Best On Breeding

Mark Smith - Friday August 2

The first Saturday of a new season and a rare stakes-free weekend however there are several very interesting races for the newly turned three-year-olds.

There have been quite a few American-bred mares that have made a lasting impact on the breed in Australia and the Nijinsky mare Dancing Show (USA).

A granddaughter of the blue hen Best In Show, Dancing Show right off the bat showed she was going to be something special when the Miswaki foal she was carrying at the time of her importation ranked up with the best sprinters in the land.

Advertisement

His name was Umatilla who won the Group 1 WATC Karrakatta Plate and was runner-up to Canonise in the Blue Diamond Stakes at two.


Two year’s later Dancing Show’s son Hurricane Sky (Star Watch) atoned for his half-brothers defeat in the Blue Diamond Stakes and would later add the Group 1 AJC All-Aged Stakes.

Both Umatilla and Hurricane Sky became successful stallions while Dancing Show’s daughters have taken it to another level.

The star of the show has been Shantha’s Choice (Canny Lad) the dam of Redoute’s Choice, Manhattan Rain, Platinum Scissors, Sliding Cube and Echoes Of Heaven.

Show Dancing (Don’t Say Halo) is the dam of Al Maher and Salameh while the stakes-placed Makarova (Thunder Gulch) is the dam of Listed winner Ruling Dynasty and the winning Danehill mare Twyla is the dam of Group III winner Murjana as well as the dam s of Group 1 winner Gathering and Group III winner Florentina as well as the Group II winner Niagara.

Murjana (Giant’s Causeway) was purchased by Tim Staksmire, on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, for $300,000 at the 2006 Magic Millions.

In a troubled history at stud, Murjana has just four live foals in 11 seasons.

Her second foal Isstoora did not see the racetrack. The daughter of High Chaparral is the dam of the very talented Asateer  (pictured as a yearling) who finished second on debut at Bendigo before two wins on the synthetic at Pakenham and Ballarat.

The son of I Am Invincible races in the colours of his breeder Sheik Khalifa after failing to make his $400,000 reserve when offered by Coolmore at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

The Lloyd Kennewell-trained colt shapes as the one to be in Saturday’s 3-Y-O C&G Hcp (1000m) at Moonee Valley, which is a race heavily influenced by the descendants of Dancing Show.

Her granddaughter Sliding Cube is the dam of the exciting stallion Rubick who has two leading chances in the race in the Michael Moroney-trained Alburq and the Richard Laming-trained Condo's Express.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Lindermann Cracks $4million in Earnings
Gelded after losing form following his tenacious victory in the 2023 Group I ATC Rosehill Guineas, the Chris Waller trained Lindemann has embraced life as a gelding and has been on fire this spring racking up a series of lucrative wins including the $750,000 Group III ATC Craven Plate (1800m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Von Hauke Wins G2 Crystal Mile - Half-Brother NZB Ready to Run
The Cliff Brown-trained Von Hauke swamped his rivals late under a patient rider from Ethan Brown to land the Gr.2 Crystal Mile (1600m) at The Valley on Saturday.
$1,050,000 Colt for I Am Invincible
Tipped as one of the stars on day one at Magic Millions, the I Am Invincible colt from Group II winning Zabeel mare Adrift duly set the sale ring alight when selling for $1,050,00 with Guy Mulcaster signing the docket in conjunction with Waller Racing.
Invincible Colt on Target for Blue Diamond
The open juvenile event at Randwick on Saturday always looked good on paper with some highly rated fillies and two expensive colts engaged and at the winning post it was I Am Invincible’s Rulership that claimed the victory and he did it in style!
Blueblood Lonhro Colt Wins G1 Spring Champion
At the start of August we ran a story about the 3YO’s that were entered for this year Cox Plate and aside from the usual suspects there were some ‘Cox Plate dreamers’ and one of them was unraced Lonhro colt Attica, who capped his meteoric rise to fame with a thrilling victory in the $2million Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Invincible Colt Wins $1million G2 Callander Presnell for Godolphin
Progressive I Am Invincible colt Ohope won the $1million ATC Tapp Craig (1400m) at his previous start, however was not rewarded officially with Black Type for that result, but he did achieve stakes-winner status at Randwick on Saturday when scoring a determined win over quality colt Rivellino in the $1million ATC Callander Presnell (1600m).
Deserving G2 Fillies Classic Success For Tagaloa's Salty Pearl
After a solid run in black type races, the connections of the Ciaron Maher trained Tagaloa filly Salty Pearl were rewarded for her consistency, backing up from a solid fourth in last Saturday's Group 1 MRC Thousand Guineas to claim the $300,000 Group 2 MVRC Fillies Classic (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
G2 McEwen Stakes To Jigsaw - Fifth Black Type Victory
A previous Group 2 winner at Moonee Valley a few years back, Jigsaw’s connections would’ve headed into Saturday’s Group 2 MVRC McEwen Stakes (1200m) with a level of confidence despite tackling last start Group 1 MVRC Manikato Stakes winner Charm Stone.
First to 100
It’s probably no surprise to anyone that this stallion is the first to sire 100 Australian winners this season.
$1million I Am Invincible Colt from G1 Winner Amanpour
Rosemont Stud bought Group I winning Northern Meteor mare Amanpour for $1.5million at the 2015 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale and got a big return on investment when selling her I Am Invincible colt for $1million during the first session of Magic Millions on Wednesday.