Black Soil plotting more juvenile success in Queensland
Fresh off the back of Nettuno’s milestone Group 3 win at the Gold Coast the fledgling breeding and racing operation have high hopes for Bezique
Black Soil Bloodstock, the fledgling Darling Downs-based breeding and racing operation headed by former Rugby League star Brian Siemsen, will target more juvenile stakes success this season when filly Bezique (Spirit Of Boom) takes her place in Saturday’s Bill Carter Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Doomben.
Her step up to stakes grade for her second career start comes after a dominant debut victory at the Sunshine Coast last month and hot off the back of a breakthrough Group 3 success for Black Soil courtesy of fellow juvenile Nettuno (I Am Invincible).
Siemsen, who raced flagship Group 1-winning brothers Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) and Temple Of Boom (Piccolo), first purchased under the Black Soil banner in 2019 and has since acquired 21 yearlings alongside trainer Tony Gollan, John Foote Bloodstock and on the advice of principal agent Harry McAlpine.
Ten of those purchases have graced a racetrack, with six winners, and, should Bezique claim a maiden stakes success on Saturday, the yearling recruits would boast a stakes winners-to-runners ratio of an enviable 40 per cent.
The 2019 purchases include Listed winner Isotope (Deep Field), who won the $1 million Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) in January, as well as Phoenix Stakes (Listed, 1615m) winner The Actuary (Sebring), with the duo added to by Nettuno’s victory in the Ken Russell Memorial Classic (Gr 3, 1200m) earlier this month.
Homebred Miami Fleiss (Spirit Of Boom), a winner of five races from nine starts, including the Eureka Stud Classic (Listed, 1200m), was forced into a premature retirement earlier this year after suffering a fetlock injury, while Listed winner Niedorp (Not A Single Doubt), a 2018 yearling purchase, will also join the broodmare band this year.
“(Brian) has had a lot of success early which is probably beyond what he was planning,” McAlpine told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“He’s converting that into a breeding phase as well so there’s the likes of Niedorp and Miami Fleiss, stakes winners that will go to the breeding barn this year. The aim is to build up a broodmare band and continue to add to it each year with different families from the yearling sales if we can.”
However, for Bezique, her racetrack story was nearly over before a prologue had been written, with the filly having to overcome a serious setback in her early days, a fact which makes her late-season two-year-old endeavours all the more remarkable.
“She fractured a knee very early on which set her back for an incredibly long time,” McAlpine explained. “She looked like an early sort that we thought we could get on a Magic Millions path but that obviously set her back, which was a real shame, as she might have been quite a dominant early two-year-old.
“Professionalism has got her there in good time and let’s hope she can make up for lost ground now for us. Tony (Gollan) has always had a really big opinion of her. After her first trial which she won, he contemplated sending her to a stakes race first up, but he chose to knock the maiden off.
“It’s the first time she’s been in the stable with him and there’s a little bit more improvement in her education wise. It’s race by race at the moment, but for Black Soil to try and get a two-year-old stakes win next to her name is hugely important and significantly increases her value.”
Bezique was selected by Siemsen’s trusted buying team for $475,000 from the Strawberry Hill Stud draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and is out of Karuta Queen (Not A Single Doubt), a Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner and runner-up in the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
Bezique is her sixth foal, having already produced Listed winner Eawase (Sebing), while her Zoustar (Northern Meteor) filly sold to Peter Moody for $950,000 at this year’s flagship Magic Millions auction.
“We went out and targeted what we thought were some of the better yearlings by Spirit Of Boom,” McAlpine said. “And Karuta Queen has gone back to Spirit Of Boom last year, so that was a great endorsement.”
Nettuno, who races in the silks of Segenhoe Stud and has Yarraman Park among the ownership, was sent to the spelling paddock after his Group 3 success, with the stallion prospect to retire as an unbeaten juvenile from three starts.
Gollan will target further riches in the spring with the colt, who was a $500,000 purchase from the Yarraman draft being out of the Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) mare Saint Minerva.
“Nettuno has a powerful partnership behind him so they’ll be aiming for the lofty heights in trying to make him a Group 1-winning stallion, and he’s a very good looking horse with a great page, so if we can achieve that it would be a great result for everyone,” McAlpine said. “He’ll be a much better three-year-old type of horse and we’ll target some big races down south.”
“There are a few other two-year-olds that haven’t been sighted yet, but that Tony has a great opinion of, so there’s a real strength in numbers there.”
McAlpine, who also operates in his role with family farm Eureka Stud, is on the Gold Coast casting his eye over weanlings and broodmares to add their armoury, while stallions Spirit Of Boom (three) and Encryption (Lonhro) (one) have weanlings consigned for sale.
“We’re having a look at a few foals and the mares next year will undoubtedly be extremely strong and everyone’s cashed up and ready to go,” McAlpine said. “We’re ready to have a bit of a go and it’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
“We’ll certainly be looking for some nice, young stock for both Encryption and Spirit Of Boom.”