With Royal Ascot done and dusted for another year, let's turn our attention to the final G1 of the Australian racing season as some very expensive mares seek to land that elusive G1 and three runners will carry the Yulong colours!
The WFA Tatts Tiara for fillies and mares runs over 1400m at Eagle Farm and is worth $700,000 in 2025.
Known as the Winter Stakes upon its inception in 1989, the race slowly but surely increased its prestige over the years.
It was a Listed race from 1992 to 1995, G3 up to 2005, G2 in 2006 and achieved its coveted G1 status in 2007.
2011 saw its first running as the Tiara.
The NZ-bred La Posette, a daughter of Imposing won the inaugural running in 1989. Interestingly, her half sister Anything Tudor by Taipan II is the grand dam of Western Australia's reigning champion sire Playing God.
In 1997, the great Dane Ripper won this race after winning the Stradbroke and she collected the Cox Plate later that year.
Others to do the Stradbroke /Tiara double were Srikandi in 2015 and Tofane in 2021.
Recently retired champion Bella Nipotina just missed out - second in the 2024 Straddie to Stefi Magnetica before bolting in the Tiara of last year. She had run in all four of the G1 Queensland sprints - won the Doomben 10,000, second in the Kingsford Smith, second in the Stradbroke and won the Tiara. The unforgettable Bella went on to win The Everest later in the year!
The brilliant Star Way daughter Bonanova remains the only dual winner with her victories in 1999/2000.
Miss Potential, Mamzelle Pedrille, Charmview, La Sizeranne, Porto Roca, Nova Star, Melito, Prompt Response, Yosei, Red Tracer, Invincibella and Palaisipan are other notable names on the honour roll.
This year we've got a very very open race, and since favourites don't have the greatest record in this event at the best of times, a reasonable case can be made for quite a few of these girls!
Star Witness filly El Morzillo is the only three year-old in the Tiara field this year and will look to emulate the success of another Queensland trained three year-old in Startantes, who won the race in 2022.
The track is soft 5-ish with the possibility of a couple of light showers through Saturday.
Top Tip: GRINZINGER BELLE
John Wheeler purchased the big bay baby Grinzinger Belle for $32,000 from the Windsor Park draft in Book 2 of the NZB Karaka Yearling Sale.
The youngster grew into an imposing mare, with her four flashy white socks and bold front running style making her an impressive sight on the race track. She has the talent to match her looks and has earned more than $800,000 on the track - then just last month she was purchased by the behemoth racing and breeding operation Yulong for $1.45 million at the Inglis Chairman's Sale.
That's some return on investment! Now - can the Danny O'Brien trained daughter of Shamexpress get her G1 before the breeding barn beckons? She has a great chance to do so here I believe!
Now a four year old, Grinzinger Belle has been out of the placings at her two G1 starts to date, but I can find reasons for her to turn that around here.
She’s a four time Group winner in Victoria, and she goes best fresh as she is here.
With her high cruising speed she is perhaps better suited at 1400m at this level, than the mile of her two G1 attempts though she has won at the distance. And she does like a little bit of give underfoot so conditions should suit.
Her sire, the G1 Newmarket winner Shamexpress who was also trained by O'Brien - currently has the world's fastest horse in Kai Ying Rising.
The son of the great O'Reilly has four stakes winners (2 G1) this season including Grinzinger Belle.
Grinzinger Belle was the first foal of the once-raced Rip Van Winkle mare Ripsomemore, a half-sister to the South African G3 winner Golden Parachute (Montjeu), stakes-placed Flax (Falkirk), and to the dam of ARC Eclipse Stakes winner Play That Song (Showcasing).
Grinzinger Belle has a very interesting pedigree.
She is bred 3f x 3f to NZ's great sire Volksraad by Green Desert, an elite sire and fantastic broodmare sire.
Her own damsire is Galileo's G1 winning miler Rip Van Winkle, and he hails from the same tail female line as Volksraad and is quite a close relation. Rip Van Winkle also was born to be an exceptional broodmare sire being of this family and out of a Stravinsky mare to boot!
