The adage of a picture painting a thousand words certainly applies when looking at the accompanying photo of Glenfiddich in splendid isolation at Moonee Valley in the Gr.2 Bill Stutt Stakes. With the finish line approaching, the handsome son of Fastnet Rock has just “towelled up” a field brimming with Stakes winners by an untroubled two lengths. He is a class above and he is comfortably proving it. The image also speaks volumes for Ian Smith’s Edinburgh Park Stud, the colt carrying the IKS brand, the farm colours and having been part of the Stud’s Magic Millions Gold Coast draft in 2019.
The as yet unfinished tale of Glenfiddich is just one thread of what has been an extraordinarily successful 2020 on all fronts for the Wingham based Stud. At this sale in January Edinburgh Park sold its first seven figure yearling when Gerald Ryan and David Raphael paid the even million for an Exceed And Excel colt out of Smokin’ Alice. The following day that colt’s Fastnet Rock three-quarter brother Eleven Eleven won the rich Magic Millions 3YO Guineas. A few months on and a brave Glenfiddich would be beaten a nose in the Gr.1 Champagne Stakes before a third in the weight-for-age Gr.1 Memsie Stakes, and Rubisaki, a Rubick filly and $85,000 purchase from Edinburgh Park, ran up a sequence of six consecutive wins up to Gr.2 level, recouping her buyers 13.5 times her purchase price to date.
Glenfiddich, Eleven Eleven, Rubisaki and past champion Silent Witness, all carry the IKS brand and all were offered for sale by Edinburgh Park.
The next phase of the cycle of success begins back on the Gold Coast this January. Asked about what potential buyers can expect to find when inspecting the Stud’s draft in barns I & J, Ian said “The 2021 draft is typical of what Edinburgh Park produces year on year – precocious two-year-old types that perfectly suit the Magic Millions market. Any one of the twenty horses in the Edinburgh Park draft could be a future star. Undoubtedly, on strength, this is the best draft we have presented at Magic Millions and, in my opinion, they are an exceptional group of colts and fillies, a well-balanced draft. If I want to go to a happy place I just walk through the colt’s barn on the farm and I can’t find anything I’d want to change.”
Looking at the sires represented amongst their offerings, buyers have been spoilt for choice with stock by a broad cross-section of the best stallions in the country. There are yearlings by Champion Sires like Exceed And Excel, I Am Invincible, Not A Single Doubt, Written Tycoon and Zoustar, and proven stallions like Spirit of Boom, Deep Field and So You Think, along with first season sires like Merchant Navy, Invader and Hellbent. The choice on offer
is certainly diverse.
Similarly, there are a broad range of female lines to choose from although there is one family that recurs, one that continues to serve the farm admirably. “Some years ago, I bought Gainesville, an American bred mare by Afleet,” Ian said. “From her we bred Rose Of Cimmaron (Bite The Bullet) who produced Bull Point (Fastnet Rock) who topped the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale in 2012. Since then almost every sale we have sold at there has been at least one lot from the family in the draft. Last year’s $1 million colt is a good example having Darling Alice, Gainesville’s half-sister, as his grandam.”
Buyers will get another opportunity to tap into the same cross when Lot 677, a son of Exceed And Excel, enters the ring. He is the first foal of his multiple Stakes placed Kitten’s Joy mare Quiet Kitten that hails from that same successful Gainesville family. “He’s an exceptional first foal, comes with an early foaling date and ticks all the boxes for a typical Magic Millions type. He is bound to have plenty of admirers.”
Everyone loves an I Am Invincible colt and his son to be offered as Lot 128 is out of a proven producing mare in Caiguna, a daughter of a world class broodmare sire in Dubai Destination. A Listed winner and Gr.2 placed
in Perth, Caiguna is the dam of Serena Bay whose first foal, a Not A Single Doubt colt, is also part of the Edinburgh Park draft as Lot 768. Serena Bay was an extremely fast Sebring filly, a winner of three of her six career starts and Gr.2 placed at Randwick at two. Another typical Magic Millions type, the colt is by the sire of the 2020 Golden Slipper winner.
Written Tycoon is the gun stallion in Australia at the moment and his son that sells as Lot 420, looks a jump and run type. Out of the Listed winner Jester’s Girl, a daughter of the exceptional broodmare sire Commands, he
is a half-brother to Assimilate (Sebring) who was a Listed winner at three, and also to the promising Chicago Cub (Zoustar) a six-time winner for whom a Stakes success looks to be just around the corner. Jester’s Girl is out of How Funny, a Listed winner at two and runner up in the Gr.1 Golden Slipper Stakes and was a daughter of the prolific source of speed in Rory’s Jester, himself a Slipper winner. This colt looks the complete, readymade, Magic Millions two-year-old.
