Goldman hoping Negation can get Hellbent off the mark
Stallion’s former trainer believes juvenile can shine in Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic
Yarraman Park’s exciting first-season sire Hellbent (I Am Invincible) has a good chance of chalking up his first winner this afternoon when his daughter Negation – who is fittingly trained by the stallion’s former handler Kurt Goldman – takes her chance in the Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic (1000m).
Goldman purchased the filly for $50,000 at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale and he told ANZ Bloodstock New yesterday that, given his connection to the stallion, he would be ‘very proud’ should he be the one to provide the sire with his first winner.
“If I could train his first winner it would make me really, very proud. He was by far the best horse I have trained, he was a pretty special horse … I have so many fond memories of him,” he said.
A $95,000 purchase at the 2014 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale from the Grenville Stud draft, Hellbent won seven of his 23 starts, headed by the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) on his final career start, while he was also placed twice in Group 1 company and retired with prize-money earnings of $901,450.
Hellbent started his career with Goulburn-based Goldman, who guided him to three victories, including the lucrative Inglis Dash (1100m) at Flemington, before being transferred to Darren Weir when Yarraman Park purchased an interest in the horse after his three-year-old career.
His daughter, Negation, warmed up for today’s assignment with a second place finish in a 900-metre Rosehill barrier trial on November 8 and Goldman said the way the filly performed that day reminded him of her sire.
“I was very happy with her trial at Rosehill. We always felt she had ability and obviously those trials are hot, they are in town and it is going to attract the best two-year-olds around, so you never know how good they are until you take them there. But she obviously backed up our early thoughts, which was pleasing to see,” the trainer said.
“I actually went back and watched Hellbent’s trials and the manner in which she ran and the way she carries herself is very similar to him. She showed a good turn of foot on a heavy track in that trial and that is very much what her father was like as a two-year-old as well.
“The way she carries herself in her work, for example her head carriage, is very similar to how he was and she can let down and quicken in the matter of two strides, which was one his best attributes as well.
“He could travel at high speed but then quicken and then put a few lengths on horses and that’s what she seems to show she can do at home as well. Of course I am by no means saying she is as good as him, but we are hoping she can go close to winning today.”
Hellbent’s first crop were well-received at the yearling sales earlier this year, with 90 youngsters selling for an aggregate $10,434,287 at an average of $115,936. Goldman said he intentionally targeted his progeny at the sales, but, despite his exhaustive efforts, Negation was the only yearling by the stallion the trainer was able to purchase.
“I would have been underbidder on about ten Hellbents earlier this year, but our budget didn’t really allow us to get the ones that we wanted and she ended up being the only one we were able to secure,” said Goldman.
“She is a very well put together filly. She is quite small and there is not a lot of her, which is probably reflected in her price-tag as a yearling. She is very precocious and a really lovely physical. Out of all the Hellbent yearlings I saw, her head reminded me so much of her father.”
Negation is out of dual-winning mare Gloray (Street Hero), who herself was purchased by Tasmania’s Grenville Stud for $55,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale when carrying the filly in utero. The mare is the dam of dual winner Chuckanev (Moshe), who has been her only runner to date.
Gloray herself is a half-sister to stakes-placed pair American Joy (Americain) and El Venetian (Moshe), while the filly’s third dam, Happy Heart (Exit To Nowhere), produced 2007 VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Arapaho Miss (Danehill Dancer), who is herself the dam of fellow VRC Oaks scorer Miami Bound (Reliable Man) and Listed scorer De Little Engine (Encosta De Lago).
Negation will be the son of I Am Invincible’s (Invincible Spirit) third runner, with the stallion already producing a stakes-placed filly in the shape of the Annabel Neasham-trained Bohemian Daisy, who ran an eye-catching third on debut in the Ottawa Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) on Oaks Day at Flemington.
Goldman, who also has a breeding right in the Yarraman Park-based sire, has two foals on the ground by the stallion and has been very pleased with the stock his former trainee is producing.
“There are some lovely horses and he has got some nice foals on the ground, so I think all the signs are there,” he said. “I also have a breeding right to the stallion and bred two mares to him last season. I have two lovely foals on the ground and we are very pleased with both of them.
“What I like about his stock is that they are not overly big types of horses and they are very correct. From a trainers’ perspective, I go to the sales and look for what I can take home and that I want to train, but also the ones that look like they can hold up to that routine.
“He doesn’t have those big, heavy horses, they are very athletic and we are starting to see that now with some nice trialers and obviously the one that was stakes-placed at the carnival.”
The filly will line up in barrier five with Blaike McDougall set to take the ride.
Meanwhile, Goldman will also saddle Arts Object (Zoustar) in today’s 1000-metre contest and she has been drawn in barrier two with Damien Thornton booked for the ride.
Like her stablemate, the daughter of Zoustar (Northern Meteor) comes into race with a 900-metre Rosehill barrier trial under her belt, where she finished fourth to Evening Star (Rubick), who has duly gone on to frank that form when she made a four-length-winning debut over 1000 metres at Canberra on November 14.
While Goldman expects Arts Object to give a good account of herself today, he believes she is by no means the finished article and expects her to furnish into an autumn two-year-old, hoping she won’t be out of place among some of the elite two-year-old races in the autumn next year.
“Arts Object will be a really nice filly for the future. She is a lovely filly who is going places. I think over 1000 metres, at this stage of their career, Negation will have the measure of her, but I really think the Zoustar will be a lovely horse for the autumn,” he explained.
“She has shown me all the signs that she could be heading in the direction of the Sires’ and Champagne. I think she could be a really smart filly in the making. I brought her to Ballarat for the experience as much as anything else. She has held up to training, so it was either go to the races or another barrier trial, and I felt the trip away here would do her the world of good.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see her run really well, she’s drawn favourably and she does everything so easily.
“Kathy (O’Hara) trialed both of these horses in Sydney and she said they were both readymade racehorses, who go to the races straight away and they will continue to learn. Arts Object is a very quick learner and I am expecting her to hit the line strongly and I’m pretty confident she will have improved from her trial.”
Purchased by Goldman for $100,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the Widden Stud draft, Arts Object is out of the unraced Street Cry (Machiavellian) mare Ringhals, making her a half-sister to two winners, including this year’s Macau Derby (Listed, 1800m) winner Simon Fubuki (Medaglia D’Oro).
Ringhals herself is a daughter of US Grade 1 scorer Black Mamba (Black Minnaloushe), who in turn is out of New Zealand Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed mare Sneetch (Grosvenor). Sneetch, herself is also the granddam of 2009 Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Roman Emperor (Montjeu) and Rios (Hussonet), who won on six occasions, including at Group 2 level.