Furphy Robert Sangster Stakes (Group 1)
CIARON Maher and David Eustace along with Johnny Allen have combined again to claim a second consecutive Group 1 in Adelaide.
Successful last week with Affaire A Suivre in the Australasian Oaks, the trio returned to Morphettville, striking in the Sangster Stakes for fillies and mares with the Tavistock three-year-old Ruthless Dame.
“It was only her sixth start. It’s a great job by Ciaron, David and the team,” said Allen.
“When we travelled into it, we were there at the top of the straight and I knew she’d be strong through the line. I was pretty confident we were going to finish off strongly.” Wide early from the 1,200 metres start, Allen had no choice but to ease back towards the tail of the 14-horse field.
Eight-wide and the widest on the bend, Ruthless Dame came into the race with ease. Hitting top gear in the final furlong, the NZ$90,000 Karaka yearling buy saw off a number of Group 1 winners to win by almost a length from the Shamus Award mare Another Reward and the Brazen Beau mare Zapateo.
Last crack
“Unbelievable,” said Maher. “We could have run her against three-year-olds in the next race on the card. But she’d already been Group 1-placed, and we just thought she could have the last crack at them here.
“There was always going to be really good speed on, and she’s got strong form over a bit further than this. She came into this nice and fresh. Our team have done a super job with her.
“She could go to the (Group 1) Tattersall’s Tiara (1,400 metres in Brisbane) now, or she could come back here for the (Group 1) Goodwood (1,200 metres).
“There’s plenty of options for her. We’ll just let the dust settle first. She’s a Group 1 winner now, and we can take our time to work out what’s going to suit her best from here.”
AS she continues her recovery from a serious fall that left her in a coma for five days in March, Jamie Kah reiterated her intention to return to the saddle while giving an insight into the aftermath of her fall at Flemington that also saw Craig Williams brought down with a broken collarbone.
“When I fell, I apparently couldn’t breathe for about 20 seconds or maybe more. I couldn’t breathe and then I was in and out of consciousness, but I don’t remember any of that, and then I was in the induced coma and I wouldn’t wake up because of the medication I was on, I was so zonked out.
“I think I thought I lived in Adelaide still and I was 18. I’m definitely not 18 and I don’t live in Adelaide. I couldn’t remember how old I was, so I wrote my name in Google and it told me, ‘Oh 27’, not 18, there we go.”
With 59 wins for the season Kah still leads the Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership by 16.
“Luckily this was my first concussion and that’s probably a blessing, it’s probably why I’ve recovered so quickly,” added Kah. “It’s been my whole entire life, so yeah, I think it would be a big shame if I didn’t race-ride again.”
INGLIS’ Breeding Stock Sales Series closed out last week at Riverside next to Warwick Farm racecourse with the sale of weanlings, race-mares and broodmares setting new records.
“It’s hard not to be really pleased with how the week has gone, from a really strong weanling sale to a record Chairman’s Sale right through to today’s Broodmare sale which has produced some great results,” Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch.
“To have grossed more than A$65 million since Monday feels very significant. The breadth of the buying bench has been most intense, so much international participation across the whole week and just a fantastic vibe at Riverside since inspections began a week ago.”
The Inglis Australian Weanling Sale saw 252 weanlings sell at a clearance rate of 75% with an average of $51,536 and a median of $30,000.
A total of 42 weanlings sold for $100,000 or more with the top lot, a Capitalist colt out of Speedboat selling for $625,000, the equal highest ever price for a weanling from the sale.
Heavy hitters
Following that two days session, with a day’s break in between, the ‘heavy hitters’ arrived for the Chairman’s Sale, where a night session of 109 select broodmares saw a splurge of $42.545 million at an average of $567,267.
Ten mares made over $1 million as Colm Santry and Coolmore topped the session, purchasing the So You Think Group 1 winning mare Nimalee for A$3.6 million, just bettering the $3.4 million paid by Yu Long Bloodstock for four-time Group 1 winner Montefilia by Kermadec.
“It’s been very tense! We probably didn’t think we’d have to dig as deep for her as we did, but the really good ones like her you have to stump up for,” said Santry who had MV Magnier for company.
“The Magniers like to buy the best mares, we valued her and we thought she was the best physical in the sale. We can breed her to a lot of stallions on our doorstep, we’ve got Wootton Bassett, Justify and what a fabulous mating she’ll make for Shinzo in time.”