Stylish Farewell
The two New Zealand stakes race winners this week are taking a time out, one permanently. The first, Two Illicit (Jimmy Choux), is heading for the breeding paddock. The second, Bonny Lass (Super Easy) is headed for a well earned rest. Both scored decisively, in Te Rapa’s Travis Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) and Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), respectively.
In a surprise move, sitting much handier than her usual racing pattern, Two Illicit camped in second from the far turn to the home straight but from the 300 metres was always in control to score handsomely, a fitting way to exit her somewhat brief race career.
Two Illicit has provided her connections with some super entertainment. One of the better three-year-olds of her crop, Two Illicit, at five, confirmed her three-year-old form. She began her final campaign by exhibiting her undoubted class back in the spring when taking out the Red Badge Sprint (Gr 3, 1400m), at Hastings on day three of the Triple Crown meeting.
That classy effort began a purple patch of stakes winners for the Taylors of Trelawney Stud, she being the highlight, after her Group 1 victory in the Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) in December, two starts later.
Behind her in the Captain Cook were Tiptronic (O’Reilly) and Prise De Fer (Savabeel). The former would quickly frank that form by winning the Zabeel Classic (Gr 1, 2000m) while Prise De Fer, a highly consistent Group 1 performer, dominated in last week’s Canterbury Gold Cup (Gr 3, 2000m).
The Zabeel Classic might have seen a different result if Two Illicit had not run into serious traffic late in the race. Squeezed approaching the 200 metres, she was held up then finished strongly between runners for third.
Back to the 1600 metres of the Group 1 Thorndon Mile, where she made ground for sixth before being spelled briefly, she then returned for a crack at the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at her favourite track, Te Rapa.
In the best fillies and mares race of the season, Two Illicit again closed well, a neck behind dual Group 1-winning mare Coventina Bay (Shamexpress) but both some lengths from the outstanding three-year-old filly Imperatriz (I Am Invincible).
Te Rapa was the scene of three of her six stakes wins. Of her 21 starts, seven took place at Te Rapa, assisted by the transfer of the Captain Cook Stakes from Trentham when their track was deemed dangerous the previous week. Two of her four third placings at the track included the NZ Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes and the Auckland Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m).
As a three-year-old, the same track saw her rise to be among the best of her crop when she bolted away with the 2020 Waikato Guineas (Gr 2, 2000m) by a huge seven and a half lengths.
In seven starts at three she recorded four wins, three in stakes company, two seconds and a third. Her last outing at three resulted in a very brave second in the New Zealand Derby (Gr 1, 2400m), forming a line of three at the 150 metres but losing no admirers when outgunned by Sherwood Forest (Fastnet Rock).
Fresh up at four, Two Illicit looked like she would merely continue on her winning ways but it was not to be. Kiwi Chronicles spoke with Brent Taylor after her classy return in the Red Badge last October and he explained her four-year-old season thus:
“The transition from three-year-old filly to four-year-old mare can often be a difficult one. A good example is Jennifer Eccles who was top class at three but found the next season a challenge. Our own Loire found the transition a challenge also. Two Illicit had some issues too but with those behind her we can only hope that she continues and proves her three-year-old form.”
Those hopes became a Group 1 reality.
The Taylors are, first and foremost, breeders. Their Trelawney Stud is one of the more historical New Zealand establishments, with a past that includes standing eleven-times Champion New Zealand Sire Foxbridge (Foxlaw) when the farm was owned by the Otway family.
At the same time, the Taylor family have great desire to race some of their own home-breds yet Two Illicit might have been fortunate to remain in their care, except for one aspect: style.
That is the term that Brent Taylor used to describe Two Illicit as a youngster. “Being by Jimmy Choux she would not have been popular commercially so we decided to keep her to race as she was the best style of foal that (her dam) Gemini had produced,” he said.
Keeping and racing Two Illicit also provided some worthwhile justification for the relatively expensive purchase of her dam Gemini (Tale Of The Cat). “Sometimes, tough decisions must be made and Gemini wasn’t cutting it so we had to move on. That’s business. Keeping Two Illicit though, was because we race horses so we gave her a chance,” said Taylor.
Pleasingly, Two Illicit will remain in New Zealand and bolster the quality of the New Zealand Stud Book which has taken a bit of a beating lately with the sale of several well performed mares to the riches of the Australian industry.
Retiring with earnings of $679,243 derived from eight wins, including six stakes, the real prize is her Group 1 victory and her foals will be highly desirable, especially given that Trelawney is involved with all the leading stallions in the country.
Her female line sires read like a Who’s Who of the thoroughbred world. Her dam is by Tale Of The Cat (Storm Cat), sire of 109 stakes winners and is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Easy Eddie (Super Easy).
Her grandam is by Halling (Diesis), sire of 58 stakes winners, while her third dam is by Danzig (Northern Dancer), sire of 198 stakes winners.
Two Illicit’s first mating will be worth watching. The odds about reigning New Zealand Champion Savabeel (Zabeel) will be quite short but another trip to Australia, although for a different reason, might also be on the cards.
