The $2million Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Randwick this Saturday is for 2YO's that have come via the Inglis Sales and naturally the big stables have deployed some of their best juvenile firepower in pursuit of this big pot of cash.
It's not easy to win and some pretty good horses have kicked off to better things with a win in the Millennium - read more here about Castelvecchio and company.
The Waller empire unleashes the Snitzel colt Fireball (favourite at time of writing) and the Wootton Bassett sired Defensemen, both colts high profile yearling buys from the Yarraman Inglis Easter draft - Defensemen was a $1.4 million pickup for Tom Magnier and there is some high class juvenile form on his page, though it suggests more of Sires / Champagne pedigree to me.
Fireball cost James Harron Bloodstock / Tony Fung $460,000, and the two colts are the most expensive horses in the Inglis Millenium field of 2026.
Waterhouse / Bott have only one runner but he's the highly promising Plagiarism (Written By) and is challenging Fireball at the top of the market.
Ciaron Maher is launching three contenders plus an emergency.
Street Boss filly Calamari Ring has drawn the car park but despite that has plenty of fans at 8/1 and is the best fancied of the Maher runners. Beware the Street Boss two year old! punters reckon -,with good reason.
The stable also saddles up Ghana's Akhan - another Street Boss, another poor draw and she was unplaced in the Blue Diamond Preview, but made some late ground. There's also Long Throw, a bit of a smokey here being by the lightning fast Japanese bred stallion Brave Smash, who is getting his share of quality juvenile performers.
Second emergency is the Maher trained Ciaron's Star - now the trainer must love this filly. He paid $650,000 to secure the Widden-bred daughter of I Am Invincible in partnership with Sneesby Racing, then whacks his own name on her. Why her, out of all the pricey fillies he has bought? Well she is bred to be a star - her dam's a full sister to G1 heroine Espiona (purchased for $4.15 million by Yulong on retirement) and she is closely related to G1 winning mares Steps In Time and Glamour Puss, plus a host of stakeswinners from one of Waikato Stud's best families.
As second emergency she can't go in my top four but if she does get a start - I'm very wary!
A burning question is where are Team Hayes running their promising Home Affairs filly Jacaranda. At time of writing the dual acceptor is favourite for the BD Fillies Prelude at Caulfield and a 9/1 hope for this, I'm going to guess Caulfield.
From that meeting down south comes the impressive BD Prelude winner Alibaba (Alabama Express) for veteran trainer Ken Keys and daughter Kasey, looking to upset the big guys.
Les Bridge fits the blinkers to his King's Legacy colt Audit who will go around at big odds on his home track.
As will Oh Yes She Did (Yes Yes Yes), trained out of Kembla by Mitch and Desiree Kearney and unplaced in two starts, but not without genuine excuses at her most recent after a good debut in the Gimcrack.
Chris and Corey Munce always seem to have a good two year old going around and they've brought Star Of Jamaica down from QLD to tackle the race his sire Profiteer bolted in by five lengths. From Port Macquarie, trainer Ms S Granham brings Royal Exile (King's Legacy) to the big dance.
Wily Randwick conditioner John Thompson saddles up the Gimcrack runner up Screen Icon (Nicconi) and one of the most interesting runners is the Kiwi wildcard Lassified. The daughter of Slipper winner Stay Inside is a last start G2? winner in her homeland and she must be a real little professional if trainer Andrew Forsman has brought her over for this.
What a cracking field we will see in action - is a serious Slipper / Sires / Champagne hope about to be revealed? The Blue Diamond winner perhaps?
Top Pick: ALIBABA
A fascinating variation on the successful practice of inbreeding and linebreeding the Best In Show family is what powers Alibaba's equine engine!
The original Ali Baba was of course the famous character of Middle Eastern folklore. He was a poor and lowly woodcutter, who one day overheard the magic command “Open Sesame!” and later used it to enter a cave in the forest which was filled with gold, stashed there by dastardly thieves.
Well - as in all the best fairytales- the old karma bus was about to run those bad guys over.
Ali Baba lived like a prince on that re-liberated gold for the rest of his life, and connections of the Victorian “raider” who bears his name will be hoping to come away from this race with some serious coin of their own!
If only it was as simple as shouting a magic password. Nope, the Inglis gold will have to be earned.
Alibaba has shown well above average ability in his two starts and brings another formline to this equation.
Most Blue Diamond lead up winners contest the Melbourne G1 before they come to Sydney - if they come at all.
