The seemingly endless production line of two-year-olds from the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable added another potential topliner at Moonee Valley on Saturday with the I Am Invincible debutant Counttheheadlights.
Given a positive ride by Ben Allen, Counttheheadlights dispatched the favourite Eros rounding the home turn before comfortable holding the challenge of the royally bred Lonhro filly Sumatra by one and a quarter lengths. Capitalist colt Eros was a neck back in third.
“I thought he was pretty good. He did everything very professionally and credit to the team,” Eustice said.
“He jumped, he travelled, picked up when Ben asked him to, finished nice and strong and beat a horse who has had a start and ran well.
“A couple of conglomerates came together to race him. Rosemont Stud, nice to get a good winner for them, they bred the horse and stayed in, Ozzie (Kheir) and his team so it’s great.
“It’s a beautiful programme really - three weeks into the 1100m at Caulfield, let him have a rip around there, then two weeks into the Diamond as long as he pulls up ok.
“He’s a big, solid horse, been very sound and has plenty of condition on him so you would hope he does the job and he’ll head there all being well.”
Bred and offered for sale by Rosemont Stud, Counttheheadlights was purchased by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock for $800,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
He is the third foal of the very talented Sebring mare Tahni Dancer who placed in the Group II Moonee Valley Fillies Classic and Group III Champagne Stakes at Moonee Valley. (read more on the breeding of Counttheheadlights here).
Rosemont Stud/Blue Sky Bloodstock (FBAA) paid $600,000 for Tahni Dancer from the Edinburgh Stud draft at the 2015 National Broodmare Sale.
The daughter of Sebring is a half-sister to successful stallion Maschino, a Group III winning son of Encosta De Lago, and the Listed winner Kentucky Breeze (Pierro) and the stakes-placed Dee Bee Nine (Red Ransom).
Tahni Dancer has a yearling colt by Lonhro and a filly foal by Capitalist. She was covered by Merchant Navy last spring.
