The Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas trained gelding won the Listed SAJC Manihi Stakes back in April and has been consistent since then without winning.
He has now won 12 races and more than $528,000 in prizemoney and is the best of six winners from good producer Southern Rose.
Correct Call is one of three winners from three foals to race from Group II winning Rory’s Jester mare Buckle My Shoe.
Second Win for Galaxy Gazer
/Sent out favourite at Morphettville on Wednesday when resuming from a spell was promising three year-old Galaxy Gazer, a $38,000 Magic Millions Adelaide purchase from the Mill Park draft.
Trained by Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas, Galaxy Gazer was fit and ready to fire, racing up on the pace before dashing clear to win the 1250 metre contest by two and a quarter lengths, his second win from 10 starts.
Bred by Harry Perks, Galaxy Gazer is by Astronomer Royal (USA) and is the first winner for Galileo (IRE) mare Livia, who comes from the family of stakes-winners Chattanooga, Tindal and Real Stolle.
Livia has a weanling colt by Rebel Raider and was covered last spring by Declaration of War (USA).
Exciting Winner Sold by Mill Park
/Well known owners Ron and Judy Wanless have enjoyed much success over the years and look to have another bright prospect in the shape of exciting two year-old Northern Meteor colt Guard of Honour.
A flashy chestnut prepared by Kris Lees, Guard of Honour was a short priced favourite at Warwick Farm on Wednesday having beaten last Saturday’s smart winner Conchita by five lengths in a recent barrier trial.
A touch slow from the gates, he mustered speed quickly to find a position just behind the leaders and surged to the front on turning for home.
Guard of Honour kept going strongly to the line for Hugh Bowman to win the 1000 metre juvenile maiden by a length and a quarter.
"Booms are put on horses that win barrier trials but you like to see them do it on raceday,” Lees said.
"I think you have to be a bit guarded about provincial trials because you’re never sure of the opposition but I had a couple in his trials that I knew went ok so I got a little bit of a guide.
"I thought it was an impressive enough win, he hasn’t got brilliant gate speed but he mustered speed very quickly and looked to travel kindly and showed a bit of fight at the end.”
It was only the second start for Guard of Honour, who was unplaced at his only previous run on a heavy track in the Group III ATC Canonbury Stakes won by Tessera.
A $300,000 Magic Millions purchase for Scone Bloodstock Services from the Mill Park draft, Guard of Honour was bred by Mill Park in partnership and is the second winner for General Nediym mare Victory Cry, a full sister to stakes-winner Victory Chant and half-sister to stakes-winner Reldas.
It’s a family that has generated much success for Mill Park and their clients over the years with Group I winner Serious Speed and Group II winner Majestic Music the standout performers.
Victory Cry has a weanling filly by Foxwedge and was covered last spring by Northern Meteor’s Group I winning son Shooting to Win, so Guard of Honour will be followed closely by the team at Mill Park!
Guard of Honour was not the only Mill Park raised juvenile winner on Wednesday with Al Maher gelding Gun Guru scoring at Strathalbyn for Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas.
June Stakes Win for Danish Twist
/Progressive mare Danish Twist kept her current winning streak intact when posting her fourth successive victory at Randwick on Saturday in the Listed ATC June Stakes.
A half-sister by Dane Shadow to triple Group I winner Happy Trails, Danish Twist was bred by Brenton and Liz Parker and retained to race in partnership.
Handled patiently by Kris Lees, she is absolutely flying this campaign and charged home from back in the field to win the 1100 metre sprint running away by two lengths with apprentice rider Koby Jennings on board.
“She did it so easily,” Jennings said.
“When she took the gap with her momentum going, I knew I had the race won before it would have looked like she had it won. She went that quick underneath me. She’s a pleasure to ride her.”
Raised at Mill Park as was her famous older sibling Happy Trails, Danish Twist has the impressive record of eight wins and six placings from 17 starts with prizemoney topping $728,000.
The Group I Tatts Tiara at Eagle Farm in two weeks time is her grand final.
Mill Park sold the current yearling from Madame Flurry, a colt by All Too Hard, for $150,000 to Gary Moore Racing at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale.
Danish Twist Wins Group Three
/Progressive mare Danish Twist has been on an upward spiral in recent weeks winning the $400,000 Provincial Championships at Randwick and $100,000 Ladies Day Cup at Hawkesbury before finally landing Black Type when successful in the Group III Dark Jewel Stakes at Scone on Saturday.
A half-sister by Dane Shadow to triple Group I winner Happy Trails, Danish Twist was bred by Brenton and Liz Parker and retained to race in partnership.
Handled patiently by Kris Lees, she is really starting to hit her straps and scored a dominant length and a half win in this 1400 metre feature.
Lees said he intends to push on with Danish Twist and the mare will now head to Queensland with some suitable races coming up in the next six weeks.
"When a mare’s in form they’re pretty hard to stop. You put them three deep and they still win,” he said.
"She just keeps going to another level every time I raise the bar.
