Breeders hoping for last-minute pedigree updates as juveniles vye for Magic Millions berth
Honey Pot targets Aquis Gold Pearl but Spiritualised remains in danger of missing a Gold Coast Nugget start
Timing can be everything at a horse sale and for Three Bridges Thoroughbreds, it could be impeccable, whereas for a graduate of fellow Victorian breeder Musk Creek Farm, time could be running out.
Talented Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) two-year-old filly Honey Pot is now assured of a start in the Aquis Gold Pearl (1100m) but emergency runner Spiritualised, who is also by the Eureka Stud-based sire, is yet to gain a start in the colts and geldings juvenile edition, the Aquis Gold Nugget (1100m).
The $125,000 races at the Gold Coast, won in the past by Houtzen (I Am Invincible) and Sunlight (Zoustar) who went on to claim victory in the $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) a week later before two divisions were implemented, are connections’ last chance to clinch a start in the auction house’s rich feature event.
A barrier trial eye-catcher prior to her first start, Honey Pot inexplicably bombed the start at the Sunshine Coast on November 20, placing her in an almost impossible position to win the race but she sustained a long run to finish fifth.
The merit of that performance, and a recent jump-out, has seen bookmakers install Honey Pot as a $5 chance for the Gold Pearl and Three Bridges Thoroughbreds’ Toby Liston will be one of her most vocal supporters as she soars down the Gold Coast home straight.
He, along with his father Peter Liston, bred Honey Pot who is a daughter of Fairchild (General Nediym), which is the same cross as the Gollan-trained stakes winner Outback Barbie (Spirit Boom), who is also owned by Queenslanders Alan and Jennifer Acton.
Eddington breeder Liston has Honey Pot’s Hellbent (I Am Invincible) half-sister on the Gold Coast, catalogued as Lot 27, with any potential pedigree update sure to be front of mind when she goes through the Magic Millions sales ring inside the first hour on Tuesday.
“A long time ago (2016), Fairchild was bought for $370,000 by Paul Willetts and it has taken us a while to get our money back, even though she leaves lovely foals, and hopefully Honey Pot is her first stakes winner, which is always the goal when you buy a broodmare,” Liston told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“Honey Pot is from the boom year of Spirit Of Boom. We tried to book four mares into him and we could only get one, which was Fairchild who we sent up dry.”
The Actons, spurred on by the success of Outback Barbie, paid $300,000 for Honey Pot from Three Bridges at last year’s Magic Millions sale.
Liston said: “She was always a lovely filly, Honey Pot, who has a lot of ability. Hopefully she does everything right and if she does everything right on Saturday we will probably see her back up the following week in the Magic Millions.”
As for Fairchild’s yearling, he suggested she could find a good home at a value price next week.
“She’s not an expensive horse and she’ll be on the market around the $100,000 mark and she will find a nice home,” he said.
“Fairchild had a really good Shooting To Win who passed away, so the mare almost did it, but we need that black type to keep going with the mare and hopefully she is the one to do it and that the Hellbent can make it two in a row.
“She has an Impending foal at foot and she didn’t go in foal this season, so she will head up to Spirit Of Boom again later this year, that’s the early plan.”
Gollan also trains Spiritualised, the highest-priced yearling sold by Spirit Of Boom at $575,000 from the Musk Creek Farm draft, who will be ridden by Brett Prebble if he gains a start in the Gold Nugget.
Spiritualised ran third behind subsequent first-start winner Stroll (Snitzel) in his only public barrier trial on December 7, prompting Gollan to consider the Nugget for his valuable colt who is a son of Personalised (Snitzel), herself a half-sister to Coolmore’s VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Personal (Fastnet Rock).
“They are hopeful that there’s a couple of scratchings … as I am sure he will be competitive if he does get a run,” Musk Creek Farm’s Scott Williamson said.
“I have had a chat with a few people and they’ve reported that he’s going very well. The family tends to improve with time, but he’s shown natural ability at the moment.”
The dam of Spiritualised, who was sold in foal to Spirit Of Boom for $525,000 to Musk Creek Farm owner David Kobritz and agent Craig Rounsefell at the 2019 Magic Millions National Sale, has a Dundeel (High Chaparral) colt who will be offered at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale and a Zoustar (Northern Meteor) filly at foot.
Meanwhile, other consignors hoping for a last-gasp pedigree update include Valiant Stud’s Fergal Connolly, who is presenting a first-crop son of Aquis Farm’s Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom).
Catalogued as Lot 330, the colt out of Street Cry (Machiavellian) mare Occitan is a half-brother to Better Than Banksy (Invader), a Kacy Fogden-trained juvenile, who is also an emergency for the Aquis Gold Nugget.