Marquee Stud’s Alati labels Millennium hope Paris Dior as a ‘special’ filly
Sister to classy Peter and Paul Snowden-trained juvenile to be offered at Inglis Classic Yearling Sale
Bookmaker and breeder Mark Alati will be keeping Paris Dior (Pierro) on his side of the ledger when the promising two-year-old, a filly bred and raised at his Hunter Valley farm Marquee Stud, contests Saturday’s Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m).
The Marquee Stud principal will be trackside at Randwick for the $2 million feature and he believes the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained filly, a last-start Canterbury winner, can upstage race favourite Sejardan (Sebring) in the rich Inglis sales-restricted contest.
Champion jockey James McDonald will maintain his association with the filly, having guided her to her maiden victory on January 7 at just her second start, and corporate bookmakers agree she is the danger to the market leader, installing her as a $4 chance behind the Gary Portelli-trained Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) winner Sejardan ($3.50).
Her breeders Steve Wilde and Bill Hilton, who passed Paris Dior in with a reserve of $300,000 at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, also have a big opinion of the filly, having already rejected substantial offers for the daughter of Pierro (Lonhro), after she burst onto the scene last month.
“She is a potential superstar. She really is a pretty special filly, I think,” Alati told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“She should have won her first start against one of those boom colts, Man In The Mirror, a $1.8 million yearling. She should have knocked him over and she was pretty dominant at Canterbury. James McDonald stays on and that wouldn’t be a decision taken lightly given that (Chris) Waller’s got some in the race.
“James really didn’t let her go (at Canterbury). She’d had one trial leading into Warwick Farm and then second-up she was very dominant. She’s going to be a better three-year-old and I wish I owned her.”
Alati said “untidy knees” prevented Paris Dior from finding new owners, leading to her being passed in at last year’s Easter sale.
“She had good x-rays and everything, but she had physitis. She had untidy looking knees. They are just growth plates – she was going through a growth spurt at the time,” he said.
“While physically they were all fine, it just looked a little untidy which I think turned a few buyers off her.
“They had a $300,000 reserve on her and, as the vendor, I thought that was realistic but she was passed in.
“Both the guys are not on the breadline, so to speak, so they thought, ‘we’ll race her’ and they’re pretty happy they did.”
Marquee Stud, armed with a draft of one, will offer the sister to Paris Dior at the Inglis Classic Sale, the filly slated to go through the ring late on Monday as Lot 533.
Alati has little doubt Entrancing (Exceed And Excel), who was trained by Garry Frazer and later Phillip Stokes, will be a valuable money spinner for Wilde and Hilton.
“The full-sister was accepted to Magic Millions, but they made the decision to go to Classic because they figured their filly Paris Dior might’ve had a couple more starts and they’ll look like geniuses if she knocks off the Millennium,” Alati said.
“They’ve got the mare Entrancing at the farm, so she will just be the gift that keeps on giving every year.”
The yearling is the second foal out of five-time winner Entrancing, herself a three-quarter-sister to the Group 2 and 3-placed juvenile Miss West Coast (Safeguard), who is also from the same family as stakes winner Nanny Maroon (Alquoz) and her daughter, the Group 2-winning sprinter De Lightning Ridge (Tale Of The Cat).
Etrancing has a Lonhro (Octagonal) colt at foot and is in foal to Kitchwin Hills’ first season sire Graff (Star Witness), a stallion Wilde has a share in.
The emergence of Paris Dior was also an important milestone for Marquee Stud, who also sold dual Everest-winning sprinter Redzel (Snitzel) as a yearling.
“I am over the moon because she was born and raised at Marquee. I sold Redzel, but he wasn’t born on my farm – we bought him as a weanling,” Alati said.
“So, it is really nice to have a product like her to come off the farm – it’s good for the farm’s reputation as well and I am rapt for the guys.
“They put a lot into racing and they deserve any success they get.”
Alati will be watching the Millennium from his Randwick bookmakers’ stand and he’ll make sure he has multiple reasons to ensure Paris Dior is his number one result.
“I’ll be very reluctant to lay her, put it that way,” he said.