‘It was very rewarding to see that success and long may it continue’
Questioned by some as a sleeping giant over the summer months, Godolphin roared into carnival action on Saturday with four stakes winners, and their evergreen stallion Street Boss (Street Cry) led their assault.
Street Boss completed a rare achievement in landing the double of both of the major lead-ups to the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), with the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) taken out by his son Tentyris, while he his daughter Tempted landed the Reisling Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). Both two-year-olds hail from Darley’s much loved cross of Street Boss over mares by the empire’s great, now retired, stallion, Exceed And Excel (Danehill).
Commemorative (I Am Invincible) capped a Randwick treble for Godolphin in the Wenona Girl Quality (Gr 3, 1200m), while in Melbourne, Tom Kitten (Harry Angel) claimed the All-Star Mile (Gr 1, 1600m).
While Broadsiding (Too Darn Hot) was trumped as an odds-on favourite chasing his fourth elite win when second to Linebacker (Super Seth) in the Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), and Beiwacht (Bivouac) tumbled down Slipper markets with his ninth in the Todman, it was a golden day for the royal blue army.
And it may have silenced those raising eyebrows over Godolphin’s recent quieter period, during the traditionally fallow summer months for an operation that focuses its strengths on carnival time.
“It was a fantastic day, a great day for everyone on the farms, and everyone in the racing stable,” Godolphin’s Australian managing director Andy Makiv told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“There’s a lot of hard work that goes into trying to achieve these outcomes on the feature days.
“It’s been mentioned that we’ve been a bit quiet through the Christmas period, but it’s obviously this time of year that you want to fire up a bit.
“The time to try to get four stakes winners would be Super Saturday slash Randwick Guineas day; that’s a great time to hit the board. It was very rewarding to see that success over the weekend, and long may it continue.”
Despite being 20, and having to be managed for fertility issues, Street Boss still stands front and centre of the empire’s Australian breeding and racing operations.
His daughter Tempted backed up her fast-finishing seventh in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) by powering home in the Reisling by 0.33 lengths – becoming Street Boss’s seventh stakes winner of the season.
Thirty five minutes later, his son Tentyris franked his barnstorming Blue Diamond second by surging home to take the Todman by 0.74 lengths over Wodeton (Wootton Bassett), who seems likely to nonetheless press on towards the Slipper should he qualify
At Flemington, the non-Godolphin contender among Street Boss’s three metro runners on the day – Ciaron Maher’s Another Wil – looked luckless in the All-Star Mile, being held up behind horses in the straight and almost falling at the 150-metre mark.
Having already this autumn become his sire’s tenth top-tier winner in the CF Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) – and his second in Australia this season following Pinstriped’s Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in August – Another Wil might well have provided his sire with another top-level victory with better luck.
Still, the results are surging for Street Boss, who’s stood for $66,000 (inc GST) at Darley’s Victorian farm for the past two seasons.
He finished a personal-best tenth on the Australian general sires’ table in 2022-23, thanks mainly to his finest offspring Anamoe, now a Darley sire. He followed that with a 14th-placed finish last season, while ranking ninth by stakes winners, with seven.
Street Boss emerged from the weekend in ninth place on the two-year-old sires’ table, and ranks equal second by juvenile stakes winners, thanks to the James Cumming- trained Tempted and Tentyris, from Godolphin’s “outsourced” Victorian stable of Anthony and Sam Freedman.
“He’s a phenomenal stallion isn’t he? He’s certainly been a force to be reckoned with in terms of the Godolphin two-year-olds in recent years,” said Makiv, mentioning other juvenile stakes winners of the stallion’s for Godolphin in Traffic Warden, Arcaded and current day Rosemont Stud sire Hanseatic.
“He’s certainly showing his age, there’s no doubting that. It’s no secret that over the journey he’s had some issues with fertility, but we’ve always found that he’s a stallion that, managed well and with a suitable mare candidate, has enabled good outcomes, and long may it continue.
“We get that the end’s close than the start, but with what he’s still achieving on the track we’ll certainly be looking to continue to use him.
“He’s been a more significant stallion in Australia than he was in the US, which is evidenced by yesterday, and last year with the likes of Traffic Warden.
“And he’s got sons at stud here now, including the great Anamoe, so his legacy here is destined to continue for some time into the future.”
Street Boss covered managed books of 82 and 75 mares in seasons 2023 and ’24 respectively, at fertility rates of 68 and 73 per cent, having shuttled from Darley’s US base for the 13th and last time in 2022.
Makiv said the imposing chestnut would be managed again this season, with Darley supplying him “around 15 to 20 mares” and the rest from clients.
“He’s not capable of big books, but a big enough size that suits us and suits our clients. I’m sure he’ll be popular again this year,” he said.
“If we manage him to a couple of covers a day, cap it at 80-odd mares at his age, his fertility’s been pretty good.