Volksraad himself was bred x 2 to Blue Hen Somethingroyal via her sons Sir Gaylord and Secretariat.
Sir Tristram's elite broodmare sire Grosvenor (tail male Sir Gaylord) is carried by Shamexpress while his dam was by Hermes by Aureole.
Aureole's tail male line is that of Noble Bijou sire of Grinzinger Belle's third dam - and of Welsh Saint, carried by Volksraad.
There is lots to admire about this pedigree, another notable aspect is that both sire and dam of Grinzinger Belle descend from daughters of Nasrullah's influential son Never Say Die.
No wonder Yulong had her in their sights. A fine race mare she is but certainly an absolute powerhouse producer in waiting!
Stradbroke winning jockey Tim Clarke is shooting for another G1 here on Belle and rides her for the first time - I'm taking confidence from his assessment of her chances - and she jumps from barrier 7.
Next best: ZASZOU
Another turbo-charged pedigree to delight breeding nerds here!
Four year old Zaszou stormed home to beat current Tiara second favourite and proven Group performer Tashi last start here at Listed level, after having no luck in running - and announced herself as a genuine contender for this race.
Trained and patiently handled by master conditioner Phillip Stokes the lightly raced daughter of champion sire Zoustar steps up to 1400m for the first time this prep.
Bred by Winton Bloodstock, Zaszou was a $200,000 purchase by Bennett Racing from the Kitchwin Hills draft at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
She is the third winner, and first stakes winner out of the G3 placed Zabeel mare Zasorceress,
Zasorceress is three-quarter-sister to the G2 winner Lafleur (dam of G 3 winner Amaryllis and Listed winner Papilio) and to Zygadene (dam of the Listed-winning, G1 placed Wildflower).
Zaszou's first three damsires are Zabeel, Encosta De Lago and Green Desert, that's about as good as it gets - but it's her fourth dam the Habitat daughter Habibti that is the real X-factor.
A race filly of unbelievable speed and talent, Habibti was unbeaten at two and the 3YO champion of Europe, British HOTY and a four times G1 winner over sprint courses. At the height of her powers she was almost unbeatable.
Like so many of the great mares, her impact as a producer was limited in the first and second generations although one of her daughters produced the Italian Derby winner Morshdi who was sadly, infertile.
Zaszou's third dam Desert Lily was Habibti's only race winner.
This is the family that we know best in Australasia through Habibti’s half sister the Blue Hen Eight Carat - particularly through her wondrous connection with Zabeel.
But as time passes Habibti is also doing the family proud, as a grand-dam and great grand-dam of many good horses.
Notably in this part of the world she appears as the third dam of four time G1 winner and turf warrior Humidor - the only horse able to really push Winx in her four year long Cox Plate winning rampage.
Humidor was by Teofilo out of Zabeel's Zalika, a three quarter sister to Zaszou's dam Zasorceress and full sister to her third dam Desert Lily.
Second dam Star Jasmine being by Encosta De Lago creates a 3m x 3f cross of that great sire and of course Zoustar's sire the speed machine Northern Meteor is linebred to this - his own family - that of Blue Hen Rough Shod.
Zabeel's damsire Nureyev is another of the tribe and an important inclusion as he, through his daughters in particular, seems to be some kind of genetic “activating” presence in a pedigree, in the same way Lyphard is for other duplications of Northern Dancer sons.
Zaszou is also 5m x 5m to ever reliable speed influence Danzig, who loves to meet up with his relative Bletchingly as he does here through Canny Lad.
She is linebred (sex balanced ) to Mr Prospector and to Sir Ivor, and to the Blue Hen Lalun through her sons the half brothers Never Bend and Bold Reason.
Zoustar carries two lines of Wilkes by Court Martial through his dam, and this enduring speed influence is bred on very similar lines to Courtessa, ancestress of Habibti, Eight Carat and other great daughters of this prolific family.
When Northern Meteor was mated with Listen Here (whose fourth dam was Eight Carat) the result was champion sire Deep Field and his brother Shooting To Win.
