Great sales results are obviously a priority for any commercial stud but there is nothing quite as gratifying for a breeder than top race track results, to see the fruits of years of labour blossom, to cheer home a horse remembered as being a personality laden foal or a special yearling.
Great sales results are obviously a priority for any commercial stud but there is nothing quite as gratifying for a breeder than top race track results, to see the fruits of years of labour blossom, to cheer home a horse remembered as being a personality laden foal or a special yearling.
And what wins they were too, the Patrick Payne trained daughter of Rubick settling well back before unleashing her now trademark paralyising finish.
“She is an absolute sweetheart who gives you everything she’s got,” said jockey Bill Egan whilst Payne described the bay as “a very competitive little horse who has got a great attitude to go with her ability.”
The winner of six (and two seconds) from her first eight starts, Rubisaki is just one in-form galloper waving the Edinburgh flag of late, others in form including the Grand Prix Stakes-Gr.3, 2200m winner Fun Fact, the Canberra Guineas-Listed, 1400m winner Assimilate (last start Sha Tin winner), the Group Three placed three-year-old Eleven Eleven (three times a game placegetter behind Alligator Blood), the Group Three placed city winner Tamasa and the stakes placed juveniles Glenfiddich (VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes-Gr.2,1400m bound) and War Memorial (third in the Phelan Ready Stakes-Listed, 1110m at debut).
“Our horses are performing really well at the moment and there is more to come over the autumn,” Smith said, especially delighted with how Rubisaki is shaping.
“They are talking Group Ones for her and you have to be impressed by the way she put pay to them in that million dollar race.”
Owners and trainers know that an Edinburgh Park horse has been carefully and expertly raised and the bidding on their youngsters is always keen, as it is bound to be again at Easter 2020 with Smith excited about his small but select draft…
Lot 25 bay/brown colt by Divine Prophet from Lenience (by Oasis Dream) Smith is a big fan of the progeny of the Caulfield Guineas-Gr.1 1600m winner Divine Prophet, so impressed by those he bred that he sought to buy others, declaring this colt to be “the nicest I could find.”
Purchased at last year’s Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale, the member of his sire’s debut crop is the first foal for a Gilgai Farm imported daughter of the Ascot Princess Royal Stakes-Gr.3, 12f winner Acts Of Grace from the immediate family of the Group One winning influential stallion Invincible Spirit.
Boasting crosses of the outstanding mares Natalma, Flower Bowl, Lalun and Victoriana, he can also boast amongst this relations Italy’s Champion 2Y0 Nayarra and fellow stakes winners Sadian, Massarra, Gustav Klimt, Wonderfully, Blissful, Cuff and Kilimanjaro.
“He is a good looking colt with a lot of quality,” said Smith, “with a fantastic pedigree to boot.” “I liked him as a weanling,” he added, “and I love him as a yearling!”
Lot 46 bay filly by Teofilo from Lumina (by Redoute’s Choice) A half-sister to Godolphin’s Group Three and Listed winner Pohutukawa who caught the eye with brilliant finishes for close thirds in both the Gr.3 Triscay S 1200m and Gr.2 Guy Walter S 1400m at her most recent starts, she is a member of the final Australian crop of one of Galileo’s finest sons.
“Hopefully Pohutukawa can add more to the page in the lead up to the sale,” Smith said, describing that James Cummings trained four-year-old as “another quality horse from a quality family.”
A family which, he added “is very hard to get into… and they are not making any more Teofilos in Australia.” Out of a city placed winning Redoute’s Choice daughter of the wonderful broodmare Chiara (dam of 11 winners from 13 to race), this filly really catches the eye.
“She has a lot of presence and is a great walker.”
Chiara, daughter of the outstanding influence Last Tycoon, has made a great contribution to racing having produced the four times Group winner Chinchilla Rose, the Group Two winner Ferocity, the Listed winner Chiaramonte and the Group Three sprinter Leone Chiara, in turn dam of the dual Group One winning successful stallion Star Witness and the triple Group Three winner Nostradamus.
Lot 315 chestnut colt by Snitzel from Alice’s Smart (by Smart Strike) Of course the Snitzel breed are always popular at Easter and Smith has plenty of time for this colt out of one of his favourite mares.
“She just keeps producing lovely horses and this one is her nicest yet.”
A brother to the Group Three placed Flemington and Sandown winner Miss Wonderland and the Randwick winner Wonderbabe, and half-brother to the metropolitan winner Spencer, he is out an imported Keeneland winner whose dam is the stakes winner Darling Alice.
Darling Alice’s daughters are proving to be excellent broodmares, another of those being Edinburgh’s Smokin’ Alice, dam of the promising stakes placed Eleven Eleven and War Memorial.
“This is a family we have a lot of investment in and it is a family on the move,” Smith said, adding that this colt is “a cracker!”
And a cracking pedigree he has too, with six of Snitzel’s 13 Group One winners being out of mares carrying a Mr Prospector strain as does this colt whose family has its origins in the United States where it has produced the big race winners Dust Commander, Pompey, Aunt Jinny, Ambiopoise, Avowal and Tom Fool.
Lot 365 bay colt by Exceed And Excel from Caiguna (by Dubai Destination) By one of the country’s most prolific and popular stallions, this “jump and run colt” is out of a stakes winning daughter of Dubai Destination, the Queen Anne Stakes-Gr.1, 8f winner who has shaped as an outstanding broodmare sire, already well represented by 36 stakes winners.
The dam of three winners including the Group Two placed multiple city winner Serena Bay and the metropolitan winners Wimlah and One World (Singapore) – as well as the lightly raced and promising Meehni (two close-up placings at first two starts), Caiguna is a granddaughter of the durable stakes winner All Washed Up (11 wins and 18 placings from73 starts) from the family of stakes winners Straight No Ice, Aree Lad and Southern States.
Bred on the same Exceed And Excel/Dubai Destination cross as the multiple Group One winner Thunder Snow, this colt who boasts a cross of the terrific mare My Charmer (dam of Lomond and Seattle Slew) looks an early type according to Smith.
Lot 443 bay colt by So You Think from Fill The Page (by Dane Shadow) What a fabulous job his dual W.S Cox Plate-Gr.1, 2040m sire is doing at stud and it is well worth noting that three of his five Group One winners (Nakeeta Jane, D’Argento and Inference) are out of Danehill line mares as is this fellow whose dam is the Listed winner Fill The Page.
This is the third foal for that mare who has made a great start to her broodmare career, already producing the Group Three winner Fun Fact and the Group Three placed Tamasa (also by So You Think).
“Fill The Page continues to throw diamonds,” Smith said, “and this colt is the best she has produced so far, he is a cracking type with plenty of size, strength and quality.”
“He is just a lovely horse who demands attention and I am very excited to be presenting him at Easter, he will have a lot of admirers.”
This is a real running family with Fill The Page’s dam, the Canny Lad mare Dorothy Dinosaur, producing six named foals, all of whom are winners including the tough stakes placed Patch Adams and the city winners Holdontoyahorses and Schaduw who between them have won 21 races.
It looks like being another great Easter for Edinburgh! ©˙
