Lilac blooms in stakes company at Caulfield
Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald’s bold decision to throw the unexposed filly Lilac (Justify) into stakes company paid off when she delivered a hard-fought performance to win Saturday’s Jim Moloney Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Caulfield.
The daughter of Justify (Scat Daddy) finished fourth on her only start as a juvenile, before opening her account on her seasonal debut in a 1200-metre maiden at Wyong and was then seen finishing second in a Benchmark 64 (1200m) at Warwick Farm on September 4.
Ridden by Mark Zahra for the first time on Saturday, Lilac stayed on bravely, finishing 0.2 lengths ahead of Declichy Boulevard (Snitzel), who was third behind the winner last-start. Too Darn Lizzie (Too Darn Hot) was a further two lengths away in third.
Lilac was bought by her trainer and co-owners Champion Thoroughbreds for $300,000 from the Curraghmore draft out of Book 1 of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka yearling sale last year. The filly’s ownership also includes her breeders Coolmore, among others, and Neasham was delighted with the result, especially given it was the first she had saddled a stakes winner for Jason Abrahams’ Champion Thoroughbreds.
“It was great to get a stakes win for some fantastic connections for Champion Thoroughbreds and Coolmore are in there as well,” said Neasham.
“She’s a well bred filly so to get that stakes win is really pleasing. She makes her own luck as she is so good out of the gates, although I thought we were going to get nabbed late, but it was a brilliant ride by Mark.”
Neasham and Archibald formed a training partnership at the beginning of the season and have been enjoying a brilliant start, saddling 29 winners so far, and Lilac provided them a third stakes win.
Zahra was impressed with the performance and was particularly taken with the acceleration the filly showed when he asked her in the straight.
“It worked out well, she was good out of the gates and I felt like we had the leader covered all the way, she was about a length and a half off and relaxed and it was just a matter of when to ask her to quicken and she did,” he said.
Lilac is out of the stakes-placed winner Paulownia (Fastnet Rock), who is herself a sister to Group 1 winner Foxwedge and Listed scorer She’s A Fox. Paulownia also counts Banksia (Redoute’s Choice), the dam of Group 2 scorer Bank Maur (Maurice) and stakes winner Namesake (Maurice), among her three-quarter siblings.
Paulownia’s Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) filly, now named Agarwood, sold out of the Coolmore Stud draft for $420,000 to Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Bruce Slade’s Kestrel Thoroughbreds at this year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Paulownia produced a colt by Coolmore’s dual Group 1 winner Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) last year.
Paulownia was exported to the US last April and will be covered by Justify on southern hemisphere time at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.
In winning Saturday’s stakes contest, Lilac not only became Justify’s 37th individual stakes winner – and sixth in Australia – but also shows the success when the stallion is mated with daughters of Fastnet Rock. This cross has now produced five individual stakes winners including valuable Group 2-winning colt Storm Boy and fellow Group 2 winner Learning To Fly, who, like Lilac, was trained by Neasham.
Justify shuttled to Australia in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023, but did not return this season.