Red-letter day rewards Rosemont
Victorian stud dominates in Adelaide and Melbourne with Bella Vella, Extreme Warrior and Midwest
On a day in which Victorian breeders and owners were celebrated and feted, perhaps it is only fitting that it was Rosemont Stud who starred across multiple states as the significant investment of principals Anthony Mithen and Nigel Austin was rewarded with a number of important results yesterday.
At Morphettville, 2020 Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Bella Vella (Commands) made a remarkable return after 13 months on the sidelines, taking the R N Irwin Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) first-up and holding off her successor in the Sangster in Instant Celebrity (Not A Single Doubt).
In a week in which Bel Esprit (Royal Academy), sire of the mighty Black Caviar, was officially retired from stud duties, there was an element of passing the torch as highly exciting stallion prospect Extreme Warrior (Extreme Choice) took the race named in the Victorian stalwart’s honour, the Bel Esprit Stakes (Listed, 1100m).
Jamie Kah, who sported the Rosemont silks on Extreme Warrior, also wore the same colours to victory on gelding Midwest (Zoustar), who continued his remarkable preparation by taking the $200,000 Vobis Gold Dash (1100m) to make it six wins from seven starts since late November.
It was certainly a day on which to cheer on the red and the white.
Bella Vella (7 m Commands – Forget The Weather by Stormy Atlantic) continued one of the great fairytale stories of recent times, making an unlikely return to the track for a tremendous first-up win in the R N Irwin Stakes.
The Will Clarken-trained mare, a $22,500 purchase by stable clients through Inglis Digital in April, 2019, had seemingly bowed out of the racing spotlight when she was sold for $1.9 million to Rosemont at last year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
However, when she failed to get in foal to I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) last spring, a decision was made to return her to the racetrack for one final hurrah.
A comeback is never an easy feat and plenty have tried and failed, but not Bella Vella, who made 13 months on the sidelines look like a traditional 13 days.
Ridden by Kayla Crowther, the popular mare showed her trademark speed and customary tenacity to lead, kick and then hold off the late surge of another returning Group 1 winner in Instant Celebrity to score by a long head. Last year’s third Dexelation (Ambidexter) filled the same spot once again.
“She was great, it was unbelievable,” Rosemont’s general manager of bloodstock Ryan McEvoy told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “That win shouldn’t be understated. This is a mare that we made a significant investment in, she is a really fast Group 1-winning mare that unfortunately failed to conceive in the spring. To be fair, to Nigel and Anthony’s credit, it shows they are not afraid to give her another opportunity to go back into work.
“She came back from the Hunter after failing to get in foal and she was just bouncing around, she had so much energy and her coat was unbelievable. She just looked like a mare that looked like she wasn’t quite done with yet. It was a pretty easy decision to send her back to Will, without any expectations.
“Will has really taken his time with her and week by week he has just become more happy with her. To do that after such a long time off the track, beating horses like Instant Celebrity and Trekking, who are both Group 1 winners, is very impressive and I think it bodes well for her short-term future as well which is likely to include the Sangster.”
No filly or mare has ever won the Robert Sangster Stakes twice, but both Bella Vella and Instant Celebrity are likely to get the chance to add that feat to their resume.
Last spring marked the second time that Bella Vella failed to get into foal, having also failed to conceive to the subfertile Criterion (Sebring) in 2018, but McEvoy believes it will likely be a case of third time lucky this spring.
“We are confident she will be fine in the breeding barn and sometimes those mares need a bit of time in terms of getting her in foal,” McEvoy said. “I think the plan will be to send her back to the breeding barn this spring. We will get through the next two weeks with her – as well as the Sangster, there are opportunities for her in Brisbane. We will sit down and think about a stallion for her over the next couple of weeks.”
Extreme Warrior (3 c Extreme Choice – Heart Of Thrills by Show A Heart) was also first-up in the Bel Esprit Stakes, having not raced since finishing midfield as favourite in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) back in October.
A winner of the Blue Sapphire Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield earlier in the spring, the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Extreme Warrior justified his position as odds-on favourite to score by three-quarters of a length over It’sourtime (Time For War) with Curran (Night Of Thunder) a further half-head away in third.
