Home Affairs blows rivals away in Coolmore Stakes romp
I Am Invincible colt hands Waller a fifth victory in time-honoured Flemington Group 1
Ultra-talented colt Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) cemented his place on Coolmore Stud’s future stallion roster yesterday when he produced a breathtaking display to land the Coolmore Stud Stakes (registered as Ascot Vale Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m) at Flemington.
In winning the contest, the Coolmore-raced colt became the tenth top-flight winner for Yarraman Park’s superstar stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and second in the race following up the victory of the now Darley Stud-based sire Brazen Beau in 2014. Like Home Affairs, Brazen Beau was also saddled by Chris Waller and the duo make up an illustrious quintet of winners for the Sydney-based trainer in the time-honoured Flemington race.
The now high-class stallion Zoustar (Northern Meteor) kicked off a three-year Waller domination of the race in 2013, following up the next year with the aforementioned Brazen Beau, while Japonisme (Choisir) added a third win the race in 2015 and, last year, Waller etched his name onto the trophy for an impressive fourth time courtesy of September Run’s (Exceed And Excel) fine win in the Group 1 showpiece.
The Coolmore Stud Stakes aside, the sheer power of the Waller stable and jockey James McDonald was on display at Flemington yesterday, with Home Affairs the headline act of an impressive three-timer for the team, as Fangirl (Sebring) proved too strong in the Carbine Club Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m), while Great House (Galileo) won his way into Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) with a victory in the Hotham Stakes (Gr 3, 2500m).
For good measure, McDonald sealed off a brilliant day at the races, collecting a fourth win on the card aboard the John O’Shea-trained Minhaaj (Exceed And Excel) in the Furphy Sprint (Gr 3, 1100m) finale.
A winner of the Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) as a juvenile, Home Affairs opened his account as a three-year-old with a triumphant return first-up in the Heritage Stakes (Listed, 1100m), a victory which earned the colt a shot at The Everest (1200m) a fortnight ago.
However, the three-year-old’s hopes of landing the $15 million contest were dashed before the gates even opened, with rain in Sydney leading to a soft track and, as a result, he came home a disappointing ninth – five lengths off his stablemate Nature Strip (Nicconi).
With track conditions rated a Good 3, the stage was set for a big performance from the colt and, after breaking impressively from barrier 13, he never looked in any danger of letting his connections down.
As the field approached the 200-metre mark, McDonald pushed the button on Home Affairs, unleashing his explosive turn off foot and quickly put daylight between him and his rivals to post an emphatic three-length victory over the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Bruckner (Snitzel). Last season’s Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Artorius (Flying Artie) finished a further half a length away in third.
McDonald said that, although he had always rated the colt highly, the manner of yesterday’s victory even surprised him.
“This is what we came for,” winning jockey James McDonald said. “To ride such a special colt like this; he was electric today. I couldn’t believe at the furlong that I was so far in front.
“That is the acceleration of this horse, he just idled through his paces early. Nothing could keep up with him and he ran out the six furlongs so strong. He is a weapon.”
Waller was not at Flemington to watch the colt’s heroics, but McDonald was quick to applaud the trainer’s excellent skills in his absence.
“He is such a good trainer,” McDonald told Racing.com.
“We say it over and over all the time. He just changed a bit of gear, got the horse to relax. I did a bit of work on him the other day and gee he felt good up that straight.
“He just pricked his ears from probably the 600 metres on and when I let him go he let rip. He’s a beautiful specimen.
“He’s an absolute beauty. The temperament and mind, that is what makes these good horses. To do it for these connections, who are great supporters of mine, and Sir Peter Vela is in as well, they put a lot of money in and these are the results we are after.”
Yesterday’s win was certainly a case of mission accomplished for owners Coolmore and the first year of their colt’s syndicate, where they made the conscious choice to target future stallion prospects at the yearling sales to race.
Given how much stallion’s sell for after their careers on the track, the $875,000 Coolmore paid Torryburn Stud for Home Affairs at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale looks good business and Coolmore’s Tom Magnier told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday he was excited at the prospect of the colt joining the operation’s Jerrys Plains base, where he will stand alongside so many talented stallion’s including fellow Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock).
“What an incredible performance from an outstanding colt who has been managed perfectly by Chris Waller and his team. Congratulations to all of our partners in this incredibly exciting stallion prospect and to the Cornish family for breeding such a talented horse,” said Magnier.
