Vinery Stud's shuttle stallion More Than Ready (USA) sired back to back winners of the Golden Slipper, firstly in 2008 with Sebring, whose first crop yearling have met with a sensational response this year, and 2009 with Phelan Ready (pictured) , who has been winless in almost three years and is not expected to change that record when he takes on Black Caviar in Saturday's $750,000 Group 1 Coolmore Lightning Stakes at Flemington.
The two Slipper winners locked in Champion juvenile sires titles More Than Ready and he will take a giant step up the ladder in this year's title race when Brave Soul (More Than Ready (USA) x Soul Singer (Danehill) and Raceway (More Than Ready (USA) x Claws (Flying Spur) contest a fascinating pair of stakes races at Warwick Farm on Saturday.
Making her first start for new trainer Joe Pride, Brave Soul will be out to improve on her third behind Fundido at Rosehill on December 3, when she contests the Widden Stakes for fillies while current Slipper favourire Raceway will start at short quote in the Canonbury Stakes for colts and geldings.
Both Brave Soul and Raceway are out of mares from the Danehill line, which is proving a killer cross for More Than Ready.. Of the ten Group 1 winners sired by the son of Southern Halo, four have been out of mares by Danehill or his sons. They include the champion 2yo Sebring and the Victorian Derby winner Benicio.
A half-sister to dual Group 3 winner Solar Charged (Charge Forward) and multiple Listed stakes-winner Causeway Queen (Giant's Causeway), Brave Soul races a homebred for Peter Horwitz and family. The daughter of Danehill was talented enough to win three of her 8 starts. She was also bred and raced by Horwitz who consigned the mare to the 2010 Easter Broodmare Sale. She was knocked down to Coolmore Stud for $550,000, The Charge Forward colt she was carrying at the time was sold to Kennewell Racing for $150,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling sale in January.
The Gai Waterhouse-trained Raceway created a huge impression with a resounding victory at Warwick Farm on January 7.
The comparisons with Sebring do not only stem from the fact that the two chestnuts boast the same sire and damsire (Flying Spur), race in the Star Thoroughbred silks and trained by Gai Waterhouse, but also from the fact that both were bred by Corumbene Stud, and both dams showed little racing ability.
Purespeed, the dam of Sebring (pictured) retired a maiden after 17 starts while Raceway's dam Claws made four starts before the owners pulled the pin following a distant last of eleven in a maiden at Quirindi.
Raceway was a good enough type to make the grade in the 2011 Easter Yearling sale where he sold for $150,000.
That was the same price paid for a More Than Ready filly out of Samar sold earlier in the day. the now Blue Diamond favourite Samaready.
