Shangri La Express gifts Alabama Express golden day
Yulong stallion Alabama Express’s (Redoute’s Choice) ballistic start as a sire continued in stunning fashion at Rosehill yesterday when Shangri La Express seized early Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) favouritism with a courageous victory in the $1 million Inglis Golden Gift (1100m).
Just two days after scoring his first stakes winner amongst just four runners when filly Karavas took the Ottawa Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m), Alabama Express shot to the top of Australia’s two-year-old sires’ table, and extended his lead among debutant stallions, with yesterday’s win Shangri La Express’s second win from two starts.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained colt was even more impressive than in his two-and-a-half length debut win in the Kirkham Plate (1000m) at Randwick on October 21. While he led that seven-horse field throughout from gate six, yesterday the well-supported $2.10 favourite drove up to cross from barrier 12 of 14, took the lead at the 600 metres, and despite his hard early work held off all challengers in the straight to win by a length-and-a-quarter, in a slick time of 1:03.95.
Bred by Yulong and sold to his trainers and Bruce Slade’s Kestrel Thoroughbreds for $220,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Shangri La Express became the first horse qualified for next year’s Slipper, with bookmakers last night propelling him to the top of the market.
Second home yesterday was the fast-finishing second-starter Rue De Royale (Per Incanto), a Little Avondale-bred colt who was a $180,000 purchase by Tony and Calvin McEvoy and Belmont Bloodstock from Sledmere Stud’s draft at Inglis Classic.
Third, a further length back, was Team Snowden-trained Volatile (Snitzel), a Belinda Bateman-bred colt sold at the Gold Coast from Newgate Farm’s draft for $550,000 to the China Horse Club-Newgate-Trilogy triumvirate.
Shangri La Express’s victory continued the dizzying early forays for the Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m)-winning Alabama Express, the seven-year-old is now standing his fourth season at Yulong, for $22,000 (inc GST).
His first three runners comprised debut winners in Karavas and Shangri La Express as well as Accelar, who crossed from the outside gate of ten and was beaten on the bob in her debut over 1000 metres at Doomben last month.
Thursday’s Group victory by Richard and Chantelle Jolly’s Yulong-bred Karavas came in just the fourth outing of Alabama Express stock, while Shangri La Express’s $580,000 payday yesterday was the sixth.
“You couldn’t ask for a better start at stud,” Yulong CEO Sam Fairgray told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He’s by a champion sire who had sired champion sires. The similarities between him and his sire are uncanny, but he’s started faster than his own sire did,” said Fairgray, who worked closely with Redoute’s Choice in his years at Arrowfield Stud.
“It’s fantastic for Yulong, to have an emerging young stallion and to have bred his two best progeny to date is great testament to our systems on the farm and the land they’re reared on.”
Shangri La Express (2 c Alabama Express – Sent From Above by Lonhro) is the second foal out of winning Lonhro (Octogonal) mare Sent From Above, a daughter of quadruple stakes-winning mare Gamble Me (Rock Of Gibraltar). Sent From Above now has a Written Tycoon (Iglesia) yearling colt headed to the Inglis Classic sale, a weeks-old sister to Shangri La Express, and – Fairgray revealed – the mare will be covered again by Alabama Express today [Saturday].
Co-trainer Adrian Bott was naturally delighted with yesterday’s win, the prize-money from which alone will guarantee Shangri La Express a start in the $5 million Golden Slipper at Rosehill on March 18.
“It was an excellent win,” Bott said. “He had to do it pretty hard from that wide gate but he’s a natural two-year-old, he shows good early speed and sustained speed.
“He’s got that great ability to be able to quicken off that. He did that first-up and he’s been able to put in an even stronger performance second-up today. He has all the makings of a top class two-year-old.”
While Shangri La Express is a Magic Millions horse, Bott said he was no certainty for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 13 en route to the Slipper.
“The Golden Slipper is the number one aim and we will work back from there,” he said.
“We have a bit of thinking to do. If we believe this colt can handle it, we will look at the Magic Millions. We need to see whether there’s enough in the tank to do it all, or whether we just focus on the Slipper.”
Bookmakers have Shangri La Express at $11 in Slipper betting ahead of Team Snowden’s Bodyguard (I Am Invincible, $15). Three more juveniles from the Sydney premiership-leading Waterhouse-Bott stable are around $21 – Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) quinella Espionage (Zoustar) and Straight Charge (Written By) and Warwick Farm debut winner Sovereign Hill (Written Tycoon).
“It’s easy to forget those early season two-year-olds like the Breeders’ Plate winner Espionage,” Bott said. “Shangri La Express and Espionage are two very different types of two-year-olds but they are both obviously very talented.
“We have a very strong team of two-year-olds this season and it is pleasing they are all coming out and racing very well.
“There might even be a couple more that we haven’t seen yet that can come out and make their mark, too.”
Rider Regan Bayliss called Shangri La Express “a super colt” after a victory which defied his mounting yard condition.
“It’s a very hot day here today – he absolutely melted in the mounting enclosure and again behind the barriers. One of them pulled a shoe and he really got hot and bothered,” Bayliss said.
“So, to overcome that, and the wide barrier, was a credit to him but I’m convinced we haven’t seen the best of this colt.
“He does everything that you ask of him. He looks like a finished product now but he is not, he’s open to further improvement – we’re going to see a really nice colt in the autumn.”