Caulfield Cup Day last Saturday delivered a new Group I winner and a Group I quinella for Galileo son Teofilo, who shuttled to Australia for six seasons, while the support program produced some progressive three year-olds with serious Group I aspirations.
Irish bred gelding Without a Fight (IRE) won the Group I MRC Caulfield Cup and has won up to 2800m, so will have plenty of fans to stick with him for the Melbourne Cup as will runner-up West Wind Blows (IRE), read about them here.
Without a Fight is the 24th Group I winner for Teofilo and is the eighth for champion sire Dubawi as a broodmare sire and six of those eight Group I winners are by Sadler’s Wells line sires. The Teofilo x Dubawi nick has produced 23 winners from 37 starters and Without a Fight is the best of seven stakes-winners bred this way.
Teofilo has already sired two Melbourne Cup winners in Twilight Payment (IRE) and Cross Counter (IRE) and looks to have a great shot at making it a hat-trick with either Without a Fight or West Wind Blows.
The Group II MRC Guineas Prelude (1400m) for fillies was won by a Kiwi bred in Coeur Volante and given what the Proisir fillies did in Australia last season, you’d have to think this girl is headed for G1 territory, read about her here.
She is the 14th stakes-winner for Proisir, who will be looking to consolidate his place as an elite sire following an exceptional past 12 months and he now runs at 5.6 % SW to runner. She is also the 30th stakes-winner for Testa Rossa as a broodmare sire and he’s proving very effective in this department with his stakes-winners including five G1 winners headed by Melbourne Cup winner Vow and Declare.
Coeur Volante might be NZ bred but has a very Aussie feel to her pedigree with sire and dam both Aus bred and the 4 x 4 double Danehill cross inherent of so many horses bred here. Her third dam Rose O’War was second in the VRC Oaks and fourth dam Savana City won the AJC Oaks, so don’t be surprised to see her on an Oaks path in the autumn.
The Group III MRC Ethereal Stakes (2000m) was the first staying test for these fillies with Oaks aspirations and while Tropical Squall had the class coming off a G1 win in the Flight Stakes, Autumn Angel was the stronger stayer, click here to read about her.
Autumn Angel is the third stakes-winner for The Autumn Sun, who was the Champion 3YO Colt of his generation and successful up to 2000m. While he was never tried at the Derby trip, I’m pretty confident he’d have run it and won it had the option been explored given his dam is by Galileo and the female family is a high class one nurtured by the Aga Khan.
Autumn Angel is from a very good female family with four time Group I winning miler Divine Madonna the star on the page and notably she is the 100th stakes-winner for Hussonet (USA), who came to Australia as a foil for the wealth of Danehill line mares held by Arrowfield and partners. His daughters are proving valuable assets at stud and the combination of Hussonet and Redoute’s Choice appears in the pedigree of 31 stakes-winners with G1 winners King’s Legacy, Extreme Choice and Majmu the best of them.
The Group III Caulfield Classic (2000m) for the colts and geldings was won by Sunsets, who also upset a hot favourite in Riff Rocket to post his first stakes win, click to read about him.
Sunsets is the 25th stakes-winner for Dundeel, who did go to stud as a Champion 3YO Colt and a Derby hero. He is also the 96th stakes-winner as a broodmare sire for Fastnet Rock. Dundeel has had 19 winners from 27 runners from Fastnet Rock mares with Sunsets the second SW joining Listed winner Ceberus, so the success rate of that is just OK without being exciting.
That 3 x 3 double cross of Zabeel will help Sunsets in his quest to stretch out to the Derby trip and this is a great old family. Dam Waterloo Sunset is a half-sister to SAJC Australasian Oaks winner Invest and if you go far enough back you’ll find a couple of Derby winners in Innocent King and Our Planet.
