Darley strike gold with yearling buy In Secret
Daughter of I Am Invincible becomes first filly to win Run To The Rose as Godolphin build strong spring team
It is not often Darley venture into the yearling market to bolster their stocks, but when they do it’s meticulous, ‘specific’ – and often successful.
In Secret (I Am Invincible), who at Rosehill yesterday became the first filly to win the Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m) in 19 runnings of the race, is the latest yearling buy for Sheikh Mohammed’s Australian operation to strike big on the track, with the $900,000 purchase set to add to the quality of Darley’s already extensive broodmare band at the end of her fledgling career.
Sent off the $3.20 favourite, In Secret – the lowest rated of the nine runners in the race – rounded up her male counterparts to score by a length and three-quarters ahead of Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) runner-up Best Of Bordeaux (Snitzel), who bravely stuck to his task from the front, and San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) winner Sweet Ride (Deep Field), the colt looming as a likely winner at the 200-metre mark, only to weaken in the closing stages.
Nettuno finished three and a quarter lengths from the winner in fourth, while champion two-year-old Fireburn (Rebel Dane) was fifth on her return this spring.
The win for In Secret marked the second in the space of a fruitful 40 minutes for Darley, who in the race prior witnessed a dominant performance from the lightly raced colt Golden Mile (Astern) in the Ming Dynasty Quality (Gr 3, 1400m), and the royal blue silks are quickly amassing a stranglehold on Sydney’s premier three-year-old contest this spring, the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m).
In Secret won the Woodlands Stakes (Listed, 1200m) as a two-year-old, adding to her comprehensive maiden win at Hawkesbury in April, and returned at three to finish a running-on runner-up to Zougotcha (Zoustar) in the Silver Shadow Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). She was scratched from last weekend’s Furious Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), the second leg of the Darley Princess Series, due to the deteriorating ground, a decision that paid dividends yesterday.
“There’s no doubt she’s a talented filly. She’s had four starts for three wins and a second – and an unlucky second at that,” Godolphin Australia’s managing director Vin Cox told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“She’s a filly we bought at Magic Millions and the only yearling we bought that year, so it’s wonderful that she’s a filly with that sort of ability.
“We gave a lot of money for her, and now, dare I say it, she’s worth a lot more.”
Godolphin re-entered the yearling market in 2018 after a five-year absence from the buyers’ sheet, and among their purchases was Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner Exhilarates (Snitzel). The Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) filly, a $600,000 buy from the Vinery draft at the Gold Coast sale, was handed her maiden cover by Street Boss (Street Cry) last year after her retirement as a three-time stakes winner.
It would be another three years before Darley would delve back into the auction scene, sourcing In Secret from the Segenhoe draft at the Gold Coast last year.
The team purchased a further three yearlings – two colts and a filly by Zoustar (Northern Meteor) for $380,000 – at this year’s yearling sales.
But, while In Secret’s place in the breeding barn was always a consideration for the Godolphin buying team at the Gold Coast, ultimately it was an athlete to win prizes of the highest level that was sought.
“We go into the market with a rifle, we’re very specific with what we’re after, it’s not a scattergun approach,” Cox said. “We’re fairly direct in how we approach it and it’s a wonderful result to get a filly of that calibre having only purchased one. We had a budget and put our neck on the line.
“You’ve always got to go in there with the prospect of buying a racehorse, an athlete, not so much a pedigree. This particular filly had both, which is why we had to pay a little bit more for her.
“We target these yearlings in the hope that we turn them into good racehorses and it is this which adds, ultimately, to the profile of our broodmare band.”
In Secret (3 f ex Eloping by Choisir) is the second foal out of dual Group 3 winner and juvenile stakes scorer Eloping (Choisir), who was bred by Michael Christian’s Saconi Thoroughbreds in partnership with Segenhoe Stud.
Eloping herself is a three-quarter sister to Blue Diamond Prelude (c&g) (Gr 3, 1100m) winner Of The Brave (Starspangledbanner) and a sister multiple juvenile stakes placegetter Jesse’s Girl.
Eloping’s two-year-old filly by Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) fetched $200,000 when sold by Longwood Thoroughbreds to Mick Price at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale earlier this year.
The mare has a yearling filly by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and is due to foal to I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) this spring.
The James Cummings-trained In Secret has been installed as the $5.50 favourite for the Golden Rose in a fortnight’s time, ahead of her stablemate Golden Mile at $6.
The latter stamped himself as a serious contender for the three-year-old Group 1 contest, which was won in 2016 by his sire Astern (Medaglia D’Oro) having backed up from a victory in The Run To The Rose, when he won yesterday’s Ming Dynasty Quality just a race earlier at Rosehill.
