For some colts, what they did at two is who they are and for the good ones it's often enough to earn them a slot on the roster of a major stud as the obligatory 'fastest 2YO'.
They have speed and precocity and not much else, but that's OK in Australia where we are often led to believe that's all people want anyway.
And then along comes Menari.
A stunningly good looking son of Snitzel, this is a colt whose imposing presence
immediately suggests something special.He's not good looking in a cookie cutter way like every other nice Snitzel colt, he's good looking in a Hollywood movie star eye-catching kind of way with his big baldy face and glowing red bay coat.
Menari failed to win a stakes race at two for Gerald Ryan, but it's fairly safe to say that heavy tracks probably played a significant role in that lack of success.
Top class colt Pariah had his measure at two when beating him in the Group III ATC Canonbury Stakes, but was no match last weekend when second to him in the Group II ATC Run to the Rose.
These colts appear to be the best sprinting three year-olds in Sydney, albeit without She Will Reign in the picture as of yet, but while Pariah is already earmarked for a stud career at Arrowfield, Menari is up for grabs.
A homebred for George Altomonte's Corumbene Stud, Menari never saw a sale ring and that's just as well as he's now worth many times over what he would have made as a yearling.
As a son of Snitzel, Menari is hot property as a sire prospect, but he also has a female pedigree that is really going to appeal given its diversity and penchant for throwing up not just good horses, but champions.
His first three dams are by General Nediym, Whiskey Road (USA) and Baguette, all of them highly successful stallions and back down his female line we find good tough New Zealand blood underpinning the speed that has been added more recently to the pedigree.
Menari is the fifth foal of juvenile stakes-winner Isurava, a full sister to Group II winner Ichihara and stakes-winner Au Chocolat, the trio all from Cut a Dash, a three-quarter sister to Group I VATC Thousand Guineas winner Whisked, the dam of 13 time Group I winner and $6million earner Tie the Knot.
It's a serious pedigree for a serious colt.
While racegoers will no doubt follow his career this spring with great interest given his obvious charisma and talent, behind the scenes the battle is just beginning to see where Menari will ultimately stand at stud.
Images Steve Hart.
