Vinery Stud’s young stallion Ole Kirk is off to a flyer and now has two winners and both are stakes-winners with ill-fated Group III ATC Breeders Plate winner King Kirk now joined by quality filly O’ Ole, who booked her ticket to the Gold Coast in January when leading home a fillies trifecta in the $200,000 Magic Millions Wyong 2YO Classic (1100m).
Trained by Bjorn Baker and ridden by Jason Collett, O’ Ole was second in the Group III ATC Gimcrack Stakes and then fifth in the $1million ATC Golden Gift to North England, before bouncing back for this assignment.
More settled in the yard this time, O’ Ole used her tactical speed to race on the pace and then kicked away before holding off the challenge of Gimcrack Stakes third placed Memo (Capitalist) and promising first starter Horseshoe Hill (All Too Hard) to win by half length.
“She took plenty of improvement out of that last run and didn’t really turn up on the day, but she paraded much better today and she was tough having to do it sitting outside the lead and she fought on well, so it was a really good win,” said stable representative Luke Hilton.
“She’s a lovely filly and deserves her spot in the Millions now.”
Hilton was also full of praise for the stable’s other runner Horseshoe Hill, who ran on strongly for third on debut and is by All Too Hard, the sire of their star performing mare Steffi Magnetica.
“She’s gone enormous and is a lovely filly,” he said.
“She’s really six to 12 months away, so for her to sit off them like that and hit the line like she did, she has a future as well.”
O’ Ole was a $325,000 Magic Millions purchase for Bjorn Baker Racing/Clarke Bloodstock Pty Ltd from the draft of Gilgai Farm, who also bred and sold her sire Ole Kirk. She runs for a big group of stable clients and has already banked nearly $180,000 in prizemoney.
O’Ole was bred by Gilgai Farm and is the first stakes-winner among three winners from Sepoy mare Vellor, a winning half-sister to Group II winner Altar from Group II winner Hosannah.
A Godolphin bred mare that was purchased from one of their reductions at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale by Dermont Farrington for Gilgai Farm for $375,000, Vellor has a yearling filly by Ole Kirk and appears to be back in foal to him after having a year off in between.
Ole Kirk now has two stakes-winners to his credit and has solid representation at upcoming sales.