“And I think he’s a wonderful value stallion. At $60,000, for a horse to achieve what he’s achieving – a lot of stallions who stand at a bit more or around that mark aren’t getting the two feature two-year-old races that lead-up to the Slipper.”
Street Boss’s legacy is also likely to continue through his daughters, if his own sire Street Cry’s emergence as a powerhouse broodmare sire is any guide.
Street Cry, who died aged just 16 in 2014 after nine Australian seasons, currently sits fifth on the country’s broodmare sires’ table, with Tom Kitten his star performer in the category.
He finished third last season, thanks mainly to Cox Plate (Gr 1, 20240m) hero Romantic Warrior (Acclamation), having broken into the top ten with an eighth-placed finish in 2022-23, when his major earner was Cascadian (New Approach).
“With that Street Cry blood, the influence is amazing,” Makiv said. “He’s the damsire of Romantic Warrior, Cascadian, Cylinder, and Treasurethe Moment.
“The Street Cry blood is great, sound and tough blood. It suits this part of the world and indeed all parts of the world.”
Tempted and Tentyris have climbed after Saturday to be equal favourites for the Slipper at $6, along with Wodeton, whose two beaten runs since a debut success have now dropped him from his $3.50 quote, though he’s still clinging to a share of favouritism.
Darley will also have Beiwacht in the Slipper despite Saturday’s failure, since he’s exempt from the ballot after winning the Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m). Another of their colts, Comedy (Snitzel), winner of Randwick’s Kirkham Plate (1000m) in October, will press for Golden Slipper qualification at the last opportunity in Saturday’s Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Rosehill.
“Our stocks for the Slipper are looking OK, which is exciting,” Makiv said. “The two winners were great on Saturday.
“Tempting is a very good filly. She didn’t get a lot of luck in the Blue Diamond, so it was great to see her make up for it in the Reisling.
“And Tentyris backed up his Caulfield performance with a slashing win in the Todman. They’re both going to be right in the mix in terms of the market and hopefully when the race comes around.
“Beiwacht was probably a forgive run. He drew awkwardly, and charged a bit out wide, but he’s a strong candidate, and a very good horse. Comedy will run in the Pago Pago and hopefully he can put his best foot forward.”
The Slipper plans of Coolmore-Chris Waller $1.6 million colt Wodeton appear still alive despite the disappointment of punters after his second in the Todman as $2 favourite.
“I’ve been told he’s pulled up well. We’ll just wait to hear final confirmation from the stable,” Coolmore racing manager John Kennedy told ANZ.
Wodeton’s fate might not be in his own hands, however.
He now sits in a precarious 15th on the order of entry for the Slipper, which has a field of 16 horses plus emergencies, with this Saturday’s Pago Pago and Magic Night Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) to offer other contenders a chance to leapfrog him.
Kennedy said rider James McDonald was satisfied with Wodeton’s Todman performance, when he tracked the two leaders in the run, hit the lead inside the 100 metres and was collared by Tentyris in the last 25 metres.
“J Mac was happy with the run. He was probably a little bit disappointed he wasn’t carried into the race a bit more before he made his run,” Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, a decision will likely be made on Monday on whether Te Akau’s rising star Return To Conquer (Snitzel) attempts to become the first New Zealand-trained horse to win the Golden Slipper.
The Australian-bred Return To Conquer, bought at Magic Millions Gold Coast by Te Akau’s David Ellis for $1.3 metres, broke through at the top level to make it four wins from four starts in Saturday’s Sistema Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Ellerslie.
Talk of a Slipper raid has long surrounded the exciting colt – who’s seventh on the Slipper order of entry by prize–money – but co-trainer Mark Walker on Sunday indicated such a step would not be taken lightly.
“We’re going to make a decision on Monday,” Walker, who co-trains for Te Akau with Sam Bergerson, told ANZ. “We trot up every horse on a Monday with our vet. Sam and I will have the team talk with Dave and Karen.
“He is a first foal, so we’re mindful of that. He’s got more furnishing and maturing to do. That was his fourth start as a two-year-old, and he’s got a Group 1 on his CV now.
“It’s pretty hard contemplating travelling and backing up again within two weeks. We’ll just see how he is tomorrow and then make our minds up.”
Walker said stablemate Damask Rose (Savabeel), winner of Saturday’s inaugural The Kiwi (Listed, 1500m) for her fourth success in seven starts, was in the same boat. While Sydney autumn riches are tempting for the Karaka Millions 3YO winner (RL, 1600m), Walker is mindful of not over-taxing the three-year-old filly at this stage.
“She’s peaked for the Karaka Millions 3YO and again for the NZB Kiwi. That’s twice this campaign,” Walker said. “You don’t want to burn them out too soon. Sometimes it’s about longevity and being patient.”