Super Saturday delivers in spades as stars sparkle
Enthaar made favourite for Golden Slipper, first season sires to the fore, Melody Belle strikes 11 and Mirage Dancer first for Frankel
It has long been billed Super Saturday for a reason and the stories that flowed out of yesterday’s racing on both sides of the Tasman demonstrated it was well and truly deserving of that moniker.
The unveiling of a Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) favourite, a breakout day for a host of first season sires, an 11th Group 1 win for a champion mare, the revival of an old rivalry at the highest level, a first Australian Group 1 winner for the legendary Frankel (Galileo), the emergence of any number of contenders for the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m), Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) and The Everest (1200m): any one of these stories would often stand out as a clear headline of its own nearly every day throughout the year.
Such is the nature of a ‘Super Saturday’ – the sport at its finest was on display yesterday.
Woodside Park’s Tycoon shines as Slipper favourite emerges
No Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) winner has ever gone on to take out the Golden Slipper, but Enthaar (2 f Written Tycoon – Final Agreement by Not A Single Doubt) appears to have all the tools to be able to write history in March after her effortless debut win yesterday.
On a day when his most prolific son Capitalist had his first starters, Woodside Park Stud’s Written Tycoon (Iglesia) took the spotlight with Enthaar producing one of the most electric juvenile wins seen in Sydney in recent memory.
Sent out a heavy favourite after a promising trial on the Kensington track late last month, the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Enthaar was trapped wide and on the speed in what was a fast-tempo affair, particularly for two-year-olds having their first start.
What could have been trouble for most youngsters was hardly a concern for Emirates Park homebred Enthaar. She raced up under little urging from James McDonald and, when the rider asked for an effort, she extended away in the twinkling of an eye, quickly putting up three lengths on her rivals.
Mallory (Not A Single Doubt) and Total Babe (I Am Invincible) chased resolutely but they were in a separate race as Enthaar stopped the clock at 57.06 seconds – only 2018 winner Catch Me (I Am Invincible) has managed to go faster, breaking the 57-second barrier by the narrowest of margins.
“There are so many words that we could use to describe that filly’s win today, but you find words like special and incredible and phenomenal and sometimes you feel that even they aren’t even satisfactory to describe her performance,” Woodside Park Stud chief James Price told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“Watching the replay, James McDonald gives her one slap down the back and she puts two lengths on them within literally two strides, it was pretty special to watch. It was the second fastest Gimcrack of all time and she was only nudged along, not pushed out, so there are very special things to come from her.”
Enthaar was installed the $8 favourite for the Golden Slipper by TAB, a quite remarkable price given that most of her rivals for the 1200-metre scamper are unlikely to have been seen publicly.
It is the same price that Capitalist was installed at after his runaway Breeders’ Plate (Listed, 1000m) triumph in 2015, with the colt going on to win the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) before taking the Golden Slipper. However, after a shock defeat in the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), Capitalist ended up starting $8 on the day anyway.
Nevertheless, it is going to take a special performance to overhaul Enthaar from the top of the two-year-old rankings, with the filly and her sire earning plaudits from far and wide. And her spring may not be over yet, with the $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill on November 7 potentially on her radar.
For Price, seeing a daughter of Written Tycoon perform to that level has reaffirmed his confidence that the stallion’s prime is ahead of him, particularly with his current two-year-old crop representing his first book of mares at a higher fee of $88,000 (inc GST), up from $13,750 (inc GST) just three seasons before.
“With Written Tycoon, we’ve been saying for a long time that the best is yet to come with this horse,” he said. “Today really is the first official day of the new season with the Breeders’ Plate, the Gimcrack, the Maribyrnong Trial, and this crop is off the $80,000 service fee, so that is the quality of mares that we’ve seen come to him in the last couple of years.
“On the first day of the new season, he most certainly has delivered with the new favourite for the Golden Slipper. Coming hot after Ole Kirk and Pippie last weekend, it’s been a very special ten days and long may it continue.”
The other notable aspect of yesterday’s two-year-old features at Randwick was the performance of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) as a broodmare sire, with both Enthaar and Breeders’ Plate winner Shaquero (Shalaa) out of Not A Single Doubt mares.
