First Foals
The start of the Australian Racing season, August 1st, brings new life to the racecourse and also on the ground. Stud Farms around Australia are currently welcoming new-borns and potential champions into the world. Below, we look at some of the first progeny by this year’s first-season sires.
GRAFF
Undefeated as a two-year-old, Graff went on to win the San Domenico Stakes (Group 3) in his classic year and placed third behind The Autumn Sun two starts later in the Golden Rose (Group 1). His final win came in the Caulfield Sprint (Group 2) over 5f as a five-year-old. Graff retired to stud at the end of the 2021 racing season and stands at Kitchwin Hills for a fee of A$13,500. The Son of Star Witness is a brilliant option for breeders looking for an outcross which allows them to utilise Australia’s most prolific sire lines such as the Danehill line.
Pictured is the Kitchwin Hills bred filly out of the mare Cool Jes (One Cool Cat) and she has the ripping physical attributes of her sire.
KING’S LEGACY
King’s Legacy stands at Coolmore Australia and covered 212 mares in his first season at stud in 2021. He was titled Australia’s busiest first-season sire and there was great anticipation awaiting the arrival of his first foals. By Redoute’s Choice, King’s Legacy was a dual Group 1 winning three-year-old, taking the Moet & Chandon Champagne Stakes (one mile) and the Inglis Sires’ (seven furlongs) both at Randwick.
Bred by Belinda Bateman, this gorgeous bay filly is out of Artemis Rose and by King’s Legacy. Artemis Rose is by Lonhro and is a half-sister to stakes winner Regrowth and to the dam of Golden Slipper winner, Forensics, above is her fourth foal. The filly was bred by Belinda Bateman and King’s Legacy remains at a stud fee of $33,000 for 2022
FARNAN
Pictured is Kia Ora Stud’s first foal of the season, a quality bay colt out of US Group 3 winner Insta Ermer and by their stallion Farnan. He is a lovely size and seems to have plenty of strength. SF Bloodstock and Newgate Farm purchased Insta Ermer back in 2018 from the Keeneland November Breeding stock sale for $425,000 and Ciaron Maher and Australian Bloodstock purchased her yearling filly from Melbourne sales this year for A$150,000.
WOOTTON BASSETT
Wootton Bassett is already a prolific stallion in Europe, with his most notable progeny being the triple Group 1 winning stallion Almanzor. In his juvenile year, Wootton Bassett was unbeaten and took the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere to earn himself the title of French Champion two-year-old. Yearling progeny of his has already sold for up to €750,000 in Europe 2022 and his preciousness/ high success rate with Danzig mares makes him destined for success in the Australian Breeding scene. Standing at Coolmore Australia for nearly a third of his European price, his first foals in the Southern Hemisphere have finally arrived.
Bhima Thoroughbreds welcomed a strong and athletic filly foal by Wootton Bassett, out of Galileo mare Patsy Boyne. The filly’s half-brother, by Kingman, was sold by Bhima Thoroughbreds at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling sale to the Freedman brothers for A$525,000.
YULONG PRINCE
Yulong Prince has joined the Glen Eden Stud Stallion roster for 2022, his second season at Stud. The stallion covered 80 mares in his first season at Yulong Stud and his biggest track successes include winning the Heineken Chelmsford Stakes (Group 2) at Randwick and beating a field of 15 in the Kennedy Cantala (Group 1) at Flemington. Mt Hallowell Stud recently welcomed a beautiful filly foal out of Corrs and by Yulong Prince.
Yulong Prince’s 2022 stud fee is $7,700.
With the Spring Carnival starting to heat up, we turn our attention to one of Sydney’s biggest racing attractions: The Everest. One of the many roads to the Everest kicking off this weekend in the Concorde Stakes. The Concorde Stakesis a Group 3 sprint that will run at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday. Raced over the sprint distance of 1000 metres, the Concorde Stakes tests the abilities of some of the more talented horses on the Sydney circuit.
The first running of the race took place in 1990, but prior to 1996 the race was listed graded, then upgraded to a Group 3 in 1997. Between 1990 and 2012 it was run at Warwick Farm, then Rosehill however Randwick has been its home since 2013. It’s produced winners like Red Oog, Reward For Effort, Decision Time, and Shiraz.
Open to horses of both sexes aged three years and older, the Concorde Stakes is run under set weights with penalties. Saturday is Chelmsford Stakes Day and the Concorde Stakes shares the race card with three other Group races: the Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), Furious Stakes (1200m) and the Tramway Stakes (1400m).
The Concorde Stakes is now also a gun lead-up to the world’s richest turf race – the $15 million The Everest (1200m) in October. Redzel made history when being the first horse to win it three years running in 2017, 2018 and 2019 ahead of his two historical wins in The Everest in 2017 & 2018.
The 2020 Concorde Stakes winner Gytrash backed-up to run third in that year’s Everest, before winning Rosehill’s $1 million Winners Stakes. In 2021 the Concorde Stakes was won by Nature Strip at his third attempt. Nature Strip continued on to become the latest horse to complete the Concorde Stakes – The Everest double that spring.
Nature Strip further franked the form by winning that year’s Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic at Flemington and returning the following autumn to win his third TJ Smith Stakes in 2022 ahead of a Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes win by 4.5 lengths at Royal Ascot in the UK.
The acceptances for this year’s Concorde Stakes feature Eduardo, Masked Crusader, and Shelby Sixtysix. Acceptors Masked Crusader and Eduardo have already secured their slot holders positions in this year’s $15 Million Everest, with additional spot contenders looking to declare their viability after Saturday’s feature. Interestingly the Godolphin-trained Andermatt is currently the second favourite in the betting after his impressive trial last week, watch the replay here.