Golden Mile produced a comprehensive victory in winning by three and a quarter lengths ahead of Matcha Latte (Maurice) and the Coolmore-owned Basquiat (Snitzel), who finished a neck further back in third. Favourite Zou Tiger (Zoustar) trailed in eighth.
Prior to the return of Group racing this spring Godolphin’s carnival team, with the exception of star colt Anamoe (Street Boss), took on a depleted appearance, however, in the space of a month contenders including In Secret, Golden Mile, HDF McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) runner-up Aft Cabin (Medaglia D’Oro) as well as older horses Zapateo (Brazen Beau) and Athelric (Exceed And Excel) have emerged.
Godolphin came close to adding a third three-year-old stakes winner yesterday, but despite finishing first past the post, Exosphere (Lonhro) colt Spacewalk lost the Poseidon Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Flemington in the stewards’ room, with the Matt Smith-trained Buenos Noches (Supido) the beneficiary.
Golden Mile began his career with a neck victory at Ballarat in April and returned this spring with a second-placed finish behind Kibou (Maurice) in the Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m).
“The training team were very strong on this particular colt,” Cox said. “He started off his career in Victoria and they had a big opinion of him there.
“To dominate that field today as he did, it really vindicates the opinion the training team has of him.”
Golden Mile is from the second crop of Astern, a sire Cox said Darley has backed with unprecedented support, a strategy which has produced notable results with his now three-year-olds.
“For Astern’s second season at stud we really took a position on the horse and backed him with more mares than we’d sent to him before,” Cox said.
“The result of that is Golden Mile and Aft Cabin, who’s strong in the market for the Caulfield Guineas, so it really justifies what we’re trying to do with our stallions.
“The commercial market will tell us if the stallion is no good, but recently there’s been a tsunami of opinion that’s changed towards him. This stallion can get a good horse and very quickly breeders have latched onto him.”
Astern opened his stud career with a book of 170 mares at a fee of $38,500 (inc GST), which dropped to 139 in his second year. His numbers declined to 65 in 2019, but his fifth book last year rose to 129 mares off a fee of $16,500 (inc GST). He stands this season at a fee of $11,000 (inc GST).
Golden Mile is the fifth individual stakes winner for Astern, and second in Australia. The stallion also has the stakes placegetters Arnaqueur and Brigantine from his southern hemisphere-bred progeny.
Golden Mile (3 c ex Calaverite by Lonhro) is the third foal out of Gimcrack Stakes (Listed, 1000m) winner Calaverite (Lonhro), herself a daughter of Karrakatta Plate (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Gold Rocks (Oratorio) and a half-sister to Group 2 winners Gold Fever (Savabeel) and Gold Rush (So You Think).
Calaverite was purchased at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale for $310,000 by Merrick Station, Howson and Houldsworth Bloodstock and Group 1 Bloodstock when in foal to Street Boss.
Astern is one of five winners of the Golden Rose for Godolphin since 2009, with 2019 winner Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) the latest of the cohort, which also includes Exosphere (Lonhro) in 2015, Epaulette (Commands) in 2011 and Denman (Lonhro) two years earlier.
“It’s a good programme [for the three-year-olds] and we’ve had a lot of luck in those races,” Cox said. “It’s worked well for us in the past, so fingers crossed we can get it right again.”
Young sire success no shock for Thompson as Rich Hill celebrate Group 1 double
Experienced studmaster John Thompson knows to relish successful days on the racetrack and equally to capitalise on their outcome, as his young stallion roster continues to blossom.
Two Group 1 races were held across Australia and New Zealand yesterday, with both going to emerging sires resident at New Zealand farm Rich Hill Stud.
Shocking (Street Cry), most famously known as the winner of the 2009 Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), was also a victor of the Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) in 2010, the race given Group 1 status in 2013, and yesterday his star son I’m Thunderstruck (5 g Shocking – Primadonna Girl by Edenwold) offered further rise to his stock when winning out in a protracted duel with Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) to narrowly land the Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington.
Meanwhile, on the New Zealand side of the Tasman, the first Group 1 race of their domestic season whent to Proisir’s (Choisir) Dark Destroyer (4 g Prosir – All Can Party by All American), who became the second individual Group 1 winner for his sire when striking in the Tarzino Trophy (Gr 1, 1400m) at Hastings.
Thompson said yesterday’s results ranked as one of his most successful days since establishing Rich Hill Stud in 1994. However, it is not the first time the stud has celebrated a Group 1 double for its stallions, but you have to go back to May 2004 to find the last time it happened, with Adelaide the scene.
“I was trying to think back and there was one day Pentire sired a Group 1 winner in Adelaide [Pantani in the Adelaide Cup] and Bahhare sired the winner of the South Australian Oaks with Dowry on the same day,” Thompson told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“Group 1s are Group 1s for a reason, they’re hard to win and it’s really exciting for both stallions and the farm in general.”