“From the first day we inspected Home Affairs at Torryburn in the lead up to the Easter Sale he has been an absolute professional. We now look forward to him joining fellow Coolmore winner Merchant Navy at the farm in the future.
“We’re delighted for the entire team at Yarraman Park and all the connections of I Am Invincible. We have been searching for one of his sons to stand at Coolmore, and in Home Affairs we have a very exciting prospect.
Of the 1200-metre contest, Magnier continued: “The Coolmore has developed into one of the great sire-making races in Australia and, today, Home Affairs has won in incredibly fast time, defeating a particularly high-class field.
“He joins the likes of successful sires Encosta De Lago, Northern Meteor, Zoustar, Brazen Beau, Star Witness and Flying Artie as a winner of this prestigious race and he’s won it in a faster time than all of them. It’s such a thrill, and we’re absolutely delighted.”
Meanwhile, Torryburn Stud’s Melissa Copelin told ANZ Bloodstock News the colt had always been a standout from day one, but that a slight injury and the early impact of the Covid-19 pandemic played havoc with the colt’s early life at the farm.
“He was a beautiful foal, we always knew he was perfect and there is actually a picture of him on the back of our truck, that is how beautiful we think he is,” said Copelin.
Home Affairs was originally catalogued for the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale after a slight injury meant Torryburn were forced to withdraw him from the January sale.
“At that point we had sold a $1 million horse at Easter but managed it at Magic Millions before and we thought he would be our one.
“But when we got to the Magic Millions complex and unloaded him from the truck we realised that he had kicked the truck and damaged his hock. He had to go to the vets and get it stitched, but we decided he was too good a horse to sell like that, so we held him back and took him to Easter.
“However, that also turned into a nightmare, with Covid hitting the sale, meaning we didn’t have a physical Easter sale and it was forced to go online and we just had no choice but to sell him that way. It turned out well and we still sold him really well but it would have been nice to have him in a physical sale because he is so magnificent.”
Copelin said when buyers such as Guy Mulcaster, Waller and Coolmore show interest and are willing to put their faith in your product it gives the farm an incredible boost.
“Obviously he was selected by Guy Mulcaster and we revere him as one of the best judges in the business and he has bought a few horses off us and people like that buy off you it gives you confidence in what you are doing. Our good friends at Coolmore bought him and he ended up in the best stable possible.
“Vinnie’s are beautiful horses, but Home Affairs has also thrown to his mother and the Flying Spur and he really is the perfect mix of mother and sire. He really is an amazing specimen, the perfect horse; straight and strong.
“I am so excited he will have the chance to be a stallion because he is just so beautiful. He is a breathtaking animal. I just can’t believe something we have bred will be standing on Coolmore’s roster and that race is the stallion-making race and one of the highlights of the Carnival.”
Home Affairs (3 c ex I Am Invincible – Miss Interiors by Flying Spur) is out of three-time winning Flying Spur (Danehill) mare Miss Interiors, who was purchased by Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock on behalf of Cornish’s Torryburn Stud for $625,000 from the Newgate Farm draft at the 2017 Inglis Chairman’s Breeding Prospects Sale and she was carrying Home Affairs’ Group 1-placed half-brother Aysar (Deep Field) in utero at the time.
Miss Interiors herself is a daughter of Ballet D’Amour (Stravinsky), making her a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner and now Newgate Stud-based first-season sire Russian Revolution (Snitzel) and Group 3 scorer Turbo Miss (Sebring).
The colt’s unraced Capitalist (Written Tycoon) half-brother – now named Wilbury – was purchased by James Harron Bloodstock for $1.05 million at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier this year. She has most recently produced a colt by Arrowfield Stud-based sire Dundeel (High Chaparral) and was covered by the same stallion last season.
The victory hands late stallion Flying Spur with his 11th elite-level winner as a broodmare sire, with the colt joining the likes of Pierata, Booker and Sebring.
I Am Invincible stands at Harry and Arthur Mitchell’s Yarraman Park for a fee of $220,000 (inc GST).
Hitotsu hands Maurice his first Australian Group 1 winner
John Messara’s belief that Japanese bloodlines can play an integral role in the future of the Australian breeding industry was repaid yesterday as the Arrowfield-bred colt Hitotsu (Maurice) produced a dominant performance to win the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) at Flemington and, in doing so, handed Maurice (Screen Hero) his first Australian Group 1 winner and second overall.
