There was a $100,000 Inglis Xtra maiden bonus up for grabs at Seymour on Thursday and the winner was a lightly raced three year-old that has a pedigree that would put him in the mix in any corner of the world.
Conceived and bred in Ireland to Southern Hemisphere time, three year-old Lope de Vega gelding Mr Verse (IRE) was having his second start in the 1600m maiden after a debut fourth on a heavy 10 at Bendigo at the start of the month.
Trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, Mr Verse took improvement from that outing and enjoyed being on top of the ground this time giving Beau Mertens an easy steer to win by a length and a half.
“When I asked him he sprinted well and Calvin (McEvoy) gave me a bit of confidence that he would come here and improve off that heavy track and that is exactly what he did,” said Beau Mertens.
Bred by Waratah Thoroughbreds, Mr Verse was offered by Coolmore at Inglis Easter and made $230,000 when bought by Meagher Racing Pty Ltd and is the first winner for Puppy Love (Jpn), an unplaced Deep Impact mare that is a sister to Group I winner Deep Brillante from French Group III winner Love and Bubbles.
Puppy Love went through the 2022 Inglis Chairman’s Sale where she was bought by Yulong for $230,000 and produced a colt for them last year by Written Tycoon and after a year off is now in foal to Diatonic (Jpn).
