Friday, September 30, 2011

MAGNUS HALF BROTHER FOALS

Proud ‘dad’ Robert Crabtree phoned on Wednesday morning to say that is pride and joy – the ‘blue hen’ mare Scandinavia – had produced a whopping 68 kilo colt by perennial Champion Australian Sire, Redoute’s Choice.
Importantly, the foaling comes on the eve of the colt’s half brother Magnus being represented by his first two runners in the Listed $100,000 Herald Sun SuperRacing Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on Sunday.
Crabtree bred and raced the Group One winning sprinter, Magnus, while Eliza Park bred and sold a three quarter brother in Group Two winner Wilander. Yet another half sister to Magnus and Wilander – the Desert Sun mare, Helsinge – is the dam of world champ Black Caviar.
Admittedly Magnus has been well supported in his first years at stud and his progeny has wound up in the nation’s leading stables, it’s still quite a fillip to have two runners among a 13 horse field for the opening 2YO stakes race of the season in Victoria.


MAGNUS-IFICENT START!


Group One winning sprinter and boom first season sire, Magnus, is poised to launch his stud career in memorable fashion with two runners entered for the Listed $100,000 Herald Sun SuperRacing Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on Sunday … the opening juvenile stakes race of the season in Victoria.
Well supported during his first three seasons at stud, Magnus (below) will be represented in the Herald Sun by the Anthony Freedman trained, Magnusificent – who hails from a half sister to Group winning two year olds Doubting and Special Edition – and Mick Cerchi’s Imprimis.
While Imprimis has yet to appear publicly, Magnusificent must have given Freedman plenty of confidence for Sunday’s race following a hard held second in his trial at Cranbourne on 19 September.
Win, lose or draw, it’s a tremendous start for Magnus who was one of the toughest sprinters in his day, campaigning in three continents.
Another clear boost to his stocks is that his half sister, Helsinge, is the dam of world champion sprinter and Australian Horse of the Year, Black Caviar, with many breeders attempting to tap into the well of black type that is Magnus’ family.


Friday, September 23, 2011

TELL HIM HE’S DREAMIN'


A member of staff – who shall remain nameless apart from his initials which are P(O)M, along with the widely known fact that he has champagne tastes on a beer budget – respectively forwarded the following photos to Eliza Park’s hierarchy.
His suggestion? The ideal solution to staff accommodation at yearling sales.
















Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A TERRIFIC FIND


If you’d read Bart Sinclair’s preview in the Courier Mail last Saturday morning, you might have still been a little reluctant to take the short odds on Bel Esprit sprinter, Found The One in the Peroni Handicap over 1010m at Doomben.
As Bart pointed out: Found The One, to be ridden by Jim Byrne today, is leaping from a midweek Maiden win to a Saturday no metro win class sprint. That’s a huge jump.
But it was no ordinary midweek effort. Found The One was wide throughout when she won at Eagle Farm on September 7 posting a margin of six lengths and clocking in at a sizzling 57.36sec to easily eclipse the class record.
Found The One came from eighth at the entrance to the straight so feasibly was well inside the official final 600m sectional time of 33.78, clearly the fastest of the seven races on the card.
In addition to a big class rise, Found The One has to cope with barrier 13 from a start notoriously tough for widely drawn runners.
Statistics for the past three years show only one horse has been successful from barrier 13 in 134 races.
To balance that statistic, there has been fewer than 13 runners in many of those races.
Brett Killion, the manager of Patinack’s Queensland stable, said Found The One would be ridden similarly to her last start.
“I think we’ve discovered she likes to have time to find her feet. It’s not a good gate but with luck she should be in the finish despite the class rise,” Killion said.
Well history shows that the mare settled near last from the jump and was still in ninth place heading to the 400m, before unleashing a withering burst to score comfortably on the line.
Horses that come from that far back tend to induce heart flutters but it certainly makes for good theatre.
Racing Queensland reported: Found The One looked to be in a hopeless position with only one runner behind her in the early stages before producing a barn storming finish to maintain her unbeaten record in Queensland.
The 4YO daughter of Bel Esprit made an equally spectacular debut, winning by six lengths in maiden company at Eagle Farm earlier this month.
Trainer John Thompson’s Queensland foreman, Brett Killion, was almost speechless after the mare rocketed home: “That was something special … it was good to see her back-up 10 days after winning her maiden in emphatic style.
“I couldn’t have been more impressed. At one stage there it was 50-50 whether she could get there in time to win.”
Found The One’s time of 57.43 seconds was fractionally outside Starlactic’s class record of 57.04 seconds established in 2005.
Jockey Jim Byrne, who was deputising for the suspended Tim Bell, also marvelled at the victory.
“That took my breath away,” Byrne declared. “She’s outstanding. It was such a big jump from winning a midweek maiden to winning in this company.
“She was very relaxed right through the run and she did it comfortably in the end.”
Although Found The One was no slouch when racing in Sydney with placings at Warwick Farm and Kensington (and only two ‘failures’ on heavy tracks), she has certainly blossomed up north and it will be interesting to see what she does throughout the spring.
It would appear she’s up to whatever John Thompson throws at her.
By Bel Esprit from the prolific mare, Drop Anchor, Found The One is a full sister to both Group One winner Bel Mer and the Group winner Mooring.


A SPIRITED ADDITION TO THE RANKS


Found The One was just one leg of yet another city double for Bel Esprit on Saturday with the David Hayes trained Spirited Addition winning easily over 1000m at Morphettville.
Unlike Found The One though, Spirited Addition (ex. Costly Addition by Jugah) was among the leading division throughout before easing away to score by 2.25 lengths.
The 3YO had picked up money at each of his previous three outings – including a lip second at Morphettville on debut in July after jumping awkwardly and being caught wide.
Bred by Springhill Park Stud, Spirited Addition is the first winner for his 3-time winning dam, who hails from the family of Happy Union, Irish Lord, Godsend etc. – none of whom showed the same blistering speed as this ‘addition’ to the family.