Best On Breeding

Mark Smith - Friday December 1

Coming off a chart-topping month with 38 winners, I Am Invincible will be out to start the new month by claiming an honour that has so far eluded him this season, a Group 1 winner.

Unless you have a horse the calibre of a Winx, the decision to keep a mare in training once she reaches five requires plenty of thought, particularly if she is a well-bred stakes-winner.

Connections of Viddora obviously believe the daughter of I Am Invincible has some unfinished business.

She has a Group III win and Listed stakes win in South Australia to her credit but that seems scant reward for a mare that was inched out by She Will Reign in the Moir Stakes (1000m) and finished second to Secret Agenda in the Group 1 UBET Classic (Robert Sangster Stakes).

She was also a leading chance in the Group 1 Goodwood Hcp at Morphettville but came up with a foot abscess shortly before the race.


The Lloyd Kennewell-trained mare heads to Ascot on Saturday with a favourites chance in the $1 million Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m).

She is coming off a fourth behind Hey Doc in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on October 27.

Bred by Riva Ridge, Viddora has a record of 6 wins, 6 seconds and 1 third from 22 starts with prizemoney of $858,480

A $40,000 Magic Millions Adelaide purchase for her trainer in 2014, Viddora is the second foal of the 5-time Melbourne winner Snow Flight, a daughter of the Zabeel stallion Colombia, a brother to Octagonal and Mouawad.

Zabeel is out of the Nureyev mare Lady Giselle whose dam Valderna is out of the outstanding broodmare Derna who is the great- great- granddam of Snow Flight.

Derna produced the top fillies Detroit (Arc de Triomphe) and Durtal (Cheveley Park Stakes and 2nd 1000 Guineas).

A daughter of Riverman, Detroit produced the 1994 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Carnegie (IRE) while Durtal (Lyphard) is the dam of dual Ascot Gold Cup winner Gildoran (Rheingold) who, like Carnegie, found his way to stud in Australia.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Pedigree Watch – French Classics – More Upsets
In a Euro classic season where nothing is turning out as planned there were more upsets overnight at Longchamp with the running of the French Guineas races and again the favourites never got a look in.
Epsom Derby Contender for Camelot
One Classic trial that did go to plan was the Group III Cashel Palace Derby Trial (1m2f) at Leopardstown with undefeated Camelot colt Los Angeles staying that way in his seasonal return.
Sires With Winners - Sunday May 12
Here is the full list of 68 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
One to Watch – Sunshine Coast
It might have been a polytrack meeting at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, but this Sntizel colt could not have won any easier.
Benedetta Breeder Thrilled With G1 Victory
South Australian breeder Brenton Parker never thought he’d live to see the day he would breed and race a G1 winner but that all changed when talented mare Benedetta (Hellbent) won the Goodwood Handicap at Morphettville.
Promising So You Think Goes Two for Two
The Caulfield program on Saturday produced a number of progressive winners and one to really catch the eye was So You Think gelding Sure, who made it two wins in as many starts when he strode to an easy victory.
Jungle Cat Filly Excites on Debut
It was a matter of dig where you struck gold before when Proven Thoroughbreds purchased a Jungle Cat (IRE) filly for $95,000 from the Telemon Thoroughbreds draft at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Stakes Double for Go Bloodstock
The yellow and white silks of Go Bloodstock were carried by two stakes-winners at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday with Thalassophile striking early in the day to win the Listed Silk Stocking and then later in the day three year-old filly Amazonian Lass got back in the winning groove when taking out the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m)
Further Success in Japan for Australian Mares
A week after Mosheen’s son Danon Ayres Rock captured the Listed Principal Stakes at Tokyo Racetrack, another two popular Australian-bred mares, were featured among the winners in Japan.
Blue Light Enhances Breeding Success
For successful breeding outcomes, timing is everything. The horse’s natural reproductive period coincides with the light-filled days of summer. As seasonal breeders, the naturally lengthening days of spring suppress melatonin and in turn stimulate reproductive hormones that maximise fertility for both mares and stallions.