The first day of the The Championships at Randwick featured four Group I races ranging in distance from 1200 to 2400m and all were won by horses with an NZ suffix and two were new G1 winners for champion sire Savabeel and all of them had Sir Tristram somewhere in the mix, a testament to the late Sir Patrick Hogan and his legendary sire that has left a lasting legacy.
The $3million G1 ATC TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) was an autumn version of The Everest , however the Everest winner came up short, bowled over by the Golden Eagle winner I Wish I Win (NZ), read about them here.
Somewhat surprisingly, I Wish I Win was not a G1 winner until now, but with over $7million in prizemoney he is the highest earning offspring of champion sire Savabeel and became his 29th G1 winner. He is the third G1 winner for his sire at 1200m, but the other two were 2YO G1 winners Cool Aza Beel and Sword of Osman, so he is the first older G1 winning sprinter by Savabeel.
He is the eighth G1 winner for Pins as a broodmare sire and five of those eight are by Savabeel!!
It's a credit to the genius of Peter Moody to train this horse as a pure sprinter given his pedigree as I Wish I Win has three closely related Savabeel stayers in his family in Savy Yong Blonk, Adelaide Ace and Strike the Stars and a double cross of Sir Tristram. A lot of trainers would have prepared the horse to be a miler stayer like the tesy of his family, but Moody thought, no it's a fast horse let's run with that.... genius!
The $2million G1 ATC Australian Derby (2400m) was won by Major Beel (NZ), another Waikato Stud bred Savabeel like I Wish I Win, read about him here.
Major Beel is the 30th G1 winner for Savabeel and his third SW on the day after the success of I Wish I Win and also Brando, who won a G2 win New Zealand. He is the 23rd for O’Reilly as a broodmare sire and eight of those are by Savabeel.
Major Beel might have raced like a dead set stayer, but his female family has a lot of speed in it and his unraced dam Gram is a sibling to three speedy 2YO SW’s including Calaverite, the dam of this season’s Caulfield Guineas winner Golden Mile. His third and fourth dams are by Luskin Star and Zeditave, while fifth dam Madam Monet was a stakes-winner of the Wagga Gold Cup, so elite NZ staying family this is not.
A Cox Plate winnign son of Zabeel, Savabeel has now shot into second spot on the Australian General Sires List behind only I Am Invincible.
The $4million G1 ATC Star Doncaster Mile (1600m) saw a big field of 20 go to the post and the winner was last year’s hero, Mr Brightside (NZ), read about him here.
Mr Brightside is the best of three SW’s for Bullbars and is his lone G1 winner and he is the best of six SW’s for Tavistock as a broodmare sire.
His sire Bullbars is a Godolphin blueblood that found his way to stud in New Zealand and is a sibling to G1 winners Helmet, Epaulette and Pericles, while his dam descends from Cambridge Stud blue hen Taiona, so Mr Brightside lacks for nothing in terms of genetic quality.
The $1million G1 ATC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) was won in commanding style by Militarize for Newgate/ China Horse Club and partners, read about him here.
He is the sixth G1 winner for Dundeel and his third 2YO G1 winner. Dundeel has a very good crop of juveniles conceived in 2019 when his fee rose to $66,000 and he covered his biggest ever book of 207 mares. As a result he has sired seven 2YO winners from 16 runners this season.
On the female side of the pedigree, Militarize is the sixth G1 winner for champion sire Dubawi as a broodmare sire and three of his other G1 winners as a broodmare sire are by Frankel, who is also a grand-son of Sadler’s Wells as is Dundeel.
Miltarize comes from a serious G1 European pedigree that would suggest he will be even better at three.
The Group I Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) at Awapuni in New Zealand was won by the longshot Pignan (NZ), read about her here.
She is from the first crop of Group winning Deep Impact stallion Staphanos (Jpn), who stands at Novara Park, so he is the second young son of the legendary Japanese sire to taste G1 success in New Zealand this year joining Satono Aladdin (Jpn), who has sired Pennyweka and Tokyo Tycoon.
She becomes the first stakes-winner and G1 winner for her sire and is the second stakes-winner and first Group I winner for Sepoy as a broodmare sire. The other stakes-winner from a Sepoy mare is WA based two year-old Live to Tell, a filly by Territories (IRE) that’s has now won two of three starts and scored her second stakes win in the G3 WATC Perth Stakes on Saturday. We ran a story on Sepoy mares earlier this year and you can read it here.
Next three dams are by champion NZ sires Pins, Zabeel and Zamazaan (Fr), so hard not to think Pignan will have more to offer next season at three.
