Best On Breeding

Mark Smith - Thursday October 8

There will be another sixteen stakes in Australia on Saturday with Group 1 action at Randwick in the Spring Champion Stakes while at Caulfield a magnificent card is highlighted by the Caulfield Guineas, Caulfield Stakes, Thousand Guineas and Toorak Hcp.

Caulfield also hosts the lone stakes race for the new season two-year-olds with 15 newcomers set to kick-start their careers in the Listed Debutant Stakes (1000m).

First season sires had a field day last week with Frosted (USA) and Shalaa (IRE) getting off the mark with stakes-winners while Flying Artie’s first starter Princess Bojack won at Eagle Farm defeating Stellar Magic a daughter of Star Turn who also sired  Astrologer who was a meritorious third in the Group III Breeders’ Plate.

First season sires are well represented in the Debutant Stakes with Flying Artie the sire of Almighty Rising; Capitalist will be looking to get off the mark with the highest-priced yearling in the race,  China Horse Club/Newgate Bloodstock and Starlight Racing’s $550,000 colt Captivant; Mick Price has two in the race by his Blue Diamond winner Extreme Choice, Extreme Warrior and Red Rocketship; Maurice (JPN) has the $260,000 colt Tatsuro, Tivaci has the least expensive runner in the $25,000 colt Wolf Prince; and Shalaa (IRE) backs up again with the filly Shalam.

We will throw a dart at the board and go with Ciaron Maher and David Eustace to team up once again with Hannah Mathiesen to keep the two-year-old stakes-winning train rolling with the I Am Invincible filly Fake Love.  

The third highest price weanling at MM in 2019 Fake Love failed to make her $450,000 reserve as a yearling

Last year that combination teamed up with the Magic Millions heroine Away Game.

Bred by Segenhoe Thoroughbreds and Lakeview Resources, Fake Love was consigned by Segenhoe to the 2019 National Weanling Sale where she made $380,000 to the bid of Oakmont. That made her the third most expensive weanling at the sale.

Back in the same ring a year later, Fake Love failed to make her $450.000 reserve when consigned by Valiant Stud to the 2020 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

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I Am Invincible will be looking to get off the mark with his first two-year-old winner of the season on Saturday.

She is the third foal of the well-performed Fastnet Rock mare Anatina who was herself a $460,000 Magic Millions Yearling.

Daughters of Fastnet Rock have been producing stakes-winners around the world of late and should either Gytrash or Santa Ana Lane win next week’s $15 million The Everest he will set up a lead as the champion Broodmare Sire that will take some running down.

The son of Danehill has in recent months had daughters who have produced the Group II Turffontein Spring Challenge Stakes winner Mount Pleasant (Vancouver); Listed CJC Canterbury Belle Stakes winner Matchmaker (Makfi) and the runner-up Laced With Gold (Showcasing); Group II  Curragh Beresford Stakes winner High Definition (Galileo); Group II  ATC Shannon Stakes winner I Am Superman (Footstepsinthesand); Group III Newcastle Cameron Hcp winner Rock (Pierro); Group III  Waikato Northland Breeders' Stakes winner Need I Say More (No Nay Never) and runner-up  De la Terre (Reliable Man); and Group III Niigata Nisai Stakes winner Shock Action (Gleneagles).

Fastnet Rock's daughters have had winner in Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan in the last few weeks

The winner of four and runner-up in four of her 13 starts, Anatina won the Listed VRC Cap D'Antibes Stakes and MSS Security Stakes however her career highlight came when splitting Tiger Tees and Villa Verde in the 3024 Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) at Randwick.

She is a half-sister to the Listed winner Pickles (Thorn Park) and the stakes-placegetters Acupuncture (Pins) and Fluffy Duck (Tale Of The Cat) and to the dam of the Group II Villiers stakes winner Quackerjack (Not A Single Doubt).

Anatina’s dam Quack (Magic Ring) is a daughter of the hugely popular Mother Duck a slick daughter of Luskin Star who won the Group III Gimcrack Stakes and a trio of Listed races in addition to placing in the Group II Magic Night Stakes and Group III Sweet Embrace Stakes.

The I Am Invincible cross over Fastnet Rock mares is striking at a reasonable 10 winners from 15 starters but is yet to register a stakes success. Hopefully, that will change in the Debutant on Saturday but either way, it looks a fascinating contest on a great days racing.

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