ICONIC WIN BY BLACK CAVIAR’S NEAR

Breednet’s Tara Madgwick takes a look at Bel Esprit 2YO winner, Iconic, a topical tip at Bendigo yesterday.

As a three-quarter brother-in-blood to Black Caviar, this 2YO was always going to be worth a look.

The Tony McEvoy trained Iconic was slowly away and was in fact last of the small field of three to jump, but he quickly made amends and speared through to lead for Glen Boss.

The son of Bel Esprit travelled strongly in front and when challenged by runner-up Northern Lyric, found plenty under pressure to forge clear and win the 900m maiden by more than a length as a short priced favourite.

It was just the second start for Iconic, who finished second on debut to Ticket to Toorak on 1 November and has obviously been improved by a break.

Iconic is a homebred for Robert Crabtree and is the fourth winner from four to race from ill-fated Danavia, a three-quarter -sister by Danehill (USA) to Group One winner Magnus, Group Two winner Wilander and half-sister to the dam of Black Caviar and All Too Hard.

Indeed, the family is set to light up sale rings around Australia in coming weeks.

Since his entry was confirmed last October there has been plenty of chatter about Lot 131catalogued for the2013 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling, the half-brother to Black Caviar. The colt by Redoute’s Choice from Helsinge will be offered in Sydney on 9 April 2013, while the sale will also feature a Redoute’s Choice colt from Scandinavia, the grand dam of Black Caviar. Eliza Park Stud will offer the colt as Lot 319 on behalf of Dorrington Farm.

There are also three yearlings heading to the upcoming Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale that feature Black Caviar on their pedigree page:

Lot 430– Bel Esprit x Hypatia colt

Lot 518– Pentire x Midnight Blues colt

Lot 519– Bel Esprit x Midnight Sun colt

Hoofnote: It was big weekend for owner/breeder, Rob Crabtree, who not only pays the feed bills for the highly promising, Iconic, but also races Saturday’s Group Three Vanity Stakes winner, Alzora.

Ironically, Rob – as principal of Brighton Mazda – sponsored the Vanity for a number of years, but the opportunity to present the trophy to himself never materialized! Surely, the near $100k first prize on Saturday comes close to making amends.

And, just to put the icing on the cake, Rob is the major shareholder in the Eliza Park based, Magnus, whose Platinum Kingdom registered his third stakes victory in New Zealand on Saturday.

As Rob points out, Magnus is not only closely related to Black Caviar, he was also trained by Peter Moody, he was a Group One sprinter and he too raced at Royal Ascot.

Rob Crabtree leads Magnus back to scale