Ole Kirk - First Season Sire Dominance
Ole Kirk currently leads the First Season Sire table for prize money and currently holds a 50% runners to winners rate from just the 12 starts. He added another 4 winners (In a row!) over Friday and Saturday’s race meets with Next Jen, Prestige Ole, Ole Dancer and Fiery Spark all notching up victories. Special mention to Ole Dancer, who was able to win the 2yo Magic Millions SA Classic in impressive fashion and looks set to notch up a stakes race very soon. These 4 gallopers sit alongside stakes winners O’Ole and King Kirk as Ole Kirk’s current winning progeny. He is very quickly becoming a sire that all stables are wanting to acquire, and rightfully so.
Willydoit - The Group 1 NZ Derby Winner
Congratulations to everyone involved in Willydoit, what an incredible performance! He silenced the critics from his Avondale Guineas run and produced one of the most dominant NZ Derby victories of recent times.
In what was a very bold ride from Mick Dee, he settled more forward and faced an incredible amount of pressure in the race. Approaching the 800m, the race was set to be favourable to swoopers, but Willydoit defied that theory and was able to gain lengths when asked to extend.
He ended up coming away with a 2.3 length win and announced himself as one of the most promising up-and-coming stayers. Willydoit is now etched in history as Shaun and Emma Clotworthy’s first Group 1 winner and we couldn’t be more proud of the performance.
Following the race, we were excited to launch our exciting Contributer x Sharp Proposition colt with the Clotworthy’s and hope that he can one day replicate Willy’s success.
Sneaky Sunrise - Adds More Black Type to her Page
Coming off the high of winning the New Zealand Derby, the MRH army was ambitious Sneaky Sunrise could run another big race for the famous red silks. Coming up against arguably the best filly in the country, Treasure The Moment, Sneaky stalked her all the way before finishing third.
As always, Sneaky Sunrise acquitted herself and gave her all. She will now likely head to the G3 Alexandra Stakes at The Valley on March 22nd. From there we can decide whether we go to South Australia or New South Wales.
With Sneaky Sunrise flying the flag for the MRH fillies, it is worth noting we have another filly by The Autumn Sun, out of a mare called Islands. She is with the Bjorn Baker yard and is impressing in the early days. With the autumn heating up, The Autumn Sun progeny is heating up too, with Snow in May taking out the Canberra Guineas over 1400m on Sunday, etching herself with a black-type win, following a Flight Stakes placing back in the Spring.
Katsumi Orochi - Comes From The Best 2yo Form and Jumps Out Impressively
Following the purchase of Katsumi Orochi from his third place in the Blue Diamond Prelude. The Victorian 2yo form has stacked up better than ever! The Victorian form received a significant boost in both the Todman and Riesling Stakes races, with the winners both having previously competed in Victoria and the Group 1 Blue Diamond. The Blue Diamond was won by Devil Night, who comes out of the same race as Katsumi Orochi, giving us more and more confidence in his ability to match it with Australia’s best 2yo’s.
He went to Balnarring on Wednesday and trialled well over 750m. Sam Freedman wanted to give him a quiet low key hit out. He moved well and came through it well. He will now head to Sydney this Saturday, before gearing up for the Fernhill stakes on the 29th of March.