That cross is represented by just two colts from Written Tycoon’s current crop of yearlings, with both owned by Woodside Park. The colts, out of Heatherlie Handicap (Listed, 1700m) winner Hell Or Highwater and city performer Secret Doubt, are sure to attract plenty of attention when offered for sale by Woodside Park Stud in 2021.
The champion Victorian stallion is standing his first season at Arrowfield Stud this season, with Woodside Park retaining ownership. He stands for $77,000 (inc GST) in 2020.
First season sires shine
While a proven commodity in Written Tycoon produced the performer of the day, at least as far as the juveniles go, three first season sires registered their first Australian winner yesterday, including one with his first ever runner.
Arrowfield’s French-based shuttler Shalaa (Invincible Spirit), who has already produced 13 winners in Europe, registered a first global stakes winner with his first Australian runner when Shaquero took out the Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m).
The Chris Waller-trained Shaquero (2 c Shalaa – Fimatino by Not A Single Doubt) was the only Breeders’ Plate runner to enter off an interstate trial, having had his public hit-out at the Gold Coast on September 21. He won the 900-metre colts’ trial by a length in a slightly slower time than the fillies recorded minutes later.
However, he was the subject of late betting support, firming into $5.50 third favourite behind Peter and Paul Snowden-prepared pair Kalashnikov (Capitalist) and Construct (I Am Invincible).
Jumping out towards the lead, he was well-rated by James McDonald before stretching out to win by a length and a quarter. Construct finished second, with another Snowden runner, Astrologer (Star Turn), filling third.
“He’s just got class written all over him,” Waller said. “If you asked me which Group 1 race he’s going to win I’d say it would be a Doncaster rather than a Golden Slipper but who knows, he might win that on the way through.”
Bred by Bob Hannon and sold by Fernrigg Farm at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Shaquero was purchased by Guy Mulcaster Bloodstock for $160,000.
He is the fourth foal and the second winner for Fimatino (Not A Single Doubt), herself a half-sister to top Singapore sprinter-miler Ghozi (Catbird) and Sunset Express (Success Express), the dam of Cox Plate winner and Group 1-producing stallion Shamus Award (Snitzel).
Darley’s American shuttler Frosted (Tapit) showed why he promises to be a force in the Victorian breeding ranks as debutant Ingratiating (2 c Frosted – Obsequious by Lonhro) took out the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (Listed, 1000m), leading home a one-three result for his sire.
The James Cummings-trained Ingratiating produced a tough effort to run down the already-raced General Beau (Brazen Beau), winner of the Darley Spring Preview (900m) last week, with the green-as-grass Cloudy (Frosted) in third, four and a half lengths behind the runner-up.
A Darley homebred, Ingratiating is the fourth foal out of the Lonhro (Octagonal) mare Obsequious, who won the Light Fingers Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) and the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) in the 2010-11 season.
Damien Oliver, who partnered Ingratiating to victory, was full of praise for the colt and for his sire, too.
“I’ve only ridden two of these Frosteds – a filly that ran third here at the last meeting and this bloke, and geez, they’re really forward and precocious types and I think this bloke has got a good future in front of him,” he said.
“He’s a little ripper. He pleased me in his trials. He didn’t quite get it all together but I knew he had something there. He jumped well today which he hadn’t done in his trials and he was a very professional horse.
“It’s always good when they clear out from the rest and you think they’re two nice colts and this horse has got a good future.”
Frosted stands at Darley’s Northwood Park in Victoria for $22,000 (inc GST) in 2020.
The third of the first season sires to emerge yesterday was Newgate’s Flying Artie (Artie Schiller), who registered his first winner with his first ever runner when Princess Bojack (2 f Flying Artie – Catseye Surprise by Testa Rossa) took out the Two-Year-Old Plate (1000m) at Eagle Farm.
Princess Bojack defeated another first season sire representative in Stellar Magic (Star Turn) by three-quarters of a length, with Headlander (Better Than Ready) two and a half lengths away in third.
Queens Belle and ‘beel salute for Richards
Kiwi trainer Jamie Richards continued his meteoric rise through the training ranks by preparing Group 1 winners on both sides of the Tasman yesterday in Melody Belle and Probabeel.
