There is a vast amount of time and money spent on looking for ways to enhance the chance of success in producing and /or purchasing elite racehorses and while there are key parameters that will put you above the curve it’s always worth noting we work in an unpredictable industry and sometimes just having a ticket in the lottery is all you need to win.
Four Group I races were run in Australasia on Saturday and the winners all have something in common, they don’t entirely fit the commercial ideal in terms of pedigree for success and yet they are all Group I winners, so let’s take a closer look.
The richest of the G1 races was the $2million MRC Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) with victory going to Royal Meeting (IRE) filly Hayasugi, who was too good for a pair of well related Written Tycoon fillies in Lady of Camelot and Kuroyanagi, read about her here.
She’s the first winner, stakes-winner and now G1 winner for her sire Royal Meeting (IRE), who is now the leading first crop sire in the country thanks to Hayasugi, but he has had six runners so far and only one other has placed and that’s Sydney trained War Council, whose had three runs for a third and a fourth at Randwick and Rosehill.
As a G1 winning 2YO by Invincible Spirit, Royal Meeting attracted pretty good support at Levena Park covering 366 mares in his first four seasons at a fee of $11,000 with last spring a harder slog (66 mares) in that tricky fourth year when the jury is very much out. What happens from here will be interesting. As we all know, one swallow does not make a summer and there have been a good many sires over the years that have produced one amazing horse in their first crop and then nothing like it from that day forward.
Hayasugi is the fifth Group I winner for top class Danehill sire Commands as a broodmare sire and her second dam is by another outstanding broodmare sire in Golden Slipper winner Canny Lad with the family producing sprint stars from last century in Accomplice and With Me. It might not be the most trendy of female families, but it’s fast and effective.
The $750,000 Group I MRC Oakleigh Plate (1100m) was won by South Australian trained gelding Queman, who was a last start Listed winner on Boxing Day, which was his first stakes win, read about him here.
Queman is the first G1 winner among three SW’s sired by imported Mint Lane (USA), a G2 winner by Champion US 2YO Maria's Mon, who stood in South Australia at Willow Grove Stud for 10 seasons with his fees ranging from $6,600 down to $2,200. His associate sire was a horse called Host (Chi), who also left a G1 winning sprinter in crowd pleaser Eduardo.
Mint Lane did not set the world on fire, but was not completely terrible either with 58% winner to runner and 2.6% SW to runner, although his other two stakes-winners came in Perak and a Listed Albury Gold Cup winner, so Queman is the best of them by light years!
He is the first foal of a minor winning mare by AJC Derby and Epsom winner Clangalang and there is no Black Type in this family until you get to fourth dam Fashion Fun, a Listed winner by Arch Sculptor (GB).
The $750,000 Group I MRC Futurity (1400m) added another trophy to the cabinet of Mr Brightside (NZ), whose sire Bullbars is a half-brother to the horse he defeated Pericles, read about him here.
Like Queman, Mr Brightside is also the best by a country mile among three SW’s sired by Godolphin bred Bullbars, who went to stud in New Zealand and has 62% winners to runners and 2.9% SW to runner.
On the female family front, Mr Brightside does not lack for class with his grand-dam a half-sister to dual Group I winner Foxwood from the Delia’s Choice branch of the famed Taiona family which was flying high in the 1980‘s thanks to Sovereign Red and Gurner’s Lane.
The $400,000 Otaki Maori Stakes (1600m) was won by quality mare La Crique, who was claiming her second G1 win, read about her here.
La Crique is the lone G1 winner among six stakes-winners for Monsun stallion Vadamos (Fr), who shuttled to New Zealand before his sale to Coolmore as a National Hunt sire. He is listed on their National Hunt roster for 2024 at a fee of €5,000. Vadamos has had runners in both hemispheres and has 52% winner to runner and 2% SW to runner.
She is from a daughter of Dubai Destination, who has proven to be a far better broodmare sire than a sire with 6.6% SW to runner in that department with his daughters producing 56 SW’s and seven are G1 winners including Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip.
La Crique also goes back to a top class European family with her third dam G2 winner Whitehaven and her grand-dam Lulowrth Cove is a three-quarter sister to the dam of Australian Group and SW’s Samara Dancer, Éclair Big Bang and Black Sail.
