There were six Group I races in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday, three of them won by first time G1 horses, while several other new 2YO stakes-winners put their hands up as having G1 potential.
Anamoe (Street Boss (IRE), Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) and Levante (Proisir) are all multiple G1 winners that we’ve looked at many times before, so let’s take a closer look at the horses new to the G1 club.
The Group I ATC Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick went to the Annabel Neasham trained Sunshine in Paris in a thrilling finish, read about her here.
Sunshine in Paris is the first stakes-winner and first G1 winner among 21 winners by Snitzel’s young Group I winning son Invader, whose oldest progeny are three year-olds.
A three-quarter sister to G3 winner Macroura, Sunshine in Paris has a real mix of speed and stamina being from a winning Zabeel mare that traces back to the old Kiwi Wuthering Heights family that produced staying stars such as Battle Heights, Noble Heights, Mapperley Heights and Sky Heights.
She is the 47th G1 winner for Zabeel as a broodmare sire and somewhat surprisingly is only the fourth for him to be sired by Redoute’s Choice or a son or grand-son the other three being Samantha Miss (Redoute’s Choice), Shootoff (Duelled) and Clearly Innocent (Not a Single Doubt).
The Group I MRC Oakleigh Plate (1100m) was won by the Steve O’Dea and Matthew Hosted trained Uncommon James, read about him here.
Uncommon James is the first G1 winner for Cable Bay, who was the leading first season sire in GB/Ireland in 2019, but ultimately proved very disappointing and was last seen standing at Highclere Stud for 8,000 pounds in 2022. He has now found a new home at stud in India.
He is also the first stakes-winner and first G1 winner for Jet Spur as a broodmare sire.
If we back up a little bit though and look at their champion sires Invincible Spirit and Flying Spur, we see they have combined successfully in varying ways to produce 13 SW’s and notably dual G1 winner Home Affairs.
The Group I MRC Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) was won by the Lindsay Park trained 2YO Little Brose, read about him here.
Foaled in Australia, Little Brose is the sixth G1 winner for leading NZ based sire Per Incanto (USA), a highly successful sire son of Street Cry and is from a US imported SW in Mohegan Sky, who comes from a family that has had a lot of success in Australia producing G1 winner Absolut Glam and Group winning fillies Jazz Song, Miss Gunpowder and Moonflute. He is also the first Group I winner for Straight Man as a broodmare sire.
He's a Danehill free zone, but serious pedigree analysts will no doubt be excited about his extended pedigree which features a heavy dose of legendary broodmare Almahmoud.
The Group II ATC Skyline Stakes (1200m) provided a Golden Slipper runner for Godolphin in Corniche, read about him here.
Godolphin don’t send many mares to Fastnet Rock, but given the affinity between him and Galileo I’m sure it made plenty of sense to send him Montsegur, who comes from the family of Fastnet Rock’s G1 winning son Merchant Navy.
Corniche is the 192nd SW for Fastnet Rock and 20th for New Approach as a broodmare sire.
The Group II ATC Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m) was won by the Chris Waller trained 2YO filly Lazzago, read about her here.
She is the 11th SW for Capitalist and is the 59th for Pins as a broodmare sire. Like the previous SW Corniche, she also has a double cross of Danehill.
The Group II Matamata Breeders Stakes (1200m) in NZ was won by Zoustar filly Zourion (NZ) that is tipped as something special, read about her here.
She is the 34th SW for Zoustar and is the eighth as a broodmare sire for Danroad, who is quite a surprise packet siring the dams of Australian Horse of the Year Verry Elleegant, French G1 winner Acclaim and elite sprinter Lost and Running. Like the previous two juvenile SW;s highlighted, she also has a double up of Danehill.
