Ravi Win A Boost For Elzaam…
Outstanding stallion Redoute's Choice (Aus) (Danehill) has a crucial year ahead of him in Europe in 2017 as his first crop of French-conceived sons and daughters face up to their 3-year-old campaigns. The imposing stallion proved very popular in 2013 at Haras de Bonneval in Normandy, covering a stellar book of 105 mares at a fee of €75,000. His popularity led to his return to the Aga Khan's stud in 2014. Expectations are understandably high for the resultant offspring, whose collective achievements as juveniles in 2016 have been relatively low-key. It would be disappointing were their accomplishments not to be significantly more notable in 2017.
While Redoute's Choice only made the two trips to Europe and seems certain never to return, breeders in the northern hemisphere have several opportunities to use his sons. It is encouraging in this respect that Elzaam (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) has made a good start with his first Irish-conceived juveniles. In fact, Elzaam's first crop of European 2-year-olds have done significantly better than Redoute's Choice's equivalent batch of much more expensively produced offspring. Elzaam has done well as regards both quantity and quality, with his 14 individual winners in the British Isles headed by Harry Rosebery S. victrix Clem Fandango (Fr).
To Irish eyes, Elzaam could have been seen as having an unfamiliar pedigree when he arrived at Ballyhane Stud. Although the horse had been trained in England (where he finished a close second in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot as a juvenile and took the Carnarvon S. at Newbury at three) he was bred in Australia, by an Australian horse from an American mare. However, one didn't need too much international knowledge to appreciate that it was a strong pedigree. It now looks even stronger: Elzaam's full-sister Ravi (Aus) is now a stakes winner courtesy of her wide-margin triumph in the Canadian Club Just Now H. over 1300m at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Their dam Mambo In Freeport (Kingmambo) won one race in America before heading to Australia to join the broodmare band at Kia Ora Stud. Her family had been in America for generations and it is a good one. She is related to plenty of good American horses, most immediately her half-sisters: GI Del Mar Debutante S. victrix Point Ashley (Point Given) and GII Landaluce S. victrix Raw Gold (Rahy). Her most celebrated relative, though, was trained in Ireland and recorded her finest hour in England. Her third dam, Hurry Harriet (Yrrah Jr), was bred in the U.S. and spent her stud career there, breeding GI San Juan Capistrano H. winner Load The Cannons (Cannonade), but was trained in Ireland by Paddy Mullins. From his stable she posted several magnificent performances in the top company around Europe, including taking the G1 Champion S. at Newmarket in 1973, famously lowering the colours of the great Allez France (Sea-Bird {Fr}).
Foxwedge Flourishing…
Another Australian-bred stallion to have made a good start with his first European juveniles in 2016 has been Foxwedge (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who started his reverse-shuttling career in 2013, commuting between Newgate Farm in New South Wales and Whitsbury Manor Stud in Hampshire. Like Elzaam he has made a solid start in Europe, having been represented by 15 individual winners in the British Isles, headed by the Group 1-placed Urban Fox (GB). Encouragingly, members of his first Australian crop seem to be progressing well as they mature. He has been represented by a high-class 3-year-old in Sydney this spring: Foxplay (Aus), winner of the G2 Furious S. and G2 Tea Rose S. at Randwick. Now he has a 3-year-old group winner in New Zealand, too, following the victory of Volpe Veloce (Aus) in the G3 Eulogy S. at Awapuni.
Volpe Veloce's dam Bardego (Aus) (Barathea {Ire}) was an excellent mare for Foxwedge to cover in his first season at Newgate in 2012. A product of Barathea's stints of shuttling from Rathbarry to Widden in New South Wales in the latter part of the 1990s, she won both the Maribyrnong Trial S. and the G3 Blue Diamond Fillies' Preview S. in Melbourne in the 2001/02 season. Her dam, Devil's Gold (Aus) (Bellotto), was a prolific producer of winners and she herself has followed suit, with her successful offspring including the former high-class juvenile Delago Bolt (Aus) (Delago Brom {Aus}), winner of the Black Opal S. in Canberra in 2009.
