Legacy Bound and Tycoon Star clash at Flemington as their siblings head for the Easter Sale
Many eyes around Riverside will be glued to screens just after 3pm on Saturday to take in the VRC Sprint Classic (Listed, 1200m) for three-year-olds at Flemington.
The race might not quite be the highlight of a meeting featuring the Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m), and much attention on the day will also be drawn to Rosehill’s dual Group 1 card.
But there’ll be intense interest in the Sprint Classic from the point of view of the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale starting the next day, with two key chances – linked by Written Tycoon (Iglesia) – having siblings to go under the hammer.
Robbie Griffiths’ exciting gelding Legacy Bound, by Written Tycoon’s (Iglesia) burgeoning sire son Ole Kirk, is second favourite at around $3.40 as he seeks back-to-back wins and a fifth from seven starts.
His owners Vinery Stud will offer his sister on day one of the Easter sale, as Lot 61.
And Legacy Bound’s equal topweight in the set weights and penalties event is a son of Written Tycoon in Tycoon Star, who’ll resume seeking a third victory at start number 12.
With all of the colt’s headgear removed by his trainers Team Hayes, his chief owners – and Written Tycoon’s home stud – Yulong will also be hoping for a forward showing as they prepare to offer his brother at Riverside on Monday, as Lot 439.
Both young sprinters will likely clash on a bigger stage later in the autumn in Morphettville’s The Goodwood (Gr 1, 1200m), also set weights and penalties, on May 9, but Saturday’s meeting shapes as a juicy first round bout.
Legacy Bound is the first horse Griffiths has trained for Vinery, retained to carry the green with the white V after being withdrawn from the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
After winning his first two starts last autumn including Adelaide’s Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), Legacy Bound produced another first-up victory in the spring, assuaging his trainer’s fears about a first look at the Flemington straight by taking the Poseidon Stakes (Listed, 1100m).
The gelding finished just behind the headline grabbers in his two other spring runs, also up the Flemington straight, with a fourth in the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) and a highly meritorious third in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), behind Tentyris (Street Boss) and the reopposing My Gladiola (I Am Invincible).
Tentyris and My Gladiola, the filly who also ran second in the Danehill, franked the Coolmore form by coming home in that order again first-up in February’s Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m).
Both then finished unplaced in the Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m), but My Gladiola is currently favourite for the Sprint Classic at around $2.50, as she shapes to again meet Legacy Bound, who kept his first-up record intact with his second Flemington straight win on March 7, in a quality handicap over 1100 metres.
Vinery general manager Adam White said the stud was hoping for big things this weekend from both Legacy Bound and his little sister.
“He was good in the spring, running third in the Coolmore behind Tentyris and My Gladiola, and they ran the quinella in the Lightning, so the form out of the Coolmore has been very strong,” White told ANZ News.
White said Legacy Bound’s younger sister was “a very high quality filly” who, like her brother, could be expected to run at two but improve into her three-year-old season.
By Vinery’s champion first season sire Ole Kirk, Legacy Bound is the fourth foal, and Lot 61 the fifth, of Sanaya (More Than Ready), a Vinery homebred who won at 1500 metres at Kembla Grange among 15 starts.
Her dam Astrodame (Flying Spur) was a second-tier winner of the MVRC Stocks Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) at five, and recorded eight stakes placings.
White said Sunday’s filly had thrown more to her damsire – Vinery’s former star shuttler More Than Ready (Southern Halo) – than Legacy Bound.
“She’s a well balanced filly, and probably has a bit more of a More Than Ready influence than Legacy Bound had. You can see it in the head and in her nice dark brown colouring,” White said.
“She’s going to develop a lot further yet. Like Legacy Bound she could be quite talented at two but get better as she gets to three. She’s got that sort of pedigree underneath her as well.”
Griffiths said he believed a “bigger and stronger” Legacy Bound was ready this campaign to cement his place in the top echelon of his crop.
“Yeah definitely,” he told ANZ. “We want to have a crack at The Goodwood, so we’d like to think he’s capable of doing that.”
While Griffiths had been wary of the Flemington straight the first time around for Legacy Bound, he said the budding star sprinter now looked like a natural at the course.
“He certainly does – he’s been very effective every time he’s been there,” he said.
“He’s shaping up really well for Saturday, and came through his return run in good order. He galloped in good style on Monday morning, and we’re looking forward to the challenge of My Gladiola.
“She’s had the upper hand on us so far, but we’ll see how we go. Legacy Bound might be a bit bigger and stronger this time around, and having a good win rate of four from six helps you going into any race.
“And even though the filly beat us home in the Coolmore, what I love is that her form has stood up really well.
