Five Group I races were run in Australasia on Saturday and all of them went to first time G1 winners so let’s take a look at those pedigrees and one of them has five lines of Star Kingdom – so who was it?
The $2million Group I MRC Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) was the richest of the races and went to the filly Streisand, read about her here.
Streisand is the fifth G1 winner for Magnus and comes from his second last crop of foals and is the first as a broodmare sire for Zoustar.
She has a 3 x 5 double cross of Danehill and her pedigree features champion sires Flying Spur and Encosta de Lago, who come from the same female family.
They do combine in a lot pedigrees as you would expect given the volume and quality of mares they covered in their lifetime with the best horses bred this way being Fangirl and Alligator Blood.
Streisand comes from an old New Zealand female family that is left of centre in terms of commercial appeal, but toughness isn’t lacking on the page and that has served her very well so far.
The $750,000 Group I MRC Futurity (1400m) had a worthy winner in blueblood Godolphin gelding Pericles, read about him here.
Pericles is the 12th G1 winner for in form sire Street Boss (USA), who nearly had a 13th in the Blue Diamond when his 2YO son Closer to Free finished a gallant second. A multiple Group winner with five G1 placings going into Saturday, Pericles was probably overdue for that elite success and in doing so put the seal of greatness on his dam Accessories (GB).
An unraced daughter of Singspiel imported to Australia by Godolphin, Accessories has the record of seven foals to race for six winners with Pericles her third G1 winner joining Helmet and Epaulette with two more Group winners in Pearls and Bullbars, best known as the sire of champion miler Mr Brightside.
Pericles might have been foaled in Australia, but the pedigree has not a drop of Aussie blood behind it.
The $750,000 Group I MRC Oakleigh Plate (1100m) was won by Too Darn Hot (GB) stallion Tropicus, who has no doubt secured himself a future slot on the Kia Ora Stud roster, read about him here.
Tropicus is the fifth G1 winner for Too Darn Hot, who covered the most amazing book of mares last spring at a fee of $275,000, click to read that story.
He is the 18th G1 winner for Exceed and Excel as a broodmare sire and the nick with Too Darn Hot has produced 11 winners from 15 starters with Group winning fillies Shiki and Fitzella (NH) also bred this way.
His grand-dam is the Aga Khan Studs bred Kerimba (IRE) an unraced mare by Epsom Derby and Arc winner Sinndar from Kerita, a G3 winner at 7f, so a mix of speed and stamina through this female line.
The $1million Group I New Zealand Oaks (2400m) produced a quinella for Cox Plate winning sire Ocean Park and Yulong with Ohope Wins defeating Autumn Glory, read about them here.
Ohope Wins is the fifth G1 winner for Ocean Park and is the 30th as a broodmare sire for Redoute’s Choice. She is the first stakes-winner to be bred on this cross although there have been 12 winners from 16 starters bred this way.
Her dam Choux Mania is a placed half-sister to a pair of Group I winners in Jimmy Choux and Miss Wilson with the former of particular interest as he won five of them to be crowned NZ Horse of the Year and is by Ocean Park’s sire Thorn Park.
It’s a really interesting pedigree from a broader perspective with three lines of Bletchingly 5 x 5 x 5 and five lines of Star Kingdom within her first seven generations – something you don’t see much of anymore.
The $600,000 Otaki Maori Stakes (1600m) was won by the Cambridge Stud homebred mare Jaarffi, read about her here.
Jaarffi is the 14th G1 winner for influential sire Iffraaj, who is set to leave a real legacy through his champion son Wootton Bassett and like the previous filly Ohope Wins is another G1 winner as a broodmare sire for Redoute’s Choice.
She is a half-sister to stakes-placed Crystal Fountain and is the best of three winners from Pride of Tralee, a half-sister by Redoute's Choice to Champion Australian 3YO Filly Serenade Rose with the family also producing dual Group I winning sprinter Trekking and a host of Black Type horses.
Third dam Circus Ring won the Group II Lowther Stakes at York at two, so it’s not just dour staying blood coming down through this European female family.
