Smart Snitzel filly kept from public auction makes mark in Thousand Guineas
Yearning could be Oaks bound after coming from last to land fillies Group 1
The upset Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) win of Yearning (Snitzel) did not come as a surprise to her prominent group of owners, leaving co-breeder and part-owner John Messara to declare the spring far from over, believing that the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) was within the filly’s grasp.
The result for trainers Hawkes Racing and Arrowfield Stud in yesterday’s three-year-old fillies race, now back in its traditional place on the Wednesday of the Caulfield Cup carnival, was the biggest result so far to emerge from the crop of yearlings withdrawn by Messara from the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale at the height of the first wave of Covid-19 in April 2020.
“She and (Spring Champion Stakes winner) Profondo are out of that same season for us. They are starting to roll out those horses, from Magics and the missed sale at Easter and she’s one out of the missed sale who we syndicated (privately),” a jubilant Messara said last night.
“(Yearning) and (Group 3 winner) Mallory are from that (Easter draft), so there were some good horses in that bunch and there’s still more to be seen.
“Look, it is not the outcome we chose, but we were stuck with that outcome and we did the best that we could in the circumstances.
“We have got a number of other very well bred ones, too, so that’s been a positive out of all of this. You take into account the increased value of some of those and we’re going to probably square off OK.”
Ridden by Damien Thornton, Yearning ($26) scored by a length over her Edward Manifold Stakes (Gr 2, 1610m) conqueror Elusive Express (Jakkalberry) ($9.50) with Barb Raider (Rebel Raider) ($7.50) one and three-quarter lengths away in third place.
“When you buy these high-class fillies, with the big pedigree, the owners put in a lot, a lot of money,” Wayne Hawkes said.
“It’s good for those expensive horses to actually win. There’s a lot of owners that buy at the top end and a lot of the top end ones don’t actually make the grade, so it’s nice to nail a good one.
“I really want to thank the owners, though. All the owners have done a great job and John Messara would be sitting up there at Arrowfield and gone nuts, I reckon.”
The VRC Oaks looms as a likely target but Hawkes would not rule out keeping Yearning, a Newcastle maiden winner on September 17, fresh for the Empire Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) against the mares at Flemington on Derby Day.
“We just wanted to see how she’d run today,” Hawkes said.
“Her run the other day was good (in the Edward Manifold). She got held up and then she let rip and the truth of the matter is that when she hit the front she half got lost.
“She was on her Sydney leg the whole way whereas today she was on her Melbourne leg.
“Her mum is a Caulfield Cup runner-up, so they are decisions that you have to go home and think about, so the stock answer is we’ll go home and see how she pulls up.
“People always think ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ but the truth of the matter is that she’s done now.
“Whatever she does now is a bonus for the owners. It’s game, set and match.”
Yearning is the first foal out of Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Rising Romance (Ekraar), a mare Arrowfield Stud bought privately in partnership with Japanese powerhouse Northern Farm for about $900,0000 at the completion of her racing career.
Her second foal, also by champion stallion Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), sold for $2.5 million to the Hawkes’ at this year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and connections have their sights set on a big autumn with the colt named Magic, who has barrier trialled twice recently in Sydney.
“(Yearning) was more a fine, scopey type and he was the more early going, sprinting type. It’s funny, the same mare, by the same stallion and both of them are quite different, but I think both are going to prove to be quite talented,” Arrowfield Stud chairman Messara said.
“We were happy with the trial. He was a bit green and he has been tipped out now. He will come back for the autumn and hopefully be in a decent race or two.”
As for Rising Romance, runner-up in the 2014 Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m), there’s no prizes for guessing who she will be covered by this year, for the fifth year in succession.
“Well, would you go anywhere else but Snitzel? Close your eyes and go to Snitzel. She will be married to him until Kingdom come, I’d say,” Messara says.
Yearning, who included among her ownership is Arrowfield, Peter Collier and agent Andrew Williams, was tried in the Percy Sykes Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) as a juvenile and it was not until her third run back this campaign before she broke through for her first win but Messara remained confident in her ability.
“We just took our time with her because being out of that mare, Rising Romance, she was never going to be precocious even though she had Snitzel blood in her,” he said.
