The Group I Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond are fast approaching and we’ve almost certainly seen the winner of both and there were three super interesting stakes-winners on Saturday all putting their hat in the ring, so let’s take a look at the pedigrees.
The Group III MRC Chairman’s Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield was a match race between spring stakes-winners Coleman and Eneeza, with the Pierata colt finishing on top, click to read about him here.
Coleman is the first winner and first stakes-winner for Pierro’s Group I winning sprinter Pierata, who had two additional Group placed stakes horses on Saturday in Fearless and Wave Breaker, plus another filly Tobeornottobe was placed in the Group III MRC Blue Diamond Preview the previous week. He started his stud career at Aquis before being switched to Yulong last spring and with four Black Type performers from his first 13 runners has certainly gotten off to a good start.
Coleman has a pedigree that screams Golden Slipper with his third dam Canny Lass a triple Group I winning sister to Golden Slipper winner Canny Lad with another Golden Slipper winner Sepoy also in this star studded family that has also produced Bivouac.
Pierata’s sire Pierro and Redoute’s Choice have always had a happy affinity so no surprise to see Coleman pop up and the 4 x 3 double Danehill is becoming increasingly common in stakes-winners.
The Group III ATC Canonbury Stakes (1100m) was won by Snitzel colt Prost at his second start and first run back from a spell beating Pierata colt Fearless, click to read about them.
Prost is the 141st stakes-winner for champion sire Snitzel and is a three-quarter brother-in-blood to Golden Slipper winner Shinzo, who is also by Snitzel from dual Group I winner Samaready, a half-sister to Samarmeteors.
He is the 12th stakes-winner as a broodmare sire for Northern Meteor, who has proven to be a hugely influential son of Encosta de Lago. He only ever sired four crops at Widden Stud before his premature death in 2013, but his 24 SW’s included two outstanding sires in Zoustar and Deep Field. His daughters are also making their mark producing Group I winner Communist and a couple of horses that look capable of winning at G1 level in Buenos Noches and Charm Stone.
Snitzel has had four winners from five starters out of Northern Meteor mares and interestingly Prost is the second juvenile stakes-winner bred this way this season joining Highness.
The Group III ATC Widden Stakes (1100m) was won by speed machine Lady of Camelot, who was burning turf at the trials and took it to race day, read about her here.
She is the 60th stakes-winner for champion sire Written Tycoon and the third Group winner from the first three foals to race from stakes-winning Fastnet Rock mare Miss Debutante joining Queen of the Ball (I Am Invincible) and Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar), so all three fillies by very different sires, albeit all speed sires. The first four dams in the direct tail female line are all stakes-winners, so that is also unusual and again highlights the exceptional consistency of this family.
Lady of Camelot is the 109th stakes-winner for Fastnet Rock as a broodmare sire and he has quite literally exploded in this department over the last 12 months.
Since the start of 2023, Fastnet Rock has sired the dams of 39 stakes-winners worldwide headed by Group I winners Warm Heart, Russian Emperor, Joliestar and Palaisipan with his SW’s including rising stars Storm Boy, Learning to Fly (on the comeback trail), Veight and Mumbai Muse. Fastnet Rock has been lurking in the Top 10 on the Australian Broodmare Sire List for the past few years, but is issuing a serious challenge this year and is in hot pursuit of the division leader Encosta de Lago.
Lady of Camelot is the fifth stakes-winner for Written Tycoon from a daughter of Fastnet Rock and the nick has had 28 runners from 33 runners so 84.8% winner to runner and 15% SW to runner.
