The extraordinary stud record of Starspangledbanner continued overnight at Newmarket racecourse in the UK where his very promising three-year-old colt Home Of The Brave bolted up in the Listed European Free over 1400m.
The
Hugo Palmer-trained chestnut becomes the Rosemont stallion's fourth stakes
winner overall following dramatic successes by The Wow Signal and Anthem
Alexander at Ascot last year and Of The Brave for Mark Riley in Melbourne
recently.
In what was a lead-up to next month's G1 UK 2000 Guineas, Home Of The Brave led from go to whoa and in the process burst the considerable bubble of Guineas second favourite Faydhan who could manage only a labouring third.
Bought by bloodstock agents Justin Bahen and Troy Corstens at Arqana's 2013 yearling sale and owned by a bunch of Australian investors including David Moody and Michael Ramsden, the colt has now been slashed from 50/1 to 12/1 for the 2000 Guineas run on May 2.
Starspangledbanner has proven a star at stud despite his numbers being restricted due to low fertility. He has only 30 3yos in Europe and now has 10% stakes winners to foal crop ... an extraordinary statistic by anyone's measure.
He is currently covering mares to northern time at Rosemont near Geelong in Victoria for a fee of $27,500 including GST.
"We are getting a nice group of mares in foal to Northern time as we speak. We are around 12 or 13 pregnancies as it stands with quite a few mares still under cover to check," said Anthony Mithen of Rosemont.
"There will be some high fives around the place this morning with most breeders planning on taking those pregnant mares to Europe later in the year to sell back into the European market or sell privately to Northern Hemisphere investors. It looks a pretty shrewd move now and might look even better after the Guineas."
"He will now have two big hopes in the Guineas with G1 winner The Wow Signal set to resume in the race as well as Home Of The Brave," he said.
"We are still taking bookings so I'd encourage breeders to take a look through their dry mares and give me a call if they think something might be worth a shot."
Starspangledbanner will stand at Rosemont in conjunction with Coolmore this spring with his Southern Hemisphere fee to be announced shortly.
For More information call Anthony Mithen on +61413486767.
