Bigger and better expected from Ole Kirk after ballistic start to stud life
Vinery Stud ecstatically cheered home a winner on Saturday when their star stallion Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) landed his first elite success with Ole Dancer’s triumph in the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).
With exquisite symmetry, Ole Kirk’s breakthrough top-tier victory as a stallion came at the the scene of his greatest triumph – the Caulfield 1600 metres – where he landed the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) in 2020.
And the victory – his fifth stakes winner from 49 runners at a whopping 10.2 per cent – has reinforced the view that even though Ole Kirk has made a ballistic start to stud life, things will only grow bigger and better.
With four two-year-old stakes winners among 32 runners from his first crop – at 12.5 per cent – Ole Kirk claimed the first season sires’ title last term. As of Saturday night, he’s also on top of the sophomore table as he strives to complete the double this season.
Just as Australia was looking for new sires to step into the void amid the closing chapters of the careers of veterans such as Written Tycoon (Iglesia), Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and Fastnet Rock (Danehill), it looks like a couple have.
Arrowfield’s ten-year-old The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) continues to excel, rising to a current rank of fourth on the general sires’ table with only four crops running.
Kia Ora’s eight-year-old Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) has made a highly successful start, finishing third on the first season table last term and sitting fifth on the second year chart at present, while Darley’s nine-year-old Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) is two spots above him.
None have been more impressive than Ole Kirk, who’s currently covering his fifth book at Vinery, with his first season results having earned him a fee rise from $55,000 to $99,000.
And with immaculate timing, the eight-year-old had two special dates in the mating shed on Sunday: Ole Dancer’s dam and half-sister in Dancers (Husson) and Ginger ’N’ Pink (Zoustar).
“It’s fantastic,” Vinery general manager Adam White said of Ole Kirk’s trajectory.
“Obviously, to be champion first season sire last year was great. He’s clearly started very well as a sire.
“But to get a Group 1 winner in the spring, it just ticks it off beautifully, really. And I think there’s a lot more to come.”
It was a joyous afternoon in the Vinery box at Randwick after Ole Dancer – bred and part-owned by Ole Kirk shareholder and former Vinery co-owner Neil Werrett – prevailed by 0.35 lengths as second favourite in a gripping home straight battle with odds-on chance Apocalyptic (Extreme Choice), after the pair led for most of the race.
Werrett couldn’t be in the box to watch the event with White and Vinery part-owner Steve McCann. He was instead in the Randwick mounting yard ahead of watching Briasa (Smart Missile) run in The Everest (Gr 1, 1200m) in the slot he possessed with McCann and long-time associates Max Whitby and Col Madden, the two other co-owners of Ole Dancer.
Briasa couldn’t bring any Everest success, finishing eighth, but the victory of the Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained Ole Dancer was glorious compensation.
“They’re two very high-class fillies,” White said of Ole Dancer and Apocalyptic. “It was a great duel down the straight, and Ole Dancer got the upper hand and outstayed the other one.
“It’s great to see that sort of toughness in the progeny of Ole Kirk. But also just to get up to that mile, that he was very effective at, looked suitable. He won the Golden Rose and followed up with a Caulfield Guineas win, so for his first Group 1 winner to come over a mile at Caulfield is probably very fitting.
“Ole Kirk demonstrated he was very effective over a mile, and now his stock look like they’re going to be the same.”
Vinery expects the stars to continue to emerge for the stallion, who’s covering a book capped at 150 mares this spring.
Ole Kirk will likely have Legacy Bound running in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) on November 1. The Rob Griffiths-trained, Vinery-owned gelding is currently a $15 chance.
Phillip Stokes’s Regal Award, born and raised at Vinery, failed to gain a start in the Caulfield Guineas as an emergency, but instead came out at the same track last Wednesday and won a three-year-old Benchmark 70 over the same 1600-metre trip – by 7.5 lengths.
Bjorn Baker’s Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner O’ Ole is nearing a comeback after winning a Rosehill barrier trial on October 13.
Ole Kirk also had two unraced offspring score impressive wins at Warwick Farm’s barrier trials on Friday, with the Blake Ryan-trained two-year-old colt Green Kirk scoring, and the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained filly Gatwick beating the boys in a three-year-old heat.
And while Ole Kirk’s early strides have been strong, they may have been even more emphatic if not for the tragic early loss through a drowning accident of King Kirk, winner of the Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) on his debut.
“To get four stakes winners in his first crop of two-year-olds was just tremendous, and it started right from the first two-year-old races last year,” White told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“His success as a young stallion was fairly instant. But the most exciting part is his progeny look like they’ll get better as they get older, and get out to trips that suit them a lot more.
“I think there’s a few there that are going to be better in the autumn. They’re heading the right way, and they just keep improving after each run.
“There’s a few two-year-olds out and about already. He had very similar quality mares in his second book compared to his first, so we’re really looking forward to this second crop of two-year-olds coming through.”
White paid tribute to Moody – who bought Ole Dancer for $350,000 at Magic Millions Gold Coast – and his co-trainer Coleman, as well as Mick Malone and his team at North, who presented the yearling Ole Dancer for sale.
“Peter and Katherine have done a fantastic job with the filly,” he said. “And Mick Malone and Pauline Alix at North, they reared her and Mick put the syndicate together to buy her with Peter.
“So it was a good effort to recognise a nice filly and they’ve been justly rewarded. She’s very valuable now, being a Group 1 winner.”
Meanwhile, Vinery are busy welcoming the first foals of their $16,500 stallion Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible), who covered 173 mares in his initial season.
“He’s getting really nice foals, which is exciting,” White said. “He’s our next sire coming through and if he can start the way Ole Kirk has, we’ll be really happy.”
And stud stalwart, the 16-year-old All Too Hard (Casino Prince) continues to cover his 13th book at $27,500, down from $38,500, fresh from raising his 31st stakes winner through Oh Too Good in the Ladies’ Day Vase (Gr 3, 1600m) on Caulfield Guineas day.
“All Too Hard is going really well,” White said. “He’s covering a really good book of mares. He’s been really popular this year, and at $25,000 he’s just terrific value. He’ll cover another nice book of 150 or 160 mares, which is great.”