By the leading sire for the past three seasons, out of a stakes-winning daughter of a leading broodmare sire who is herself a half-sister to one of the most charismatic champions of modern times, this week’s Best On Breeding picks himself.
Saturday’s opener at Rosehill Gardens has attracted a field of just seven acceptors but what a mouth-watering field it is.
The favourite is the Group III Ottawa Stakes runner-up Muntaseera who has also accepted for the first race at Moonee Valley on Saturday. A Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum homebred Muntaseera is a daughter of I Am Invincible out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Moosirra who is a sister to the South African Group 1 winner Musir.
An interesting debutante for Godolphin is the Exceed And Excel colt Chilliwack who is a brother to the talented performers Malahat and Fallgold. Chilliwack is the penultimate foal of Lonhro’s dual Group III winner Raspberries who died shortly after foaling a Kermadec colt in August.
Gary Portelli has two debutants who have performed credibly in trials. They are both $115,000 Gold Coast graduates - the Wandjina colt Mystic Vein and the Not A Single Doubt filly Avno Doubt.
Mystic Vein is a half-brother to the dual Group 1 winning sprinter Platelet while Avno Doubt is from the family of Wandjina.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott will be represented by Gooree Stud’s homebred I Am Invincible filly Dominant Lady who showed speed at her only start to date in the Max Lees Classic at Newcastle before weakening late.
The Lee Curtis-trained Time For Peace makes her debut on Saturday. The daughter of Time for War is another Magic Millions graduate having been secured by Mystery Downs for $90,000.
The one we like is the Gregory Hickman-trained first-starter Britain.
Bred and part-owned by the Throsby family, the flashy chestnut son of Snitzel was consigned to the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale where he failed to make his $300,000 reserve.
Back in March 2014, Britain’s dam, the Charge Forward mare London Lolly, won the Listed St Albans Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley a day after her year older brother Chautauqua broke his maiden at Geelong at his third start.
London Lolly added one more stakes win in the Group III SAJC Breeders’ Stakes and there would be few that would be unaware of the subsequent achievements of Chautauqua.
The mighty grey son of Encosta De Lago who was honoured as the equal world champion sprinter in 2017. By the time Chautauqua decided he had lost interest in racing he had banked $8,821,935 from a record of 13 wins, 7 seconds and 4 thirds from 32 starts with wins at the highest level in the ATC TJ Smith Stakes (x3), MVRC Manikato Stakes, VRC Lightning Stakes and a memorable performance (weren’t they all) in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin.
Chautauqua was the sixth foal and London Lolly the seventh foal of Lovely Jubly who was among the best juveniles in the land in 2002.
Lovely Jubly claimed a Group 1 double in the QTC Sires Produce Stakes and TJ Smith Classic in addition to wins in the BTC Champagne Stakes and Magic Millions 2yo Classic on her way to banking $1.5 million.
She came from the first crop of Danehill's grey son Lion Hunter, whose life was tragically cut short after just six seasons at stud. He started at a fee of $5,000 and was three times that amount at the time of his death.
The 20yo Lovely Jubly foaled a filly by Air Force Blue (USA) last season and was covered by Spirit Of Boom.
After foaling Britain, London Lolly had a colt by I Am Invincible and was covered by Zoustar last spring.
Another stakes-winning daughter of Charge Forward, the Champion 2YO Filly in Australia in 2008/09, Headway, has a son of Vancouver ready to make his career debut in the first race at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Narvaez was a $300,000 purchase out of the Lime Country draft at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
He is the sixth live foal of Headway who won the 2009 Group 1 VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes and was runner-up in the Golden Slipper.
