Expensive juveniles breakthrough in Sydney and Melbourne
Two-year-old winners make timely statement ahead of siblings’ date with destiny at Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale
A pair of high-priced juveniles broke through for maiden victories in timely fashion yesterday, with their yearling siblings a little over a month away from going through the Warwick Farm sales ring at next month’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Sydney winner Doubtland (Not A Single Doubt) and Melbourne victor Pioneer River (Snitzel) both stamped themselves as two-year-olds on the rise with their respective wins at Randwick and Flemington. Both sold for $1.1 million at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Doubtland, who is the third foal to race out of the Group 3-placed mare Miss Sharapova (Ustinov), was one of six lots consigned by Arrowfield Stud to sell for seven figures last year. Orbis Bloodstock walked away with the bay colt, who was also the most expensive Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) to go through a sales ring in 2019.
He is a three-quarter brother to the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Villa Verde (Not A Single Doubt) and a brother to Listed winner Pretty Fast.
Unwrapped by Team Hawkes after two barrier trials, Doubtland was green and wayward down the Kensington stretch but showed a nifty turn of foot within the last 100 metres, racing clear for a length and three-quarter victory under Brenton Avdulla.
“Today, the horse has done it all on ability alone,” said co-trainer Michael Hawkes. “He was slowly away, he got back, he was a bit left and right and it’s very clear he’s still learning. We’ve always known that he’s had the ability but you’re just trying to help these horses along as much as you can.
“These horses, they show you something from day one – you know how they move and how well they perform. Until they get to raceday, though, the further they go in their preps, the more you learn about them.”
Hawkes continued: “Orbis Bloodstock have been a big supporter of ours and it’s always great to get a nice colt underway. I’m sure it will be the first of many wins for him, especially looking ahead to his three-year-old days.
“He reminds me of some of the nice colts we’ve had in the past. His attitude is fantastic – pre-race he just stood there and he didn’t move a muscle and even now, post-race, he doesn’t really know what’s going on.”
Next month, Arrowfield Stud will send Doubtland’s Shalaa (Invincible Spirit) half-sister through Inglis’ Riverside Stables. She is catalogued as Lot 78. https://inglis.com.au/sales/info/2020+Australian+Easter+Yearling+Sale/catalogue/78
Before then, Doubtland may try to add even more value to his younger sibling’s page by contesting either the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) on March 21 or the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on April 4, with Team Hawkes not ruling out a tilt at either of the rich juvenile features. A Golden Slipper berth, though, would likely require another run in the next two and a half weeks.
A little over an hour later, Pioneer River kicked off the midweek Flemington card by scoring a tough win at his second start for Lindsay Park. Sixth on debut to Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) in the Talindert Stakes (Listed, 1100m), he took advantage of a steady early tempo and a sprint home to score a nose victory under Mark Zahra.
Consigned by Sledmere Stud, Pioneer River was the Scone farm’s highest-priced lot in 2019 when knocked down to Sun Bloodstock.
His half-sister, No More Tears (Darci Brahma), was a New Zealand Group 3 winner, while their dam, Ocean Of Tears (Minardi), is a half-sister to Reisling Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Hips Don’t Lie (Stravinsky), who herself is the dam of Group 3 winner Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock) and Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) placegetter Lake Geneva (Fastnet Rock)
“He’s a horse that, once we get over further, we’ll see the best of him,” said co-trainer Ben Hayes.
“He ran well over the straight on debut and that experience makes all the difference at start two, especially for these two-year-olds. What really impressed me is that he improved greatly since his debut. I think the second horse (Mystery Dancer), they have a high opinion of him, so I think it will hold up as a form race.”
This year, Sledmere Stud will present an Exceed And Excel (Danehill) half-sister to Pioneer River at Inglis Easter. She is set to go through the ring as Lot 116. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P_QUJam5lL-9xA78boDwaATWt7SAaJQJDL0YggriPLI/edit
While Pioneer River also holds an entry for the Golden Slipper and the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes, Hayes also indicated that races like the T L Baillieu Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m) and the Fernhill Handicap (Listed, 1600m) could be other targets.
“I’ll have to sit down with Tom (Dabernig) and Dad (David Hayes) and have a look ahead at the programme. We’ll probably look for a 1400-metre plus race in Sydney coming up in the next few weeks,” he said.