Australia’s best maiden Oohood, shares a good deal in common with last week’s Group 1 Vinery Stakes winner Hiyaam, besides both being homebreds for Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
Hiyaam went into the Vinery with just one win, in a Ballarat maiden, from seven starts although she had shown she was up with the best three-year-old fillies of her generation with placings in the Group 1 Victorian Oaks, Group II Edward Manifold Stakes, Group II Phar Lap Stakes and Group III Ethereal Stakes.
Oohood’s record of near misses is even more stark.
The 2yo daughter of I Am Invincible has been placed in all five starts this season, all in stakes company, including a third in the $1.5 million Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield and a second in the $3.5 million Golden Slipper at Rosehill last start. (pictured)
Sure, Sheikh Khalifa can console himself with the $806,000 in prizemoney but few would deny Ohood a change of fortune in Saturday’s $1 million Group 1 Inglis Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick.
While the sponsors might prefer to cheer home an Inglis graduate, they would feel reasonably confident that Sheikh Khalifa will celebrate his recent run of success by splashing out at the much-anticipated Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale beginning on Monday.
Now, down to the biggest similarity between Hiyaam and Oohood.
The dams of these two outstanding youngsters had been purchased reasonably inexpensively by the Sheikh’s bloodstock agent Tim Stakemire, despite being among the bluest of bluebloods.
Both had a similar profile. They had more or less been written off, prematurely, because they had failed to leave anything of note in their first few foals to reach the track.
Stakemire needed just $35,000 to purchase Hiyaam’s dam Mazarine out of the Coolmore draft at the 2011 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
The daughter of Zabeel is a sister to the ill-fated Shower Of Roses who won the Vinery Stud Stakes (then known as the Arrowfield Stud Stakes) back in 2003.
She is also a three-quarter sister to the multiple Group 1 winners Octagonal and Mouawad as well as Don Eduardo and Peruzzi from the famed Eight Carat family. But Mazarine had just one winner from her first six foals at the time of her sale.
Stakemire needed slightly more for Oohood’s dam Bella Sunday, shelling out $110,000 for the daughter of legendary Sunday Silence at the 2013 Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale.
Considering that Bella Sunday can boast being a half-sister to the excellent Not A Single Doubt and her dam is a stakes-placed half-sister to the influential Snippets, and top that off with Bella Sunday carrying a positive test to Snitzel, $110,000 looked money well spent.
However, Bella Sunday had already had five named foals with just three minor winners at the time of sale.
It’s not that she lacked opportunity. She had three foals by Redoute’s Choice and one each by Hussonet and Flying Spur of racing age and her first five foals had sold for an aggregate of $2.5 million.
The Snitzel filly Bella Sunday was carrying at the time of her sale, broke her maiden at Wyong at her seventh start in May last year and was promptly whisked off to stud for a date with the Sheikh’s Pride Of Dubai who won the ATC Sires' Produce Stakes in 2015 after his success in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield.
In 2014 Bella Sunday foaled a colt by Fastnet Rock named Chocante who made two starts in Australia the most recent of which was a second at Bendigo in February last year before he boarded a plane for Singapore.
But by the time Oohood was born in 2015, the pedigree page was beginning to look a bit better. The Hussonet filly named Breakfast In Bed had won seven races and was 3-time stakes-placed and Bella Sunday’s record had improved to six winners from seven foals to race.
Following Oohood, Bella Sunday had a filly by Smart Missile who was purchased by Oohood’s trainer Tony McEvoy at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $140,000.
After foaling a colt by Snitzel last spring, Bella Sunday was one of 152 mares covered by first season sire Sooboog at Kitchwin Hills.
Oohood will be striving to become the second Group 1 winner in the space of a fortnight for I Am Invincible (pictured), after Hellbent broke through in the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley, and add further lustre to the 39 lots by the Yarraman Park on offer at Easter.
