Moir Stakes on the radar of Lightning Lucky
The sire phenomenon that is Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) again showed his potent prowess in the breeding shed and may have another future star to add to his progeny CV, after the Will Clarken-trained Extremely Lucky (3 g ex Tamarind Lane by Stratum) delivered an outstanding performance to swoop from last to first and win yesterday’s Lightning Stakes (Listed, 1050m) at Morphettville.
On the final weekend before his first crop turn four tomorrow, the Newgate stallion, sire of Group 1-winning two-year-olds Stay Inside and She’s Extreme, earned his eighth individual stakes winner from just 43 runners. His list of elite-level winners could soon grow with Extremely Lucky to be aimed at the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) at Moonee Valley on September 23.
The gelding earned a first stakes success at start five when cornering wide before soaring away from the field yesterday, winning by a length ahead of $51 shot Calla Dream (Rubick) and Kallos (Medaglia D’Oro), who was two and a quarter lengths behind the winner in third.
It was a second successive win in the race for Clarken and rider Todd Pannell after victory with Beau Rossa (Unencumbered) a year ago.
“He takes my breath away a little bit, this horse,” Clarken said. “He’s so quiet and composed. You’d walk past him in a box every time. He’s no oil painting, but he’s just got an amazing change of gear and I hope that he can go to where I think he can.
“I wanted to run him [today] so we’ve got a bit of time. There’s about a month before either the Carlyon (Stakes) or the McEwan Stakes and then that’ll go into the Moir and from the Moir, if he’s going good enough, we can go from there.”
Extremely Lucky justified the investment in him by Clarken and bloodstock agent Suman Hedge, the pair having moved swiftly for the three-year-old after watching his dominant debut win at Murray Bridge in December when trained by local handler Sam Burford.
The horse returned in April to finish an unfortunate second at Morphettville and was again out of luck in finishing fifth when held up in the straight in the Tobin Bronze Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) in May. However, given clear air at his next start, the gelding showed his undoubted potential, running clear by over four lengths to win a benchmark 72 contest over 1050 metres at Adelaide’s metropolitan circuit.
“He’s quite an untapped horse. We were really drawn to him when he made his debut late last year. The acceleration and turn of foot that he showed was something you don’t often see,” Hedge told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“Everything that he does at home in Will Clarken’s stable is of a very high quality. You try in this industry not to get too far ahead of yourself and get too excited as quite often it doesn’t materialise or things go wrong, but we are very excited by this horse. It’s hard to put a ceiling on where he could get to.
“With his racing pattern where he gets back, there’ll be days where things will be unlucky for him. That’s just what happens with that style of horse.
“After his first two races [with us] people were making jokes about how we should change his name to Extremely Unlucky. You’ve got to be a little philosophical and understand that can happen, but hopefully it won’t happen in a really important race.”
Extremely Lucky was bred by veteran South Australian breeder Brenton Parker, in whose silks he ran his first race.
Out of the unraced Tamarind Lane (Stratum), herself a half-sister to Group 1 winner Zip Zip Aray (Bellotto) and Group 1 runner-up Zipanese (Bellotto), Extremely Lucky is the fourth winner from four to race from the mare, who was also purchased by Extremely Lucky’s new owners.
The gelding is bred on a unique 3Sx3S cross to Redoute’s Choice (Snitzel), the first horse to derive from such a mating.
As a yearling, Extremely Lucky was twice withdrawn from public auction, initially at the Magic Millions in January and then at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, due to a faulty scope that prevented his sale.
However, the evidence of his two-and-a-quarter-length debut success was too enticing for Hedge and Clarken, who took the ‘calculated risk’ of concluding the deal.
“I was just watching the race [debut run at Murray Bridge] and then I spoke to a friend of mine, Matt Upton [breaker at Widden Stud] and he’d seen it as well and we discussed it. It was just very hard not to notice. It was just such an exhilarating turn of foot that he showed,” Hedge said.
“Will Clarken and I were looking at some horses to buy from overseas, but Will has had some success with tried horses himself. I rang Will and he looked at the replay and was equally taken by it. Fortunately, he had a friendship with Sam Burford, and he got in touch with him.
“We then got the background to the horse and his bad scope and had to make a decision as to whether we wanted to pursue making an offer, given that information.
“We thought about it and spoke to some clients and explained to them that it wasn’t without a risk. But there’s been some really good horses in the past that have not been straightforward and had issues with the wind, including Nature Strip.
“In the end we could have sold him eight times over. The video was so compelling.”
For Hedge, who this year has again worked with the Victorian Alliance in selecting their yearlings, as well as engaging in the pinhook market, it was a first foray into the domestic tried horse scene and it is unlikely to be the last, with the agent seeking to scour the racetracks of Australia more fervently after watching his purchase enter calculations for spring carnival success.
“I haven’t been in that part of the market previously. Because I’m not a punter, I haven’t been as compelled to watch racing 24/7 like some people do. A lot of my compatriots who are bloodstock agents, they’re very good with form and they watch races studiously,” Hedge said.
“I’m definitely going to put more effort into it. I think as a bloodstock agent you have to constantly evolve and look at different angles, because things dry up and are changing all the time. Once you start being comfortable with what you’re doing, you start falling behind, so we will try, but it’s a very difficult market that’s highly competitive.”