The great Extreme Choice did it the other way round, kicking off with a win in the Inglis Nursery in Sydney, then heading down south to take the Chairmans / Blue Diamond double before infamously blowing his chances in Capitalist's Golden Slipper.
The two colts that finished ahead of Alibaba on debut in the Merson Cooper Stakes (Eternal Warrior and Stretan Ruler) will have their mettle tested in the BD Prelude on Saturday against the raging favourite Guest House.
That race runs well before the Sydney feature so Baba-backers will be watching with interest to see how they measure up!
The imposing son of Alabama Express doesn't hold a nomination for either Diamond or Slipper, but as his trainer Ken Keys has explained, it's not because of doubt about Alibaba's ability to mix it with top company.
“People say, why isn’t he in the Diamond, or the Slipper? Well, we made a decision (when) we paid up for the Inglis race with the theory being if he could go well enough in that, then you could pay for anything else you want,” said Ken, who now trains in partnership with daughter Kasey.
“When you’ve got to make a decision back in June on Diamonds and Slippers… there is a point where you haven’t sold a horse, at that stage, and you’ve got to be mindful of whether you’re spending it.”
Makes sense when you’re a small stable. The Keys are fine trainers and have had much success turning inexpensive yearlings into stakeswinners. .
The stable has had a number of handy two year olds over the years but never a topliner. Could Alibaba change that?
There is definitely something about this striking colt that makes you look twice. He possesses the combination of athleticism, presence and attitude and the overall air of quality that good horses have.
Bred by Yulong, Alibaba was a modest $115,000 Inglis Classic purchase for his trainers.
His dam is the winning Written Tycoon daughter Rowsthorn. A stunning type bred by Woodside Park, she was a $220,000 Inglis Premier purchase for Yulong in 2018.
Yulong will offer a yearling colt out of Rowsthorn by Lucky Vega (Lope De Vega) at Inglis Easter as Lot 52. The mare produced another colt by Lucky Vega last spring, and was then covered again by Alabama Express.
Rowsthorn’s dam was the winning Good Journey (Nureyev) daughter Balmodena, a three quarter sister to Written Tycoon's very good colt Masthead (twice G2 placed, third in the Blue Diamond and fourth in the Golden Slipper) and his sister Written Dash who won the G3 Typhoon Tracy Stakes and became a multiple blacktype producer.
Alibaba is bred
Redoute's Choice 2m x 4f sex balanced
Northern Dancer 5m,5m x 5m
But he is a horse with quite the hothouse pedigree! And it's all about the immortal Blue Hen Best In Show and her dam Stolen Hour.
Best In Show's half sister Stolen Date is the ancestress of Alibaba's sire Alabama Express, and the line comes through Seasonal Pickup, a daughter of Nijinsky's three quarter brother The Minstrel.
The grand dam of Alabama Express Rekindled Applause is a granddaughter of Waajib by Try My Best, son of Best In Show's daughter Sex Appeal by Buckpasser.
How awesome a nick is this for Redoute's Choice with his Nijinsky x Alibhai (family of Waajib) x Best In Show damline, indeed the cross has given us the 3 x G1 winning sprinter and cult hero Giga Kick, almost $15 million in the bank and still going strong!
Then we have Written Tycoon - Try My Best In beast mode through his breedshaping son Last Tycoon, - and Good Journey - his grandam Minnie Hauk by Sir Ivor is a full sister to Redoute's third dam Show Lady, plus his damsire Private Account brings in a lot more La Troienne ( Buckpasser etc)
Written Tycoon has already featured as broodmare sire of two Classic fillies, Vibrant Sun (G1 Australian Oaks) and Machine Gun Gracie (WA Oaks / Derby heroine), the former by Redoute's champion colt The Autumn Sun the latter by Encosta de Lago's son Maschino out of a Redoute's Choice mare - Alabama Express is bred on the reverse of that cross.
We can look to Rosemount Stud's exciting young sire Schwarz for indication as to how these intense duplications can work with this amazing family. The incredibly fast G1 winning son of Zoustar (Encosta tail male) is, like Alibaba, bred sex balanced to Redoute's Choice (4f x 4m in his case) and his fifth dam is Redoute's mum Shantha's Choice.
Alibaba's ancestress Sherry Label was bred to Blue Hen Friar's Daughter 5mx 5m x 4m via her son Dastur by Solario (sex balanced ) and his half brother Bahram.
Written Tycoon's ancestress Viveza was bred x 2 to Solario and carries Bahram as the broodmare sire of the great Precipitation.
Lunchtime, Canny Lad's damsire replicates this pattern and importantly Royal Applause carried by Alabama Express strongly reinforces it.
