Shinzo tops juvenile crop
Shinzo is Australia’s best two-year-old.
With the five Group 1 juvenile races run and won for season 2022-23, the status of the Golden Slipper would ordinarily see the winner lay claim to the title of the nation’s best, but ratings figures also back-up the blueblood Snitzel colt’s performance in the $5 million feature.
The Coolmore-owned colt, whose value soared beyond $40 million with his peak performance, the first Golden Slipper success for premier trainer Chris Waller.
Paul Daily’s Ratings2Win database recorded Shinzo’s Slipper win at a figure of 96.3, the highest of any of the five Group 1 two-year-old winners this season; which rounded out with King Colorado (Kingman) taking out the JJ Atkins Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) earlier this month, also a milestone win for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.
The lightly raced King Colorado, who recorded a figure of 93.1 to continue his rapid improvement, was the trainers’ first Group 1 two-year-old winner, but he almost certainly won’t be their last.
Blue Diamond Stakes winner Little Brose (Per Incanto) recorded a figure of 94.1, the second highest mark for the season, while Militarize (Dundeel) was consistent in his two Group 1-winning performances in the ATC Sires Produce Stakes and Champagne Stakes with 92.3 and 92.2 rating figures respectively.
Comparing performances, given the development of two-year-olds, can also be fraught with danger, but Ratings2Win takes that into consideration with an age improvement rating which takes into account the date of the race and, importantly, the distance of the race, so the respective merit of each run can be measured more accurately at a later date.
Although not Group 1 races, the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and Inglis Millennium are also included with Skirt The Law (Better Than Ready) producing 93 for her win on the Gold Coast, which equates to a rating of 97 if the race was run on June 10.
2YO Ratings2Win figures for the season
Race Horse R2W rating Age improvement rating (AIR)
Magic Millions Skirt The Law 93 97
Inglis Millennium Learning To Fly 90.4 93.6
Blue Diamond Little Brose 94.1 97.3
Golden Slipper Shinzo 96.3 98.7
ATC Sires Militarize 92.3 94.7
Champagne Stakes Militarize 92.2 95
JJ Atkins King Colorado 93.1 93.1
*AIR as if all performances were on June 10, 2023
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Sydney owner-breeder Reg Kemister has had a rough week. First, an Angus bull died at his property near Wollongong and then on Wednesday he received the devastating news that his Group 1-winning mare Heavens Above (Street Cry) had been killed in a freak paddock accident.
“I have been used to all this since I was a kid because my grandparents had properties up Armidale way. You kind of get used to it,” Kemister said.
“They might come in and say, ‘something or something or other died’, but if you are a guy who went and bought a horse and paid a shit load of money and you weren’t used to it, it would hurt you more. You would be like, ‘Jesus, what’s going on?’. We don’t want to lose them, that’s for sure.”
Kemister breeds from seven mares and has two I Am Invincible fillies out of Coolmore Classic winner Heavens Above, and he also has a Pierro two-year-old half-sister to the stakes-placed Joviality (I Am Invincible) called Joint Mission.
“Seven mares. I have got the daughter of Heavens Above and then I have got a half-sister to Joviality by Pierro and I have a full-brother to Joviality and they’re all with Brad Widdup. We’ve taken a bit of time with them … and we anticipate they’ll be running in the next couple of months.”
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Higher up in this edition, Ian Smith revealed he is selling Edinburgh Park on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast, a few weeks after dispersing his stock.
So, what is next for Smith?
“It’s one step at a time. I just want to take a bit of a break for a few months,” he told us yesterday.
“There’s a few younger mares [I have] who are very much likely to go to the breeding barn and I’ll probably be breeding a few horses but where, when and how, I am not too sure yet. I haven’t really thought that far ahead.”
That said, Smith will have a lot of fond memories of Edinburgh.
“This has been a family farm, we raised our kids on this place. It means a lot to everyone, but there comes a time in your life where this will become a jewel in someone else’s crown and hopefully the person who takes it on can see it for what it is,” he said.
“It’s one of those things where it’s a different chapter in your life.”