Winning Start to Season for Wandjina

Tara Madgwick - Saturday August 3
Newgate Farm's Wandjina made a winning start to the new season with a debut winner on Friday from the powerful Lindsay Park racing team in Grand Diamond.

WandjinaThe three year-old filly travelled smoothly in fourth place and then surged to the line to win the 1200 metre maiden at Ballarat by a length and a quarter.

A $20,000 purchase from the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale from the Watson Bloodstock draft, Grand Diamond is the first winner for Grand Excess, a half-sister by Exceed and Excel to Group III winner Stand Tall and stakes-winner Seul Amour.

Grand Excess is from Champion 3YO Filly Grand Archway, who won both the VRC Oaks and Australian Oaks among her four Group I victories, so Grand Diamond may well appreciate a little further than the 1200 metres of this win.

Grand Diamond is the first winner of the new season for Wandjina, but is also his ninth first crop winner.

A Group I winning son of Snitzel, Wandjina excelled as a three year-old over a mile, placing in the Caulfield Guineas in the spring and then winning the Group I VRC Australian Guineas in the autumn, so we can expect to see his progeny come into their own over the next 12 months.

He stands this spring at a fee of $22,000.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Ciaron Maher Cheers On Melbourne Cup Hopeful at Newbury
The Melbourne Cup remains in play for Middle Earth and his new part owner, Ciaron Maher, after making a successful 2024 bow in the Group III Aston Park Stakes at Newbury.
Seize The Grey and D Wayne Lukas Triumph in Preakness Stakes
There will be no Triple Crown winner this year after Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan played second fiddle to Seize the Grey in the 149th Preakness Stakes at a muddy Pimlico Race Course and credited 88-year-old legend D Wayne Lukas with his seventh winner of the race, 44-years after his first with Codex.
Wandjina Colt Confirms Spring Potential
The Group II VRC Danehill Stakes at Flemington on Saturday produced some fine performances for several classy three year-olds including Wandjina colt Express Pass, who charged home for third to Dalasan and Dubious.
Metro Double for Wandjina
It’s been a good day at the office for Newgate Farm’s Wandjina, who posted a quinella in the opening race at the twilight meeting at Randwick on Friday and then added another winner at Moonee Valley in the evening.
New Era for Dawn and Peter Williams
It will be the dawn of a new era for Byerley Park trainers Peter and Dawn Williams, as they get set to enter into the next stage of life after announcing their retirement from racing.
Estijaab's Daughter Ejaabiyah Second at Newbury
After hacking up by six lengths at her only start at two, Ejaabiyah, a daughter of Frankel and the Golden Slipper winner Estijaab, fell two and a quarter lengths short of catching Godolphin's exciting Shamardal filly Diamond Rain in the Listed Haras De Bouquetot Fillies' Trial Stakes (10f) at Newbury on Saturday.
Stakes Filly for Golden Slipper Winner Estijaab
A $1.7million Inglis Easter purchase for Emirates Park, Snitzel filly Estijaab won the 2018 Golden Slipper for Emirates Park before embarking on a stud career in the Northern Hemisphere and her first born Frankel filly Ejaabiyah gained Black Type on Saturday in the UK when finishing a good second in the Listed Newbury Fillies Trial Stakes (1m2f)
Thoroughbreds are Go Returns to Sky on Monday Night
Caroline Searcy’s informative and entertaining thoroughbred re-homing television program Thoroughbreds Are Go (TAG) returns for Series 1 in 2024 this Monday night May 20.
One to Watch – Sunshine Coast
A $50,000 juvenile event over 1400m at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday drew a very competitive big field of 14 and the dominant winner was a son of Doncaster winner Brutal.
Impressive Winner for Wandjina
Third in a Listed race at Caulfield on debut at two, Wandjina colt Express Pass resumed from a spell at Bendigo on Friday and won like the good thing he was.