With six stakes-winners already this season, headed by the Group 1 winners Ole Kirk, Pippie and Odeum, Written Tycoon has a near $2 million gap to his closest pursuer for the sire title. Yet come Sunday morning there will be a new name atop the champion sire leader board.
There will be no Written Tycoon contesting Saturday’s $15 million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick, which boasts a winners cheque of $6.2 million. Even the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth placed finishers bank a Group 1 winning cheque of $450,000.
Former shuttler Lope De Vega (IRE) will cash in as the only stallion to have two runners, the favoured Gytrash and the evergreen Santa Ana Lane.
Not A Single Doubt has a leading representative in Classique Legend, and we will be banking on the pensioned Arrowfield stallion to make a winning start to the day with the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained filly Emerald Bay.
The Sun Stud colour-bearer makes her career debut in the Victory Vein Plate (1000m).
Bred by Ron Finemore, Emerald Bay was purchased for $210,000 out of the Segenhoe Stud draft at the Easter Yearling Sale.
A November 15 foal, Emerald Bay is the third foal of the O’Reilly mare Drinks All Round who has been a regular partner of Not A Single Doubt.
Purchased by John O’Shea for $160,000 out of the Longlands Stud drat at the 2010 NZB Premier Yearling Sale, Drinks All Round carried Finemore’s white, red quarters, black striped sleeves silks to victory at Rosehill, Gosford and Newcastle in a 17-start career.
Owned in partnership with John Leaver’s Planette Thoroughbreds, Drinks all Round had a yearling filly and a weanling filly, both by Not A Single Doubt when she was offered at the 2018 Inglis Chairman’s Sale when carrying Emerald Bay.
She was knocked down to Melbourne Bloodstock for $90,000 and is now owned wholly by Finemore.
It did not take long for it to prove an inspired decision. The first foal of Drinks All Round, Shout The Bar, won three of her first four starts culminating with a Group 1 victory in the Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at the expense of Probabeel, Nudge and Funstar.
Drinks All Round descends from a family nurtured in New Zealand by Wayne and Vicky Pike.
Her dam Tattinger (Centaine) is a half-sister to triple Group II winner, and Group 1 placed Satinka (Stravinsky), and to the Group III-placed, She Wishes (Kenfair) who would earn fame at the dam of the AJC Doncaster Handicap and George Ryder Stakes winner Rangirangdoo, the $2.2 million earning son of Pentire who Chris Waller credits to fast-tracking his success in Australia.
After having a rest in 2018, Drinks All Round was one of 94 mares to visit Not A Single Doubt in his 15th and final season at Arrowfield last spring.
Emerald Bay has had one public outing, winning a barrier trial at Randwick on September25.
Typical of the runners from Tulloch Lodge, she took no prisoners, jumping straight to the front to win by nearly three lengths.
With six first season stallions represented (Maurice, Capitalist, Shalaa, Star Turn and the Windsor Park Stud-based Rageese), there will be plenty of studmaster monitoring the race.
The Star Turn colt Montana Flash could be one to watch. The Team Hawkes-trained chestnut showed little interest in the early part of his trial over 900 metres at Rosehill on September 28 before motoring home in the closing stages.
