The Group I ATC Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on Saturday was not the only G1 event over 1400m contested in the past 24 hours and the results in both races only served to highlight the strength of the form out of that rich Australian initiative, the Golden Eagle (1500m), which will run as a G1 for the first time this spring.
Winner of last year’s Golden Eagle, Autumn Glow stepped out for the first time as a 5YO to win the Winx Stakes defeating exciting 4YO Sheza Alibi, whose main target race this spring is the $10million Golden Eagle on October 31. Read about them here.
The horse that won the Golden Eagle in 2024 was the William Haggas trained raider Lake Forest, who has been racing in top form this year as a gelding.
Winner of the Group II Lennox Stakes last month at Goodwood over his pet distance of 7f, he lined up overnight in the Group I City of York (7f) and beat all bar the favourite Notable Speech.
A homebred for Godolphin, 5YO Dubawi stallion Notable Speech is an elite miler at his best and won the Group I Lockinge Stakes (1m) earlier this year before failing to flatter in the Group I Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, Notable Speech droipped back in trip and scored a dominant two and three-quarter length win over Lake Forest taking his overall record to nine wins – six of them G1 - from 18 starts.
“I'm delighted for the old boy. We felt Notable Speech has really come to his own in the last couple of weeks and we wanted him to be ridden more positively than normal,” said Charlie Appleby.
“William [Buick] knows this horse inside out. There was never a horse in the field that'd quicken like he does.”
Notable Speech won the Group I Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile last year and the race is on the radar again this year.
Notable Speech is the first winner for Group III placed Invincible Spirit mare Swift Rose, a half-sister to Group I winner Wild Beauty and Group III winner Desert Wisdom, who is also by Dubawi.
His pedigree traces back to fourth dam Cherokee Rose, a brilliant dual Group I winning sprinter, who has spawned an impressive dynasty of stakes-winners that includes Group I winners Kirklees, Mastery, Mukhadram and Australian Group I winner Linebacker.
Dubawi has become flavour of the month in Australia thanks to the success of young Darley shuttle sires Too Darn Hot (GB) and Ghaiyyath (IRE), who are both back in Australia this spring.
Other Group I winning sons of Dubawi standing in Australia this spring are Delacroix (IRE) for Coolmore, Henry Longfellow (IRE) for Rosemont, Lead Artist (GB) for Arrowfield and Benbatl (GB) for Woodside Park.
One of the older brigade of Dubawi sons at stud is Akeed Mofeed (GB),who stands at Rosden Park in SA.
