He might have started at odds of $61, but no one with a heart could begrudge six year old Gingerbread Man gelding Fluro Neuro his first stakes win in the Listed HG Bolton Sprint at Belmont on Saturday!
All week the Beaufine Stakes winner Immortal Bliss ( I Am Immortal) and runner up Twisted Steel ( Rommel) had been vying for favouritism in this next leg of Perth's winter sprint series, with Twisted Steel narrowly getting the nod from punters on race morning.
The Simon Miller trained galloper sought to add to his stable's excellent recent record in the race, with Amadeus, Valour Road, First Among Equals and Power Princess all winning the HG Bolton for Miller in recent years.
Unlucky in the Beaufine had been Miller's second runner Madhi Girl (Winning Rupert) and there was market support to say the talented little mare could claim a timely second stakes win, particularly with William Pike in the saddle.
Four year old Madhi Girl is among a dazzling array of mares catalogued in the upcoming Inglis Digital July ( Late) sale, open for bidding!
Entered unreserved as a racing and breeding proposition, Madhi Girl's dam is a half sister to the HG Bolton winner Profit Street, and she hails from the immediate family of Peters Investments Australian Champion 3YO WA filly Delicacy. Initial bidding for Madhi Girl had climbed to $18,000 on Saturday morning - where could a win take it?
Other fancied H G Bolton contenders were Neville Parnham's ever-dangerous grey Snowdome (Rommel) and reigning Placid Ark heroine Luana Miss ( Bivouac) who was fourth when resuming in the Beaufine.
Fluro Neuro had taken a different path and was dropping back in distance from an unplaced run in the 1600m Hyperion Stakes won by Western Empire in May.
Freshened, he was third up for trainers Grant and Alana Williams and had promised good things this campaign when resuming with a slashing second to glamour sprinter Smooth Chino in the G3 Northam Stakes.
Nevertheless, he went out for the HG Bolton with Chloe Azzopardi on board at odds of 60/1 - but it was finally Fluro's time to shine!
The race got underway and Madhi Girl on the rail left the gates cleanly for Pike with Twisted Steel pushing Forward along with roughie Man Crush.
Driving across them to lead was fellow bolter Final Siren (I'm All The Talk) with Shaun McGruddy on board, accompanied by the hard-charging Snowdome for Chris Parnham, and that quartet took up control of proceedings as the field sorted themselves out.
The mares Twains Angel and Yonga Lass had been ridden with urgency to now sit within the bunched group behind them, which included the fave Twisted Steel.
Fluro Neuro and Chloe raced in company with Lucy Fiore and Immortal Bliss midfield, while Luana Miss and Jaz Session had gone back to the ruck and Spacewalk saw them all.
They burned along the side at the 600m, with Final Siren setting a hot pace and travelling like a winner - out two lengths on Snowdome, as Twisted Steel hooked out to make a move.
Yonga Lass was doing it tough around them, but mounting her challenge as they motored into the straight.
Man Crush on the rail was beginning to tire and Madhi's Girl was held up behind him with nowhere to go - unlucky again, and not even the genius of Pike could find a gap until it was too late.
Meanwhile, Immortal Bliss was stoking up down the outside and coming with him were Luana Miss and Fluro Neuro!
Final Siren and McGruddy, far from fading out of contention, were still going full bore.
Immortal Bliss and Fluro Neuro were putting in the big ones out wide and old Snowdome bore on relentlessly as the post drew near.
Fluro Neuro to his credit had to come from behind Immortal Bliss, and he outsprinted him fair and square.
He overhauled that horse in the last few strides, and then had to grab Snowdome who had kept on strongly, to beat him by a short head.
Final Siren kicked again and added still more value to a huge trifecta divvy by holding third, half a length away.
Little Madhi Girl flew home when she saw daylight to snatch fourth from Immortal Bliss in a bunched finish, with Luana Miss and Twisted Steel unable to go with them to the line.
The bubbly Chloe Azzopardi was extra bubbly after her great ride pulled off the upset result.
“I'm actually a bit speechless!” she said.
“We had a lovely run in transit. Big thanks to the team - they've prepared him in awesome order.
It worked out well. Last time at the mile he got too hard on the steel and overdid it, he brought himself undone in the end.”
“ So today it was just about keeping him happy. Mid race I didn't know whether to ride for luck or come out , thankfully I came out! The rest was up to him. He really winds up and he was strong at the end, it's all credit to the horse - it was a huge run.”
Fluro Neuro was a $75,000 Perth MM Yearling purchase for his owners Belhus Racing from the Yarradale Stud draft.
The attractive bay with a distinctive white star and muzzle was unraced at two years, and was initially trained by Martin Allan for whom he finished runner up at his first two race starts before transferring to Team Williams in the summer of 2023.
In 34 starts, Fluro Neuro has collected 8 wins, 12 seconds and 1 third for earnings of $590,211 to date.
Game and genuine, the son of Gingerbread Man has rarely run a bad race, and had been runner up in five black type races before finally cracking it for a win.
Last season, he had to play bridesmaid to his stablemate Watch Me Rock in the Listed Grandstand Cup / Aquanita Stakes, before that son of Awesome Rock rode his hot vein of form all the way to a G1 Railway Stakes triumph.
