Yarraman Park’s Hellbent had a red-letter day on Saturday surging into the Top 10 on the Australian General Sires List by earnings with a flurry of stakes horses including his super tough mare Vivy Air, who took out the $2million ATC Five Diamonds (1800m) at Rosehill.
Earlier in the day, Hellbent sired exciting juvenile Revengeance to win the $1million ATC Golden Gift and then he made it a winning double when the Ciaron Maher trained Vivy Air backed up from her second placing in the $3million ATC Big Dance (1600m) on Melbourne Cup Day.
Ridden by Reece Jones, the five year-old mare unleashed a powerful run along the inside when she got clear running and prevailed to win by a neck over the Group I winners Transatlantic and Militarize.
"I think that win in the (Big Dance) Wild Card two starts back gave her a bit of confidence and the extra 200m of today's race suited her, too,'' said Maher's stable representative, Johann Gerard-Dubord.
"The plan was to be a bit further forward but she got a long way back. Reece stuck to the fence which worked out perfectly well, it was the right move.
"There was a big gap up the inside so it was a great ride. It's a great result, a great prizemoney race and backing up from Tuesday into today, it's not easy to do, but she is very tough."
Bred by OTI Racing, Vivy Air had a change of ownership and trainer last year and has gone on to build the overall record of four wins and 12 placings from 27 starts with prizemoney topping $2.8million.
Multiple Group placed, she is not an official stakes-winner as the Five Diamonds lacks official recognition, but Vivy Air has the prizemoney and race record that paint the picture of a mare very much the quality of a stakes-winner.
Vivy Air is a half-sister to South African Group II winner New Predator and is one of seven winners from seven to race from winning Fastnet Rock mare Head over Heels, a half-sister to stakes-winner Presently.
Head Over Heels has had no luck at stud in recent years and has missed to Hellbent in the last two seasons.
Hellbent was on fire on Saturday with feature wins for Vivy Air and Revengeance, plus his star mare Magic Time was a close second in the $3million Group I VRC Champions Sprint at Flemington, while at Rosehill progressive mare Bauhinia flew home for second in the Group II ATC Hot Danish Stakes.
Hellbent stands at a fee of $38,500 this spring.
