Among the highlights of the Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney, was the interest shown in the progeny of first season sire Fighting Sun.

The performance of first seasons sire is always a topic of interest at the sales, and when they finally race.

Four lots were sold with the top lot purchased for $165,000, he was offered by Middlebrook Valley Lodge Scone as Agent.

The colt has quite an interesting pedigree; he is from the same family as his sire, Fighting Sun, which is unusual.

Fighting Sun was unbeaten after only two starts, winning each time at Rosehill over 1100 metres, he was genuine Golden Slipper material.

Gai Waterhouse thought so, and many good judges had the same opinion after he spread eagled the field in the Listed Canonbury Stakes, a fairly reliable guide to the Golden Slipper, soon after he sustained an injury, he was immediately retired.

He is a young horse who has covered 298 mares, he is receiving the opportunity he deserves, yet no sire can make it entirely on his own.

His sire, Northern Meteor, proved an outstanding stud success, sadly through misadventure he only covered just four seasons, he was a Group 1 success winning the Ascot Vale Stakes, siring 19 Stakes winners, nine Stakes placegetters, with progeny earnings in access of $22 million.  

Fighting Sun may not be entirely a speed sire, even though he is by a precocious stallion, there is depth in the pedigree, his dam, Irish Darling, was a dual Oaks success.  

Sun Stud first Yearlings by Fiorente (ire)

Fiorente, the German import, was no one pace stayer; he was brilliant at 1600 metres when he came from last, on the home turn at Moonee Valley, to win the Dato’Tan Chin Nam Stakes.

He had the class to win at 1600 metres, placed in the Cox Plate, and he proved superior in winning the Melbourne Cup.

Yet his greatest hour was yet to come, winning after the Melbourne Cup he excelled to another level when first up he won the Australian Cup.

Really we saw so little of him, just a hand full of starts, yet sufficient to claim him as a champion.

Had he been set for a Doncaster it would have been a brave man to bet against him, he was a Champion; horses of his calibre are so rare.

His first crop of yearlings will appear at the MAGIC MILLIONS next week

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Lot 36 Bay colt by Fiorente --- Fulminate by Encosta de Lago, this is the first foal from a winning dam of five races up to 1500 metres, a half sister to Illuminates 10 wins, dam of Hursley, four wins from 1600 metres to 2000 metres.

Lot 468 Chestnut Filly by by Fiorente --- Mist (Ire) by Galileo , three quarter sister to Aloft .This is her fourth foal, her third foal is a two year old, dam of one to race, Ocean Spray by Fastnet Rock, a winner at 1400 metres.

Whilst the majority of the field were first starters in the Christmas Season Plate at Flemington, nothing can be taken away from the winner, King’s Authority, he showed a touch of class under difficult circumstances.

Once the starting gates opened the entire field of eight runners dived over to the outside rail, and were racing as tight as a bunch of grapes.  

King’s Authority,a $280,000 colt by Snitzel, was receiving no favours, he was just trotting until the clock tower, once the run came he was there in a flash, he is going make into a handy horse, there are more wins on the agenda for him.

The colt is raced by Sun Bloodstock Pty Ltd, trained by Mick Price who is having a good season with his current crop of two year olds.

King’s Authority is by Snitzel, be was quite impressive, he could easily star in some of the better races for two year olds in the autumn.

Whilst Snitzel was merely a sprinter, he is getting progeny that can perform well at 1600 metres, and in some instances beyond that distance.

Leading Australian thoroughbred operation, SUN STUD, is proud to announce the appointment of Phil Marshall as Nominations and Sales Manager.

Joining Sun Stud (formerly Eliza Park) in 2008, he started out in the foaling unit and assisting at the yearling sales before moving on to sales and nominations the following year.

Phil was born in Bury St.Edmunds a delightful little village just down the road a bit from the horse capitol of the world, Newmarket.

He came here with quite some experience, having worked at Cheveley Park Stud on the leafy side of Duchess Drive, where Sheikh Mohammed’s Dalham Hall Stud is located.

A stint at Lanwades Stud, still in Newmarket, saw Phil gain further experience, in 2008 he came to Australia fully equipped, he had completed a National Stud Diploma.

“Phil brings to the position a great deal of experience and thorough knowledge of the racing and breeding industries both in Australia and overseas, “Sun’s Stud Managing Director, Danielle Cheng entrusted.

“He has been an integral member of Sun Stud for a number of years, and shares with the rest of the team a great drive to take us into 2017 and beyond, “ she added.  

The week end went off with a bang for Sun Stud when Whycatchin, by Magnus, won at Mornington, followed by a winning double at Moonee Valley on Friday evening when   Scandimania and Roman Fizz, won their respective races, both horses were trained by Robbie Griffiths and ridden by Matthew Allen, who makes the best of the opportunities he receives.

