Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude To Mill Park Sold Booker

Sitting up on the pace set by Mahlani, Dwayne Dunn set the Written Tycoon filly Booker alight coming around the home turn and had enough in hand to fend off the challenges of the favoured Fastnet Rock fillies Shoals and Catchy in Sunday's $200,000 Group II Schweppes Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield.

Under the set weights with penalties conditions of the race Booker carried 55kgs while runner-up Shoals had 57kgs and Catchy 58.5 kgs and that may have been the story of the race.

In recording her first stakes success, the Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained Booker defeated the previously unbeaten Shoals by a long-neck with Group I Blue Diamond Stakes heroine Catchy doing her best work late for third a short-head further back. (photo Darryl Sherer).

Placed behind Catchy in the Group II Danehill Stakes at Flemington and behind Merchant Navy the Group III McNeill Stakes at Caulfield, Booker advances her record to 2 wins, 2 seconds and 1 third from 5 starts with earnings of $286,000.

"She got a bit of a speed pedigree, but she's got a lot of stamina there as well," Dunn said.

"Getting to the bend I was under a little bit of pressure, she came back under me good and she wanted to lay out a little bit like she did the other day, but it was a good effort against some really top-quality fillies.

"Today we wanted to take the race by the scruff of the neck and try and try and be there, we're going to the mile next time so make sure that she could run it.

"It is a really good box to tick and hopefully she can win the Thousand Guineas."

Matthew Ellerton said the daughter of Written Tycoon will likely press on to the Group 1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield in a fortnight.

 "She did a bit of work early, we were always going to be positive and she was good enough to hold on," Ellerton said.

"She is a filly that doesn't get under much pressure at home so she is probably still learning to let down. Both starts here she's wobbled around the bend, she is just getting used to that race day pressure I think.

"She probably didn't want much further today, but she did do a little bit of work early and she does have a bit of improvement to come."

A $230,000 purchase by part-owner Barry Griffith from Mill Park Stud draft at the 2016 Inglis Premier Yearling sale, Booker is the first foal of the winning Flying Spur mare Noondie who is a half-sister to Listed winner Tranquillity out of the Belmont Guineas winner Creatrix (Umatilla) who is a three-0quarter sister to 2-time Group I Toorak Handicap winner Umrum and to the dam of  multiple Group II winner Tan Tat Delago (Encosta de Lago).

Noondie has a 2yo colt by Helmet and a yearling colt by Written Tycoon. She foaled a Starspangledbanner colt on August 13, pictured below.

Flying Under The Radar

Medaglia D'Oro (USA) already has a very good three year-old colt stepping out for him in Astoria, who won the Group III Spring Stakes last Friday at Newcastle and at Morphettville on Saturday we saw a filly that looms as the next 'Guru' to taste Black Type success.

A homebred for renowned breeder Harry Perks and partners, the Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas trained Glam Guru was in a class of her own when opening up to win by four and a half lengths over 1300 metres as favourite.

Glam Guru had two unremarkable starts in stakes company as a juvenile, but has returned a mus stronger more tractable filly and after winning first up at Morphettville last month has now won two of four starts.

Raised at Mill Park as have been all her famous relatives, Glam Guru is a half-sister to Group III winner Gamblin' Guru and Group III placed Gossip Guru from Glory Guru, a half-sister by Fusaichi Pegasus (USA) to Champion Australian 3YO Gold Guru and Group II winner Gallant Guru.

Given the success of this family and promise of her win on Saturday, Glam Guru will be well watched fi she pops up in Melbourne in a stakes races this spring and holds an entry for the Group I MRC Thousand Guineas.

Spring Goals for Promising Mill Park Sold Fillies

The opening race at Caulfield on Saturday was won in good style by lightly raced Sepoy filly Watchmespin, a $150,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Mill Park draft with Group I aspirations.

The Danny O’Brien trained filly broke her maiden at Seymour at her second start and had no trouble bringing that good form into tougher Saturday company to score a good win.

A drifter in the betting she settled back in the seven horse field and surged home to win the 1400 metre contest by three-quarters of a length.

“She’s a beautiful style of filly and we’ve always had a really big opinion of her,” O’Brien said.

“We were just waiting until she turned three and we’re really looking forward to getting her out over probably a mile and further.”

Watchmespin will be entered in all the big fillies Black type races over the spring.

“On all of the stuff we see at home she’ll step out to 2000 metres and possibly a mile and a half when she gets a bit more seasoned,” O’Brien said.