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained colt had chartered an unconventional path into the Group 1, having only broken his maiden at Donald over 1350 metres on September 12 and came into the race having finished an eye-catching fifth in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), making him one of the few runners yet to be tested over further than a mile.
Maher said he decided to target the Derby after watching the colt hit the line strongly in the Guineas.
“He’s very clean-winded,” Maher told Racing.com. “With his run in the Guineas, we were happy to go to the Guineas off a maiden and (he) was probably the strongest on the line in the Guineas.
“We didn’t want to over-race him on the line because he is immature. We were happy with his fitness and here we are – fantastic.”
The three-year-old was purchased by his former trainer Wendy Kelly for $100,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale last year and he ran three times as a juvenile for Kelly, including a tenth-placed finish in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), before being acquired by prominent owner Ozzie Kheir and other clients and sent to Maher and Eustace for his three-year-old career.
Maher said a lot of the credit had to be paid to his bloodstock manager Will Bourne, who identified the colt as an exciting prospect from early on.
“We went down to have a look at him,” Maher said.
“He was fairly immature and that is probably why his program has developed the way it has.”
Last season the Maher and Eustace stable dominated the Derby division with Explosive Jack (Jakkalberry), but despite the partnership carving a name for themselves as master trainers of longer distance races, Hitotsu was handing them their first win in the VRC Derby and tenth Group 1 as a training partnership.
After breaking smartly from barrier six, John Allen tucked the colt away in 13th place and began to make his move in between runners nearing the turn. After finding daylight up the straight, the colt was able to let down impressively, sweeping past his rivals to post a length-and-three-quarter win over Alegron (Teofilo). Teewaters (Dundeel) ran another solid race to finish a further two lengths away in third.
Fresh from steering State Of Rest (Starspangledbanner) to victory in last weekend’s Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), Allen was celebrating yet another top-flight victory yesterday and he was full of praise for the colt after his Derby effort and is also confident he has the cruising speed to be effective over a mile.
“We got into a nice position coming out of the straight, but the tempo just came back out of the race,” Allen said.
“There was a three-wide line which I was trying to get to because all the fancied ones seemed to be out there, but they came around me and kept me in, so I just had to ride for good luck around the corner.
“He was travelling that well, I just needed a gap, and once he got out the rest is history. He is a pretty talented horse. I have no doubt he is good enough to win a Group 1 over a mile”
Meanwhile, Maher was also quick to heap praise on the jockey, who is quickly becoming an impenetrable force in the Australian riding ranks.
“Johnny Allen, he does a lot for us at the stable and there’s no better man to have around,” Maher said.
“He’s making a habit of winning these big ones. He’s got so much confidence.
“To get a victory like this in the VRC Derby on what is arguably the biggest day of racing, it’s fantastic.”
In an industry overrun by Danehill (Danzig) blood, Messara set out to make the outcross Japanese bloodlines available to breeders in Australia and through this, coupled with his strong relationship with global powerhouse Shadai Stallion Station, the Arrowfield supremo has been able to entice some of the most exciting sires Japan has to offer to Australian soil, including multiple elite level scorer Maurice.
Hitotu’s win also caps off a brilliant month for Arrowfield-breds on the track, with the colt becoming the third Group 1 winner from the Class of 2020, joining Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Yearning (Snitzel) and Profondo (Deep Impact), who once again showed the power of Japanese blood when taking out the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) earlier in the month.
Maurice himself scored his first Australian stakes winner last weekend as Mazu won the Brian Crowley Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Randwick.
“This is such a significant win for Arrowfield and for Maurice, and a wonderful sight to see,” Messara told ANZ Bloodstock News. “Hitotsu is the third Group 1 winner this month from our yearling Class of 2020 after Profondo and Yearning, and he’s Maurice’s first Australian Group 1 winner. It’s the kind of result we dream of every day at Arrowfield, and I’m thrilled for my whole team.”
The colt is out of the unraced mare Love Is Fickle (Redoute’s Choice) and therefore the victory also provided Arrowfield Stud’s late breed-shaping sire Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) with his 24th Group 1 winner as a damsire. Messara purchased the mare for $250,000 at the 2013 edition of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Glenlogan Park draft and after she failed to make a racecourse appearance he said he was derided by some of his peers.
“I bought Love Is Fickle as a yearling from Glenlogan Park at the 2013 Magic Millions Sale, she is by Redoute’s Choice from a Group 1-winning mare who was also a very good producer. Love Is Fickle didn’t race herself and I was teased for a while about buying her, but today she has well and truly redeemed me,” Messara explained.
