Savabeel’s son Mo’unga adds to stallion appeal with Winx Stakes win
Options aplenty for Neasham’s dual Group 1 winner after Randwick victory
A first-up Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) victory by Mo’unga, his second at the highest level, assures the son of New Zealand’s champion sire Savabeel (Zabeel) a career at stud but at what farm or even what country that will be in remains unanswered.
Yesterday’s Randwick success in the first Group 1 of the new Australian racing season proved an important one for Mo’unga given the commercial realities of the stallion business.
The Tony Fung-owned four-year-old won the Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) in the autumn but winning a 1400-metre Group 1 race, and defeating star mare Verry Elleegant (Zed) in the process, reminded breeders of his speed in a market which gravitates towards sprinters.
Shane McGrath, the manager of Fung’s racing interests, is certain Mo’unga can follow in the footsteps of other colts raced by the Hong Kong owner in Golden Slipper winner Farnan (Not A Single Doubt), Anders (Not A Single Doubt) and Prague (Redoute’s Choice) by finding a home a stud.
“He wintered really well up at the farm at Canungra (in Queensland), he had the sun on his back, and he’s gone from an immature colt into a proper stallion. That is a proper weight–for–age, seven–furlong Group 1 first-up. It is everything we were hoping for,” McGrath said yesterday.
“Our whole business model is built around identifying colts with pedigrees that can be stallion prospects and I think he’s franked that now.
“The beautiful headache for the whole team now is, where does he go now? Does he go to a Golden Eagle? Initially, you might have thought he was a Cox Plate horse, but now the Golden Eagle comes into the mix.
“That’s the beauty of race programming here in Australia, it provides so many conundrums when you’ve got a good horse. We are just thankful that we have a good horse because we’ve always felt that he was the real deal and I think today he’s shown everyone what we’ve thought privately.”
Ridden by Tommy Berry, the Annabel Neasham-trained Mo’unga stalked Verry Elleegant in the run then peeled off her back and outlasted the mare to the line to get the decision by a head.
Stayer She’s Ideel (Dundeel) flashed home from last to grab third in an eyecatching performance ahead of a wall of horses, including Japanese import Keiai Nautique (Deep Impact) (fourth) and Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Cascadian (New Approach) (fifth).
Brandenburg (Burgundy), a winner of $1.25 million for trainer John Sargent and part-owner Seymour Bloodstock’s Darren Thomas, suffered a fatal injury 100 metres from the finish line, which caused jockey Rachel King to hit the turf, just as he was about to fight out the finish with Verry Elleegant and Mo’unga.
Thankfully, King was able to walk back to the jockeys’ room but she had to forgo her final two rides on the Randwick card.
“I’m a bit emotional actually,” Neasham said.
“He looked the winner a long, long way out. He came up outside Verry Elleegant and I knew he was going to be in for a tough battle as she’s such a fighter as well.
“He’s improved a hell of a lot from three-year-old to four-year-old.”
McGrath indicated connections will weigh up where to head next with Mo’unga, mindful of his value as a stallion.
“I suppose in the old days you would have gone to Catalina for a bit of lunch (in Rose Bay, Sydney) on Sunday and everyone would have thrown a few ideas around but it will probably be a Zoom meeting now between trainer, owner and jockey,” he said.
“As I said, the Golden Eagle has to come into consideration. I see he’s shortened in the market for the Epsom. We were hoping for a really big run first-up and he’s done that and more and he’s a stallion prospect for anyone going forward.
“We have just to plot a course. I’d love to know what Tommy thought when he let him go because it looked like he had a proper sprinter-miler underneath him.”
When Mo’unga does eventually go to stud, he will be Savabeel’s third Group 1 winner to retire to stud following Cool Aza Beel, who won the Sistema Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) for Te Akau, and New Zealand 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Embellish.
Embellish enters his third season at Cambridge Stud in 2021 while Cool Aza Beel will stand his first season at Newhaven Park in Boorowa this year.
“I think Savabeel’s quite an interesting sire because, if you actually look through his numbers, he’s a very good sire of sprinter-milers and I am not convinced that is the perception (by the market),” McGrath said.
“This horse might change it because this horse might be a sprinter-miler. The way he’s going at the moment I think he’d be an appealing horse for plenty of commercial operations.
“From Tony Fung’s point of view, he’s put an awful lot of money into the game and he’s shown that he’s a commercial operator and, thankfully, he’s got another good horse to think about tonight.”
Mo’unga was bought by Fung’s Aquis Farm for NZ$325,000 at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale from the Waikato Stud draft. Now a winner of five of his ten starts and $1.05 million in prize-money, Mo’unga is out of the Group 3-placed Kiwi mare Chandelier (O’Reilly), who is a sister to the Group 2 winner Irlanda and a half-sister to Go Our Kingi (Desert King), a Listed-placed Hong Kong winner.
He is also from the same family as Group 1 winner Chenille (Pentire) and Group 2 winner Chintz (Savabeel), herself the dam of Group 2 winner Not An Option (Not A Single Doubt), a four-year-old who is now in training with Mike Moroney in Melbourne.
Chandelier has an unnamed two-year-old sister and yearling brother to Mo’unga and she is due to foal to Waikato Stud’s new sire Super Seth (Dundeel) this year.
Star Witness filly too Swift for rivals in Silver Shadow
Gai Waterhouse has locked in the second leg of the Darley Princess Series for yesterday’s Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Swift Witness (Star Witness) but the Hall Of Fame trainer has cautioned about her three-year-old filly’s ability to stretch her brilliance to 1400 metres and beyond.