All in all it's a pedigree that packs a hell of a punch!
Zaszou has come up with barrier 17 which is not ideal, but hopefully Ryan Maloney can pull out a peach of a ride on this progressive young mare, keep her out of trouble and present her at the right time.
Roughie: OLENTIA
Olentia is one of three Chris Waller runners racing for the Tiara, the others being the in form favourite Firestorm (Satano Aladdin) and the talented but enigmatic Konasana (Dundeel)
Another daughter of Zoustar, Olentia is a five year old out of the winning Anabaa mare Mabkhara.
She failed to flatter on resuming in the Dane Ripper but the track was very firm that day and it's not her preference.
Early in her career Olentia won here and at Doomben before going on to perform very creditably at stakes level winning the G2 Emancipation at 1500m, 3rd in the G2 Hot Danish at this trip, and finishing just behind the placegetters in the G1 Queen Of The Turf at 1600m and G1 Coolmore Classic at 1500m.
She wants those showers to arrive on Saturday as forecast and she wants a good pace on as she is a get back and run on horse. But she definitely has the talent to be right in the finish!
Olentia has form around all the top mares and last year's Tiara runner up Semana, who is my blowout pick, can't believe the price there.
Back to Olentia though. The five year old was a $310,000 Star Thoroughbreds purchase from the Tyreel Stud draft at Magic Millions Gold Coast 2021
She is a great grand daughter of the At Talaq daughter Nasmah, dam of the brilliant sprinter miler mare Rewaaya (Singspiel), and second dam of G1 Doomben Cup winner Sense Of Occasion (Street Sense)
Olentia's dam Mabkhara has produced eight winners and two other stakes winners - the talented G3 sprint mare Wandabaa (Wandjina) and her equally speedy stakes winning half brother Malkovich (Choisir).
Her dam was the unraced Jeune mare Bukhoor, producer of 11 winners. Her daughter Farasha was dam of Sharnee Rose (Nadeem) a multiple G2 winner and G1 placed up to a mile.
Descending from the Last Tycoon daughter Asawir, a half sister to the great speed influence Snippets, this is the immediate family of supersire Not A Single Doubt and stakes winners True Blonde, Regrowth, Mushreq and Ertijaal.
Two Melbourne Cup winners - Jeune and At Talaq - have ironically become quite influential sources of high quality sustained speed through their daughters even as their male progeny were top class stayers - the two SA based sires were frequently seen in the same pedigree most famously that of the champion stayer Mummify.
Olentia is bred 5m x 4m to Northern Dancer and 5m x 3m to his son Danzig.
Her tail female line obviously creates an incredibly potent and prolific nick with Zoustar's damsire Redoute's Choice.
Olentia's damsire Anabaa has left a lasting legacy of class and speed through his daughters and is almost without exception an upgrading influence for same.
There’s a lovely pattern going on in the background of Olentia's pedigree too - Jeune descends from a mare by Worden, the half brother to Wilkes carried x 2 in Zoustar's dam, while At Talaq was out of a mare by Vent Du Nord (another stallion out of a Worden mare) that's a powerful duplication.
Damien Thornton takes the ride on Olentia who has drawn nicely in barrier 8.
Blowout: SEMANA
Along with Grinzinger Belle Yulong purchased Semana at last month's Inglis Chairman's sale and they went to $1.55 million to secure her.
That's pretty heady stuff for a mare by a good but not great sire in Winning Rupert ( though he has outperformed the expectations of many and has done a darned good job with the mares he has received) out of a mare with a good but not-hugely - fashionable female line.
That's a credit to this tough mare who though not a G1 winner probably has the best G1 form in this race being three times placed at the highest level. She would have won this race last year, even after enduring a torrid run, if not for the presence of the champion Bella Nipotina.
A $200,000 Magic Millions purchase as a yearling from Newgate Farm for James Bester Bloodstock/Vantage Thoroughbreds, Semana has been trained throughout her career by Ciaron Maher.