“Very good, he’s a brilliant colt,” Kent Jnr said. “He got very worked up behind the gates and almost half melted so we thought he might be a bit fresh and a bit underdone but he was too good in the end.
“It’s really good to get back with a win and he’s got one of those freakish actions with a really long stride and he’s a very quick horse.”
Added McEvoy: “Extreme Warrior was a major investment we made last spring. He is a horse that has an unbelievable profile and he is such a good-looking animal, by this young phenomenal stallion in Extreme Choice. He has a massive pedigree and combined with that he is also very fast – he is such an appealing prospect.
“After his first start we were able to secure a small interest in the horse and then after he won the Blue Sapphire we were able to secure the majority of the horse. That then led to inviting some more partners into the horse with us, which was great.
“We were hoping he would come back and live up to the ability we know he has and the trainer knows he has. He did a great job today and looking back on it now, he probably went into the race a little vulnerable having just come off the back of a soft trial and he probably didn’t run to suit him, we had to carve out some pretty hot sectionals there today and they ran some good times.
“But I think we saw validation of what a really good high-class horse he is. He was able to really put them to the sword at the top of the straight.”
As a rare potential stallion prospect by Newgate Farm superstar Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt), Extreme Warrior will head to stud later this year but not until he gets his chance at Group 1 glory in either the Doomben 10,000 (Gr 1, 1200m) or The Goodwood (Gr 1, 1200m) next month.
“We are really excited about what lies ahead for him over the next few weeks,” McEvoy said. “There are a few options that now have to be considered for him; a race like The Goodwood in Adelaide or even a race like the Doomben 10,000. We will sit down with the stable and a few form experts and decipher what will be the best options for him.”
Kent Jnr indicated that The Goodwood was the most likely race for the colt with a run beforehand in the Tobin Bronze Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) a possibility.
A $160,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling, Extreme Warrior is one of a remarkable seven stakes winners for Extreme Choice from just 38 runners across his first two crops, along with Stay Inside, She’s Extreme, Tiger Of Malay, Espiona, Extreme Flight and Xtremetime. He is the only one of those seven prepared by Extreme Choice’s former trainer Price.
Earlier on the Vobis card, Midwest (3 g Zoustar – Umgeton by Stratum) managed to stretch his brilliance beyond 1000 metres for the first time with the Anthony and Sam Freedman-prepared gelding leading all of the way to take the Vobis Gold Dash.
“It is a thrill for us to train a winner in these colours on a race day like this,” said Freedman stable representative Brad Taylor. “They’re big supporters of the industry and big supporters of our stable. It’s great.”
Considered promising from early in his two-year-old days, Midwest made his debut in the Blue Diamond Preview (Listed, 1000m) for colts and geldings last year. He finished seventh behind General Beau (Brazen Beau), with subsequent Rosemont acquisition Extreme Warrior in second.
Gelded after four starts as a colt, Midwest has become a model of consistency, winning six of his seven starts at three with his only defeat coming on his previous outing at Mornington.
“He’s a horse we are all coming to love really quickly,” McEvoy said. “He was quite a sharp two-year-old but probably being kept as an entire didn’t suit him. He had a nice long spell at Rosemont after his two-year-old season and we gelded him and he has come back and been dynamite.
“The Freedmans have made no secret they think he is one of the fastest horses they have trained from the barriers. He just keeps stepping up – I thought that was a legitimate Group 3 class field today.
“I think he has earned himself a little break and I think he is a horse we can all have a bit of fun with in the spring. There will be plenty of options for a fast horse like him, who puts himself on the speed and really quickens around the turn. The handicapper will probably catch up with him in time which will probably force us to look at stakes races with him, but he might be in that class.”
A $200,000 Inglis Premier yearling from the Noorilim Park draft, Midwest was purchased by Will Johnson and Julian Blaxland in partnership with Rosemont Stud.
He is the third foal out of Umgeton (Stratum), a speedy filly herself who was a 955-metre winner at Moonee Valley and also finished second in the 2012 running of the Carlyon Stakes (Listed, 1000m).