“I think it’s a really good crop of three-year-olds, and with Tentyris, My Gladiola and Legacy Bound, I think it’ll be a good challenge for my bloke to step up, but I think he’ll give it one helluva shake.”
Griffiths said he would take great interest in Legacy Bound’s sister when she entered the sales ring at Riverside.
“No doubt me and plenty of others, unfortunately,” he said with a smile. “I can’t hide her. I’m sure she’ll be well sought after, being a full to Legacy Bound.”
As with Legacy Bound, Tycoon Star’s connections believe the colt has returned this autumn a more powerful horse, having benefited from a long summer break with the late autumn Adelaide carnival in mind.
By Yulong’s evergreen 23-year-old Written Tycoon, Tycoon Star is the first foal, and Lot 439 the third, of Miss Iano (Equiano), a multiple city winner of eight races up to 1200 metres who was placed in a Melbourne Group 3.
Yulong bought Tycoon Star at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale for $350,000, from Milburn Creek’s draft. He was then bought by the Hayes brothers’ Lindsay Park for $400,000 at Magic Millions Gold Coast, with Yulong retaining a majority share.
Impressed with Tycoon Star’s quality, Yulong then bought Miss Iano for $310,000 in foal to Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) from Milburn Creek’s consignment at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Lindsay Park bought the resultant colt at the Gold Coast for $475,000, in league with Laurel Oak Bloodstock.
JD Hayes joked that it wouldn’t be the worst outcome if Lot 439 didn’t sell, perhaps giving Lindsay Park three sons of Miss Iano.
“Hopefully Yulong decide to keep him and race him with us,” he quipped.
Tycoon Star debuted successfully, also up the Flemington straight, in the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m), and three starts later flashed home for third in the 2025 Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
His spring was fair, including a second-up victory in Caulfield’s McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) and a sixth in the Coolmore, beaten 4.55 lengths.
Team Hayes experimented with his headgear last spring, from blinkers to winkers and visors, the last of which have been removed for Saturday following two pleasing jump-out seconds without them at Flemington.
“We tinkered with a few things last prep because he was always a little bit keen,” Hayes said.
“He seems to have come back better. He’s jumped out super, so we’ve taken all the headgear off and we’re just going to trust him. It’s a competitive race, but he’s quite good on his day.
“He needs to improve on his last prep, although he was able to win a stakes race and was thereabouts competing in the hottest races, so it was definitely a pass mark.
“We’ve targeted the Adelaide carnival with him so we can give him a bit more time off from the spring into the autumn, and hopefully it pays dividends. He does look like he has improved, and if that’s the case he’ll be pretty exciting.
“It’s a tough race on Saturday. We’re just more excited to see how he goes with a view to the rest of the autumn, but I think he’s a good each-way hope.”
While Tycoon Star has shone on the track, Yulong’s sales and nominations manager Harry King said his younger brother was a better looking yearling, with stronger notes of his French damsire Equiano (Acclamation) and second damsire Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice).
“He’s definitely right up there as one of the best colts we’ve brought to the sale,” King said.
“But he’s a little bit different to some of the Written Tycoons you might see. He’s got a lovely European flair to him that we’ve seen through that Equiano broodmare sire line, and that ties in very nicely with Not A Single Doubt. He’s got that prettiness in his head from Not A Single Doubt, and he’s a Redoute’s [Choice] looking horse, with the nice leg and motor of Written Tycoon.
“He’s very balanced, he’s exceptionally light on his feet, and he’s got incredibly good hocks. He’s got a lot more elegance about him than his brother. Being the third foal out of the mare, he’s really now the complete package of what we wanted out of the mating.
“And in terms of being a sire, he’s potentially an outcross in terms of being by Written Tycoon and out of an Equiano mare. If he’s as good as his brother, he’s certainly looking at a future at stud the way he’s built.”
Among other Saturday runners with Easter sale ramifications:
King’s Secret, a Shalaa (Invincible Spirit) half-brother to Group 1 winner Private Eye (Al Maher), runs second-up as favourite in Rosehill’s Star Kingdom Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m). Goodwood Farm offers his half-sister by Anamoe (Street Boss) as Lot 257.
Celerity (Exceed And Excel) is another favourite, for the Bob Hoysted Stakes (Listed, 1000m). Longwood Thoroughbred Farm has her half-sister by I Am Invincible for sale as Lot 285.
Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel) is second elect for Adelaide’s Matrice Stakes (Listed, 1200m). Sledmere Stud offers his full sister as Lot 316.
And Star Je Taime (Snitzel) debuts in Flemington’s Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m). Her full sister will be offered by Widden Stud as Lot 121.