American Eagle adds another feather to MyRacehorse cap
Mary Jo Jackson
ANZ News
MyRacehorse’s remarkably productive bloodstock model unearthed another potential spring star on Saturday when unbeaten colt American Eagle (Too Darn Hot) maintained his perfect record with a victory in the McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield.
The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained three-year-old arrived at the meeting with just one start to his name, having scored over 1200 metres at Sandown in July, but made the sizable leap into stakes company with aplomb under Mark Zahra.
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American Eagle burst clear in the straight before holding off the late challenge of Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) winner Unit Five (Supido), announcing himself as another serious prospect for a MyRacehorse operation which has enjoyed an enviable return from its yearling selections in recent seasons.
For MyRacehorse chief executive Ben Willis, the result was further vindication of a system spearheaded by respected agent Damon Gabbedy and built around collaboration with the trainers entrusted with preparing the syndicator’s horses.
“Damon Gabbedy runs our bloodstock team. He leads, with myself and Emma Freedman primarily, and we've got a few other people in the mix,” Willis told ANZ News.
“When we go to a sale, we'll partner up with four or five different stables that we have horses with.
“We'll combine and collaborate on shortlists and then go in to bid for them, get them vetted, et cetera. So that's what we've done the last three years of sales, and it's worked quite well.”
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Quite well may be an understatement.
From its 2024 yearling crop alone, MyRacehorse emerged with the likes of Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) heroine Apocalyptic (Extreme Choice), recent Missile Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Ninja (Farnan), Breeders' Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) scorer King Kirk (Ole Kirk), and Tulloch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) winner Storm Leopard (Ghaiyyath) among a cohort that delivered an exceptional rate of black-type success.
“In 2024, we landed Apocalyptic, Ninja, Storm Leopard, King Kirk – stakes winners,” Willis said.
“We were hitting about 50 per cent stakes winners to runners from that yearling sale. Three of those horses are still really exciting with what they're going to be able to do this spring ahead.”
American Eagle was sourced from the following year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where the son of Darley shuttler Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) was offered by Yulong as Lot 184.
The colt was one Willis said ticked many of the boxes which underpin the MyRacehorse selection process, beginning with the presence he displayed during inspections.
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“I think the main thing that we really loved about him is – and you see it on race day – he's just got a really strong presence about him,” Willis said.
“He's not an overly heavy colt, but he's not small by any means either. He's strong. He's physical. He's a nice free-moving type, well balanced, well proportioned.
“And then when you overlay him on type and then you look at his pedigree – Too Darn Hot was on fire at the time. They were absolutely sizzling on the track; we had one as well called Charcoals, who had chalked up quite a few wins for our ownership group.
“I think it was announced that he was going to shuttle back to Australia. We wanted to get involved in another one regardless.”
The bottom half of American Eagle’s pedigree provided another attraction.
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He is the third foal out of the Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) mare Awake The Stars, whose earlier progeny included Stardealt (Dundeel), a winner over a mile and third in the 2024 Tasmanian Derby (Listed, 2200m).
Willis has long been an admirer of Redoute’s Choice mares and believed the combination with Too Darn Hot provided further encouragement.
“I love Redoute's Choice mares,” he said. “I reckon, when I think back through Anamoe, Artorius, Hitotsu – he's just got such a good conversion rate as a broodmare sire. So I like that side.
“The mare had already thrown a mile winner, Stardealt, who was third in a Tassie Derby; American Eagle is her third foal.
“So it was ticking all those boxes that we really look for, and then him coming out of the Yulong draft. Yulong is obviously such a global powerhouse and respected breeding operation, and we like buying off good farms and from good breeders.”
While American Eagle had made his way onto the shortlists of both MyRacehorse and the Freedman team, securing the colt proved rather less straightforward.
Bloodstock agent Julian Blaxland, who works closely with the Freedman stable and MyRacehorse, had identified him during his first inspections of the catalogue.
“He instantly took my eye on first inspections,” Blaxland told ANZ.
“I ran through the whole catalogue before I gave it to all the boys, Anthony and Sam Freedman, and he was a lovely horse.
“We vetted him, he made the final list and we watched him go through. MyRacehorse was there and they’ve had good success with the Freedmans – both Anthony and Sam, Richard and Will, and Michael – and Sam and Ben are very close.
“They get horses from MyRacehorse, and they wanted to take a big chunk of a colt like this. They buy those types of good-pedigree colts by hot stallions.”
When American Eagle entered the ring on the opening day of the sale, however, he failed to meet his $400,000 reserve.
MyRacehorse had been involved in the bidding on the colt in conjunction with another stable, but Willis said their interest had stopped at $350,000.
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“We went and bid on him with this other stable, and we went up to $350,000,” Willis said.
“He ended up getting passed in, and the reserve was $400,000. We tried to do a deal with them to come back, but they're like, ‘Nah, $400,000 or nothing.’
“This particular stable wasn't willing to go up, which is fair enough. At the yearling sales, you just move on to the next one.”
But the colt had also remained firmly on the radar of Blaxland and the Freedmans.
