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Moment
of Change might be the current star for Cornerstone Stud based sire Barely a
Moment, but he may have another bright prospect on the rise and he came out of
the same draft at the same sale as the Group I winner.
The Mark Kavanagh trained four year-old Khalifa made it two wins in as many
starts when resuming from a long spell to win a Ratings 68 event at Bendigo on
Thursday.
The talented son of Barely a Moment scored by a length and a quarter in a tick
over 57 seconds for the 1000 metre dash.
A $57,000 purchase for BC3 Thoroughbreds from the Sovereign Thoroughbreds draft
at the 2010 Perth Magic Millions, Khalifa is one of three winners from the
Regal Classic (USA) mare Ask No Questions, who comes from the family of dual
Group I winner Chanteclair.
Barely a Moment has been in the news this week following the success of Moment
of Change inb the Group I MRC Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes last Sunday.
Racegoers at Murtoa on August 27 last year thought they might have seen
something special when Peter Moody unleashed an unraced three year-old by
Barely a Moment that proceeded to bolt in by ten lengths.
Partnered by Linda Meech, Moment of Change was in a virtual race of his own
that day, jumping straight to the lead and cruising clear to win with the
proverbial 'leg in the air' as a red hot favourite.
The raw talent he showed on debut, has since been polished and tempered by his
trainer into stakes potential and at Caulfield on Sunday, Moment of Change(pictured Racepix Vic) joined all the dots for his first Group I win in the MRC Sir Rupert Clarke
Stakes.
Run over 1400 metres, the race attracted a big field of seasoned Group I
campaigners and from barrier 15, Moment of Change appeared to face a big task
to win, but under a confident ride from Luke Nolen he rose to the challenge.
Moment of Change crossed smoothly from his wide gate to be second in running
and then powered clear to win by a length and a half, his overall record now
five wins and three placings from nine starts with prizemoney in excess of
$419,000.
He carried the colours worn to so many Group I victories by former champion
filly Alinghi, those of Victorian syndicator Rob Slade of Slade Bloodstock.
Moment of Change (pictured as a yearling) was purchased for $50,000 by Slade Bloodstock from the draft
of Sovereign Thoroughbreds at the 2010 Magic Millions Yearling Sale in Perth
and is from the second crop of foals by triple Group I winner Barely a Moment.
By Gilded Time (USA) from a daughter of champion sire Danehill (USA), Barely a
Moment was a high class sprinter miler, whose feature wins included the Sir
Rupert Clarke Stakes, which he won in 2005 when it was run as the Dubai Racing
Club Cup.
Retired to Lindsay Park Stud in 2006, Barely a Moment was well supported by
South Australian breeders in his first four seasons and to date has left 64
winners led by Moment of Change and Group II MRC Sandown Guineas winner So
Swift as well as four other stakes horses.
He remains at Lindsay Park, which has now been rebranded as Cornerstone Stud
and is standing this spring at the affordable fee of $4,950.
"I can't tell you how excited everyone was at the stud on Sunday," said Ross
Hatton of Cornerstone Stud.
"We were all quite confident coming into the race, it was one of those things
where you just had the feeling he could win.
"For a sire like Barely a Moment to get his first Group I winner is a huge
achievement and it comes at a great time for him being at the height of the
breeding season."
Irish born Hatton only took up his position of Client Relations and Nominations
Manager at Cornerstone Stud at Easter this year and has quickly become an
admirer of Barely a Moment(pictured).
"I'd never heard of him until I took this job and now I'm his biggest fan,"
Hatton said.
"He gets lovely big strong horses and if you give them that bit of time and
patience, he gets the results and is really great value at the fee."
One of the mares covered by Barely a Moment last year was Moment of Change's
dam Europium, a half-sister by Metal Storm (Fr) to Perth stakes-winner Mr
Diagnosis.
Cornerstone Stud have followed the career of Moment of Change quite closely and
last week were able to purchase his mother Europium from her WA based owner
Tracey Knotts of Sovereign Thoroughbreds in a package deal that also included
her yearling filly by champion West Australian sire Blackfriars and the full
sister to Moment of Change born on September 2.
"We'd been on the lookout for a nice mare for a while and have a few investors
that are going into this package with us," Hatton explained.
"Europium is still in Western Australia, but will be coming across to us this
week and will be covered by top class sire Hussonet, who joined the Cornerstone
roster last spring.
"The yearling filly will be heading to a sale next year, but we are yet to
decide on exactly which one."
The addition of Europium to the South Australian broodmare ranks will be a
positive for the state's once powerful breeding industry, which has declined in
recent times with just 4% of the 2011 thoroughbred foal crop bred in South
Australia according to the Australian Studbook.
"It's tough down here with only a limited number of mares available, which is
getting smaller all the time," Hatton revealed.
"Despite the decline, South Australian bred horses have a tremendous record and
there are plenty of good ones flying the flag at the moment such as Southern
Speed and Happy Trails."
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