I’ll be back
The Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) on January 1 is the next goal for Saturday’s tough Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes winner, Bonny Lass, who is now due a deserved break.
Ellerslie’s 1200–metre start is notorious for being more than tricky for those drawn wide, which often is the difference between winning and losing. However, next year’s running will take place at Te Rapa while Ellerslie is undergoing a major renovation.
Her wide draw (19) at Te Rapa on Saturday was insufficient to stop Bonny Lass from keeping the two leaders honest, racing on their outer all the way to the top of the straight before she took command at the 200 metres.
The winner of five of her ten starts, Bonny Lass displayed a toughness that will be very much required in the hustle-and-bustle that is normally associated with the north’s premier sprint.
“All I could think was that if she won from the trip she had had, then she is a very special filly,” said co-trainer Graham Richardson. “We know she is tough but that was beyond expectations really. She stuck it out when she had every reason to throw it away, so we are very proud of her.”
In four starts at two Bonny Lass won twice, including the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), before recording back-to-back thirds in the Sistema Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
This season, she has again won half of her six starts, two of those in good company at Ellerslie prior to Saturday’s Group 3, taking her earnings beyond $215,000.
Bonny Lass is the third winner and so far, the sole stakes winner, from the Listed-placed Le Bec Fin (Tale Of The Cat) mare Posh Bec, a winner of three races. She is all-Hallmark-bred as Le Bec Fin was resident at Hallmark Stud where Super Easy (Darci Brahma) stands.
There’s that name again – Tale Of The Cat, sire of Two Illicit’s dam Gemini.
The year younger brother to Bonny Lass is Clark Kent who finished second on debut in last spring’s Welcome Stakes (Listed, 1000m). Posh Bec has produced five foals for three winners by Super Easy (Darci Brahma) and needless to say, visited him again last spring.
Dreaming
After Saturday’s running of the H C Nitschke Stakes (Listed, 1400m), winning trainer Mick Price was dreaming about the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) for his budding star Illation (So You Think) but he might also be dreaming about the South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m), due to be run at Morphettville on May 14, this time with Illation’s stablemate Jungle Magnate (Tarzino) who showed true staying ability when storming home from well back in the Chairman’s Stakes (Gr 3, 2000m), the gelding’s third win in eight starts.
Accelerating quickly from the 600 metres, he went seven wide rounding into the straight but travelling sweetly and shared the lead with two others by the time they reached the 200 metres, where he took over. He held on by three quarters of a length after fending off a challenge.
“We know the breed. They are tough horses. They are good boned horses. They have scope, good size and strength about them and he is doing a good job that stallion,” said Price, who trained Tarzino to wins in the Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 25000m) as well as the Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m). “They make very good 2000-metre horses and Derby and Oaks types.”
His oldest just three, Tarzino has already been represented this season by talented staying filly Gypsy Goddess. As Price noted, his stock come into their own beyond 1600 metres.
Jungle Magnate went into Saturday’s Group 3, which proved to be his maiden stakes win, with a win in the Mornington Guineas (1600m) two starts back, actually beaten a nose that day but successful in the stewards’ room after a protest.
Group and Listed placed in the spring, the three-year-old is the only named foal of his dam, The Love Of Money (Casino Prince), herself a half-sister to Questing New (Romarin), a Group 1 winner in Brazil as well as a Group 1 producer there.
Another half relation is Grafton Cup (Listed, 2350m) winner First Crush (Husson). Their dam, Loving New (Choctaw Ridge) was the champion three-year-old filly of her crop in Brazil, claiming two Group 1s.
His fourth dam is a sister to Chem (The Minstrel), a well performed racehorse in France and USA who stood at Mapperley Stud in New Zealand during the 1980s.
Jungle Magnate is a graduate of the 2020 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale and was purchased by Price from the Westbury Stud draft for $75,000.
Whatever you can do….
In the space of 14 days, the mare Galway (Savabeel) has doubled her stakes winning produce. On April 16 Johny Johny (Charm Spirit) led all the way at Hastings for his maiden stakes success in the Power Turf Sprint (Listed, 1200m), the mare’s first stakes winner. At Hawkesbury on Saturday, his year older brother, Kirwan’s Lane, achieved the same result, taking out the Hawkesbury Gold Cup (Gr 3, 1600m), his ninth win, for earnings in excess of $500,000.
It took Kirwan’s Lane seven starts to break his maiden but the five-year-old has since added three wins at Randwick, two at Canterbury, one each at Rosehill and Warwick Farm, and now his maiden stakes victory.
Their dam, Galway, is a winning sister to three stakes winners, one of which was the outstanding mare Shillelagh (Savabeel), a dual Group 1 winner at Flemington.
Their sire, Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit) is no longer shuttling to Windsor Park Stud but the stallion has now sired 14 stakes winners, and with three months remaining may finish with his best stats yet.
His four southern hemisphere crops have resulted in more than 90 winners but his chance of a return to New Zealand are very slim as he has been sent to France and his fee is down to €5,000.