"I have to take her to Queensland. The (Tatts) Tiara is the logical race for her but it’s still a while away so she’ll probably have a run between now and then up there.”
Raised at Mill Park as was her famous older sibling Happy Trails, Danish Twist has the impressive record of seven wins and six placings from 16 starts with prizemoney topping $668,000.
Mill Park sold the current yearling from Madame Flurry, a colt by All Too Hard, for $150,000 to Gary Moore Racing at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale.
News from Breednet, Images from Steve Hart Photography
Mill Park Graduates Impress
/Mill Park graduates were in good form on Saturday with stakes placings for Royal Rumble, Smart Manoeuvre and Battle Brewing in Adelaide, while Danish Twist took out the $100,000 Ladies Day Cup at Hawkesbury.
A half-sister by Dane Shadow to triple Group I winner Happy Trails, Danish Twist was bred by Brenton and Liz Parker and retained to race in partnership.
Handled patiently by Kris Lees, she is really starting to hit her straps and won the $400,000 Provincial Championships at Randwick last month before scoring another lucrative win in this 1400 metre contest.
With six wins and six placings from 15 starts and prizemoney topping $546,460, Danish Twist is in top form and Black Type goals will no doubt be on her radar.
Talented Smart Missile filly Smart Manoeuvre was nosed out of victory in the Group III SAJC Sires Produce Stakes, her third placing from just four starts.
Trained by Phillip Stokes, two year-old Smart Manoeuvre was retained to race in partnership by Mill Park and is the first foal of Tale of the Cat (USA) mare Furline.
Battle Brewing (3g Medaglia D’Oro (USA) x Elegant Eagle) and Royal Rumble (3g New Approach (IRE) x Queen’s Kiss) are both racing well for the Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas stable and can find stakes races to suit in coming weeks.
News from Breednet
Group 1 Target For Modern Wonder
/Co-trainer Troy Corstens says brilliant debut winner Modern Wonder (Snitzel-Elusive Wonder, by Elusive Quality) is likely to be aimed at the Gr1 Thousand Guineas in the spring, reports Racing.com.
The 2YO filly (pictured below as a yearling) made the perfect start to her career when scoring by 2 lengths for Leon & Troy Corstens in the $100,000 Listed Dequetteville Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
"She's a beautiful filly," Corstens told Melbourne's Radio Sport National.
"She's always been a nice filly. Her first preparation she showed a bit, but nowhere near what she showed this preparation. She's just continued to improve."
Modern Wonder, who hails from the family of Gr1 South Australian Oaks winner Lady Liberty and Gr3 Blue Diamond Prelude (F) winner Freedom Fields, was purchased for $175,000 by Malua Bloodstock at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the draft of Mill Park.
"It is a predominantly sprinting family that she's from," said Corstens.
"With that sort of filly, you're aiming them all to get to the Thousand Guineas."
He added: "We'll give her a couple of runs to see if she can get to the mile, or if we're going to keep her to the sprinting trips. But it's going to be fun trying to find out."
Mill Park Is A Modern Wonder
/The Dequetteville Stakes at Morphettville on Saturday may well have unearthed a genuine star in Modern Wonder, who lived up to her name with a slashing win on debut.
Co-trainer, Troy Corstens – who purchased the filly for $175,000 at the 2015 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale – had anticipated she would make an impression in the Dequetteville, just not that much of an impression.
“I didn’t expect her to win like that … everything she’s done she’s shown she’s above average,” Corstens enthused. “I think she might be a bit of a freak, actually.”
Similar comments might well be levelled at Modern Wonder’s breeder, Mill Park, which is now not only one of the leading farms in South Australia, but also the nation.
As leading vendor at this year’s record-breaking Adelaide Magic Millions, Mill Park’s influence stretches far and wide with its yearlings selling up to $560,000 at Easter, $725,000 at the Gold Coast Magic Millions and finishing No. 1 consignor by average at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
Based in the upper south east of South Australia, Mill Park encompasses some 10,000 acres but, according to General Manager, Chris Watson, the horse side of the business consists of 2,000 acres: “We (Mill Park) started breeding horses in the early 1990s, however, it wasn’t until around 2000 that we really went commercial.
“Mill Park has an average foal crop of 40 to 45, of which we sell 30 and retain 10 for racing.”
That might still sound like a lot of horse feed, but Mill Park’s honour roll is something to behold.
In just over 10 years, Mill Park has produced Fawkner (Caulfleld Cup), 3-time Group One winner, Happy Trails, another Caulfield Cup winner in Mummify, yet another Caulfield Cup winner in Southern Speed, Epsom winners Captain Sonador and Devil Moon, dual Derby winner Rebel Raider, Go Indy Go (Champagne Stakes), Serious Speed (One Thousand Guineas), Proprietor (Galaxy), Undoubtedly (Blue Diamond), Oaks winner Princess Coup, and a 4-time Group One winner in Divine Madonna, not to forget numerous Group Two, Three and Listed winners. And now Modern Wonder.
