NOVEMBER 2022
Welcome to the latest WJB update following the Sydney and Melbourne Spring Carnivals.
OLD FLAME LANDS THE GROUP TWO LINLITHGOW STAKES ON DERBY DAY
Old Flame (Invincible Spirit) provided his sire with his 145th individual stakes winner when landing the Group Two Linlithgow Stakes by 3.25L over 1400m under a beautiful ride from James McDonald.
Having won first up at Rosehill, Old Flame was then second in the Group Two Shannon Stakes before a luckless lead up run at Caulfield.
Hitting the tarmac in Australia rated 72, his rating has climbed to 102 having had had three wins from eight starts, netting connections over A$620,000.
Old Flame was purchased from the Juddmonte draft at last year’s Tattersalls Autumn HIT Sale for 250,000gns by WJB in conjunction with Peter & Paul Snowden and the assistance of Colum Mc Cullagh.
The Snowden Racing team have done a phenomenal job extracting the most out of our two initial purchases in 2021 with Huetor (Archipenko) nearing a return following his Group One Doomben Cup victory in May.
Keep your eyes peeled over the coming months for more horses carrying a (FR), (IRE) or (GB) suffix debuting in Australia for the Snowdens.
DIVINE GLORY WINS FOLLOWING BLACK TYPE ON DEBUT
Divine Glory (Hellbent), a A$140,000 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale purchase from the draft of Yarraman Park Stud ran a brave third on debut in the Group Three Gimcrack Stakes before backing up to win ten days later at Warwick Farm, registering a Metropolitan win.
The filly was bred by Les and Len Gilmore who are based in Scone and this article is a must read on the story behind the filly (TDN ARTICLE).
With a number of two-year-olds in work with Snowden Racing, we keenly await more hitting the track over the coming months.
FLIGHTLINE TO LEXINGTON THROUGH DALLAS
With the Australian Dollar swinging aggressively against any notion of purchasing mares for a ‘discount’ with the incredibly strong U.S. Dollar, all eyes moved from exchange rate apps to the Breeders’ Cup meet at Keeneland to see Flightline (Tapit) in action.
On a day that saw record turnover for a Breeders’ Cup meet, Flightline was sensational when putting to bed Americas best Sprinter/Miler, Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in a matter of strides.
Racing in America is definitely undergoing a renaissance with increased turnover, prizemoney and renewed interest with healthy crowd sizes from Del Mar to Saratoga.
This enthusiasm and zest for racing has translated into sales ring dollars from the first yearling sale in August through to the end of the Fasig Tipton and Keeneland last week. This was of course headlined by a 2.5% share of Flightline selling for USD$4.6 million (valuing the horse at USD$184 million).
It was great to see a large contingent of Australians on the sales grounds and I am sure for those that were making their first trip, it will not be their last.
PLUNDER DOWN UNDER
For those from America reading this Spring Update, why not utilise your strong Dollar by investing in Australia?!?
WHO IS THE LEADING SIRE?
With Australian prizemoney levels in rude health, races such as The Everest (first place prizemoney equalling A$6,749,000) distort the Leading Australian General Sires table quite considerably. Rightly or wrongly, the champion sire is judged by total prizemoney, so it is quite interesting to reassess the table by subtracting each sire’s number one prizemoney earner. There are plenty of ways we could assess who is the best sire (stakes winners / winners / etc) but out of interest we have assessed it this way.
This is the sires table as it stands including each stallions ‘Best Performer’:
As expected, the winner of The Everest (Giga Kick) and Golden Eagle (I Wish I Win) have significantly increased the tally of Scissor Kick and Savabeel alongside the Melbourne Cup win of Gold Trip for Outstrip.
A truer reflection of the table is seen below where there is a greater correlation between prizemoney and the number of total winners and stakes winners for each of those sires.
It will be interesting to reassess the table in both formats over the coming months but it appears So You Think has come out swinging!
If you would like to find out more about how to get involved, contact Will on +61 481 291 008 or email will@wjbloodstock.com