‘Exciting’ half-brother to Amelia’s Jewel among entrants for juvenile trial session
Rosemont’s Blue Point colt Bosustow set to line-up in opening heat of two-year-old hit-outs at Randwick on Monday
The half-brother to sensational filly Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni) by Darley’s talented shuttle sire Blue Point (Shamardal) is among several potently bred juveniles set to make a first dash for a successful racing career, during the two-year-old trial session at Randwick on Monday, for which fields were released yesterday.
The Rosemont Stud-owned colt, named Bosustow, will step out in the first of a bumper 12 trials over 850 metres on the Kensington track as the youngsters make a first public appearance. Those standing up to the task are set to stake a claim for the first of the season’s juvenile races, the Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) and Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m), on September 30 at Randwick.
Rosemont Stud’s Anthony Mithen, who teamed up with Suman Hedge to secure Bosustow for $900,000, believes the Annabel Neasham-trained colt is showing encouraging signs at this early stage, but cast a doubt as to whether he’d be asked to back up in 12 days’ time for the precocious 1000-metre challenge of the Breeders’ Plate.
“At this stage, we’re happy to have the horse and not the money,” Mithen, who repelled strong competition from Darley to land the colt at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He’s a really nice horse that has done everything right and he’s exciting us. We’re not expecting him to bounce out of this and go straight into the Breeders’ Plate, we think he’s probably a horse that might need a breather and be more of a Blue Diamond series type of horse.
“I don’t think the jump-and-run scamper of trialling up and getting to a 1000-metre Breeders’ Plate will be for him. He’ll be a 1200– to 1400-metre autumn style two-year-old. He’s allowed to surprise us, although I’m encouraged by that rather than dissuaded, and we’ll keep our eyes on the major prizes rather than the first one that pops up on the calendar.”
The third foal out of UK import Bumbasina (Canford Cliffs), who was a 75,000gns Tattersalls July Sale buy for Louis Le Metayer’s Astute Bloodstock on behalf of Amelia Park, Bosustow will step out two days after his Group 1-winning half-sister Amelia’s Jewel attempts to further her burgeoning race record in tomorrow’s Let’s Elope Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Flemington.
The colt is one of three juveniles at Monday’s trial session by Darley’s three-time Royal Ascot Group 1 winner Blue Point, who has made a spectacular start to stud life with his first northern hemisphere-bred crop, with the stallion represented by 34 winners from 84 runners to date.
Bosustow is joined in the trial session by the Robert Crabtree-bred Scampi (Blue Point), who goes in heat nine. The colt is a half-brother to Inglis Banner (RL, 1000m) and Kindergarten Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) winner Semillion (Shalaa) and was a $750,000 buy for his co-trainer Ciaron Maher.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained filly Gerringong (Blue Point), who was spared the recent Strawberry Hill dispersal sale to race in the silks of John Singleton, will contest heat ten, with the daughter of Blue Point being the fourth foal out of This Time Bridie (More Than Ready), herself a half-sister to Group 1 winner Fenway (High Chaparral).
The eagerly anticipated trial session will contain six heats for colts and geldings and six for fillies, for a total of two more heats than last year, and will kick off at 8.45am.
Among the sires with the leading number of entrants is reigning champion stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible), who has six two-year-olds – five colts and a solitary filly, that being the $1.2 million daughter of Super Too (Hinchinbrook), named Invincible Madison, who caused a stir in the Magic Millions sale ring as one of two high-priced purchases for hitherto little–known American investors Richard and Tammy Rigney.
Newgate sire Capitalist (Written Tycoon) can count four colts and two fillies among his cohort set for Monday’s trials, while his barnmate Russian Revolution (Snitzel), Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) and Written Tycoon (Iglesia), who has a half-sister to last year’s Gimcrack Stakes winner Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar) – Lady Of Camelot – in heat two, each have four runners to contest one of the 850-metre hit-outs.