Alibaba is linebred to Blue Hens Special sex balanced through Fairy King and Nureyev, and Black Ray via Khaled and his relations Blushing Groom and Mill Reef.
He carries duplications of both Nijinsky and The Minstrel, and of My Babu sex balanced - including two lines to his prepotent son Milesian.
Can the handsome Alibaba and Froggy Newitt skip town with the Inglis cash? They will launch from barrier 14.
Next best: FIREBALL
A lovely strong son of Snitzel, Fireball was a $460,000 Inglis Easter purchase for James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership / Tony Fung Colts from the Yarraman Park draft.
The Waller trained colt is a winner of his only start. Chris Waller would walk over hot coals before he'd push a two year old out of its comfort zone - when the stable does tackle a big juvenile race it's with something very forward and professional.
Fireball is the second foal and first to race from the Charge Forward mare Advance Party (winner at two) and is thus bred on the same cross as Golden Slipper winner Estijaab and her stakes winning full brother Remarque.
Advance Party's Dundeel filly will be offered by Yarraman Park as Lot 614 at Inglis Classic. She has a 2025 filly by Maurice and was covered by In The Congo.
Charge Forward is also the damsire of last season's G1 Winterbottom Stakes hero Libertad (by Snitzel son Russian Revolution), who was a G3 winner from only two starts as a juvenile, and of Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign and the champion filly Sunlight.
Fireball's second dam is the unraced Redoutes daughter Luanne, dam of three to race all winners. She is a half sister to the 2YO stakes winning filly I Have No Fear (Rock Of Gibraltar), the best winner from five of them produced by the Widden / Sweet Embrace / Magic Night heroine Countess Christie (Marscay)
Fireball's USA - bred fourth dam was the very good juvenile, Brilliantdeduction (Capote) and her dam My Dear Plum won four at two and had eleven foals, all winners.
This running family is also that of the fine racemare Girl Hussler who is the dam of G1 CF Orr Stakes winning sprinter Manuel and HK G1 placed Sun Patch / Computer Patch. They descend through a Snippets mare from the stakes winning juvenile Clever Zoe who placed in a G1 Lightning Stakes.
Fireball is bred
Redoute's Choice 2m x 3f sex balanced
Bletchingly 5m x 4f sex balanced
Northern Dancer 5m,5m x
Biscay x 5m,5m
Again with the Redoute's inbreeding - isn't it great to see the Arrowfield legend wielding his immense genetic power all over again in this capacity.
A great feature of Fireball's pedigree is his linebreeding to the great speedsire In Reality.
Snitzel x Charge Forward sex balances In Reality - and just for good measure Fireball's fifth dam My Dear Plum was sired by Royal Intent - a son of In Reality's sire Intentionally.
Fireball and J Mac will be bringing the heat and they have drawn ideally in gate 3.
Roughie: WHERE'S THE CIRCUS
These are the stories that make racing great! This Widden-raised filly was a $1250 Inglis Digital buy as a yearling for Michelle Ritchie, partner of trainer Paul Murray.
Yep, bred by the Vieira Group and foaled and raised at one of the country's greatest nurseries, she’s by a G1 winner and sire in Trapeze Artist out of a black type producing Fastnet Rock mare of excellent family - who had seven winners from eight to race.
And she cost $1,250. It's crazy stuff.
At her very first race start Where's The Circus paid for herself more than one hundred and eighty four times over!
As a 50/1 outsider, the filly merrily skipped away from the favourite Internal Affairs (Home Affairs - a $440,000 buy if you don't mind) in December last year to win the Inglis Nursery RL at this track.
The first two winners of the Inglis Nursery were legit champs being Extreme Choice and She Will Reign,
They were followed by Irish Bet (exported HK) Accession (earned a tick under $1m in 19 starts), Wild Ruler (G1 winner, at stud) Acrobat (won it at his only start, now at stud) Pacific Padrino (exp Singapore) Saltaire (won over $500k), Odinson (exp HK) and in 2025 the Inglis Millennium runner up Within The Law whose further exploits are noted above.
That's quite a roll call, and now Where's The Circus is on it - thus adding considerable $$ to her commercial breeding value as well as her bank account, all at start one!
What scenes of madness will be witnessed if the over achieving youngster should win on Saturday,? and wouldn't you love to see it.
Well I reckon she's got a decent chance, and her paltry price tag in no way reflects the quality of the bloodlines behind her.
