just Folk (Magnus).
Mornington Glory was the sale topper at the 2020 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale when offered amid the Gooree Stud reduction on behalf of the estate of the late Eduardo Cojuangco, and bought by his original trainer Matt Laurie and bloodstock agents Justin Bahen and Andrew Williams.
Raced by a syndicate headed by well known owner Rob Cummings and former AFL stars Shane Crawford, Brett Ratten and Fraser Brown, he won just one of six starts before being retired late in 2022 due to a heart complaint.
But after almost a year off, he was brought back into work by Bedggood, who’s saddled him to six victories from 14 starts.
“I’m pretty good. I felt a bit of pressure last time, but I was pretty comfortable coming here today,” Bedggood told Channel 7. “We were the underdog and he seems to always be that way.
“He took bad luck out of the equation today. He’s begun really well his last two starts and he jumped a half in front of them today.
“There was no instruction to lead, but Browny just used his initiative and went with the horse and the rest is history.”
Bedggood thanked Mornington Glory’s ownership team for “throwing him a bone” in allowing him to the train the gelding.
“It nearly didn’t happen. He was retired, this horse,” he said. “It’s a great ownership group and they’ll party hard tonight, no doubt.
“Big shout out to my staff at home. Everybody works really hard. We’re a small stable, and to get a result like this is massive.”
Brown was also ecstatic with the victory.
“I’m very over the moon. It’ll take a while to sink in,” he said.
“He drew gate one and he flew the lids and I just had an easy time of it. He’s fit, well, and I was the beneficiary of a well prepared horse for a great bunch of owners.”
Mornington Glory is bred in the purple, as one of nine winners, from nine to race, for former explosive juvenile Crowned Glory (Danehill), a Group 3 winner at two and runner-up to the spectacular Belle Du Jour (Dehere) in the 2000 Golden Slipper.
Crowned Glory was a superb broodmare for Gooree. Aside from being a 100 per cent winner producer, she is now the dam of two Group 1 victors, having also thrown Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) and Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) hero and current day Twin Hills Stud sire Hallowed Crown (Street Sense).
Retired aged 23 in 2020, Crowned Glory is also the dam of Group 3 winner and Armidale Stud resident Needs Further (Encosta De Lago), sire of multiple stakes winners including Group 1 heroine Mystic Journey.
Mornington Glory has become the second Group 1 winner offered in Gooree’s 2020 reduction, the other being Chris Munce’s Tattersall’s Tiara winner Palaisipan (So You Think), a $40,000 buy from the same draft.