I Am Invincible’s colts include two owned by the Newgate Farm and China Horse Club syndicate – $625,000 Magic Millions buy Embassy – and Warhol, who is a brother to Group 2-winning juvenile Strasbourg, while TFI and Kia Ora Stud have five colts nominated, with the partnership possessing high hopes for Innervisions (I Am Invincible) in heat 11 for Annabel Neasham, who with 15 horses entered is the most represented trainer, ahead of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott (13) and Peter and Paul Snowden (12).
James Harron, whose green and gold silks are the most prevalent with six horses at the curtain-raising official trials, has the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Bodyguard (I Am Invincible) – at $1.6 million was the most expensive of his yearling buys earlier this year – as well as two colts by Capitalist – Customized in heat three and Gravitas in heat five. Meanwhile, a colt by first–season sire Pierata (Pierro) has also made eye-catching progress in his development so far. Named Fearless, he will also line up in heat three.
Harron, who raced Capitalist at these early season trials before the successful stallion won the 2015 Breeders’ Plate less than two weeks later, told ANZ Bloodstock News the significance of this trial session has become ever more apparent in recent years.
“It’s an exciting day as well as a bit of a nerve-wracking one,” Harron said. “There’s a lot of work that’s gone into these horses from the day they were born right up to this point, and there’s always a level of expectation in them since buying them at the yearling sales.
“It’s an important day to see which of those two-year-olds will put their hand up and be ready to tackle those early two-year-old races, but I’ve probably learned not to be too disheartened by some of them that aren’t quite ready that might be nice horses down the track.
“The Breeders’ Plate is a race that’s stood the test of time. There’s been fantastic graduates come out of the race and it carries really good prize-money, and has developed into a very important race within the landscape of the breeding industry, it’s an important part of a potential stallion’s profile.”
Fearless
The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Fearless, who was a $220,000 buy from the Highgrove Stud draft at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, is the second foal out of Matildare (Rothesay).
He is one of two juveniles by Yulong Stud’s Pierata to be nominated for Monday’s trial session, along with the Benjamin Smith-trained filly La Bella Bondi.
Several of Harron’s prospective two-year-old trialists had an on-course hit-out last week, including Fearless, who passed the test with flying colours.
“He’s a lovely horse. Some of the feedback we’ve been getting has been very positive,” Harron said. “He’s got a good action and a very good attitude. Chad Schofield jumped him out last week and he worked him again this morning, and between him and the stable, they say he keeps stepping up to what’s being asked of him.
“Those are the sorts of things we’re looking for at this early stage. Questions as to how fast and for how long they can go will be answered in the coming weeks.”
Other first-season sires represented on Monday include Widden’s Zousain (Zoustar), who has a gelding named Desert Legend in the Bon Ho silks to contest heat three, as well as a filly trained by Annabel Neasham, named Needing Attention, in the following trial.
Darley will also have representation from their exciting young stallions Too Darn Hot (Dubawi), who on Sunday secured a first northern hemisphere-bred Group 1 winner, and Microphone (Exceed And Excel).
The Bon Ho-owned Stage Legend (Too Darn Hot), a $140,000 Inglis Classic buy and first foal out of the unraced Under Lights (Fastnet Rock), is in heat six for the fillies, while the Godolphin royal blue silks will be carried by And Found (Microphone) in heat four.
Coolmore’s Everest (1200m)-winning sire Yes Yes Yes (Rubick) has two fillies entered: the first, named Shezasiren, goes in heat eight for Marc Connors, while in heat 12 the Brad Widdup-trained Maili will be one of two fillies on Monday to carry the BK Racing and Bloodstock silks.
Totoka, a Paul Perry-trained filly by Newgate Farm’s Brutal (O’Reilly), goes in heat four, while barnmate Cosmic Force (Northern Meteor) is represented by the Triple Crown Syndications-raced Force Red, a $240,000 Magic Millions buy, in heat nine.
Arrowfield’s Group 1-winning juvenile Castelvecchio (Dundeel) has a filly named Ciao Bella Mia in heat ten, while rounding out the first–season sires is Tassort (Brazen Beau), who has Lady Tassort in heat six for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, as well as the Emirates Park homebred Manaal in heat ten.
