There might be a red tape storm unfolding on what is Black Type in Australia and what is not, but the Flemington Melbourne Spring Carnival featured eight fair dinkum Group I races so let’s take a look at the pedigrees of this year’s winners, plus the NZ 2000 Guineas, won by a colt closely related to one of them.
$8.5million G1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) – Victory going to a rank outsider in the little Aussie battler Knight’s Choice, read about him here.
Knight’s Choice is the fourth Group I winner for fertility hampered sire Extreme Choice, who earned a place in history as only the second sire to produce the winner of a Melbourne Cup and a Golden Slipper joining the mighty Sir Tristram (IRE).
Extreme Choice won his Slipper with Stay Inside and while his sprinters profile has seen him sire far more sprinters than stayers, one of his other G1 winners is She’s Extreme, who won the VRC Oaks at 2500m as well as the ATC Champagne Stakes at 1600m.
Sir Tristram was the reverse profile and was primarily a source of classic horses and more staying types leaving three Melbourne Cup winners in Gurners Lane(1982), Empire Rose (1988) and Brew (2000) and he also sired Marauding to win the Golden Slipper in 1987.
Sir Tristram was Champion Australian Sire on six occasions 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990, which does make you wonder what might have been for Extreme Choice if he had the fertility to match his phenomenal talents as a sire.
Knight’s Choice is the 25th G1 winner as a broodmare sire for More Than Ready (USA), whose daughters have produced three winners from four runners by Extreme Choice and the other two winners are G2 winner Tiger of Malay and promising filly Extremely Hardys.
Extreme Choice’s sire Not a Single Dount also had a good record with More Than Ready mares producing 29 winenrs from 42 runners and six stakes-winners headed by G1 winner Miracles of Life with the nick running at 14% SW to runner.
$3million G1 Champions Stakes (2000m)- Via Sistina (IRE) takes over as the best horse in Australia , no question with this dominant victory, read about her here.
Bred on the magic Fastnet Rock x Galileo cross that has produced 30 SW’s, 11 of them G1 winners that also include Buckaroo (IRE). The stats are 72.3% winner to runner and nearly 19% SW to runner.
$3million G1 Champions Sprint (1200m) – Sunshine in Paris racks up her second G1 win, not bad for the progeny of a bargain sire that stands for $8,800, read about her here.
She’s the first G1 winner for Invader and is his only stakes-winner and her female family features plenty of NZ staying blood and traces back to the great ‘Heights’ family that produced countless G1 winning stayers such as Battle Heights, Mapperley Heights, Noble Heights and Royal Heights. Sunshine in Paris has never started beyond 1400m, but her pedigree does make you wonder if she had been trained for further she would probably have done that too!
$3million G1 Champions Mile (1600m)- Mr Brightside finishes his spring on a high, what a warrior! , read about him here.
He’s the only G1 winner among three SW’s for his sire Bullbars, a half-brother to G1 winners Helmet and Epaulette as well as Pericles, who won the $2million ATC Five Diamonds on Saturday. Fourth dam is legendary blue hen Taiona, who is also fourth dam of emerging Hong Kong sprint star Ka Ying Rising.
$2million G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) – Won by expensive $1.5million Snitzel colt Switzerland, who now looks a value buy! read about him here.
Switzerland is an example of the tried and true mix of a champion Australian speed sire over a diverse US female family with multiple Group I winning champion sire Exceed and Excel the star exponent of the theory.
Switzerland is the 21st G1 winner for Snitzel and is not a case of being bred speed on speed as his dam Ms Bad Behavior (Can), is a G3 winner from 1300 to 1600m from a SW to 1800m and her sire Blame won a G1 Breeders Cup Classic at 2000m. He is also a high class broodmare sire with his daughters producing 26 SW’s with Switzerland the third G1 winner.
$2million G1 Victoria Derby (2500m) – Won by SA raider Goldrush Guru with a dominant staying performance, read about him here.
Back to back wins in this race for Triple Crown winning sire American Pharoah (USA), who also won last year with the ill-fated Riff Rocket. He is the ninth G1 winner for American Pharoah and comes from a very solid Australian female family that has already produced a Derby winner in the past in Gold Guru for the same breeders.
Goldrush Guru is the ninth G1 winner for Medaglia D’Oro (USA) as a broodmare sire and American bred sires are also responsible for the next three dams in this pedigree – Fusaichi Pegasus (USA), Don’t Say Halo (USA) and Folkstone (USA) with the tail female line then tracking back to New Zealand.
The American Pharoah x Medaglia D’Oro nick has had success worldwide from limited numbers with eight winners from 14 runners, but four of those winners are SW’s and Goldrush Guru is the second G1 winner joining Marketsegmentation.
$1million G1 VRC Oaks (2500m)- Was won by Yulong homebred filly Treasurethe Moment, who has never run worse than second in seven starts and has banked over $1million, read about her here.
The first G1 winner for her sire Alabama Express, Treasurethe Moment is the second G1 winner of the carnival from a mare bred in North America joining Switzerland, which is significant at a time of year when many Australian breeders are looking to Northern Hemisphere breeding stock sales and particularly those in Kentucky during the past week.
Her dam Draconic Treasure was bought by Yulong at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2016 for $US320,000 and won one race in the USA before being covered by Frankel and sent to Australia. Draconic Treasure died after producing three foals, all fillies and the first of those, the Frankel was named Kind Treasure and retired unraced. She has produced her first foal this spring, a filly by Grunt.
Treasurethe Moment is the 28th G1 winner as a broodmare sire for champion sire Street Cry.
$1million G1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) – Third G1 success for Kiwi bred Atishu and her second at Flemington having won the Champions Stakes last year, read about her here.
Atishu is another success story for Waikato Stud and one of their great female families which has also produced last season’s Champion NZ 3YO Orchestral and current star NZ three year-old colt Savaglee. She is one of 33 G1 winners for Savabeel and one of two G1 winners for No Excuse Needed (GB) as a broodmare sire.
$650,000 G1 NZ 2000 Guineas – Won by blueblood Savabeel colt Savaglee, read about him here.
Bred and sold by Waikato Stud, he is the 34th G1 winner for their current champion sire Savabeel and is the 30th for their former champion sire O’Reilly as a broodmare sire. The pair have a formidable nick with Savabeel producing 33 SW’s from mares by O’Reilly and 175 winners from 232 starters, so that is 75.4% winner to runner and 14.2% SW to runner.
Savaglee comes from what has been a very fruitful family for Waikato Stud tracing back to Shirley Heights mare Head of the River (GB). He is a brother-in-blood to last season's Champion NZ 3YO Orchestral and is also very closely related to triple G1 winner Atishu.
