Best On Breeding

Mark Smith - Thursday September 21

Making his third start on September 19th, 2009, High Chaparral colt So You Think earned his first stakes win in the Group III Gloaming Stakes at Rosehill, two starts later he won the Group I WS Cox Plate and he was on his way to fame and fortune.

So You Think’s daughter Coral Coast makes her stakes debut in Saturday’s Gloaming Stakes.

Advertisement

It’s really upping the ante for the Stuart Webb-trained filly who only broke her maiden over 1606 metres at Benalla on September 4 after being unplaced at her previous two starts at Sale and Seymour.


A $360,000 Magic Millions purchase by James Bester Bloodstock from the Kia Ora draft, Coral Coast is the first winner for dual New Zealand Group I winner Dorabella, one of the few success stories for Don Ha in his short but spectacular foray into the thoroughbred market.

Ha hit the headlines when making the final bid of $2 million for the Zabeel x Sunline colt at the 2007 NZ Bloodstock Premier Yearling sale.

Four months later he set a new mark for a broodmare at auction when he went to $825,000 for Honor Lap at the Bloomsbury Stud dispersal.

It did not stop there. Ha set a new benchmark for a weanling in NZ when he went to $400,000 for a Zabeel colt out of Myself and at the Gold Coast he outlaid $460,00 Redoute's Choice-Donna Dior weanling filly

Ha purchased Dorabella in a private transaction after she had won the Group I One Thousand Guineas at Riccarton for her breeders, Peter and Nancy Izett.

She had a good one behind her that day, Encosta de Lago’s 4-time Group I winning daughter, Princess Coup.

Nearly a year later, Dorabella added another prized scalp when defeating the champion, 7-time Group I winner, Seachange (Cape Cross) in the Group I Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham.

Not long after Ha was declared bankrupt.


Though his thoroughbred holdings showed little return on investment, Dorabella proved the one bright spot.

She retired with a record of five wins and seven placings with earnings of almost $400,000.

A daughter of Summer Squall’s Grade II Peter Pan Stakes winner Postponed (USA), Dorabella is a half-sister to Crusoe (Volksraad) who finished third in the Group I NZ Two Thousand Guineas before becoming a multiple stakes winner in Singapore.

Dorabella’s dam, Caserio, is a 4-time winner by Kaapstad and her granddam Our Lafite won the Group II VRC Wakeful Stakes and was second in the Group I VRC Oaks.

The only filly in the race, Coral Coast (pictured as a yearling) looks assured of being one of the long-shots with the Godolphin pair Astoria (Medaglia d’Oro) and Sanctioned (Teofilo) dominating the betting. However, it is likely to define her path to, hopefully, a chance at the Classics later in the spring.

Another interesting runner is the Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Sully, who, like Coral Coast, has form on Victorian country tracks.

Sully will be vying to become the first southern hemisphere stakes winner for Westbury Stud’s magnificent grey Reliable Man who broke his maiden stakes status in Europe recently when his daughter Narella won a Group III at Baden Baden. 

Advertisment
More Reading...
Waterhouse Bott Stable Secure Fresh Blood at Tattersalls Horses in Training
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott may well have won a Cox Plate and a Melbourne Cup this spring had their imported stayer Sir Delius (GB) not been ruled out following vetting scans, but the disappointment of that experience has in no way dampened their enthusiasm for the European product.
Long Legs Strides Clear At Rosehill
Coming out on top in Wednesday’s $100,000 ATC Tab Plate (1400m) at Rosehill, the Gary Portelli trained 3yo Russian Revolution filly Long Legs broke her maiden in the style of a filly destined for bigger and better races.
G3 Bendigo Cup Success For Australian Bloodstock Owned Sayedaty Sadaty
Ciaron Maher and Australian Bloodstock teamed up on Wednesday to win the $500,000 Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) with 5yo gelding Sayedaty Sadaty (IRE), who will now need a weight penalty to force his way into the $10m Group 1 VRC Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Sires With Winners - Tuesday October 28
Here is the full list of 24 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Mare in Foal to Home Affairs Tops MM Digital at $350,000
Impeccably related mare Taste of Heaven topped the first Magic Millions Digital Sale conducted today.
Kiwi Bred Evaporate on Track for Golden Eagle
New Zealand-bred gelding Evaporate will be seeking to pick up the biggest cheque of his career when he heads to Randwick on Saturday to contest the A$10 million Golden Eagle (1500m).
Zaaki Relation Gladius Tops Second Day of Autumn HIT Sale at 950,000 Guineas
The second day of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale was headed by the three-year-old colt GLADIUS at 950,000 guineas, one of eight lots to realise 300,000 guineas or more. International purchasers were again to the fore with buyers from Australia, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia securing the top five lots.
Aussie Bred Sprinter to Run in G1 Breeders Cup Turf Sprint This Weekend
Australian spring racing might appear to be the centre of the universe in our neck of the woods, but in the Northern Hemisphere this weekend it is all about the Breeders’ Cup meeting at Del Mar in California and an Aussie bred sprinter could be poised to spring an upset.
Waller Seeking Another Melbourne Cup
He may already have a Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) win to his name but New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame trainer Chris Waller says he still yearns to win the Flemington showpiece as much as anyone.
Sires With Winners - Wednesday October 29
Here is the full list of 44 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.