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained I’m Thunderstruck fired an ominous warning in last month’s Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield, in which the five-year-old soared home for second behind Snapdancer (Choisir), and the gelding again flew across the turf in the final furlong, but this time was able to pick up leader Alligator Blood, who seemed to have the race at his mercy.
Mo’unga (Savabeel) bounced back from a disappointing first-up display in the Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) to finish third, beaten by three lengths.
“He was pretty brave, wasn’t he?,” Price said. “He was in an awkward spot again, behind heels, and Alligator Blood was off and gone.
“I thought, He’s probably the best horse in the race Alligator Blood, we’re not going to run him down, but it’s probably the beauty of Flemington.”
Price confirmed that I’m Thunderstruck would progress to the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) next month via appearances in the Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) and Caulfield Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
Owner OTI Racing’s Terry Henderson was quoted in yesterday’s edition of ANZ Bloodstock News of his desire to give prominence to ‘underrated’ New Zealand stallions, and in I’m Thunderstruck the syndicators have an undeniable star of the spring turf for Shocking following his head-margin win.
I’m Thunderstruck is one of two Group 1 winners for Shocking, whose Group 2 winner Hezashocka, also in the yellow and navy hooped silks of OTI, returned with a second-place finish in a 1700-metre handicap at Flemington yesterday, with his route to be plotted towards the staying Cup contests.
Thompson was keen to highlight the versatility of the stallion, whose stakes winners have come from distances ranging from 1400 metres to 3200 metres.
“I think a few people have overlooked the fact that Shocking won the Makybe Diva Stakes and that was probably the reason Shocking can get these sorts of horses, he wasn’t a one dimensional stayer,” Thompson said.
“It was a Group 2 at the time, but the reason it’s a Group 1 now is because horses like Shocking won it.
“He’s underrated in some ways but he’s been a good stallion for a long time now.”
Shocking earned eight individual stakes winners last season, a number bettered by just seven stallions across Australasia, leaving the stallion within the top 20 on the Australian rankings and sixth on the New Zealand standings.
I’m Thunderstruck, winner of last season’s Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and Golden Eagle (1500m), was snapped up by Henderson after winning a trial in New Zealand.
He is out of the Edenwold (Southern Halo) mare Primadonna Girl, making him a half-sister to the stakes-placed Cantstopthefeeling (Swiss Ace).
Thompson reaffirmed his belief that Proisir is a champion sire-in-waiting in New Zealand, where the stallion occupies top spot at this early stage of the season.
Proisir, who last season finished fifth in the New Zealand sire premiership with the best winning strike-rate of any stallion (minimum 20 runners), sired his second individual Group 1 winner, adding to Levante, winner of the Telegraph Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and Waikato Sprint (Gr 1, 1400m).
The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained Dark Destroyer ran out a length winner of yesterday’s Group 1, ahead of Spring Tide (Darci Brahma) and La Crique, who is a daughter of Rich Hill Stud’s shuttle stallion Vadamos (Monsun).
Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), the $1.50 favourite for the race, could only finish fourth.
“He looks good now but, in all honesty, he still has a lot of improvement in his coat to come,” Scott said of Dark Destroyer, who returned from a successful Queensland campaign where he won the Rough Habit Stakes (Gr 3, 2143m) and finished fourth when favourite for the Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m).
“He just hadn’t come up at all since returning from Queensland with the cold air making it hard to keep them warm like he experienced over there.
“There will be a lot of improvement in him and he has three weeks to get ready to get back down here again [for the Group 1 Arrowfield Stud Plate] and hopefully he keeps going the right way.
“He had the benefit of residual fitness, but it has been a good effort by the team at home to get him ready.”
Dark Destroyer is out of the unplaced All American (Red Ransom) mare I Can Party, with the four-year-old part of a developing nick with Red Ransom (Roberto)-line mares. Wanganui Guineas (Listed, 1340m) winner Soldier Boy is out of a mare by Ekraar, as is New Zealand Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) runner-up Vancooga.
Dark Destroyer is the only stakes winner within his first two dams, but further back in his pedigree is the likes of Group 1 winners Wandjina (Snitzel), Festal (Vain), Inspiration (Flying Spur) and Dracula (Quest For Fame).
“That’s what good stallions do, they upgrade pedigrees,” Thompson said. “They bring families back to life and that’s what Proisir seems to be doing. Levante’s dam was 19 or 20 when she foaled her.
“These horses have been conceived off $7,000 service fees and his books are getting bigger and better each year. He’s getting a far better quality of mare this year.
“He’s another versatile stallion who can get sprinters and stayers as well.”
Proisir stands his eighth covering season this year for a fee of $17,500 (plus GST), while Shocking commands a fee of $12,500 (plus GST).