Volpe Veloce, who currently holds a perfect five-from-five record, has gone through two sale-rings, fetching A$120,000 as a weanling at Magic Millions and NZ$240,000 at Karaka as a yearling. She has a yearling full-sister entered in the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in Melbourne at the end of February, consigned by Rushton Park of Tatura (Vic). Volpe Veloce's ongoing success will be manna from heaven for this filly's owners, as will be the successes of other Foxwedge horses including the smart Queensland 2-year-old Colosimo (Aus), who maintained her unbeaten record when scoring over 1200m at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Kia Ora, Classic Horses…
We (ie. the writer of this column, plus a few other people) often bemoan the seeming disinclination of all too many Australian breeders to try to produce horses likely to stay middle and long distances. In a country which has relatively few Group 1 races for 2-year-olds but plenty of top-level contests at 2000m and beyond, it is inexplicable why precocity is deemed so important. But – c'est la vie. Consequently, it is always a source of pleasure to see success for an Australian horse who was clearly bred to contest staying races. One such horse is Kia Ora Koutou (Aus) (Blackfriars {Aus}), who registered his first black-type success on Saturday by taking the Japan Racing Association Trophy over 2200m in Perth.
Kia Ora Koutou's dam, Kia Ora Miss (Aus), was bred to stay: she was by a Melbourne Cup winner, Jeune (GB) (Kalaglow {Ire}), from a daughter of another, At Talaq (Roberto). Unsurprisingly, she turned out to be a stayer, and a good one at that, winning 10 races at distances up to 2200m including the Belmont Oaks. She also finished fourth in the G2 Perth Cup over 3200m.
Happily, Kia Ora Miss's owners have decided to capitalise on their mare's strengths. She has made at least two visits to the 1999 Victoria Derby winner Blackfriars (Aus) (Danehill) in a mating which combines like with like. One of the results is Kia Ora Koutou, a horse whom any owner would be delighted and proud to race. Now aged four, he has won five of his 13 races and has accrued earnings of A$442,350. Over and above his victories, he put in some excellent efforts in the top 3-year-olds' staying races of last season, finishing third behind Tarzino (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) in the G1 Victoria Derby and fourth behind Arcadia Dream (Aus) (Domesday {Aus}) in the G2 WATC Derby.
Lope De Vega a Loss to the Shuttling Ranks…
Ballylinch Stud resident Lope De Vega (Ire) (Shamardal) is turning out to be an excellent stallion, and a truly international one too. He has so far been represented by black-type scorers in England, Ireland, France, Australia, Italy, Germany and the UAE. His stars to date have been the dual Group1 winner Belardo (Ire) and last year's G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Jemayel (Ire). At the outset of his stud career he spent four years shuttling between Ballylinch and Patinack Farm in Australia, and recent results have made it plain that the fact that he no longer shuttles is Australia's loss.
Lope De Vega, winner in 2010 of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Longchamp and the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club at Chantilly, registered his first Australian winner when Snoopy (Aus) won a 2-year-olds' maiden race over 1209m at Seymour in Victoria by four lengths in January 2015. His first European crop had yielded four stakes-winning juveniles in 2014, but none of his first Australian youngsters scored in black-type company. Once these horses turned three, however, the tide started to turn, starting when Santa Ana Lane (Aus) landed the G3 Zeditave S. over 1200m at Caulfield in February 2016.
Lope De Vega's second Australian crop has been headlined by last season's G2 Reising S. victrix French Fern (Aus). This season his star has been his first-crop 4-year-old son Vega Magic (Aus), who has landed two group races during the current Perth Summer Carnival, most recently taking the A$250,000 G3 A. J. Scahill S. over 1400m at Ascot on Saturday. The same day also saw the aforementioned Snoopy record his sixth victory and take his earnings past the A$250,000 mark by landing a 1400m open handicap at Flemington. An admirable horse, Snoopy has never run a bad race in his life and has put in several good runs in stakes company, including when finishing third last season behind Mahuta (Aus) (Flying Spur {Aus}) in the G2 Autumn S. over 1400m at Caulfield.
Chauffeur Hits Overdrive…
A slick winning debut over 1100m at Rosehill on Saturday confirmed Chauffeur (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) in the picture for next month's A$2.5-million Magic Millions 2YO Classic, a race which has been on his agenda all year as he topped the Magic Millions Yearling Sale last January at A$1.6-million.
Coming from the very fast 'Tennessee' branch of the successful family descending from 1945 Melbourne Cup winner Rainbird (Aus) (The Buzzard {GB}), Chauffeur's dam Mirror Mirror (Aus) (Dehere) is an ideal broodmare to produce Magic Millions 2YO Classic contenders. She won the race herself in 2006, while she has already produced No Looking Back (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}), who was first past the post in 2012 before being demoted to second behind her stablemate Driefontein (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). The hugely successful Snitzel (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) is clearly a very suitable mate for her: not only does that make the resultant offspring very closely related to No Looking Back, but he himself finished third in the race in 2005.
Chauffeur is raced by a syndicate of successful owners including Damion Flower, John Singleton and Neil Werrett. Ryan is likely to give him one more start before the Gold Coast feature, and would then freshen him up for the Golden Slipper if all goes to plan.
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