“I always looked at her as a Guineas and Oaks filly and she’s achieved part of it now. We are happy with what we’ve got, we won’t be greedy, but if she stays well she can go one step further.”
Rising Romance has a yearling colt by Snitzel and is due to foal again to the champion Arrowfield sire.
Extreme Warrior stamps himself a serious Coolmore contender after Blue Sapphire romp
Extreme Warrior (3 c Extreme Choice – Heart Of Thrills by Show A Heart) has rocketed to the top of betting for the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) after an emphatic performance at Caulfield even if the manner of the victory left co-trainer Mick Price in a quandary about how to turn around the fortunes of his high-profile stablemate Profiteer (Capitalist).
Yesterday’s Blue Sapphire Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), an audition for the “stallion-making” Coolmore down the Flemington straight on Derby Day, saw one-time Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) fancy Extreme Warrior dent the spring hopes of his rivals including Profiteer.
“A quinella is a quinella and they both ran well,” said Price, who completed the Blue Sapphire-Coolmore double with Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) in 2016.
“I’ve just got to keep thinking about Profiteer, but Extreme Warrior was very good.
“If these are the horses that are going to the Coolmore and this is the race that you use, why wouldn’t you be confident about Extreme Warrior?
“He stood up and stood up very strongly. He wasn’t challenged and ran a strong 1200 metres and will turn up in the Coolmore.”
Profiteer was allowed to cruise to the lead without much pressure from barrier two under Jye McNeil as rival jockeys Luke Currie on Ranveer (Winning Rupert) ($17) and Damian Lane on Scissor Step (Toronado) ($11) chose not to attempt to cross the sprinter early.
His stablemate Extreme Warrior settled behind the pace and, as Profiteer kicked clear, the gap opened and the lightly raced colt exploded to score by three and three-quarter lengths.
Profiteer was good enough to hold second, with Minsk Moment (I Am Invincible) another three and a quarter lengths away in third.
Price and his co-trainer Mick Kent Jnr had added ear muffs and a cross-over noseband to Profiteer yesterday in order to help him relax after being taken on in the A J Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) last month when finishing two and a half lengths behind The Everest (1200m) contender Wild Ruler (Snitzel).
The senior member of the training partnership has not given up hope of Profiteer being a force in the Coolmore.
“Let’s hope the stablemate is going to go up and up and up, and that Profiteer has been beaten by a very smart horse,” Price said.
“There’s a little bit of work to do on that one though but I certainly don’t want to give up because the Coolmore is worth so much being a stallion.
“I’ll be no doubt thinking about this at 1am tomorrow sitting bolt upright.”
While the owners of Profiteer may be scratching their heads, it is not the case for the connections of Extreme Warrior, including Rosemont Stud’s Anthony Mithen and Nigel Austin who bought into the colt shortly before his two-start summer campaign when he was runner-up in the Blue Diamond Preview (C&G) (Listed, 1000m) and fifth in the Prelude (Gr 3, 1100m).
Extreme Warrior, who was unable to get to the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) in February, returned from a lengthy spell with a four-and-a-quarter-length maiden win at Echuca on October 1 and backed it up with an even more impressive effort yesterday.
He is the $5 favourite for the Coolmore after being as much as $81 prior to the Blue Sapphire.
But Rosemont’s belief in Extreme Warrior may not come as a surprise given they outlaid $1.2 million for his half-sister by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) at this year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. She has been named Skidamarink but has not yet been sent to a trainer.
The valuable Extreme Warrior, meanwhile, is a half-brother Listed winner Thrillster (Starspangledbanner) and the stakes-placed Free Thrills (Unencumbered), with the trio all out of grand producer Heart Of Thrills (Show A Heart), herself a three-quarter sister to Gotta Have Heart and fellow stakes winner Crossyourheart, the dam of Group 3 winner Swear (Redoute’s Choice).
Heart Of Thrills, who was purchased by Steve Morley Bloodstock for $200,000 at the 2018 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale, had a colt on September 2 by champion sire Written Tycoon (Iglesia) after being given a year off in 2019.