Fluro Neuro was rested in preparation for a crack at the early spring features, and returned in August with a slashing second in the Listed Belmont Newmarket to another Gingerbread Man, the evergreen 8YO Phanta, who again had the better of him in the Idyllic Prince Stakes.
Fluro Neuro joins Phanta, who won the HG Bolton Stakes in 2023, and Red Can Man who won in 2020, as “Gingerbreads” to taste success in the feature sprint.
He becomes the tenth stakes winner for Yarradale Stud's Shamardal son Gingerbread Man, who has enjoyed a great season with plenty of progeny gracing the winners stall.
His exciting colt Beatty was the highlight and arguably the hard luck story of the WA racing year when second in the G2 Karrakatta Plate, but righted that wrong swiftly to romp away with the G3 Sires Produce.
At the other end of the career spectrum, Phanta was adding to his black type haul in clocking up two Listed Sprint wins, Herault and Ginger Baker were stakes placed and now Fluro Neuro has joined the party!
Fluro Neuro was the fourth foal and is the second stakes winner from the 1100m winning Soldier's Tale mare First Game, who passed away last year.
She was bred by Yarradale in partnership with Adam Sangster, and her first foal was Fluro’s full brother Neurological who won the Listed WATC Farnley Stakes among his nine career victories.
First Game produced fillies by Frost Giant and City Place, the latter a multiple winner, before Fluro Neuro arrived in 2019.
He was followed by filly Novalie ( (War Chant), a $50,000 Perth MM buy for John Chalmers Bloodstock who has just commenced racing.
First Game's last foal is the gelded Morikawa, who debuted this season in the Paul Jordan stable. The trainer paid $45,000 for him at Perth MM.
Fluro Neuro has an interesting damline.
His dam First Game was one of six foals and four winners out of the imported US-bred mare Our Game Plan, by Danzig's regally bred son Game Plan.
Game Plan was a full brother to G1 Futurity Stakes winner Strolling Along and the colts were produced by a G1 winning Alydar mare who was a full sister to champion Easy Goer - one of three G1 winners produced by the magnificent Blue Hen Relaxing ( Buckpasser), a 3 x G1 winner herself from the family of La Troienne's daughter Big Hurry.
The excellent Danzig sire Belong To Me was from this branch of the tribe, as were Caerleon, Noble Bijou, Hero's Honour, Roar, Munnings and the legendary but ill-fated filly Eight Belles.
Windsor Park Stud's exciting young sire Circus Maximus hails from this damline.
Our Game Plan was out of the T.V Commercial daughter Commercial Venture and was a half sister to dual G1 producer Gold Tunic (dam of the G1 Emirates Stakes hero Titanic Jack and G1 Toorak Hcp winner Sober Suit) and to the dams of G2 winner Chill Party and dual Listed winner La Lagune (grand dam of many SW including NZ 1,000 Guineas heroine Halahalo)
The next dam along is Dusk, daughter of Relic's fine racer and G1 sire Olden Times.
Olden Times sired Hagley who would in turn sire the memorable 4 x G1 European sprinting mare Committed. She was the grand dam of champion English Channel ( 6 G1 wins, multiple G1 sire)
Dusk had a stakes winning half brother in the USA and a half sister who became the dam of the incredibly fast G1 winning miler Urgent Request, who stood at stud in Australia before being exported to France.
This is the family of the G1 Pretty Polly Stakes winner Tropic Star and is the oldest extant branch of family 9, with all branches of that vast tribe descending from the taproot Vintner Mare.
Fluro's branch comes down from a Nearco- sired three quarter sister to the great producer Ballynash (Nasrullah) - dam of the influential sires Mourne and Montaval and ancestress of Nureyev's Arc champion and mighty broodmare sire Peintre Celebre.
Fluro Neuro is bred
Northern Dancer x 5m,5m
His sire Gingerbread Man by the mighty Shamardal was Champion 2YO and 3YO in Singapore where he won five Group races as a sprinter miler.
Gingerbread Man's third dam Spyglass was a G1 winner at two miles in NZ. She became dam of the well named G1 Epsom Hcp winner Iron Horse who placed in that race twice, as well as placing in a Doncaster and Caulfield Cup! - and half brother Specular who became a champion jumper.
Over this stout Kiwi damline Gingerbread Man carries the speed of Snippets and Hurricane Sky with the pure class of Shamardal.
Fluro Neuro's damsire, the beautifully bred but sadly short lived Soldier's Tale, won the G1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Like Shamardal's second dam Helen Street, the son of Stravinsky descends from a daughter of the Petingo son Troy He also carries multiple duplications of Royal Charger / Turn-To to complement Shamardal's double of Halo and Hail To Reason.
This pedigree sex balances Mr Prospector and Mr Prospector's sire Raise A Native, Sir Ivor and Blushing Groom.
Olden Times hails from the family of Snippets and has many genetic links with him, while Hurricane Sky brings that potent Dancing Show blood which is such an activating factor for all members of the La Troienne family, so a great nick for Fluro Neuro’s dam.
We can also find many duplications of the La Fleche / Cinna family (3-e) which produces great broodmare sires in particular and linebreeding to Lalun via her sons Never Bend and Bold Reason.
Gingerbread Man is one of WA's best value sires, consistently getting horses with plenty of talent and importantly - racetrack longevity.
Gingerbread Man stands at Yarradale Stud on a fee of $5,500 in 2026