Ritchie had some inside knowledge on this filly as she and Paul purchased and raced her half sister Can’t Find Snippy, paying $14,000 for her as a yearling at Inglis Classic back in 2015 and she won over $180,000. She placed in this very race at two, and is also the dam of Listed placed filly Elusive Capital.
They also raced another of Misplaced's winners in Where’s Snippy, who won four races and cost just $600 as a weanling!
Where’s the Circus is the seventh winner from eight foals to race from Misplaced, a placed Fastnet Rock mare from an old Contract Racing family that has produced precocious Group winners Red Colossus, Nediym’s Glow, General Beau and Kinglike.
Her dam was the placed Zeditave mare Star's Delight, a half sister or very close relation to all the above, and to Snitzel's G1 ATC Sires,Produce runner up Scratch Me Lucky.
Misplaced died at the start of this year and her last foal is a yearling colt by Trapeze Artist that will be offered at Inglis Classic in the Widden draft as Lot 190. It will cost a bit more than $1250 to take him home!
The third dam of Where's The Circus was the stakes placed Palace Music daughter Palace Glow, a grand daughter of Star Kingdom's G1 Telegraph Hcp winning daughter Starlit, who descended from Folly, a full sister to the great sire Absurd from the family of the immortal La Troienne.
Starlit's daughter Star Lot was a multiple stakes producer, and her NZ Oaks winning daughter Starline was a full sister to Palace Glow's dam Starlit Queen.
Another Starlit daughter Sky produced the dual G1 Guineas winner Beechcraft and became third dam of Caulfield Guineas winner and G1 sire Econsul.
Where's The Circus is bred
Danehill 4m x 3m
She is linebred (sex balanced) to Bletchingly, Turn-To and Nijinsky ( and carries his three quarter brother The Minstrel)
She represents the stable which trained the legendary 2YO Victory Vein.
Where's The Circus and Jay Ford have drawn to get a lovely run from barrier 2.
Blowout: OH YES SHE DID
This typey, athletic daughter of Yes Yes Yes debuted with an excellent fourth in the Gimcrack to Shiki before enduring a very tough run last start when she raced four wide without cover for the duration.
Oh Yes She Did was a $240,000 Classic buy for trainers Mitch and Desiree / D Springfield from the draft of Tyreel Stud. She was the highest priced yearling by her sire in 2025.
It's interesting that her stakes placed full sister Maili didn't break her maiden until her fourth start as a juvenile - and having won that, she progressed to a good third in the Listed Tattersall's Stakes in Brisbane. That was the last time she won a race.
Possibly 1100m is too short for this filly, but possibly she can come home with a wet sail if there's good pace on!
Yes Yes Yes earned fame when he won the Everest at three, setting a track record, but he was an excellent two year old as well and set another track record when he won the Todman Stakes!
The son of Rubick has sired some very fast juvenile fillies including Yes Queen ( runner up in the Supremacy / Gimcrack and winner of the MM Crystal Slipper in Perth), Flattered ( three times stakes placed from seven 2YO starts in which she missed the top four just once) Yes Lulu ( twice stakes placed) Nymphadora and Let's Go Barbie.
So they’re tough little lasses.
Oh Yes She Did is also a half sister to stakes-winner Kalino (Pierro) and is the fifth foal from the good and fast I Am Invincible mare Lanikai.
This family descends from Ride The Rapids by the great NZ bred sprinter River Rough, a 5 time G1 winner in Melbourne, and goes back to the GB Chesterton Stakes winner Carpet Slipper dam of the champion racer and influential sire Windsor Slipper and a close relation of Rough Shod from whom descend Sadlers Wells, Fairy King, Nureyev etc etc.
Oh Yes She Did is bred
Danehill 5m x 4m
Canny Lad 5f x 4f
Bletchingly 6m x5m,5f sex balanced
Danzig 6m x 5m,5m
Blue Hen Rolls 5f x 4m sex balanced
She is linebred to the full brothers Todman and Noholme, to the three amigos Danzig, Bletchingly and Rockefella and their female relative Rafha,also to Nijinsky, Raise A Native, Sir Ivor, and Blue Hens Natalma / Cosmah.
There are a host of yearlings from this successful and prolific family catalogued for upcoming Inglis Sales - they are : Inglis Easter Lot 119 by Capitalist, Inglis Classic Lots 368 (Brave Smash), 413 (Ole Kirk), 469 (Hitotsu) and 625 (Zousain) while Inglis Premier will offer Lots 298 ( Blue Point), 303 (Blue Point) and 474 (Capitalist).
Their breeders will be hoping to see Oh Yes She Did and Reece Jones arriving on the scene late from barrier 13 to cause a major upset!
