She Brings Joy Another Major Winner For Sebring
Relishing a step up in distance from her last start seventh behind Volpe Veloce (Foxwedge) in the Eight Carat Classic (Gr 2, 1600m) on Boxing Day, She Brings Joy is now on a New Zealand Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) path and her pedigree on both sides suggests 2400 metres against her own age and sex at level weights should be well within her capabilities.
She Brings Joy is the 23rd individual stakes winner for her Widden Stud sire Sebring (More Than Ready), an outstanding two-year-old never tried beyond 1600 metres but already sire of Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Criterion, earner of more than $7,300,000, and Australian Horse of the Year and top miler Dissident, both of whom now stand as stallions at Newgate Farm in NSW.
The stakes success for She Brings Joy focuses attention on the 39 Sebring yearlings catalogued for next week’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and on her Savabeel (Zabeel) half-brother catalogued as Lot 212 https://nzb.co.nz/sales/pedigree.cfm?sale_id=194&lot=212 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Premier Yearling Sale at Karaka on 30 January.
Bred and raced by Valachi Downs owner Kevin Hickman, She Brings Joy is trained by Stephen Marsh.
Her sire Sebring is proving versatile and capable of leaving good winners of either sex over a variety of distances, including precocious juveniles like himself. Sebring continues the exceptional stud success achieved by winners of the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), starting with inaugural winner Todman (Star Kingdom) and continuing with champion sires Vain (Wilkes), Marscay (Biscay) and Flying Spur (Danehill) supported strongly by a number of others such as Baguette (Rego), Luskin Star (Kaoru Star), Rory’s Jester (Crown Jester), Marauding (Sir Tristram), Canny Lad (Bletchingly), Danzero (Danehill), Catbird (Danehill) and Stratum (Redoute’s Choice).
In The Mood (Hawk Wing), dam of She Brings Joy, was bred in Ireland and racing predominantly in Britain and was placed as a three-year-old in 2009. Her winning dam Grecian Glory (Zafonic) produced four winners in Europe but none with the class of Grecian Urn (Ela-Mana-Mou), third dam of She Brings Joy.
As you will see from the accompanying catalogue pedigree, Grecian Urn was a multiple stakes winner in France who also placed in seven other stakes races, two at Group One level. At stud Grecian Urn bred eight winners from nine foals to race, among them Listed winners Grecian Dart (Darshaan) and Dark Shell (Darshaan).
Sea Singer (Sea Bird), the fourth dam of She Brings Joy, was also a performer of quality, a Group One placegetter and dam of two stakes winners, both by Ela-Mana-Mou (Pitcairn).
She Brings Joy’s maternal grandsire Hawk Wing (Woodman) was a racehorse of the highest class who earned a peak Timeform rating of 136 but he was a grave disappointment as a sire.
Hawk Wing spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons at Coolmore in NSW but none of the 138 live foals he left in Australia was able to win a stakes race although two of his foals born in Ireland, Stand To Gain and Hawk Island, won stakes events when imported here, Stand To Gain taking the 2011 ATC Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m).
Woodman (Mr Prospector), the superbly bred sire of Hawk Wing who in no way resembled him, also stood for five seasons (1997 to 2001) at Coolmore in the Hunter Valley, arriving as a rising 15-year-old. He received great support from breeders in Australia but his results were way below his achievements in the Northern Hemisphere.
Woodman has some 100 stakes winners worldwide but his most enduring contribution to the breed is as maternal grandsire of more than 205 stakes winners, 30 at Group/Grade One level, among them Sebring’s father More Than Ready (Southern Halo), a champion sire of two-year-olds in both Australia and the United States.
She Brings Joy is linebred to Woodman, a champion two-year-old, 4f x 3m and carries two other lines of his great sire Mr. Prospector (Raise A Native).
Also in her background are two daughters of the great racehorse Sea Bird (Timeform 145) in Sea Saga and Sea Singer.