Raised at Mill Park, Watchmespin is a half-sister to Group III placed Dream First and is the third winner from three foals to race from Tobouggie Woogie, a half-sister to Group II winner Majestic Music from the family of Group I MRC Thousand Guineas winner Serious Speed.

She is the last foal of Tobouggie Woogie, who died in 2014.

Later in the program Written Tycoon filly Booker lost no admirers with her brave second to star colt Merchant Navy in the Group III MRC HDF McNeil Stakes at her first run of the spring.

Prepared by Matt Ellerton and Simon Zahra, Booker won on debut in May and was second in the Group III SAJC National Stakes before spelling.

She looked all over a winner in the McNeil before being caught late by the colt, so appears to have returned in exceptional order.

A $230,000 Inglis Premier purchase from the Mill Park draft, Booker is the first winner for Noondie, a three-quarter sister by Flying Spur to stakes-winner Tranquility from stakes-winner Creatrix.

Noondie has a yearling colt by Written Tycoon and has already foaled this spring producing a colt by Starspangledbanner.

Set to Foal

First foal of the season, the Written Tycoon x Obsidian Dragon filly foaled August 1.

In the coming months it will be a busy time for the entire breeding industry with thousands of mares to foal as well as many to visit stallions around the country and Mill Park Stud is no different, with our mares set to foal down before heading off to be covered – hoping to produce the next Champion of the turf. 

With so many new and exciting stallions heading to Australia this season as well as the current proven ones, it is such a hard decision as to where to send them…

Some of the mares under our care due to foal are listed below. 

• Dane Belltar, the dam of Group 1 winner Fawkner and Group 2 winner Tanby is in foal to More Than Ready, having produced a filly by Shooting To Win last season

• Elegant Eagle (NZ), the dam of Group 1 winner Go Indy Go and Group 3 winner Essay Raider was covered by exciting New Zealand stallion Tavistock last season

• Elusive Wonder, dam of juvenile stakes winner Modern Wonder is due to foal to this season’s soon to be crowned Champion Sire Snitzel

• Hussy By Choice, the well related Hussonet mare will foal to Not A Single Doubt after producing an I Am Invincible filly at her first season last year

• Molto Bene, the Group 3-winning half-sister to Group 1 winner Mourinho will foal to Hinchinbrook after producing a Redoute’s Choice colt last season

• Pasadoble, a three-quarter sister to Group 3 winner Diamond Earth, will foal to Written Tycoon

• The Quick One, lightly raced daughter of Group 1 winner Il Quello Veloce, from the family of Group 1 winners Terravista, Tiger Tees and Super Easy, will foal to Horse of the Year Dissident in his first season at stud

While our plans are still being finalised, we aim to send mares to exciting new sires Astern, American Pharoah, Frosted, Mikki Isle, Extreme Choice and Capitalist while supporting many successful sires such as Snitzel, All Too Hard, Foxwedge, Not A Single Doubt, I Am Invincible, Rebel Raider and many more. 

Make sure you stay tuned on our website and social media platforms for any foaling news – exciting times ahead!

To view the complete August Newsletter, click HERE.

Track Talk

We’ve seen some great performances from Mill Park Stud bred, raised and or sold graduates over the last twelve months, plus we were also represented by our first Group 1 performer in South Africa!

Guard Of Honour, Gretna, Pretty Punk, Girl Sunday, Mall It In, It’s A Myth, Booker, Cappadocia, Waging War, All Too Huiying and Danish Twist to name but a few have kept up the outstanding farm tradition by performing exceptionally well on the track.

Special mention must go to the talented Dane Shadow mare Danish Twist (pictured above) who is a possibility to head to stud this season for her connections. In the last twelve months she has finished in the top five in five stakes races including a narrow third in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill Gardens.

A stakes-winning half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner and Mill Park graduate Happy Trails, Danish Twist is a mare that any stud master would be proud to have on their farm.

Of the young brigade coming through, interestingly it is the half-brother to Happy Trails and Danish Twist in All Too Hard colt, All Too Huiying (pictured below as a yearling), who could prove an exciting three-year-old and one to watch. 

While still a maiden, the Gary Moore-trained colt was stakes placed on two occasions including a third behind Whispered Secret at Listed level with that winner going on to record a Group 1 third next time out.

The Matthew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained Booker (pictured below), a juvenile filly by Written Tycoon produced an exciting debut victory in May at Flemington before heading to Adelaide and finishing second in the Group 3 National Stakes, with fellow Mill Park Stud graduate It’s A Myth (Sepoy) taking third in the same race.