Tony Fung Investments, whose runners previously raced under Aquis Farm, have achieved notable success in recent years in creating stallions out of yearling purchases, with one such success story being Group 2 winner and Breeders’ Plate scorer Dubious (Not A Single Doubt), who now stands at Kitchwin Hills Stud in the Hunter Valley.
The son of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) will have his first two-year-old runners this campaign, with Deputize, who at $500,000 was the most expensive son of Dubious when purchased at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, set to jump out in heat seven of the official trial session in the TFI silks.
“It’s a very exciting time of year. We’ve got the five colts and one filly entered on Monday and it’s a big effort from our team up in the Hinterland in Queensland to get them to this stage,” TFI racing manager Sally Williams told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“We’ve been really proud with how the Dubious horses have come through the system. They’re just like him, they have a great attitude and they’ve been really easy to break in and pre-train.”
The group also have a strong presence in partnership with Kia Ora Stud at the Kensington trials, with a notable, potently bred colt by champion first season sire Justify (Scat Daddy) to line up in heat three.
French Empire, a $700,000 Magic Millions purchase from Coolmore Stud, is the first foal out of Group 2 winner and three-time Group 1 placegetter Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt), who Coolmore purchased for $2 million at the 2020 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2020.
“He’s been a stand out from day one,” Williams said. “He’s a very natural, early horse and we’re very excited to see him step out on Monday.
“We have some really nice horses coming through the system this year, they’ve not done anything wrong so far, so the dream is still alive with all of them.”
Highness (heat five)
2 c Snitzel – Diana’s Star by Northern Meteor
Trainer: Michael Freedman
James Harron: He’s a very nice horse, came from Magic Millions. He’s been brought along nicely with Michael Freedman. He had a course proper jump-out last week, and probably of all our horses trialling he’s done the least amount of work. But he handled the jump-out very well and came through it very nicely, so Michael is happy to take him forward and we’ll see how far we get with him. He’s a nice moving horse and he’s got the right sort of size and shape to suggest he could run at two.
Gravitas (heat five)
2 c Capitalist – Rare Insight by O’Reilly
Trainer: Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott
James Harron: He was a $130,000 buy from Inglis Classic, but he’s actually a very well–bred horse. He’s done very well and developed very nicely. He’s one that’s been a bit quiet but has really switched on the last couple of weeks. He worked well this morning and Brett Prebble partnered him in a course proper gallop last week and he did everything right. He’ll ride him again on Monday.
Espionage (heat seven)
2 c Zoustar – In Times Of War by Street Cry
Trainer: Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott
James Harron: He’s one that Gai and Adrian have been very pleased with the whole way through. He’s shown a great attitude and is very professional. He’s forward physically and moves nicely, so he’s one that looks like he could stand up as a two-year-old and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do on Monday.
Bodyguard (heat seven)
2 c I Am Invincible – Tumooh by Fastnet Rock
Trainer: Peter and Paul Snowden
James Harron: He was our most expensive purchase this year from ten colts. He’s obviously got a great pedigree [being a grandson of Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Mossfun] but first and foremost we buy on type, and he was one of the nicest horses I’d seen all year. He’s continued to do well. He’s a very mature horse, a really good mover, and has been brought along nice and gently, doing things quite naturally and within himself. He’s a big boy, so I’m quite interested to see how he acquits himself on Monday. Whether it’s right now or further down the track, we feel like we have a nice horse on our hands.
Innervisions (heat 11)
2 c I Am Invincible – Modern Wonder by Snitzel
Trainer: Annabel Neasham
Sally Williams: He’s closely related to Away Game, and is another that’s been a stand out since the day he got home from Magic Millions. Annabel has liked him since the first day he got into her system at Warwick Farm, so he’s one we’re really excited about.
Repose (heat six)
2 f Russian Revolution – River Serenade by Hurricane Sky
Trainer: Annabel Neasham
Sally Williams: Repose is like Little Miss Perfect. I’m really excited to see what she can do on Monday. It’s the first time we’ve had Russian Revolutions come through the system and we’ve been incredibly impressed by them. It’s definitely exciting to see what they can do this season.