Swift Witness, who won her way into the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) as an early two-year-old and contested the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), backed up a recent barrier trial win and a three-wide run to take out an action-packed Group 2 event at Randwick.
While the honours went with the Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained filly, the race was marred by a bad fall about the 75-metre mark which saw Xtremetime (Extreme Choice) and her jockey Brenton Avdulla come to grief.
The filly appeared to clip the heels of Jamaea (Headwater), who was also attempting to take a tight inside run in a bunched field in a fall which left Avdulla concussed before being taken to St Vincent’s Hospital. Unfortunately, the John Thompson-trained, Prime Thoroughbreds-raced Xtremetime, a Listed winner at two, was euthanised as a result of her injuries sustained in the incident.
Avdulla, who regained consciousness before he was transported to hospital, was later diagnosed with a fractured C7 vertebra and a small bleed on his brain. Racing NSW stewards have adjourned an inquiry into the fall.
Meanwhile, Swift Witness, who was ridden by Tim Clark, raced in a forward position throughout and was able to maintain her momentum despite a wide run to defeat Latino Blend (Hinchinbrook) ($21) with Four Moves Ahead (Snitzel) ($2.50 fav) a close-up third.
While the lure of the Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), the fourth and final leg of the Darley Princess Series, remains an option for Swift Witness, Waterhouse believes sprinting might be her forte.
“I don’t think she will get out over too far because she is so brilliant,” Waterhouse said.
“We will go to the Furious Stakes next because that is still at 1200 metres. Then we will think about the Tea Rose Stakes and whether we go to the mile for the Flight Stakes.
“But she is a lovely type of tenacious filly that we do so well with, the ones I love to have in our stable.
“She is back with a vengeance and will give them something to chase when they meet again.”
Runner-up in the Reisling Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) in March, Swift Witness has now earned $278,000 in prize-money from her two wins and two placings in six starts.
Raced by a syndicate headed by Francis and Christine Cook, Swift Witness was purchased for $260,000 by Waterhouse and Bott from last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Widden Stud draft.
The trainers, in conjunction with Kestrel Thoroughbreds’ Bruce Slade, went back to the well again this year, buying her brother for $280,000 at the Gold Coast in January.
Swift Witness, a sister to stakes-placed former stablemate Terminology, is the fifth foal out of the winning, city-placed mare Taylor’s Command (Commands), herself a half-sister to the Group 2 winner So Pristine (Zabeel) and Listed winner Restored (Red Ransom).
Sold in foal to Widden Stud’s Star Witness (Starcraft), who will stand at Antony Thompson’s Victorian venture this year, Taylor’s Command was purchased by Pinhook Bloodstock’s Dave Mee and Roger Sousa’s Platinum Breeding and Racing for $250,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in May.
Swift Witness is the 21st individual stakes winner for Star Witness whose sire son Star Turn has also made a promising start to his stud career.
Star Witness stands for an advertised fee of $16,500 (inc. GST) this year.
Fituese a winning tonic for Thompson and O’Neill in Toy Show
John Thompson and syndicator Joe O’Neill’s day took a turn for the better when their talented mare Fituese (Deep Field) took out a competitive Toy Show Quality (Gr 3, 1100m), three races after the pair lost Xtremetime in the Silver Shadow Stakes.
Randwick-based trainer Thompson prepared More Prophets (Hinchinbrook) to win the Gow Gates Handicap (1500m) 40 minutes before Xtremetime suffered a fatal injury but he composed himself to saddle up runners in the Show County Quality (Gr 3, 1200m), the Winx Stakes and then Fituese and Best Stone (I Am Invincible) in the Toy Show.
Fituese ($12), who had already won the Denise’s Joy Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at stakes level last year, settled worse than midfield before unleashing her run to beat Great News (Uncle Mo) ($9.50) by a neck with Tailleur (Shooting To Win) ($5.50) another one and a quarter lengths back in third.
Thompson described the experience as “character building”.
“I feel for the Prime Thoroughbreds owners. It’s the highs and lows, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” Thompson said.
“No one, obviously, wants to see that happen. Thank God the riders are okay, unfortunately the filly wasn’t.
“But they were able to bounce back here with this lovely mare.”
Fituese had raced just twice this year, unplaced runs in May and June, but Thompson freshened the five-year-old up and it paid dividends on a Good 3 Randwick surface yesterday with apprentice Jean Van Overmeire in the saddle.
Van Overmeire earned the late call-up after Rachel King fell from Brandenburg in the Winx Stakes a race earlier.
“I gave him a two-second run down before the race after picking up the ride,” Thompson said.
“Gee, it was 11 out of ten for the ride. I thought it would be hard from that gate. He did very well.”
Fituese, who is now worth many times her $55,000 purchase price, has won seven of her 14 starts and $418,000 in prize-money. The best-performed in her first two dams Cattalo (Tiger Hill) and Mammoth (Marscay), Fituese’s third dam is high-class mare Mannerism (Amyntor), a four-time Group 1 winner with the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) among those on her record.
Fituese, who was sourced by Prime Thoroughbreds’ O’Neill from the 2018 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale, is also from the same family as Group-winning siblings Dandify (Danehill) and Manner Hill (Danehill) with her second dam Mammoth a half-sister to the pair.
Cattalo has a winning four-year-old half-sister to Fituese named Stella Fair (Trade Fair) in training in Perth with Adam Durrant but two fillies by Mahuta (Flying Spur) born in 2018 and 2019 both died.
Cattalo, after a year off, is due to foal to Deep Field (Northern Meteor) in October.