Incredibly, only two of the aforementioned Group One winners are by the same sire and, in the majority of cases, by stallions not residing in the upper echelon of service fees.
What’s the secret?
“I can’t put my finger on any one thing,” Watson explains. “But I will say that it helps enormously to have such a fantastic band of clients. We all work very closely together to plan matings and determine where the mares will be sent, decide jointly as to which sales the resultant progeny will be consigned, and even involve clients in how the foals are raised and prepared.
“It’s a real communal effort. They are a great bunch of people.”
News from Aushorse
Debut Stakes-Winner Bred and Sold by Mill Park
/The $100,000 Listed SAJC Dequetteville Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville on Saturday was won by exciting Snitzel filly Modern Wonder, a $175,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Mill Park draft for Malua Bloodstock/ Bahen Bloodstock.
Ridden by Stephen Baster for Leon and Troy Corstens, Modern Wonder sat outside the pacesetter Moshki before taking control around the home turn to win by two lengths from Motown Lil.
"We were thrilled to watch Modern Wonder street her rivals on debut in the Listed Dequetteville Stakes in Adelaide this afternoon," Malua Racing.
"The 2yo filly by Snitzel, a $175k MM purchase consigned by fantastic breeders Mill Park Stud, sat outside the leader and gave nothing else a chance as she roared away to score easily.
"Congratulations to the winning connections, some of whom our most loyal clients and some very welcome new members to the Stable."
Another Mill Park success story, Modern Wonder is a half-sister to the promising Cocoa Doll, a Morphettville winner on April 9 who later in the day finished fourth at Listed level and is the third foal and third winner from the stakes-placed winner Elusive Wonder.
A daughter of Elusive Quality (USA), Elusive Wonder is a half-sister to stakes-winner Tantra and to the dam of stakes-winner Oak Park.
A granddaughter of the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude winner Freedom Fields, Elusive Wonder has a yearling sister to Modern Wonder than was snapped up by the China Horse Club for $420,000 from the Mill Park draft at this year's Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
Elusive Wonder lost a filly foal by I Am Invincible last year and was bred to the popular Yarraman Park stallion again last spring.
News from Breednet
Mill Park Stud's Elusive Wonder
/A talented performer in her own right as a racehorse, Elusive Wonder was successful on debut before a third at stakes level at just her second start.
Sold as a broodmare prospect a short time later, the daughter of Elusive Quality was secured by Adrian Hancock's Hancock Quality Bloodstock on behalf of Mill Park Stud and Mills Thoroughbred Breeding Syndicate.
Elusive Wonder (pictured left) is out of the Sir Tristram mare Abbotswood, herself a sister to the dam of Listed winner Liberty Rose, who is in turn the dam of Listed winner Grand Jardin who finished second in the Listed race that Elusive Wonder finished third in, while the pedigree also includes fellow stakes winners Kanzan (Group 3), Oak Park (Listed) and Transporter (Listed) to name a few.
Covered by Coolmore Stud's Fastnet Rock at her first season at stud, the resultant colt went through the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale where he knocked down to Ricky Yiu for $340,000, paying back the $140,000 connections parted with to secure the mare a few years earlier as a broodmare prospect.
Unfortunately her next foal, by Darley's Shamardal died after birth, before the mare was covered by Vinery Stud's Champion Sire More Than Ready.
Producing a filly, she was entered for the 2014 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale as well as the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale in June, but was withdrawn on both occasions.
Retained to race by Mill Park Stud and Mills Breeding Syndicate, fellow owners A G Sheppard, M R Basheer, W B Sanders and Ms H Papas also came along for the ride.
Named Cocoa Doll (pictured below), the filly did not start during her juvenile season, making her debut in the September of her three-year-old year for a narrow, but encouraging victory at Morphettville.
Sent straight to Melbourne to race against stakes company, not all went right in the run and the filly finished down the track before being spelled.
Resuming this time in for an impressive two length victory over 1200m, the Phillip Stokes-trained filly drops back in distance on Saturday to contest the Listed Projection Graphics Redelva Stakes over 1100m.
Elusive Wonder produced a filly by Arrowfield Stud's Snitzel at her next season at stud, with the forward youngster heading to the Magic Millions Yearling Sale where she was purchased by respected judges Malua Bloodstock and Bahen Bloodstock for $175,000.
Named Modern Wonder, the Leon and Troy Corstens-trained filly will also race at Morphettville on Saturday just like her big sister, where she will make her racetrack debut in the Listed Dequetteville Stakes over 1050m.
With no public trials under her belt, the filly is sure to be ready first-up otherwise connections would not be sending her across the border from her Victorian base to make her debut.
Earlier this year at the Magic Millions yearling sale in January, the China Horse Club secured the full-sister to Modern Wonder for $420,000 from the Mill Park draft (pictured right) , so any black type performances on Saturday by her siblings will only add some significant further value to the filly.
Covered by the Yarraman Park-based I Am Invincible in the most recent season, connections look forward to the mare (pictured below) foaling in mid-September.
