There can be a lot of change between what happens at the end of one season and the unfolding of the next and this young stallion has the best three year-old filly in the country.
The progress of second crop sires during the spring is a big watchpoint for their respective studs as the emergence of a good horse equates to mare bookings.
Everyone has seen the stallion that started spring luke warm and ended it red hot with a flurry of racetrack success generating popularity in the breeding barn and Teofilo’s Group I winning son Kermadec has gotten himself a game changer in Montefilia.
Bred and sold by Tyreel Stud, Montefilia won on debut at two over 1400m, but has really blossomed this spring when stepped up in trip to win the Group I ATC Flight stakes (1600m) and ATC Spring Champion Stakes (2000m).
Her pedigree as you can see above would not have been out of place at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last week combining the blood of champion sires such as Galileo and Monsun, with some Sunday Silence, Last Tycoon and Diesis thrown in for good measure.
Some Australian investors have been looking hard at European yearling sales for their rising stayers as illustrated by the success of Russian Camelot, but Montefilia shows they can in fact be bred here too.
Kermadec stands at Darley this spring at a fee of $13,750.
The horse Montefilia defeated to win the Spring Champion, Lion’s Roar, is by another second crop sire in New Zealand based Contributer (IRE), a top class Group I winning son of High Chaparral.
Sons of High Chaparral have really made their mark through So You Think and Dundeel, so it will surprise nobody if Contributer adds his name to the list.
Contributer stands at Mapperley stud at a fee of $10,000.