Melody Belle (6 m Commands – Meleka Belle by Iffraaj) returned to form in conjunction with a return to New Zealand, leading home a Richards one-two in the Windsor Park Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) at Hastings.
Entering off two below-par runs in Sydney to begin her preparation, Melody Belle was a late entry for the Windsor Park Plate, a race she won last year. With a number of her Fortuna Syndications owners trackside, led by manager John Galvin, the champion mare showed all of her tenacity and her brilliance that had taken her to ten Group 1 wins before yesterday.
Stablemate and favourite Avantage (Fastnet Rock) loomed large on the outside, while Tarzino Trophy (Gr 1, 1400m) victor Callsign Mav (Atlante) fought hard to the inside. The trio went toe to toe to the line down the Hastings straight, with Melody Belle sticking her head out in the middle to take the middle leg of the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown.
“She’s a wonderful mare and it’s a credit to everyone who has looked after her all the way through, right from the time that Dave (Ellis) bought her and the team that has looked after her here and in Sydney,” Richards said.
“I honestly don’t believe that she was going that bad in Sydney but she was running into proper horses without a lot of luck. Now she’s back in New Zealand and she’s loving it.”
Galvin added: “It was just a fantastic race to watch and I’m pretty sure, from what I’ve seen from the replay, that Avantage did head us for a stride or two. But Melody Belle, being the fighter that she is, she just fought back and got the bob in.”
With her 11th Group 1 win yesterday – ten in New Zealand and one in Australia – Melody Belle matched one of the greats of the New Zealand turf in Rough Habit (Roughcast), with Galvin hoping that she might be able to equal New Zealand’s most prolific top-level winner, 13-time Group 1 heroine Sunline (Desert Sun).
“We’re closing in, we are second equal with Rough Habit and starting to close in on Sunline,” he said. “It’s a fantastic record and we are just so proud of her.”
Melody Belle is likely to face Avantage again in the final leg of the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown, the Livamol Classic (Gr 1, 2040m) on October 17, a race she also won last year.
Another 2040-metre race, the Cox Plate, may be on the radar for Probabeel (4 m Savabeel – Far Fetched by Pins) after she scored a second career Group 1 win in the time-honoured Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick yesterday.
Sent out as the $6.50 third favourite, Probabeel was sent forward from gate 15 by Kerrin McEvoy and ended up trapped deep with only partial cover ahead of midfield.
Under her light weight of 52.5 kilograms, McEvoy was cool and calm on the turn, sending Probabeel towards the leaders topping the rise.
In a revival of her primary rivalry from her three-year-old days, Funstar (Adelaide) joined in with Probabeel at the 250 metres. However, Probabeel always looked to be travelling better than Funstar and so it proved as she raced a length clear of her old sparring partner; another former Kiwi Riodini (Proisir) finished a further head away in third.
It was the fifth time in just over a year that the pair had filled the quinella in stakes races, with Funstar leading home Probabeel in the Tea Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), the Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) and the Phar Lap Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m) and Probabeel having the upper hand in the Surround Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and the Epsom.
Owned by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Probabeel took her record to eight wins from 18 starts and earnings of AUD$2,366,506.
“She’s a champion, this horse,” Brendan Lindsay said. “When you look at the statistics and you see that only three mares in the last 40 years have won and you see her drawn in the car park and you think it’s all against her and then she does that. She’s a true champion.”
Lindsay favours a tilt at the Cox Plate instead of staying in Sydney for the $7.5 million Golden Eagle (1500m) and will discuss her options with Richards, who was forced to watch the race on his phone as he trekked home from Hastings.
“We’ll give her a couple of days to see how she comes through, we don’t have to make any decisions today,” Richards said. “There are a couple of options, either the Cox Plate or the Golden Eagle, and we’ll get a bit of feedback from Kerrin as to what he thinks is her best distance. We’ll make an informed decision next week when we have all the information.”
Richards took his Group 1 haul to 33 at the age of 31, with Brendan Lindsay offering up plenty of plaudits for the young master.
“Hasn’t he had a good day?” Lindsay mused. “I don’t know how this guy does it. He has his team in Australia, he’s training this horse (Probabeel) on Zoom, he’s a pretty bloody good trainer, that’s for sure.”