Morphettville Racecourse has always been a happy hunting ground for Mill Park Stud graduates and in the last 12 months two noteworthy stakes winners at the track were Listed Hill Smith Stakes winner Pretty Punk (pictured below), a daughter of Rebel Raider, who is in turn himself a dual Group 1-winning son of Reset, raised and sold by the farm.

Speaking of Reset, another stakes winner by the Darley-based sire that has been raised at the farm is Mail It In, a four-year-old who defeated war horse Extra Zero to win the Listed Birthday Cup by almost four lengths before a length fourth in the Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes.

An exciting experience for the team was to see Naafer, a colt by Lonhro that we sold at the 2016 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale to Shadwell Stud put in some great performances in South Africa for the Mike de Kock stable.

Second on his debut, the colt was too good at his second start before being thrown into the deep end at his third. Finishing second to stablemate and Champion Two-year-old contender Mustaaqeem in the Group 1 SA Nursery, Naafer (pictured below) went to contest another two stakes races before being turned out for a break, and he should come back as three-year-old to watch!

As we head into the new season in a few weeks it is always an exciting, as well as nervous time awaiting the new crop of two-year-old’s to step out on the track, so stay tuned!

To view the complete August Newsletter, click HERE.

Sale Season Success

With the completion of the 2016-2017 racing season and the commencement of the new breeding season on August 1, the Mill Park Stud team reflect on what a great season we’ve had not only with our graduates on the track, but how our yearlings have sold at the sales.

The sale season kicked off in January with Mill Park Stud heading to the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast with a draft of seven select yearlings.

Averaging $280,000 a piece, our top price was $500,000 paid for our first through the ring, Lot 38, the I Am Invincible x Furline filly (pictured below) that was purchased by Stonestreet, Peter Leidel, Aquis Farm and Blue Sky Bloodstock.

Another yearling by I Am Invincible, this time out of You’re Discreet which sold as Lot 582, was knocked down for $350,000 to China Horse Club, Newgate Farm and Winstar Farm.

A colt from the first crop of Darley’s Dawn Approach (Lot 483) made $240,000 to Astute Bloodstock, and until we sold another colt by the sire at Easter later in the year, the price paid was the top price for a yearling by the Group 1-winning son of New Approach.

Next stop for the team was the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale where the six yearlings consigned all found homes.

Leading the way for the draft was Lot 110, a colt (pictured below) from the first crop of Epsom Derby winner Camelot out of the stakes placed Galileo mare Miss With Attitude. Knocked down for $280,000 to Heywood Bloodstock and Mayfair Speculators, the colt will head to the South African stable of Joey Ramsden.

Another who sold well was Lot 27, a filly from the first crop of dual Group 1 winner Zoustar. Out of the winning More Than Ready mare Lassie Mactavish, who has already produced the Group 1 performer Platinum Balos, the filly was secured by Kavanagh Racing for $165,000.

With what seemed like back to back sales, we took a large draft to the Adelaide Magic Millions with Lindsay Park going to $110,000 to take home Lot 298, our Choisir colt who is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Zip Zip Aray.

Group 1 Golden Slipper trainer Gary Portelli purchased the Not A Single Doubt x Melania filly (pictured below) for $100,000, while another to make the same figure in the ring was Lot 198, the flashy looking Mossman x Moreau colt secured by John Richardson.

Rewarded for our great draft, Mill Park Stud ended the sale as the Leading Vendor by averages – a great result for all the team.

Our final sale of the year was the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale where we presented a small but select draft of five. Averaging $400,000 Shadwell Stud secured the top lot from our draft, the Snitzel x Dance On Waves colt (Lot 96) for $600,000.  

Likely to stay in Australia and go to the stable of Lindsay Park, the well-bred colt (pictured below) has stallion appeal, being by the Champion Sire of the current season, out of Group 2-winning mare who is herself a half-sister to the four-time Group 1 winner Preferment.

Great judges Darren Weir and John Foote Bloodstock parted with $360,000 for Lot 5, our Dawn Approach x Very Discreet colt, giving Mill Park Stud the highest selling two yearlings sold this season by the Darley-based stallion at $240,000 and $360,000.

All in all, at the four yearling sales we attended this year, the farm offered 31 yearlings and recorded 100% clearance – it was a job well done by all of the Mill Park Stud staff as well as a huge congratulations to the buyers who supported us – we look forward to tracking these yearlings as they head to their racetrack careers.