Love Is Fickle is also the dam of another winner and she herself is a daughter of Group 1 winner and top producer She’s A Meanie (Prince Salieri).
She’s A Meanie is the dam of Group 3 winner and stallion Love Conquers All (Mossman) and Listed winner She’s Meaner (Falvelon) who, in turn, produced Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Lean Mean Machine (Zoustar), who now stands at Widden Stud.
Love Is Fickle’s unraced two-year-old filly – named Twelfth Night (Shalaa) – was purchased by Mystery Downs and Valiant Stud for $150,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale earlier in the year and last season she produced another filly by the Arrowfield Stud shuttle sire and is due to foal to Castelvecchio (Dundeel). The mare is booked back into Maurice for her next cover.
Maurice calls the Shadai Stallion Station home in the northern hemisphere and he is the sire of five stakes winners overall, while Hitotsu joins Pixie Knight as the stallion’s other elite-level winner. His total black-type winners also include Australian Listed winner Mazu and his total number of winners in Australia stands at 18.
With 13 winners from 34 runners and almost $2 million in prize-money this season, Maurice sits top of the second season sire charts ahead of Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and Flying Artie (Artie Schiller).
The stallion covered his first book of mares at Arrowfield in 2017 and, after being forced to sit out shuttling duties last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the stallion returned to Arrowfield for the 2021 season where he is standing at a fee of $44,000 (inc GST).
Second elite level win for Colette
Twelve months on from her impressive victory in the Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill, the James Cummings-trained Colette (Hallowed Crown) secured her second win at the highest level when she took out the Empire Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington yesterday, after being given an inspired ride by Damien Oliver.
The Godolphin-owned five-year-old signalled she was back to something like her best when taking out the Tristarc Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) on October 16 and, after settling the mare at the rear of the field, Oliver weaved Colette through runners to beat Group 1 winner Mystic Journey (Needs Further) by a quarter of a length. Fellow top-flight winner Hungry Heart (Frankel) was a further neck away in third.
A winner of last year’s Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m), Colette performed consistently well at the top-level, including being narrowly beaten by Verry Elleegant (Zed) in last season’s Chipping Norton Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
“That’s just about the ride of the season for mine,” Cummings said. “She’s a proper racehorse, isn’t she?”
“She had ‘follow me over a mile’ written all over her and a good track was no problem for her today and she weaved through them beautifully. (She) Let down like a serious Group 1 horse and I think she deserves all the accolades she gets.”
Originally on a Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) path, the diversion away from the staying feature has reaped dividends with the potential of more to come this spring.
“She got herself back together when it didn’t all work out for her after the Caulfield Cup and the guys had her in great shape a fortnight ago for the Tristarc,” Cummings said.
“She’s been an absolutely beautiful mare for the stable and she’s well loved. We’ll consider, it must be said, the seven day back-up in the Mackinnon.
“She’s a horse that, I think, we’re entitled to be very proud of.”
In winning the race, the victory gives Oliver his fourth Empire Rose Stakes success, the most of any jockey.
“I missed this mare last time, unfortunately, but I rode her earlier in the campaign and she was heading towards the Caulfield Cup,” Oliver said.
“She had a little setback and didn’t quite get there but it was nice to get back on her.
“There is not much of her, but she has a tonne of heart and it was a great win.
“She was off the bit most of the way, she didn’t really travel, but there was strong tempo in the race and she just kept finding the line.
“She got a beautiful run through and it is nice when you are on one that is going quicker than the gaps. I peered up when I straightened and I could see Tofane up there and I thought ‘I know it’s going to take me everywhere I want to go.’
“She got the split and she was great in the end.”
The filly is out of the unraced mare Libretto (Singspiel) – who retired from broodmare duties last year – making her a three-quarter sister to Listed winner Metastasio (Street Cry), while Libretto also produced Librettista (Elusive Quality) – the dam of Listed winner Frenzified (Yeats).
Meanwhile, the filly’s second dam is Group 3 winner and high-class producer Truly Special (Caerleon) – the dam of Group 2 winner Wareed (Sadler’s Wells) and Grade 2 winner Truly A Dream (Darshaan) – the dam of Group 2 winner Dream Peace (Dansili).
