Ethereum Girl continues progressive ways to land SAJC Sires’ Produce
Arrowfield Stud shuttler Maurice (Screen Hero) racked up his tenth Australian stakes winner while the Hayes brothers celebrated their 30th two-year-old win of the season as Ethereum Girl took Saturday’s SAJC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m).
With her straightforward success as a well–supported $2.90 favourite in the juvenile feature at Morphettville Parks, Ethereum Girl served notice of a highly promising career to come by posting her second win from four starts.
It followed a Mornington 1200-metre success last month, and a subsequent 0.3-length second in her first tilt at black type in the Oaklands Plate (Listed, 1400m), also at the Parks circuit.
Ridden superbly on the Soft 5 track by Jason “Stubby” Holder, and with a nose roll added, Ethereum Girl settled just ahead of halfway in the field of eight, rounded the leaders on the turn and built a strong enough lead to prevail by 0.4 lengths for her first stakes victory.
Richard and Chantelle Jolly’s colt Mostly For Show (Vadamos) finished on well for second at $13, while Andrew Gluyas’s filly Tiptop Tori (Grunt) also earned a dash of black type by catching the eye a further 0.3 lengths back in third as the $41 outsider of the field.
All three placegetters came through the Oaklands Plate, which was won by Matahga (Tivaci).
Bootlegger (Too Darn Hot) led in his sire’s trio of runners in fourth place as $3.50 second favourite, while another by Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) – $4.60 third–elect Volkano – was disappointing in fading into second-last after leading.
Bred by NSW’s Kerry Stephens and Denis Griffin, Ethereum Girl was initially bought by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock from Glenbeigh Farm’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sale for $275,000, but was transferred to the Lindsay Park stable before her first barrier trial.
Her victory on Saturday extended a hugely successful season with two-year-olds for Ben, JD and Will Hayes, who brought up their 29th such win around an hour earlier when Shining Smile (Spirit Of Boom) notched his fifth-straight success, at Flemington.
Lindsay Park’s other juvenile victors this term include Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) third-placegetter Tycoon Star (Written Tycoon) and dual winners Hello Romeo (Hello Youmzain) and Scenic Point (Written Tycoon).
Ben Hayes said he was proud of a season with two-year-olds which continued the legacy of the brothers’ Hong Kong-based father David Hayes, a six-time Blue Diamond winner.
“It’s been our best year to date with the two-year-olds,” Hayes told Racing.com at Flemington.
“It’s something that we’ve really worked on in the last couple of years. It’s something that our father was very good at.
“It’s nice to have a very good season, and we’ve got some really exciting horses coming into the spring now.”
Holder said he’d felt confident once he’d been able to fulfill Hayes’s main wish – to ensure Ethereum Girl settled well in the run.
“She settled really nicely which was great, Ben and the crew will be happy with that,” he said.
“I probably got there a bit too soon, because we were slow, [but] I presented her and she said ‘let’s go’.
“She pulled her way into it, which is good, she’s got room for improvement for sure.”
Ethereum Girl is the third foal of the unraced Moonchild (Charge Forward). All three have been winners, and year-older half–sister Dream Of The Moon (All Too Hard) has also enjoyed stakes success.
Also bred by Stephens and Griffin and sold at the Gold Coast by Glenbeigh Farm, Dream Of The Moon was bought by Te Akau’s David Ellis for $160,000. Taken to New Zealand, she won in Listed class at Riccarton in April after three black type placings.
Quality runs deep in the family, with Ethereum Girl’s (2 f Maurice – Moonchild by Charge Forward) third dam having thrown quadruple Australian stakes winner Wild Rain (Manhattan Rain), and her fourth dam leaving two Melbourne stakes winners – Canon Song (Rory’s Jester) and Duchess Katrin (Rory’s Jester) – and five-time winner North Bell (Bellwater), dam of the great Northerly (Serheed) and two others black type victors.
Moonchild’s yearling colt by Yes Yes Yes (Rubick) was bought from Glenbeigh’s draft at the Inglis May (HTBA) Yearling Sale by Darby Racing for $50,000. Moonchild was not served in 2023, but a full sibling to Ethereum Girl is expected this spring.
Maurice, standing his ninth season at Arrowfield this year, at an unchanged $55,000 (inc GST), now has 32 stakes winners worldwide. A total of 22 of those have come in his home base of Japan, but the top two performers among his six Group 1 winners are Australians, in dual Derby winner Hitotsu and top–tier winning sprinter Mazu.
With his seventh juvenile black type victor globally, Maurice has now had two Australian stakes winners this season, after three last term and five in 2022-23.