It’s been a great week for Cambridge Stud having bred and sold Group I ATC Epsom Handicap winner Ceolwulf and our stallions Almanzor (Fr) and Hello Youmzain (Fr) have also been making their own news.
Joseph Pride believes he’s barely scratched the surface with Ceolwulf, our homebred son of the late Tavistock.
The Warwick Farm trainer has done an outstanding job with the patiently handled four-year-old who blitzed his rivals in the G1 Epsom Handicap at Randwick.
“That was fantastic, we knew he had the right sort of profile coming into it and to see him let down like that is very, very satisfying,” Pride said.
“He’s just a good horse on the rise. He’s going to keep getting better with age and he’s so exciting. That was a real buzz.
“He’s got a great engine. I see it every time he runs, the way he recovers from races and gallops on the training track. He’s an amazing athlete, and as I say, the best is yet to come.
“We’re yet to discover what his best distance is. He could well back up in the Hill Stakes (G2, 1900m) next week, but I haven’t ruled out coming back here for the King Charles (G1, 1600m). There’s a lot of options. Let’s just sit on it for now and enjoy this win.”
Ceolwulf settled back of midfield before picking up ground across the top and he scorched home under Chad Schofield to justify his favouritism with ease.
“I thought I’d be much closer than where I was and the pace was quite muddling, but one good aspect of that was that I was a bit wide and able to flow,” Schofield said.
“I was really blown away by his turn of foot. I know he had 54kg, but he put the race away very quickly. As soon as I clicked him up, I was confident I was the winner immediately. He had a blistering turn of foot.”
The four-year-old has now won three of his 13 starts and also has Group 1 placings from last season in the Australian Derby and Rosehill Guineas to his credit.
Ceolwulf was sold on our behalf by Sam and Hana Beatson’s Riversley Park at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale where he was secured by Pride for $170,000.
He is a son of the unraced Shamardal mare Las Brisas, whose Almanzor filly sold to agent John Foote for A$240,000 at this year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
The mare recently produced a colt by Sword Of State and has been served by our highly-credentialled newcomer Chaldean.
Keeneland boosted his Classic prospects when he produced a strong performance to triumph in the Listed Super Impose Plate over 1800 metres at Flemington.
He is a son of Almanzor and will next month bid to give our resident sire a second victory in the G1 VRC Derby following the win in 2022 of Manzoice.
Trained by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, Keeneland broke his maiden at Benalla at his third appearance late last month and he bridged the gap to stakes company with aplomb.
“We just ticked him over at home and he’s got a good constitution,” Young said.
“He was in great order and won really well, we’ve got a nice Derby contender going forward.”
Rider John Allen had Keeneland travelling sweetly in second spot and, after striding to the 350 metres from home, he stayed on strongly to win by a length and a-quarter.
“We had a nice run in behind the speed and he’s just improved with every run,” Allen said.
“He’s got a good attitude and a clean-winded horse who appreciated the step up to 1800 metres so he’s heading in the right direction.”
Bred by Kinsale Bloodstock, Keeneland was bought out of Kiltannon Stables draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale for $85,000 by Busuttin, Andrew Campbell Bloodstock and Tommy Heptinstall.
He is a half-brother to six winners with their dam the Savabeel mare Savabeel Star, a half-sister to the G3 Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner Stardane.
From 13 runners the Almanzor/Savabeel cross has produced: Gr.3 winner Zabmanzor, Listed winner Keeneland, Gr.1 NZ Derby placegetter Andalus and Gr.1 NZ 1,000 Guineas placegetter Blue Solitaire.
Hello Youmzain has made a bright start to his stud career in Europe and has 15 winners on the board that include quality colt Misunderstood.
A brave front-running effort saw Misunderstood become Hello Youmzain's first Gr.1 performer with a third placing in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere over 1400m at Longchamp on Arc Day.
Already a Group 3 winner over 1600m, Misunderstood looks to be a genuine contender for next season's Guineas races and is one of two stakes-winners for his exciting young sire.
News from Cambridge Stud