A complete list of our results can be viewed HERE.

To view the complete August Newsletter, click HERE.

Sasso Corbaro becomes 11th winner for All Too Hard

The China Horse Club colours were carried to victory at Newcastle on Thursday by promising filly Sasso Corbaro, a $290,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Mill Park draft.

The Kris Lees trained filly bumped into smart types Manicure and Tennessee Tango when finishing second at her first two runs at Canterbury, so was sent out a hot favourite to break the ice in this 1150 metre juvenile maiden.

She did everything right for Corey Brown and surged clear to win by a length.

"She got the job done and has probably come to the end of her preparation," said Kris Lees.

"She can go out now and come back a really nice three year-old. She's eligible for the Magic Millions race day, so we might look that way with her in the summer if she's up to that."

Bred by Mill Park and partners, Sasso Corbaro is a half-sister to Group III placed Smart Manouevre from stakes-placed Furline, a daughter of Group II winner Umaline.

Mill Park sold the current yearling from Furline, a filly by I Am Invincible, for $500,000 at Magic Millions this year and she has a weanling colt to follow by Foxwedge.

Sasso Corbaro is the 11th first crop winner for Vinery Stud's All Too Hard, who will stand this spring at a fee of $44,000.

Can This Girl Overcome Horrow Draw?

Talented race mare Girl Sunday, a graduate of Mill Park Stud, must have offended the racing gods if her luck in barrier draws is any indication.

Girl Sunday is entered for tomorrow's $150,000 Civic Stakes, a listed race over 1350 metres at Rosehill, but has come up with barrier 12 out of 13.

Last week she was scratched from Doomben after drawing wide and her last two race starts have been from barriers 10 and 15.

In spite of her wide draws, Girl Sunday has raced extremely well this preparation and has been fourth and fifth at her latest outings.

"She is going along nicely this time in, but once again the wide draw is going to be her greatest challenge to overcome," said trainer Gerald Ryan.

"I'm happy enough with how she is going and on her Sydney form last preparation then is capable of winning this race. It doesn't seem to be a hot tempo race so hopefully she can get over from the wide draw and either lead or sit outside the leader.

"Her form at Rosehill is great and over the 1350 metres on the track she's had three starts for two wins and a third so this looks a great opportunity for her to earn black type," said Gerald Ryan.

Ontrack Thoroughbreds Managing Director Grant Morgan said success in these listed races were vitally important for fillies and mares.

"Girl Sunday is a daughter of a champion stallion in Encosta De Lago and her third dam Furama Nights was a Group 3 winner so there's a nice pedigree page behind her. As a multiple Sydney winner, she will have great residual value if she can add some black type performances to the CV.

"The good thing about tomorrow's races is that there isn't a lot of pace so apprentice James Innes should be able to work over from that wide draw.

"Even though there's no apprentice allowance in this race we were happy to keep James on board because he has ridden her well and he is riding in fantastic form," said Grant Morgan.

News from Ontrack Racing Newsletter

Two Winners for Choice of Colours

Mill Park graduates Red Raider and Beluga Blue both saluted at Morphettville on Saturday providing a winning double for their dam Choice of Colours.

Prepared by Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas, stakes-winning Lookin at Lucky (USA) mare Beluga Blue was favourite for the 1550 metre Benchmark 90 event and coasted home an easy winner making up for her unlucky last start fourth in the Group III SAJC RA Lee Stakes.

Beluga Blue has won five of 22 starts earning over $270,000 in prizemoney.

Consigned for sale by Mill Park at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, Beluga Blue made $100,000 to the bid of Leon Macdonald and runs for a syndicate of owners that includes Mill Park Stud.

Earlier in the day her two year-old half-brother Red Raider scored by a head over 1300 metres at his third start.

By dual Derby winner Rebel Raider, Red Raider is also trained by Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas.

By Redoute’s Choice from the family of current season Group I winner Montoya’s Secret, Choice of Colours has produced four winners from four to race and is due to foal to More Than Ready (USA) this spring.

Fifth Win for Galaxy Gazer

Cherry ripe at his third run back from a spell at Morphettville on Saturday was handy four 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 scored a half-length win over 1250 metres taking his overall record to five wins and five placings from 22 starts with prizemoney topping $95,000.

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 yearling colt by Rebel Raider, a weanling colt by Declaration of War (USA) and was covered last year by Hallowed Crown.