Best On Breeding

Mark Smith - Thursday May 18

What a difference a year makes!

In 2015 Wexford Farm sold the Xaar (GB) mare Condesaar to JD Thoroughbreds for $6,000 shortly after accepting a $10,000 bid from Darby Thoroughbreds for Condesaar’s All American filly consigned by Widden Stud to the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

I’m sure you know that that filly was Yankee Rose, who would go on to scale the heights the following year for David Vandyke, winning the Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes and finishing second to Capitalist in the Golden Slipper. She won the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes at three and finished third behind Winx and Hartnell in the Cox Plate.

Yankee Rose (image Steve Hart)

When Condesaar was consigned to the 2015 Inglis Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale, she had one winner from two to race and was carrying a filly by Magic Albert.

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Her first foal, the hard-knocking Choisir mare Great Dansaar, won three and placed in five of her 27 starts. None of her wins and one of her placings came in the metropolitan area.

Yankee Rose made the family commercial, and JD Thoroughbreds struck while the iron was hot. They consigned Condesaar to the 2016 National Broodmare Sale, where their $6,000 purchase turned into a $260,000 windfall when knocked down to Kulani Park’s Rhys Smith. And she was sold empty.

At the same sale, her daughter Great Dansaar, fresh off the track, was an $80,000 purchase for Daandine Stud/Boomer Bloodstock P/L (FBAA).

The deeds of Yankee Rose in Japan have sent this once bargain basement family into the stratosphere. Her daughter Liberty Island (Duramente) was a unanimous choice for Champion 2yo filly and, at her 3yo bow, scored a breathtaking win in the Group 1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) at Hanshin.

Great Dansaar has more than played her part.

Her first foal is the Tony Gollan-trained Isotope, a gifted daughter of Deep Field who won by ten lengths on debut at Doomben and then backed that up with another dominant performance at the Sunshine Coast.

Isotope (image Grant Courtney)

Isotope met defeat for the first time when second to the top-class Rothfire in the Group II Champagne Classic at Eagle Farm.

Followings wins in the Listed Mode Plate, and Listed Gold Edition Stakes, Isotope was a short-priced favourite in the $2,000,000 Magic Millions Guineas, but she finished without a rider.

It was back to the winner’s circle in the Listed Darby Munro Stakes at Rosehill before being pipped by Wild Ruler in the Group II Arrowfield Sprint at Randwick.

Back home, Isotope added the $1,000,000 Magic Millions Sprint at the Gold Coast.

Things did not go her way after that. She retired with six wins and four placings from 19 starts, with earnings of $1,267,325.

It will need considerably more than her $170,000 purchase price as a yearling to secure Isotope from the Eureka Stud draft at the upcoming National Broodmare Sale. (Lot 575)

Her cause could be helped by her half-sister Mighty who resumes in the Listed City Property Services Bill Carter Stakes (1200m) for 2yo fillies at Doomben on Saturday.

Trained by Tony Gollan for YES Bloodstock, Black Soil Bloodstock & Ozzie Kheir, Mighty made a winning debut at the Gold Coast in November before a disappointing sixth of nine in the Group III BJ McLachlan Plate at Doomben in December.

The daughter of Spirit Of Boom was a $300,000 purchase for John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA)/Black Soil Bloodstock/Yes Bloodstock when consigned by Daandine Stud to the 2022 Magic Million Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Sadly, Great Dansaar died in August last year. Her final foal is a yearling brother to Isotope, who sold to Two Fillies Stud for a disappointing $80,000 at the Gold Coast in January.

Great Dansaar is survived by her dam Condesaar, which last went through the ring at the National Broodmare Sale in 2018 when purchased by Rosemont Stud for $320,000.

Also, the dam of the Group III Kembla Grange Classic winner Miravalle (Redoute’s Choice), Condesaar, has not had a foal in two seasons since foaling the now 2yo Starcraft filly Dreamsicle, who is in training with Peter Moody. The 18yo mare has an early September cover to Shamus Award, so fingers crossed. 

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