She's a second up specialist and comes in off a first up ninth in the Moreton Cup, but last year she was poor first up in the Stradbroke before going so close to winning this.
Unlike many here she has performed creditably, though outclassed, in open G1 company as well - fifth in a G1 Orr to Another Wil, fourth in a G1 Winx to Via Sistina beating home the likes of Atishu, Zardozi,Riff Rocket and Buckaroo.
Semana is a half-sister to Morphettville Guineas winner Gala Queen and they were foaled by the metro-winning Nicconi daughter Festivity, a half-sister to stakes-winner Merriest (Denman)
Her third dam is Thrill by the worthy Mr Prospector son Bellotto, a winner from only two starts.
Semana's fourth dam amps it up - she being the mighty Scomeld - Champion 2 and 3YO filly of her generation, amongst her 12 wins the Wakeful/ VRC Oaks double and an Apollo Stakes. She was also third in the Rosehill Guineas to the racing immortal Dulcify.
The Theo Marks Stakes and Queen Of The Turf Stakes were also amongst her many great wins.
When Mick Dittman won the 1979 AJC Apollo Stakes on Scomeld, the champion jockey declared the stunning chestnut filly better than Denise's Joy.
Bred by Lyndhurst Stud, Scomeld had proved herself the best of her generation at two in Queensland with four wins and to seconds from six starts, bookending the season with success in the C.E. McDougall Stakes and Marlboro Stakes (JJ Atkins).
An interesting little piece of trivia is that Scomeld was the very first broodmare purchased by future industry heavyweight John Messara, and he did so on the sage advice of none other than Bart Cummings!
Scomeld didn't live up to expectations at stud - of her seven foals, three reached the track with two winners.
Clearly, the best was Scollata (Rancher), who won the Group III STC Sweet Embrace Stakes and Listed VATC Mercedes-Benz Stakes and was third in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks.
Scomeld was a true daughter of the Sunshine State, sired by the Tatt's QLD Recognition Stakes and BATC Bernborough Handicap winner Scotian, a son of Lyndhurst Stud's foundation stallion Smokey Eyes.
Scomeld's dam Supreme Meld was the daughter of another Lyndhurst Stud resident, Lysander.
Semana's stakes winning sire Winning Rupert is by the great Written Tycoon and out of Winaura, a daughter of beloved QLD champion Show A Heart who is also dam of his SW full sister Tycoon Evie. Her daughter Matryoshka, is the dam of the Silver Slipper winner Straight Charge.
Winning Rupert was a brilliantly fast conveyance whose career was cut short by injury at just his sixth start. He was undefeated to that point and had broken two track records, running within 0.1 second of Takeover Target’s Doomben track record.
Semana's damsire Nicconi is a much valued and consistent source of speed, of course most notably through his freakish son Nature Strip.
A sensational sprinter himself, Nicconi won the G1 Lightning Stakes., the G1 The Galaxy, and the G3 Ian McEwen Trophy. In total he won six races, was placed in the G1 Manikato Stakes and finished a brave fourth in the G1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was a half brother to the exceptional G1 performer Niconero and they were produced by the Scenic daughter Nicola Lass.
Apart from champion Nature Strip Nicconi is sire of G1 Winterbottom Stakes winning daughter Graceful Girl and another daughter Faatinah placed in a G1 Oakleigh Plate.
He is a sought after broodmare sire with the brilliant but ill fated colt King Kirk, Semana and Magic Time among his best.
Semana's dam Festivity is bred 5f x 4m to Bletchingly and Bianconi is tail male to his relative Danzig, while Winning Rupert's damsire Show A Heart is also tail male to Bletchingly.
Further back in Semana's pedigree is the great old colonial stallion Good Brandy, by another relative in Rockefella.
Scomeld’s sire Scotian was a son of Smokey Eyes by Star Kingdom's sire Stardust - a relative of In The Slot carried by Winning Rupert.
So much speed in this girl's pedigree. Robbie Dolan takes the ride on Semana and she's drawn barrier 16 but I'm convinced she's the one massively over the odds!
