AS stakes races go, the $33,000 to the winner Classic Sprint Stakes over six furlongs at Will Rogers Downs is not one that strikes a chord with many. Run on Tuesday, the race is for horses bred in Oklahoma and it was won by the seven-year-old gelding Welder (The Visualiser) who was bred by Center Hills Farm.

This was Welder’s fifth start and fifth straight win in the race, and he won it will all the style and panache of a long odds-on shot. Owned by Ra-Max Farms, trained by Theresa Sue Luneack and partnered by David Cabrera, this win also pushed the gelding’s earnings past $1 million.

He has only twice finished out of the first three in 33 starts and has won 22 times. He has only been beaten once in 11 starts at Will Rogers Downs and all of his starts have been there, at Remington Park or at Prairie Meadows. A dozen of his wins have been in stakes races.

His sire stands at Kirten Stud in Oklahoma and his fee this year is $1,000. This is his first year at this location and the 17-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) was a three-time winner in the USA and Canada and graded stakes-placed when runner-up in the Grade 3 Canadian Derby. Welder has contributed half of all his progeny earnings and is one of just a pair of stakes winners The Visualiser has sired.

Welder’s dam Dance Softly (Tiznow) is a half-sister to the Grade 3 Colonial Turf Cup Stakes winner Summer Doldrums (Street Cry) and they are out of the stakes-placed Dance For Dixie (Unaccounted For). Her 11-time winning half-sister Cielo Girl (Conquistador Cielo) was a multiple stakes winner and bred the Grade 1 Frontrunner Stakes winner Bond Holder (Mineshaft).

A familiar name in this part of the world appears in the next remove of the family. Dance For Dixie’s stakes-winning dam Dixie Band (Dixieland Band) is a half-sister to Loma Preata (Zilzal). She was listed-placed in France and she bred Var (Forest Wildcat) who won the 2004 Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp. Var went to stud in South Africa and became a Group 1 sire.

Irish sires feature among news online sale stock

NO one could have predicted the events of 2020, but when Cornerstone Stud and Magic Millions met last year to plan an on-farm reduction sale, the seed was sown for the launch of a new online selling platform. On Wednesday bidding opened on Magic Millions inaugural online sale and it features 70 lots of weanlings, yearlings and broodmares from Cornerstone, as well as a select group of race and breeding propositions offered by the farm’s clients.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Cornerstone Stud to assist them with their on-farm dispersal. There is something on offer for everyone and we expect there will be some very good buying given the economic climate.” Magic Millions’ managing director Barry Bowditch said.

Cornerstone Stud principal Sam Hayes added: “We sell top quality weanlings every year as we only have space to prepare so many yearlings. We also have a lovely selection of mares that we are offering on behalf of Cornerstone Stud and our partners. The show must go on.” The sale closes on Tuesday, May 5th and buyers can register to bid on https://magicmillions.online/

Twenty weanlings include progeny by Cornerstone stallions Free Eagle (High Chaparral), Sir Prancealot (Tamayuz) and Zebedee ((Invincible Spirit). There are 35 mares in foal to stallions such as Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy), Toronado (High Chaparral) and the only southern hemisphere mating to Night Of Thunder (Dubawi).

It’s a Yes Yes Yes for Coolmore’s 2020 Oz roster

YES Yes Yes, a son of another Coolmore Australia sire Rubick (Encosta De Lago), won The Everest on his final racecourse start and he is new to the stud’s roster for 2020. A three-time juvenile winner, including the Group 2 Todman Stakes, he was also second in the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes at three. He will stand at A$38,500, while Rubick drops to $33,000.

Dual Group 1 winner Magna Grecia (Invincible Spirit) and Coventry Stakes winner Calyx (Kingman) will shuttle after their first seasons in Ireland and stand at $22,000 and $16,500 respectively. Calyx is the first son of Kingman (Invincible Spirit) to stand in Australia.

“Our three new sires are outstanding prospects who all demonstrated brilliant speed in their biggest wins and are very competitively priced”, Tom Magnier said. “We are major players as both buyers and sellers in the Australian yearling market, so we understand the importance of ‘type’ for commercial breeders. Importantly, each of our three new horses are outstanding physical specimens and we look forward to showing them to breeders in advance of the 2020 season.”

Fastnet Rock (Danehill) is unchanged at $165,000 and is the most expensive sire on the roster, while Pierro (Lonhro is the second most expensive as his fee jumps from $88,000 to $137,500. Pierro is currently second on the leading sires table in Australia. His popularity with breeders is manifest, covering 229 and 217 mares in the past two seasons.

Two American Triple Crown winners stand at Coolmore Australia, Justify (Scat Daddy) is set to cover at $66,000, having previously been listed as private, while American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile) drops from that fee to $55,000 ahead of his first runners down under next season.

“It is a privilege to bring two of the greatest ever American racehorses back to Australia, in American Pharoah and Justify,” Magnier said. “They have been supported with exceptional mare quality in their first seasons, with astute Australian breeders taking advantage of this elite quality for a fraction of their Northern Hemisphere fee. We are dedicated to offering the best shuttle stallions to Australian breeders and understand that continuity is important for the stallions and the breeders who use them.”

Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry) has been a huge hit with his first runners this season and is unchanged at $38,500, while fellow successful first-crop sire Vancouver (Medaglia D’Oro) goes down from $44,000 to $30,250. Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock) is another to see a fall in his fee, from $55,000 to $44,000, while four-time Group 1 winner Churchill (Galileo) looks outstanding value at $19,250, down from $22,000. Another shuttler from Ireland is Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) and he is down from $24,750 to $17,600 for his second season in Australia.

Adelaide (Galileo) had his first Group 1 winner this season, yet is available at $8,800, a fall from $11,000. So You Think (High Chaparral) is unchanged at $38,500, while the veteran Choisir (Danehill Dancer) drops from $27,500 to $16,500. Magnier concluded: “We remain aware that these are challenging times for everyone. As such, we have priced our stallions with the view to offering value to breeders.”