Blaxland approached Yulong chief operating officer Sam Fairgray in an effort to strike a deal after the colt left the ring, and an agreement was reached later in the week.
“We initially watched the horse pass in on the first day of the sale, and I went on behalf of our team and tried to negotiate a deal on him with Sam Fairgray at the time,” Blaxland said.
“We then watched a few other similar colts on the lists to do with MyRacehorse over the next couple of days, and we managed to get the horse done on the Thursday.
“In hindsight, I’m glad we were patient and I’m glad we managed to get him done. We were beaten on a couple of other ones, but this horse was still there on the Thursday.
“Everyone came to the party, did the deal and the rest is history. It’s certainly been a really exciting start for him.”
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For Willis, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place away from the ring.
Attending a Magic Millions event hosted by the Freedman stable, Willis learnt a deal had been struck whereby Yulong would retain an interest in the colt, with the remaining share available to outside investors.
“That night I was at Sam and Anthony's stable event, they were running a Magic Millions stable event, and they were talking about this colt that they've just partnered in with Yulong, and if anyone's willing to take 50 per cent, you can get colours,” Willis said.
“That's the deal they had done with Yulong. So they had all done it on our behalf, and we were going to get a horse with them regardless.
“We work with Julian Blaxland a lot and I knew he was across it, Sam [Freedman] was across it. We all loved the colt.
“So I just went up to Sam at that event that night and said, ‘We'll take the other 50 per cent, lock him in.’ And so that's how we came about acquiring him with MyRacehorse.”
It was an unconventional route to ownership of the colt, but one which has already proved worthwhile.
“It can be a little bit risky. It was pretty funny that it's turned out to be American Eagle,” Willis said.
“Yulong has been great. We've obviously done quite a bit with them since with this horse, and they've been great partners and great to work with.”
American Eagle’s emergence has also provided a rewarding result for Yulong, both as the breeder which raised and offered the colt and as a continuing shareholder.
Fairgray said the youngster had been held in high regard well before arriving at the Gold Coast.
“He was a great physical and had always been a nice horse from the time we had him,” Fairgray told ANZ.
“Too Darn Hot was all the rage at the time and this colt oozed quality and class. We were very happy to stay in with the Freedman stable.”
Blaxland believes the outcome has ultimately suited every party.
“Yulong kept a piece, so it worked out well in the end for everyone,” he said. “I’m sure Yulong is happy to still have a piece in him today.”
The transaction also continued beyond American Eagle himself. Yulong subsequently sold Awake The Stars privately, despite the mare having produced a colt the operation clearly valued.
The subsequent emergence of her Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) colt may carry a hint of what might have been for his breeder, but Yulong’s retained interest means it has hardly been left empty-handed.
And after just two starts, the upside in American Eagle could be considerable.
Willis said the colt went into his first stakes assignment short of peak fitness, with the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (Gr 3, 1400m) on September 27 having long been pencilled in as the next stage of his preparation.
“The plan was always going into this race, he was only about 80, 85 per cent fit,” Willis said.
“The plan was always to go to the Guineas Prelude. That was going to give him a good chance to step up to 1400 metres.
“We've been a bit on the fence whether he's a Coolmore Stud Stakes type, 1200-metre/ six-furlong horse, or a Caulfield Guineas type miler. It's a good problem to have.
“The plan is to step him up to 1400 metres and see how he handles that step up in trip.”
His pedigree and Mark Zahra's feedback following Saturday's victory provided encouragement that the colt's relaxed racing style could allow him to stretch beyond sprint trips.
“Mark seems to think he relaxes well enough that he'd be able to stretch out to that distance,” Willis said.
“We're still learning about him. That would almost be the fork-in-the-road race where we go, do we push on to the Guineas and go up another 200 metres, or do we pull him back for the Coolmore Stud Stakes on Derby Day?”
Whichever direction American Eagle takes, he may not be the only member of MyRacehorse's latest crop capable of enhancing the operation's already impressive record.
Willis nominated Platinum Pearl, a Frankel (Galileo) filly also sourced from Yulong, and the Bjorn Baker-trained The Autumn Sun (Redoute's Choice) filly Pacifico as two others with considerable upside.
“He [American Eagle] was one of four [purchased on the Gold Coast]. Platinum Pearl, a grey Frankel filly out of the Yulong draft as well, she debuted on Wednesday at Sandown about two weeks ago, 1200 metres, ran third behind a gun,” he said.
“She'll map a plan towards ideally a VRC Oaks or a Thousand Guineas, and then we've got another Autumn Sun filly with Bjorn called Pacifico, who's just finished up her trials and is about to have her debut racing campaign, who looks pretty neat as well.”
Emboldened by the results generated by the system Gabbedy and the wider bloodstock team have developed, MyRacehorse has increased its investment again this year.
“This year we’ve really backed our bloodstock system with Emma and Damon,” Willis said. “We’ve bought 15 yearlings, so I think the 2026 two-year-olds will hopefully mean a lot more horses hitting the track and winning races in years to come.”
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