Edinburgh Park will also offer buyers the choice of a trio of smashing colts by Zoustar. “You wouldn’t wish for three better colts by the stallion. Zoustar is on an upward trajectory and all three colts are out of mares that are proven producers,” said Ian. The colt out of Calcatta is a half-brother to the Stakes winners Tanker (Pride Of Dubai) and Lady Naturaliste (Choisir) while the colt out of the General Nediym mare Fortune Of War comes from one of the best families in the Stud Book, his dam being a half-sister to the recent Group winners Pretty Brazen (Brazen Beau) and Dollar For Dollar (High Chaparral) along with the Gr.2 winner Sertorius (Galileo). The other colt is a half-brother to the Stakes placed Alburq (Rubick) and traces back to Eau d’Etoile, dam of the Golden Slipper winner Bint Marscay amongst others.
Spirit Of Boom remains a consistent source of winners and speed, and again buyers have their pick of his progeny. Lot 73, a filly, is the first foal out of the speedy Commands mare Awasita who was good enough to win five races in and around Sydney and Melbourne. Neena Rock, the Fastnet Rock mare that won at Gr.3 level on both sides of the Tasman, is the dam of Lot 591, a filly that looks likely to hit the ground running. Then as Lot 624 there is the colt out of Paramount, a full sister to the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap winner La Montagna (Monashee Mountain) making the colt a half-brother to Eptimum (Snitzel), a Gr.3 winner in Melbourne now plying his trade in Hong Kong. Bound to be an early running type this colt offers options for buyers given he is fully paid up for both Super Vobis and QTIS.
The farm has had great success with the progeny of Rubick through Rubisaki and the Stakes placed Alburq, and they will offer another of his colts with a strong page as Lot 940. Speaking of the grey out of Waikato River, Ian commented “This fellow looks to me like he will be the next star by Rubick to come off Edinburgh Park. He’s out of a Savabeel mare who is a half-sister to the recent Stakes winners in Oceanex (Ocean Park) and Miss Aotearoa (Per Incanto) along with Amexed (Pentire). His Teofilo half-sister Spectacle was runner up at her second start and her trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy have a big opinion of her.”
There are some exciting young stallions with their first yearlings to be offered in 2021 and amongst them is Merchant Navy. Edinburgh Farm’s draft will lead off with a filly by the dual Gr.1 winner from that Gainesville family as Lot 30. “She has plenty of quality and I think she is very much in the mould typical of Fastnet Rock fillies”, Ian explained. Her dam Alice’s Smart, by Smart Strike, was a winner at Keeneland and the dam of the Stakes performers Miss Wonderland (Snitzel) and Spencer (Pierro). She traces back to Gainesville through her dam Darling Alice (Northern Flagship) grandam of Glenfiddich and Eleven Eleven.
The farm has another Merchant Navy filly, this one out of Seventhchic that sells as Lot 771.
A granddaughter of Sadler’s Wells, Seventhchic was twice a winner in Sydney and is a speedy half-sister to Alburq (Rubick) who was Stakes placed at two in Melbourne. “This filly looks a sharp type who has been specifically sent
to Magic Millions for those looking for an early runner.”
Another first crop youngster in the draft is Lot 530, a colt by Snitzel’s Gr.1 winning son Invader out of the Azamour mare Mediation. “I’ve got a lot of time for the stock of Invader and this fellow in particular will come to hand early. He can’t be faulted physically, is a quality horse with good presence about him, has a great walk and looks to me the real deal. He caught my eye as a weanling and I’m glad I bought him
as he has blossomed into a quality individual.”
The farm will also offer a daughter of Hellbent and Rawoof as Lot 685. “Our Hellbent filly is out of a mare by Lonhro, a proven broodmare sire, the dam being a half to that consistent sprinter Faatinah who has shown his talent both in Australia and against international opposition in Dubai. This is speed on speed here and ticks all the boxes for anyone looking to come back next year and win a Magic Millions 2YO Classic.”
You can see that the 2021 Edinburgh Park draft is of the highest order, and so it follows from there that photographers around the country can expect more finish line shots of the IKS brand or the distinctive yellow, red and white silks, to publish over the coming seasons.
