I Am Invincible and So You Think have broken clear of the pack in the race for champion sire, and both have some serious firepower in the features at Flemington and Rosehill on Saturday.
Despite having the favourite Think About It in the $3,000,000 Giga Kick Stakes at Rosehill, So You Think would do well not to fall further behind I Am Invincible, who will be represented by Hawaii Five Oh in the Golden Eagle at Rosehill and a host of chances on Derby Day at Flemington.
King's Gambit, Tiz Invincible, I Am Unstoppable, form a powerful 3-prong attack on the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, Shuffle Dancer in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes, Jack the Lad in the Group II Damien Oliver, Garza Blanca in the Group III Rising Fast Stakes, Henman in the Group III Carbine Club Stakes, and Queen Of The Ball and Dancing Alone in the Group III Furphy Sprint (Begonia Belle Stakes).
While Queen Of The Ball has not won in over a year, Dancing Alone has forgotten how to lose, winning six of her seven starts and was luckless in her only defeat.
Queen Of The Ball has not won in seven starts since capturing the Group III Scarborough Stakes at Moonee Valley in September last year.
The Michael Freedman-trained 4-year-old faces several more obstacles besides her winning drought. The triple Group III winner carries a stakes penalty and has drawn the outside barrier. We will let Damien Oliver sought that one out.
The winner of the Group III ATC Widden Stakes and Group III CRC Black Opal Stakes at two, Queen Of The Ball, has been racing in the silk department all her life, with 13 of her 14 starts coming in Group races.
A homebred for Sir Owen Glenn's Go Bloodstock, Queen of the Ball is the first foal from stakes-winning Fastnet Rock mare Miss Debutante, who Sir Owen purchased for $430,000 through Paul Moroney Bloodstock when consigned by Kia Ora Stud to the 2015 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
She won four of her eight starts for Gai Waterhouse, highlighted by a dominant performance in the Listed Denise's Joy Stakes at Scone, defeating Snitty Kitty, Smart Amelia, and Eckstein.
So it was no surprise when Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott/Kestrel Thoroughbreds headed to the Gold Coast to purchase Miss Debutante's second foal, a Zoustar filly from the Newgate Farm draft for $600,000.
Named Platinum Jubilee, she was off to a rollicking start, winning the Gimcrack Stakes and finishing second in the Magic Millions 2yo Classic and Group II Silver Slipper Stakes. Like her big sister, things came a bit harder at three.
It would hopefully be three times a charm when Miss Debutante's third foal, Lady Of Camelot, took her place in the Group III Gimcrack Stakes at Randwick on September 30.
The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained daughter of Written Tycoon finished a luckless fourth and was spelled.
Miss Debutante foaled her first colt last spring, a son of Flying Artie, before making the trek back to Yarraman Park for a second visit to I Am Invincible.
Miss Debutante is a daughter of the imported Group II winning More Than Ready (USA) mare More Than Real (USA), who Todd Pletcher trained for celebrity chef Bobby Flay. She won the Grade II Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf two years before it was elevated to a Grade 1.
More Than Real (USA) was a US$675,000 purchase for James Bester at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. She has proved to be a sound investment for Kia Ora with her Exceed And Excel filly Pretty Elsa selling for $1,200,00 at the 2019 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
More Than Real (USA) is a sister to Miss Always Ready, the dam of Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Structor (Palace Malice), and Always Carina (Malibu Moon), who was runner-up in the Grade II Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont.
More Than Real and Miss Always Ready are daughters of the crack Dehere (USA) mare Miss Steffens, whose eleven wins included five stakes.
More Than Real is still going strong, with a yearling filly by Farnan and revisited the Golden Slipper winner last season.
