Mgheera and Floozie give the Mitchell family lots to look forward to
Yarraman Park enjoyed weekend success when a pair of Zoustar (Northern Meteor) mares in their ownership, Floozie and Mgheera, added valuable black type to their pedigrees on opposite sides of the planet.
Sporting the Mitchell family’s silks, Floozie continued on her upward trajectory, tasting valuable black-type for the first time in the Silk Stocking (Listed, 1400m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Then the following day, Mgheera, who is owned by Yarraman Park in conjunction with Watership Down, showed her talent with a fine victory in the Prix de Saint-Georges (Gr 3, 1000m) at Longchamp.
Both daughters of Widden Stud’s marquee stallion, Floozie was bred by Rob Crabtree and was bought privately by James Mitchell at the end of last year, when she was a two-time winner for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.
A real family affair, she is now raced by James in partnership with his father Bill and Yarraman Park, which is owned and run by his uncles, Arthur and Harry, who relocated her to Tony Gollan’s Queensland stable.
The move has clearly revitalised the mare and the win over the weekend was the pinnacle of hat-trick of wins, following up a brace of victories at Eagle Farm.
Bred in the purple, Floozie is out of Crabtree’s Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) Catchy (Fastnet Rock) and now, with a stakes win under her belt, her value as a broodmare prospect has increased immensely.
It is an active family as well and one that has been in the headlines lately, first with Crabtree selling Catchy to Glenvale Stud, who outbid Yarraman at $800,000 at last Thursday’s Chairman’s Sale. But Floozie was not the only member of the immediate family to land black type on Saturday.
The Tom Dabernig-trained Cleo Cat (American Pharoah) is out of a three-quarter-sister to Catchy, being a half-sister to her Group 2-winning dam Cats Whisker (Fusaichi Pegasus) and she added more black type to the page when she produced an impressive performance in the Proud Miss Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Morphettville.
James Mitchell, who runs Mitchell Bloodstock with his father Bill, told ANZ Bloodstock News he had been following Floozie for a while before approaching Crabtree – who subsequently dispersed a lot of his bloodstock – with a view to buying her.
“I keep a list of fillies that would be appealing all the time and I’m always watching the races, just jotting down names of fillies we might like to buy. She had good form, albeit not black type form, but good form nonetheless.
“I thought a change of scenery may bring out a bit of improvement in her and it’s worked out well. She’s got a lovely pedigree and when I went down to see her at Rob Crabtree’s farm in December, she was a stunning physical to go with the pedigree.”
Floozie will race on but will ultimately be set for a date with Yarraman’s flagship superstar stallion, I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) this spring.
“She’s big, strong, good-looking and she moves well. I was pretty keen to acquire her and put Yarraman in for half, it’s been a huge result. She’s a beautiful mare and we want to captalise on using Vinnie. She’s done her job now and whatever she does going forward will be a bonus.”
Arthur Mitchell was quick to heap praise on his nephew for sourcing the mare and believed she will bolster the farm’s broodmare band when time is called on her career.
“The Floozie purchase was all down to James Mitchell and Yarraman own half of her and Bill and James own the other half,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“All credit goes to James on that filly, he found her and did the deal and we’re delighted. Even if she won a city race we were delighted but to win a bit of black-type, makes her very valuable and she’s very good-looking. She is absolutely perfect for Vinnie and the plan is for her to go to stud this year. We’ll run her once more, that’s the way we’re thinking.”
Floozie’s Gold Coast triumph was an important one for Zoustar, who is aiming to win his first champion sires title and off the back of that win, has moved past Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry) to sit at the head of affairs.
Zoustar’s abilities as a stallion of top-class performers is well-documented, but James Mitchell also believes that the son of Northern Meteor (Encosta De Lago) is carving out a good reputation as a broodmare sire, thus adding to Floozie’s appeal.
Daughters of Zoustar have produced 18 winners from 43 starters and the cohort is headed by three stakes scorers: Group 3 winner Holmes A Court (Capitalist), Discretion Rules (Alabama Express) and Dawn Service (Justify).
“Zoustar is starting to make a really good impression as a broodmare sire and we’ve noticed as well, at Magics and Easter, there were some really nice types out of Zoustar mares. We are confident that she is as good a type as you’ll find with a proper pedigree and she’s a stakes winner now,” explained James.
“She’s out of the Blue Diamond winner by Fastnet Rock and she trained on, it’s a deep pedigree with a lot of speed from top to bottom.
“When she’s mated to Vinnie, we’d be hoping to get some really, really outstanding yearlings and they will be offered to the market for years to come.”
Meanwhile, Mgheera, who donned Watership Down Stud’s famous pink and grey silks, could now be set for a tilt at the King Charles III Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) on the first day of Royal Ascot next month.
Formerly trained in France by Mme Manon Scandella-Lacaille – for whom she was a Listed winner – the five-year-old was bought by Johnny McKeever and Arthur Mitchell’s son-in-law William Johnson for €250,000 at the Arqana December Sale last year and she more than repaid their faith with her first Group win on Saturday.
She brought €145,000 when purchased by Mandore International on behalf of her original owners Al Shaqab Racing at the Arqana October Yearling Sale in 2021. Following three runs which produced only a runner-up effort, she was sold for €5,000 to Jean-Daniel Manceau and Eric Lecoiffier at the Arqana Summer Sale in 2023. After being passed in for 300,000gns on a Tattersalls Online Sale, she was sent to Arqana again, where she caught the eye of Watership Down’s Simon Marsh and Arthur Mitchell.
“I think people wondered why we went all the way to France to buy a filly by Zoustar! We liked her a lot and really didn’t want to spend a lot on her and then Simon Marsh liked her as well, that’s how we palled up with Watership and decided to go halves on her,” Arthur explained.
“To be honest, it was Marsh’s idea entirely, he was also keen to send her to Ed Walker who only lives down the road from him and he is obviously a good trainer.
“He has done a fabulous job with her so far, so we’re very happy. She has really bulked up since we bought her, she looked quite strung out at Arqana, but everything was in the right place. He has really thickened her up and that’s helped a bit.”
From Zoustar’s second northern hemisphere-bred crop conceived at Tweenhills Farm in Gloucestershire, Mgheera was bred by the operation’s owner David Redvers in partnership with Framont. She is out of three-time winner Blue Aegean (Invincible Spirit), who is herself a half-sister to Group 3 winner Distinctive (Tobougg).
“I think Royal Ascot for the King Charles III Stakes is on the cards, I’ll leave the decisions of whether they give her a lead up run, perhaps in the Temple Stakes or take her back to France for the race, I’ll leave that to him,” said Arthur Mitchell.
Mgheera and Floozie have already bolstered their pedigrees for their new owners and if they can enhance them further it will be a bonus.
For James Mitchell, he is simply enjoying the ride with Floozie alongside his family and is already eyeing the next venture with the same partnership.
“Tony Gollan has been amazing and what he’s done with her is great,” he said. “He’s handled her so well and he was confident on Saturday and couldn’t be more pleased for him and Ange Jones has given her three brilliant rides. It’s just been flawless and we can’t thank everyone enough.
“It was a very exciting and very proud moment for me personally to have a stakes winner in my family’s colours, my grandfather’s colours. It’s been fantastic and it’s been really well thought out and well-planned. It’s great to be doing it with the family, hopefully it’s the first of many successes for us.”