Richards, though, deflected the praise to his team, particularly with Covid-19 preventing the trainer from being able to cross the Tasman.
“The team has done such a wonderful job to present this mare so well,” he said. “It’s a true credit to them, they are the true champions that have done such a wonderful job. It’s such a thrill for all of us, she’s a real New Zealand product – bred by Waikato Stud, bought by David Ellis, owned by Cambridge Stud – so it’s really been a wonderful day.”
Waller dominates Turnbull
For a Sydney-based trainer – even with a satellite operation in Melbourne – Chris Waller has done an extraordinary job of making the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) his own in recent years, a trait he continued when he prepared the trifecta in the Flemington feature yesterday.
Superstar mare Verry Elleegant (5 m Zed – Opulence by Danroad) took out her fifth Group 1, and her first in Melbourne, as $5 favourite in yesterday’s Turnbull Stakes. She prevailed in a blanket finish over stablemates Toffee Tongue (Tavistock), a 70-1 outsider, and Finche (Frankel) to give Waller his fifth Turnbull, all coming since 2015.
Verry Elleegant joined Preferment (Zabeel), Winx (Street Cry) twice and Kings Will Dream (Casamento) as a Waller-trained Turnbull winner, adding the feature to her wins in the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), ATC Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m), Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) and Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
“It was a very good result for the stable,” Waller said from Randwick.
“Verry Ellegant is as tough as they come. Things didn’t go her way in the run yet she fought it out to the last metre. Toffee Tongue was brilliant. That was her first run in that sort of company and she was as brave as anything.
“Finche was great as he had to do a lot of work in the run.”
The Waller trio will progress to the Caulfield Cup, with Verry Elleegant guaranteed a berth, Finche likely to gain a run after withdrawals and Toffee Tongue needing some luck to make the final field of 18.
However, Toffee Tongue will meet Verry Elleegant two kilograms better at the weights should she make the field, while she will meet Finche two and a half kilograms better.
Dalasan (Dalakhani) was game in fourth, finishing only a neck behind the winner, and remains in the entries for both the Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate, while Master Of Wine (Maxios) and Warning (Declaration Of War) also produced good Cups trials.
Libertini races into Everest contention
While Waller dominated in Melbourne, he saw his favourite for the $15 million The Everest (1200m), Nature Strip (Nicconi), lose his billing as the race’s headline act after a shock defeat in the Premiere Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) yesterday.
However, it was not all doom and gloom for the trainer, with the stable holding one of two remaining slots for The Everest and appearing a possibility to pick up impressive Premiere Stakes winner Libertini (4 m I Am Invincible – Aloha by Encosta De Lago) for its spot.
Libertini, returning for the first time since a disappointing effort in the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) in March, sat midfield as Nature Strip mustered to lead after an even jump.
Eventually getting to his favoured front-running role, a couple of strong sectionals mid-race from Nature Strip proved telling at the finish as last season’s Australian Horse of the Year-in-waiting weakened to cross the line fourth, four lengths from the winner.
Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), already guaranteed an Everest spot, finished second, two lengths behind Libertini, with Deprive (Denman) just edging out Nature Strip for third.
The Libertini that turned up at Randwick yesterday was the horse that most had long expected her to be, ever since she swept the first two legs of the Princess Series last year and then finished third in the Tea Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m). Intriguingly, the two fillies that beat her home in the Tea Rose Stakes finished first and second in the Epsom Handicap 40 minutes after her Premiere romp.
Trainer Anthony Cummings was waiting for the phone to ring yesterday, hoping that either Waller or James Harron – in possession of a vacant slot apiece – or perhaps even another slot-holder, considering their options at this late stage, would want to snap up the Gerry Harvey-owned Libertini.
“She was pretty exciting today and with a little bit of luck the phone might ring some time soon,” Cummings said. “Gerry will be impressed enough and the filly has done all the impressing for us.
“She is now a more mature article all together. Last preparation wasn’t that flash, and a few issues came out of that, but we gave her the time, and time nearly beat us again. Really pleased to see her back to that good form, that right form that shows us the horse that she is. Now we are looking forward to two weeks certainly but maybe the next two years.”
Slot-holders must declare their runner for the October 17 feature by 10am next Tuesday, October 13. For now, the speculation continues.