It was hard not to be impressed by the success of the Kiwi breds on Saturday as they trampled the opposition at Randwick running first and third in $20million G1 The Everest (Ka Ying Rising and Jimmysstar) and then filled the trifecta in the $5million G1 King Charles III Stakes (Ceolwulf, Mr Brightside, Pier), but we did see two newly minted Aussie bred G1 winners at Caulfield, so let’s take a look at those pedigrees.
The $5million Group I MRC Caulfield Cup (2400m) was won by the race favourite Half Yours, a super progressive young stayer that beat the handicapper carrying 52.5kg to victory, read about him here.
Half Yours is not a commercially bred thoroughbred in the sense that he was never going to be accepted into an elite yearling sale, but once you get past the face value of him being the only stakes-winner by a sire nobody had heard of until he came along, from a female family where his first four dams all failed to win a race… there is blood there to back up his status as a Caulfield Cup winner!
His sire St Jean (IRE) is an imported son of Teofilo that won the Group III Auckland Cup and has covered small books of mares in Victoria since retiring to stud in 2017 at a fee of $3,300.
For the record he has sired 12 winners from 22 starters, which is not too shabby and his owners have increased his fee to $11,000 at Brackley Park for this spring following the emergence of Half Yours.
The key thing to note about St Jean is his sire Teofilo, who has a great record in Australia and notably with horses that have run in the Cups. He has sired three Melbourne Cup winners in Twilight Payment (IRE), Cross Counter (GB) and Without a Fight (IRE), who also won the Caulfield Cup.
The dam of Half Yours is La Gazelle and while she was only placed, she is a half-sister to a pretty handy Group winning stayer called Moudre and her sire Desert King (IRE) gave us the greatest Melbourne Cup winner of them all in three-time winner Makybe Diva (GB).
So maybe forget about all the other stuff that is or isn’t going on with this pedigree and just think Teofilo plus Desert King equals Caulfield Cup…. And maybe even Melbourne Cup!!
The $1.5million Group I MRC Thousand Guineas (1600m) had a hot favourite in G1 Flight Stakes winner Apocalyptic, but she met some stiff opposition from the local filly Ole Dancer, who fought hard to take the win, read about her here.
Ole Dancer is the fifth stakes-winner for Ole Kirk and becomes the first G1 winner for the young Written Tycoon stallion, who won both the G1 Golden Rose and G1 Caulfield Guineas in 2020.
Standing at Vinery Stud, Ole Kirk was the Champion First Crop Sire last season and has now shot to the top of the second season sires list proving that his service fee rise from $55,000 to $99,000 was well justified.
Ole Dancer comes from a very commercial female family and is the best of three winners so far from Dancers, a winning Husson (Arg) mare, whose dam Viennese Lass is a full sister to Group I ATC Epsom Handicap winner Rediener.
Go back a little further and this is the same family as champion sire Snitzel and also Group I winning $12million earner Private Eye, who was also a winner at Caulfield on Saturday taking out the Group III MRC Moonga Stakes.
A fast stakes-winning daughter of Snippets, Snippets Lass is the third dam of Private Eye and the fourth dam of Ole Dancer.
Ole Dancer is the first G1 winner as a broodmare sire for Husson (Arg), who was brought to Australia by Patinack Farm back when sons of Arrowfield acquisition Hussonet (USA) were all the rage and horses like Host (Chi) and Trotamondo (Chi) were given commercial opportunity.
Ole Dancer is not the first G1 winner bred on the Written Tycoon x Hussonet cross with that honour going to G1 BRC Stradbroke Handicap winner Tyzone.