Truly A Dream also produced Truly Yours (Barathea), who in turn foaled Listed-winning pair True To Form (Rock Of Gibraltar) and Truly Mine (Rock Of Gibraltar) with the latter the dam of Group 3 winner Only Mine (Pour Moi).
Truly Special also foaled Solo De Lune (Law Society) – the dam of Group 1 winner Cerulean Sky (Darshaan), herself the dam of Listed winner Honolulu (Montjeu).
Cerulean Sky is the granddam of Group 2 winner Royal Beach (Whipper) and Group 3-winning pair Mayhem (Whipper) and Memphis Tennessee (Hurricane Run).
Solo De Lune’s other daughter, Moonstone (Dalakhani), produced Group 3-winning trio Nelson (Frankel), US Army Ranger (Galileo) and Words (Dansili) as well as Listed scorers Stubbs (Danehill Dancer) and Nevis (Dansili).
Moonstone’s Listed-winning three-quarter sister L’Ancresse (Darshaan) also produced Listed-winning pair Master Of Reality (Frankel) and Chamonix (Galileo).
Paul Moroney and Armando Duarte teamed up to buy placed mare Princess Siyouni (Siyouni), who is out of Libretto’s half-sister to Librettista (Elusive Quality), for 12,000 guineas at last week’s Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale from Mick Quinn’s Chestnut Tree Stables draft.
Colette is one of three stakes winners and the only Group 1 winner for Hallowed Crown (Street Sense), who stood his first five seasons at stud at Darley and he is covering his second book of mare’s at Olly Tait’s Twin Hills Stud at a fee of $11,000 (inc GST).
I’m Thunderstruck flies home in Golden Eagle
Following his last-start victory in the Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m), there had been hype surrounding I’m Thunderstruck’s (Shocking) bid to snare victory in the lucrative Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill and yesterday he showed he deserved every bit of the fanfare when swooping late to narrowly clinch a win in the $7.5 million contest.
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained four-year-old had to dig deep under Hugh Bowman, eventually grabbing the lead in the shadow of the winning post to beat Count De Rupee (Real Impact) by a neck. Vangelic (Vancouver) finished third, a further length and a half adrift.
Yesterday’s victory was the son of Shocking’s (Street Cry) sixth from nine starts, which has seen him accrue $5,005,150 in career prize-money.
This latest win comes less than 15 months after the gelding broke his maiden at Caulfield on January 13 at the beginning of the year and Bowman said the four-year-old possessed all the traits which could see him establish himself among the best milers in the country.
“I balanced him up and when I went for him, he found,” Bowman said.
“But at about the 200 metres he swapped legs and I just had to sit there while he got himself organised.
“Honestly, I was a passenger. He just took me to the line and I just made a point of not getting in his way and he delivered in spades.”
Bowman notched up his 100th elite-level race when steering Montefilia (Kermadec) to victory in front of an empty grandstand in the Metropolitan (Gr 1, 2400m) earlier in the month and, despite not holding Group 1 status, Bowman said the Golden Eagle win felt as special as any elite-level victory, made more memorable given that crowds were back at Rosehill after a long hiatus due to Sydney’s lockdown.
“It’s as good as any Group 1, I can assure you of that,” Bowman said.
“I won the Group 1 with Montefilia but there was no-one there, so it really lacked emotion and for me, it was a personal milestone. Having the people here and my family just really makes it.”
Mick Price – who was watching the win from Melbourne – said he was not surprised to see the gelding keep finding more under pressure in the closing stages of the contest.
“He always has to fight doesn’t he? He would have won by further and cleaner and easier if he had had a nice run in the race, but always he’s had to fight his way out and then finish off,” Price said.
Raced by Terry Henderson’s OTI Racing, I’m Thunderstruck (4 g Shocking – Primadonna Girl by Edenwold) is one of two winners out of Primadonna Girl (Edenwold) and he is the only stakes winner in three generations of his family.
Further back, the gelding’s fourth dam is Listed-placed Mink Goddess (Godswalk) – the dam of Group 2 scorer Reno Belle (Balmerino) and Listed winner Disco Bob (Royal Academy).
In 2019 Primadonna Girl produced a brother to I’m Thunderstruck, before producing a colt by Windsor Park shuttler Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit) the following season and she has most recently been covered by Waikato Stud-based sire Ocean Park (Thorn Park).
I’m Thunderstruck is one of 15 stakes winners and two Group 1 winners for his Rich Hill-based sire Shocking and he is standing for a fee of $8,500 (plus GST).