Four Countries, Four Winners, Four Weeks

Media Release - Wednesday January 10
Lime Country's graduates have been impressively asserting their class around the world of late with Sunday's Group III Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1000m) win by  Premiere (Dylan Thomas) marking the fourth international winner in as many weeks for the now New South Wales-based thoroughbred nursery run by Jo and Greg Griffin.

PremierePrior to  Premiere's  Group Three win in Hong Kong, Lime Country celebrated graduate success in Japan with  Cosmo  Peridot (Jimmy Choux), back-to-back Australian wins with  Scream Park  (Ocean Park) and a New Zealand triumph with  Firenze  (Zoffany).

"Greg and I are so pleased to see positive results like these for our clients on both sides of the fence – the breeders and buyers of these four horses. To have four winners in four different countries in the space of four weeks is hugely satisfying," commented Jo Griffin.

Excitingly, all four of the successful Lime Country graduates look to have bigger things in store.

The Tony Pike-trained Firenzeholds a nomination for the Group One New Zealand Derby, while Scream Park heads back to New Zealand for his Sydney conditioner Chris Waller to tackle the $1,000,000 Karaka Million 3YO Classic.

Meanwhile in Japan, time is on Cosmo Peridot's side, with the New Zealand bred three-year-old having already struck multiple wins despite being younger than his Northern Hemisphere-bred age group rivals.

Finally, for the John Size-prepared black-type sprinter Premiere– who has won all four of his starts this season and was Hong Kong Champion Griffin of the 2016/17, the future involves stretching his unbeaten sequence this preparation over 1200m.

"It's great to see our 2016 draft of stock looking so promising going forward and we look forward to presenting our first draft of yearlings to the buying bench at Magic Millions this week. It looks to be a exciting year going forward with stock like this coming through under the banner." said Griffin.

LIME COUNTRY GRADUATE

BREEDER

SALE DETAILS

INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS

PREMIERE 2013 gelding
(Dylan Thomas - More Than Sum)

Gordon Calder, Geoff Taylor & Bill Thurlow

Purchased at the 2014 NZB Weanling Sale by NZB as agent for $13,000.

HONG KONG
Gr.3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy (1000m) for trainer John Size and owners theDTFU Principal Syndicate

COSMO PERIDOT 2014 colt
(Jimmy Choux - Diva von Tessa)

Richard & Liz Wood

Purchased at the 2016 NZB Select Yearling Sale by Big Red Farm for $210,000.

JAPAN
For trainerYoshiyasu Takahashi and owners the Big Red Farm.

SCREAM PARK 2014 colt
(Ocean Park – Cassata)

Kevin & Julie Taylor

Purchased at the 2016 NZB Premier Yearling Sale by Chris Waller for $185,000.

AUSTRALIA
For trainer Chris Waller and ownersC J Waller, Magic Bloodstock Racing (Mgr: P G Tighe), F W Cook, Mrs C M Cook, N A Greenhalgh, Mrs M T Greenhalgh, R Shrimpton, Mrs C Shrimpton, I Bruce, R Smith, P Y W Ng, K H Warri. Jockey: T Angland

FIRENZE 2014 gelding
(Zoffany – Luscilla)

Ray Stevens

Purchased at the 2016 NZB Select Yearling Sale by Paul Willetts for $65,000.

NEW ZEALAND
For trainer Tony Pike and owners John and Margaret Thompson



Advertisment
More Reading...
$3million Won Through Inglis Xtra Bonus
A staggering $3m has now been won as part of the Inglis Xtra Bonus Series following today’s victory by the Cody Morgan-trained 3YO Considered at Dubbo.
Promising 2YOs for Pike
Tony Pike found it difficult to split his juvenile charges the last time they took each other on and it’s the same story at Ruakaka.
Sires With Winners - Friday June 27
Here is the full list of 48 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
How Much for a Snitzel Colt from Winx?
The record price for a yearling by the late champion sire Snitzel stands at $2.8million, but that benchmark looks set to be smashed at Inglis Easter next year.
Wootton Bassett Winning Whirl
It was a red letter day for Wootton Bassett (GB) at The Curragh overnight with a treble of winners highlighted by top class filly Whirl, who captured the Group I Pretty Polly Stakes (1m2f), a race won by the mighty Via Sistina in 2023.
Big Pedigrees Don’t Always Spell Black Type
The breeding of thoroughbreds is a very inexact science which is why we saw siblings to a pair of Group I winners fighting out the finish of a very pedestrian 1100m maiden at Ballarat on Sunday.
Unbeaten So You Think 3YO WA's New Excitement Machine
One month to the day since he first set foot on a racecourse, So You Think’s three year old son  Opportunistic remains undefeated from three starts, is a dual stakes winner with earnings of $200,250 to his name, and is WA's new rising star of the turf.
Another Aussie SW Sourced from Aga Khan Studs
When Australian investors buy tried horses out of Europe from Aga Khan Studs they know they are getting quality, but the good ones don’t come cheap with Elamaz (IRE) sourced from their draft at the Arqana Arc Sale last year for €480,000.
Euro G1 – Bridesmaid No More and Two Time Derby Hero
Aga Khan Studs don’t race a lot of geldings, but one that they do is Calandagan, who shook off his G1 bridesmaid tag winning the Group I Grand Prix de Saint Cloud in France, while in Ireland the Coolmore machine kept the winning run going to take out the Group I Irish Derby (1 ½ m).
Cambridge Stud to Sell Entire Draft at Karaka 2026
Leading thoroughbred nursery Cambridge Stud have committed their full support for NZB’s 2026 National Yearling Sales Series, with the announcement they will be selling 100% of their yearling stock at Karaka.