Two sensational races for breeding buffs at Rosehill on Saturday with the Group III Magic Night Stakes and Group III Pago Pago Stakes the last chance saloon for many striving to claim a birth in the Golden Slipper.
The Pago Pago features three colts that came at a cost of a million or more as yearlings. They are led by the $2 million Faretti (I Am Invincible x Tai Tai Tess), $1.4 million Born A Warrior (I Am Invincible x Soorena) and the $1,050,000 Stronger (Not A Single Doubt x Star Pupil).
We seemed to have focused, of late, on mares that have had a troubled history at stud so let’s switch it up this week with two mares who had no such problem, the half-sisters Procrastinate and Galapagos Girl.
Both are daughters of Centaine’s sister Reigntaine.
The oldest by eight years is Procrastinate who is by the former, Woodlands shuttler Jade Hunter (USA).
After a stellar career at stud, Procrastinate recently passed away at the age of 29 at Segenhoe Stud.
Bred by Pine Lodge Thoroughbreds, Procrastinate was a more than handy racemare winning six races, including the Group III MRC Tristarc Stakes, defeating Arborea who would be Procrastinate's paddock mate towards the end of her days at Segenhoe
Procrastinate excelled as a broodmare and didn’t take long to prove it.
Her first foal, Laisserfaire (Danehill), was the most expensive filly at Inglis Easter in 1998 when bought by James Bester on behalf of Sabine Plattner for $575,000.
Among her 12 wins in South Africa were five Group I races. Procrastinate kept the till ticking over for the next 15 years.
She had a further four stakes-winner. Time Thief (Redoute’s Choice) was purchased by Darley as a yearling for $2 million, Foreplay a $625,000 yearling, the $650,000 Galileo filly Personify (who would later sell as a broodmare for $2 million), and Time for Julia (Redoute’s Choice) who was retained by Fairway Thoroughbreds who had purchased Procrastinate in 2007 for $660,000 at the Inglis Broodmare Sale.
The winner of the Group III Bellmaine Stakes at Caulfield and the Group III Roy Higgins Tribute Stakes at Randwick, A Time For Julia has her first foal making his career debut in Saturday’s Pago Pago Stakes.
He is the Medaglia’ d’Oro (USA) colt Famous who was a $750,000 purchase by James Harron Bloodstock at the 2018 Australian Easter Yearling Sale. (pictured as a yearling)
The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained colt has picked a tough spot to break his maiden, but he showed with his barrier trial win at Canterbury on February 25 he is not without ability.
Famous will be at long odds to win the Pago Pago but his close relation Villami will be at a much shorter quote in the Magic Night Stakes.
The Gerald Ryan-trained filly led at every call when making her career debut over 1100 metres at Rosehill on February 25.
It impressed her trainer to declare the daughter of Foxwedge as the best filly he has had since Melito (Redoute's Choice) and
Villami (pictured below as a yearling) is the tenth foal of Procrastinate’s half-sister Galapagos Girl, a $150,000 Easter Yearling, who was trained by Brian Mayfield-Smith to win four races including Group III races at Caulfield and Flemington after which she was purchased by Deborah Ho for $700,000 at the 2004 Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale.
A daughter of the excellent broodmare sire Dehere (USA), Galapagos Girl is still searching for her first stakes-winner although the five she has got to the track are all winners.
They include a colt by Exceed And Excel that was purchased for $220,000 by the HKJC Mark Richards from the Cressfield draft at the 2011 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale before making a sales-topping HK$7.5million (A$1,060,000) at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s International Sale at Sha Tin.
Named Longwah Amber he won four raced in the former colony.
Only three yearlings by Foxwedge have made more than the $425,000 shelled out by Gerald Ryan to secure Villami from the Cressfield draft at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
While Procrastinate was pensioned in 2015 before her death this year, Galapagos Girl is still going strong. She has a yearling filly by Headwater and a filly foal by All Too Hard. She was covered by Headwater again this season although her last serve came on New Year’s Day this year.
Procrastinate’s daughter A Time For Julia has a yearling filly by Lonhro named Antibes but after she missed in 2017 she boarded a plane to Japan where she was covered by Deep Impact (JPN), before returning safely in foal last November.
And if you would like into buy into the family, Cressfield will be offering a Fastnet Rock filly out of Personify (Galileo), the magic cross, at the upcoming Easter Yearling Sale.
