New Year’s Day 2020 must have dawned full of hope for the connections of the royally-bred, I Am Invincible, filly Parlophone as she set off for her career debut at Flemington.
It took only a few strides after the barriers opened for hope to turn to despair.
Racing like a crab and looking totally disinterested, Parlophone’s sole intent was to dispose of Damien Oliver as quickly as possible.
She did finish the race, trailing in some 20 lengths behind the winner A Beautiful Night.
The Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)-trained filly earned the ire of the stewards but was reinstated a week later when trialling to their satisfaction.
Just over two weeks after her debut fiasco, Parlophone lined up again at Flemington this time with Michael Dee in the saddle.
It was a much better watch. Although she still tended to wander around, Parlophone hit the front inside the 200 metres, although she had no answer to the finishing run of the high-class Fastnet Rock filly Personal.
Off the scene for 22 weeks, Parlophone opened her winning account at a Wednesday meeting on a heavy track at Sandown Hillside on June 24.
With blinkers off and Damien Oliver back in the saddle, Parlophone jumped well although she had a good long think about bucking and drifted back to second last.
Making her run down the centre of the track, the daughter of I Am Invincible did not shirk her task and won narrowly.
She again went into the steward’s little black book for attempting to buck.
Apprentice Jessica Eaton gets the steer when Parlophone makes her stakes debut in the Listed Lightning Stakes for two and three-year-olds over 1050m at Morphettville on Saturday.
A homebred for Geoff Walsh, Lindsay Maxted and Simon Tuxen, Parlophone is a third-generation descendant of Walsh’s imported Secreto mare Nothings Secret (USA).
A half-sister to four stakes-winners including the Prix Jacques le Marois and Prix du Moulin de Longchamp winner Northjet (Northfields) and the Prix du Gros Chene winner Madang, Nothings Secret (USA) is out of the Fortino mare Jellatina, herself a daughter of the One Thousand Guineas heroine Queenpot.
In a long, productive career at stud, Nothings Secret (USA) produced 17 foals, 15 raced and 12 won.
The best of these were the multiple Group III winner and Group 1-placed Royal Discretion (Royal Academy), the Listed stakes-winner Roulettes (Flying Spur) and Roulettes stakes-placed sister Tactfully who is the dam of the Listed MRC Alinghi Stakes winner Vezalay (Shamardal).
Roulettes has been a success both on the track and in the sales ring.
Besides Parlophone she is the dam of the Group III BRC BJ McLachlan Stakes-winner Sun City (Zoustar) and Parlophone’s multiple Group II-placed brother Spin.
Sun City was a $525,000 yearling and Spin was a $200,000 purchase, however Roulettes hit the heights at the this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale when her Attunga Stud consigned Deep Field colt was knocked down to the renowned judge Alan Bell for $800,000.
That set a new mark for the Newgate Farm-based stallion who also raced in Bell’s grey and red diagonal stripes.
The Lightning Stakes has drawn a field of six three-year-old fillies and five two-year-old fillies.
The 3yo David Jolly-trained gelding Streetcar Stranger (Stratum) is the lone male representative.
