Sepoy's Divine Quality Blows Them Away in Furphy Stakes

Mark Smith - Saturday November 3

Connections of the Sepoy filly Divine Quality had to suffer through five consecutive seconds from November last year to June this year, which may be the reason for the exuberant celebration when the Robbie Griffiths-trained mare exploded from the pack to run away with the Group III Furphy Sprint (1100m) (Begonia Belle Stakes) at Flemington on Saturday.

Ridden by Beau Mertens, Divine Quality powered down the centre of the track to defeat Booker by three and a quarter lengths with I Am Excited a long-neck away third. (photos Grant Courtney )


Having her first run back since July 14, Divine Quality advances her record to 4 wins, 6 seconds and 1 third from 14 starts with earnings of $366,050.

"Even though she's a five-year-old she still doesn't look fully mature yet and that's why we've raced her very sparingly," Griffiths told AAP.

"Everything she's done has been late in the season and that's why she was late starting the carnival.

"We picked out this race and thought it would be a good starting point for her.

"We seem to end up in the other seasons, not the traditional spring and autumn because of her growth and development, but she smashed them today and she put away a pretty high-class field."

A $185,000 purchase by Princeton Stud/Robbie Griffiths Racing out of the Woodside Stud draft at the 2015 Magic Million Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Divine Quality is the second foal of the Fastnet Rock mare Nun Faster who was purchased by Princeton Thoroughbred Stud for $180,000 when in foal to Vancouver.

Unfortunately, the Vancouver foal died at birth.

A half-sister to Listed winner Vatican, Nun Faster is out of the Peintre Celebre mare Our Sistine who is a half-sister to the 2003-04 NZ Horse Of The Year King's Chapel a triple Group 1 winner.

Nun Faster produced a Written Tycoon filly on October 14.

Divine Quality becomes the 11th stakes-winner for Darley Stud's champion Sepoy.

 

Advertisment
More Reading...
One to Watch – Kembla
Golden Slipper winning sire Sepoy has delivered his second blue-blooded two year-old winner this week for Godolphin at Kembla on Thursday.
G1 Pedigree Watch – Helen Street Making Her Presence Felt
We saw two brand new Group I winners in Australia on Saturday and both super interesting on the pedigree front with one of them a $1.4million yearling and the other a Kiwi bred sprinter, who continued the G1 winning run for the Street Cry sireline and we also take a look at why you need to know more about Helen Street.
A Torryburn Gasp Before their Plain Bay Fellow Wins G1 No 4
The Torryburn stud team, watching as they always do when their ‘plain bay fellow’ races, would have had a gasp or two mid race but it ended up as easy as it comes with Voyage Bubble making it three Group I wins from his last three starts in the Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Trelawney Stud Excited to Offer Shanwah Half-Brother at Inglis Easter
Shanwah’s victory in the Gr.2 Autumn Classic (1800m) at Caulfield on Saturday was timely for his breeder’s Trelawney Stud, who are set to offer his half-brother at Inglis’ Australian Easter Yearling Sale in April.
World First G1 Success for Rachel King in Japan
Leading Australian jockey Rachel King is no stranger to Group I success, but achieved a first in Japan on Sunday in becoming the first woman to ride a G1 winner on the JRA circuit when steering Costa Nova to victory in the February Stakes (1600m) on the dirt.
Sepoy's Alizee Makes Winning Seasonal Debut
A fresh Alizee opened her five-year-old campaign with a win in Saturday’s Group II Missile Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill although supporters that backed her into odds-on favouritism were made to sweat in the closing stages.
Gorgeous Grey Wins for Godolphin
Talented grey Godolphin blue-blood Subedar is a descendant of the mighty mare Emancipation and kept his unbeaten record intact at his first metropolitan outing when saluting at Rosehill on Saturday.
Sires With Winners - Sunday February 23
Here is the full list of 73 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Three Fillies Share Top Honours at MM Tasmania
The three top sellers all sold for $80,000 with local buyers competing with those from interstate and overseas to secure the next generation of racetrack stars from the Apple Isle.
How Do You Measure Success?
There are a lot of ways to measure the success of a stallion, but for elite breeders looking to produce serious racehorses it’s all about Black Type horses and this young stallion has really spread his wings.