Group 1 winner Startantes added to Chairman’s Sale
Group 1 winner Startantes (Star Turn) and her Robert Heathcote-trained stakes-winning stablemate Extremist (Extreme Choice) are the two latest high-profile mares confirmed for the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in May.
Bred by Heathcote himself, Startantes exploded onto the scene as an autumn two-year-old in 2021, with two Brisbane city wins and two placings from four starts.
She went on to greater heights the next season, winning her first three starts as a three-year-old, all at Doomben, before a close-up sixth in Rosehill’s Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) and a third in Randwick’s Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
Returning stronger as an autumn three-year-old, Startantes ran an unlucky nose second to Hinged (Worthy Cause) in Randwick’s Surround Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), beating home illustrious fillies as Fangirl (Sebring), Espiona (Extreme Choice) and Hope In Your Heart (Dundeel).
Finally, she broke through for top-tier success in Eagle Farm’s Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m) that June, beating subsequent Group 1 winners Snapdancer (Choisir) and Palaisipan (So You Think) into the minor placings, with other top-level victors Atishu (Savabeel) and Shout The Bar (Not A Single Doubt), and multiple stakes-winner Away Game (Snitzel) further back.
That triumph earned Startantes the title of Joint Champion 3YO filly in Australia for the 2021-22 season.
The now five-year-old will become just the fourth Australian Group 1-winning three-year-old filly at 1400 metres or shorter to be offered for public auction off the track in Australia in the past ten years, Inglis said in a statement.
Extremist, bred by Eureka Stud, counts as another rare offering in the broodmare market this year, being a member of the limited 48-foal first crop of the sensational but sub-fertile Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt).
A black-type winner of Doomben’s Keith Noud Quality Handicap (Listed, 1200m) in November, who’s also been stakes-placed three times, Extremist continues to race in fine form. In three successive Brisbane Listed sprints after the Noud, the five-year-old ran third, fourth and fourth – beaten less than two lengths each time – before a last–start sixth in the rich Magic Millions Fillies and Mares (1300m) at the Gold Coast last month.
Startantes and Extremist will be offered in the Newgate consignment draft at the Chairman’s Sale, to be held at Riverside on the evening of Thursday, May 9.
Heathcote described the mares as “outstanding race fillies who are destined for great things as broodmares’’.
“Startantes will be one of the most unique breeding prospects offered in Australia this year,’’ the Eagle Farm-based trainer said.
“These Group 1-winning mares have proven year in, year out, to be exquisite prospects who keep producing valuable foals and Startantes ticks all the boxes that would suggest she will be a quality producer.
“She’s the perfect size, she’s a magnificent physical, has an amazing temperament and is proven against the best fillies and mares of recent seasons.
“Extremist is a six-time winner, a stakes winner and three-times stakes-placed. She’s magnificently bred and when buyers see her in the flesh, I think that they will agree that she is a stunning individual.
“The Chairman’s Sale is a remarkable evening that has proven to attract all the world’s leading broodmare buyers and it will be exciting to see how the next phase plays out for both Startantes and Extremist.’’
Newgate’s Henry Field said he was ecstatic to offer the pair.
“Our Inglis Chairman’s draft is shaping as one of the strongest line-ups of fillies and mares Newgate has ever taken to a breeding stock sale. It’s extremely exciting,’’ Field said.
“Both these mares are top class. Startantes especially being a Group 1 winner is such a rare offering to public market and we’re thrilled to have been entrusted with these by Robert Heathcote and his owners.’’
Inglis’ Senior Bloodstock Consultant Harry Bailey added: “There is incredible momentum behind the Chairman’s Sale and this is further evidence of that.
“To have mares such as Startantes and Extremist join the likes of She’s Extreme (Extreme Choice), Kimochi (Brave Smash), Steinem (Frankel), High Emocean (Ocean Park) et cetera already confirmed is a testament to how the industry views the Chairman’s Sale, and we can’t wait to make more major catalogue announcements in coming weeks.’’
Inglis added that places in the Inglis Chairman’s Sale were strictly limited, and they have urged prospective vendors to move fast to secure their place.