Winner of the 2011 Group I MRC Caulfield Cup, South Australian bred star staying mare Southern Speed was retired to stud in Japan at the end of her career and was in the news this week when her four year-old son Cosmo Kuranda went within a whisker of winning the Group I Arima Kinen (2500m).
A Group II winner last year, Cosmo Kuranda was a long shot for this prestigious race and was all over a winner until nabbed on the line by Museum Mile.
Raised at renowned South Australian nuresery Mill Park, Southern Speed has an intriguing pedigree being the best offspring of a fairly pedestrian shuttle sire in Southern Image (USA) with her next two dams by champion sires Zabeel and Danehill going back to a European female family that produced two Golden Slipper winners in Rory’s Jester and Ha Ha.
Talk about speed and stamina!
At stud in Japan, Southern Speed has had eight named foals and seven have raced for four winners with Cosmo Kuranda the only stakes horse.
She has a yearling filly by Gold Ship and produced a colt foal this year by Dubawi’s Group I winning son Benbatl, who shuttles to Woodside Park Stud in Victoria.
The family appears three times in upcoming sales.
Filly St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) x Think Like a Bird – Berkeley Park Stud
Half-sister to Group III placed Bird Whistle from a winning half-sister to Southern Speed.
Filly Top Ranked (IRE) x Birdonawinningpost – Berkeley Park Stud
Second foal of a winning daughter of a full sister to Southern Speed.
Colt Alabama Express x Crowned Eagle – Yulong
Third foal of unraced daughter of a full sister to the dam of Southern Speed. This branch of the family has produced Group I winner Go Indy Go and Group III winners Air Assault and Essay Raider.
