Trapeze Artist stages commanding performance in Golden Rose
Firming late in the betting from $101 to $41, Trapeze Artist on form was entitled to much more respect from punters and was back in the blinkers he wore to victory as a two-year-old in the Black Opal Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), but many were put off by his wide barrier position (14) in the star-studded field.
On that point, the caution of punters was correct as Trapeze Artist was caught wide throughout but it made no difference as he was able to win with a leg in the air in a time of 1:22.41, defeating the filly Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt) by the unexpectedly wide margin of four and a quarter lengths, with the favourite Menari (Snitzel), a stablemate of Trapeze Artist, another head away in third place.
Trapeze Artist continued the great early season success of last season’s record-breaking champion sire Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), to become his sire’s 12th individual Group One winner. The first Golden Rose winner by an Arrowfield Stud sire, Trapeze Artist led home a trifecta for the stud’s stallions in this prestige event.
Little more need be said here about Snitzel, who now has a total of 68 stakes winners and an impressive 538 winners from 749 runners to date.
Suddenly, Trapeze Artist has become a hot stallion prospect, which is well justified when you look at the sustained strength of his female line which goes back through the 1971 Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Fairy Walk (Minor Portion) to Raphis (Night Raid), a sister to the legendary Phar Lap and fourth dam of Planet Kingdom (Star Kingdom), a very successful sire in New South Wales in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bred by the Vieira Group and raced by members of Bert Vieira’s family, Trapeze Artist was offered at the 2016 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale where he was passed in for $250,000, short of his $300,000 reserve.
He is the second living foal but first winner for his dam Treppes (Domesday), whose best performance in six starts was to finish second in a 1400 metre maiden at Newcastle.
While Treppes may not have possessed great racing ability, this daughter of Domesday (Red Ransom) is bred in the purple.
Treppes, whose 2016 Zoustar (Northern Meteor) colt was killed in a paddock accident, is due to foal in October to Wandjina (Snitzel) to produce a three quarter relative to Trapeze Artist.
Astutely bought for $55,000 by Connolly Bloodstock at a Darley reduction in Sydney in 2011, Treppes was later sold to Bert Vieira for $190,000 carrying Trapeze Artist in utero at the 2014 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale at the Gold Coast.
A half-sister to Group One winner Crawl (Dr Grace) and stakes winner Old Man (Dr Grace), Treppes is a member of a very distinguished family developed most recently by the Inghams’ Woodlands Stud. Her winning dam Traipse (Bletchingly) is a sister to Group One-winning sprinter Boardwalk Angel (Bletchingly), dam of champion New Zealand sprinter/miler Coogee Walk (Success Express) and other good winners.
Elegant Walk (Le Cordonnier), the unraced third dam of Trapeze Artist, is a sister to Cheyne Walk (Le Cordonnier), only a moderate sire but a winner of five black-type features, notably the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) and Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2200m). Another half-sister to the pair, Jubilee Walk (King Of Babylon), won the Flight Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m).
Their dam Fairy Walk captured the 1971 Golden Slipper Stakes and Hobartville Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and is a half-sister to stakes winners Planet Kingdom (sire of such top-class horses as Ming Dynasty, Ideal Planet, Just Ideal, Mighty Kingdom and Our Planet) and Fiona (Star Kingdom).
Trapeze Artist’s sixth dam Del Monte (Lucky Bag) is a sister to dual Derby winner Monte Carlo (Lucky Bag) and traces through Raphis to Phar Lap’s mother Entreaty (Winkie).
Carrying a 3f x 5m double of Bletchingly (Biscay), Trapeze Artist also has a double of Storm Cat’s sire Storm Bird (Northern Dancer) through two of his daughters, while the sisters Show Lady (Sir Ivor) and Monroe (Sir Ivor) appear in his fifth generation.