Three Group Winners in a week for Performance Genetics Clients!
It has been a week in racing that were sure to remember for some time with three highly rated yearling purchases all winning group races in Australia for our clients. In Australia we license our technology to Matchem Genetics, who operates our yearling and two year old selection process for its growing client base. With early adopters of the technology including Aquanita Racing, Lindsay Park (David + Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig), the late Phil Sly and Champion Thoroughbreds, Matchem Genetics has made a strong start to its business in Australia and three group winners in a week certainly shows that it is helping yearling buyers make the right decision in the sale ring.
First to win at stakes level was the Stuart Webb trained three-year-old Legless Veuve who came back to racing last weekend to beat the boys in the Manfred Stakes gr.III. A daughter of the Waikato Stud stallion Pins, Legless Veuve was purchased by yours truly for her trainer Stuart Webb who had an order for 'a nice filly that can get a mile'. Already a Gr.II winner in the spring of the Guineas Prelude, Legless Veuve heads towards the Gr.I Australian Guineas (1600m) in a months time and given how well Stuart has managed her career to date she could make into a high class four year old next season.
Moving to this weekend and it was the turn of trainer Robert Smerdon to punch out a Group double with highly rated yearling purchases Oak Door and Property.
The improving three-year-old Oak Door was sent straight to the front from the jump by his jockey Damien Lane and led all the way to win the Autumn Stakes gr.II over 1400m. Oak Door's win was a rather sentimental one as he was among the last horses purchased as a yearling for the late Phil Sly before his untimely death from pancreatic cancer. A Magic Millions purchase for Phil by his trainer Robert Smerdon, Oak Door tested as a horse that would excel at distances between 1400m (7f) and 1800m (9f) and it looks like he may head towards a clash with Legless Veuve in the Gr.I Australian Guineas also.
The final stakes winner of the week was the two-year-old gelding Property, who ran on well to win the Blue Diamond Prelude gr.III for Robert Smerdon and owners Price Bloodstock. Property is a rather interesting story given that he should be doing his racing in Hong Kong. David Price, the principal of Price Bloodstock is probably best know in bloodstock circles as the man that imported the great Silent Witness into Hong Kong and David's business model is to buy yearling colts, find the ones that can gallop, and bring them into the lucrative Hong Kong racing environment for owners there. Property was identified early as a horse of talent, was gelded, and was due to go to Hong Kong but upon x-ray inspection was found to have some issues which presented a risk for any future owner. It's for this reason only that the horse runs for David and other owners and is now firmly in the betting for the Gr.I Blue Diamond Stakes to be run in two weeks time.
Property, Oak Door and Legless Veuve follow the likes of Fontiton, Seaburge, Chabaud, Tulip, Zamzam and others as highly rated yearling purchases for our clients in Australia under the Matchem Genetics banner.