Magnus is proving one of three of the most consistent sires in Victoria, with his progeny having won 94 races since the first of January this year.

Statue of Liberty sired a double in different states when Hoboken won at Ascot, and Liberty’s Warrior was successful at Benalla.

Statue of Liberty was severely disadvantaged at the outbreak of the equine influenza in 2007; he had to undergo two years of quarantine in Japan.

That was soul destroying to miss two years at the important stage of a stallions life, he had sired a number of successful horses up to that stage, including the brilliant Hay List.

The Newmarket Handicap success of 2010 Wanted by Fastnet Rock, sired a running double at Benalla when Wanted Lady scored a comfortable win by a length and a quarter, while North Of Hell won by a similar margin.

Welcome Malaguerra to the millionaire’s domain, after a brilliant win in the Group 1 Darley Classic.

The win was a big boost for his sire Magnus, with entries closing for most of the major yearling sales, Magnus looks certain to be well presented with good drafts of young horses.

Magnus is the most underrated sires in the state of Victoria; he has excellent statistics and at last is beginning to receive the attention and patronage he deserves.

Magnus is now in his ninth season with seven crops of racing age from 297 runners, he has sired 207 winners which equates to 69.7 per cent winners to runners.

He has sired winners of over $21.1 million and is enjoying another good season; his progeny have an impressive strike rate.

Magnus was a good honest performer with a pedigree second to none, being by the Golden Slipper winner, Flying Spur, a former leading sire with total progeny earnings of $114,260,599.

His dam, Scandinavia, earned black type, she was by the brilliant Snippets, from a daughter of Vain, thus there are two definite sources of speed, plus the unraced Helsinge, the dam of Black Caviar and All Too Hard.

Sun Stud had good reason to celebrate when Squamosa sired his very first winner with his first runner, when Kiwi Ida saluted the judge in far off Riccarton in New Zealand.

However, it comes as no surprise really as Squamosa has a typical sprinters pedigree, with an impressive winning strike rate, exceeding sires considered in the higher bracket.

Kiwi Ida was his first winner and she could go on, she is out of Empress Ida by Blevic, he won a Derby and has since proved to be among our better sires during his period at stud.

The two year old daughter of Squamosa put the writing on the wall, winning successive trials in August, she carried that form into her first race start in the Nobby Bussell Memorial two year old, over 800 metres.

Kiwi Ida justified her trainer’s high opinion as she ran down the hot favourite, sitting three wide, the winning margin was 6 lengths, she virtually won in a canter.

Sun’s Stud Managing Director, Danielle Cheng, was excited when she heard about the win as she takes great interest in the horses and how they are progressing.

Squamosa was only lightly raced, having just the seven starts, resulting in four wins, placed once; he was successful at Group3 level in winning the Run to the Roses at Rosehill.

He has a proven winning dam line over three generations, flavoured with a touch of Star Kingdom through his grandson Bletchingly.

Squamosa is a near complete replica of his sire, Not A Single Doubt, with a strong rich bay, free of white markings, with the exception of a white star on his forehead.

Both stand 15.3 hands, with each winning four races, about the only difference being, Not A Single Doubt went to the starting gate 10 times.

Squamosa 

The latest two sires located at Sun Studs, Reward For Victory in Victoria, and Jabali in Queensland, have settled in well to their new domains.

Both are off to a brilliant beginning with each showing positive results with mares covered so far this season.

At the recent parade day conducted at Sun Stud, Reward For Victory impressed, he is letting down rather quickly into really a lovely stallion, he is a quality thoroughbred, he is gaining popularity with breeders.

He could have even been a Golden Slipper winner, had he not run off the course at a vital stage of the race in the straight, otherwise there could have been a different result.

Reward For Victory has proven his fertility, already he is entitled to receive a quality of mares, particularly in his first season, that is essential.

His pedigree can be well documented, being by More Than Ready, the only horse to become champion sire of two year olds in both hemispheres, the U S and Australia.

The female line has quite some depth, his dam, Crillon by Zabeel, is a granddaughter of Ruby, the dam of Rubiton, and Euclase, a quality sprinter

Reward For Victory by More Than Ready

Jabali was a good colt, but also unlucky, he met the best of his age, and whilst he turned in some excellent performances, there was often a story of how he was beaten.

However, there was no hard luck associated with the Group 2 Brisbane Guineas; he came right away to win impressively.

Jabali, is by Danehill’s most brilliant son, Exceed And Excel, an outstanding success as a sire in both hemispheres, in the United Kingdom and here.

Sons of Danehill are well documented as proven sires; it has been a marvellous era, the breeding through sons of Danehill.

His dam, Balalaika, is a half sister to Miss Scaramanga, the dam of Love Of Mary, by Zeditive, produced no less than eight winners.

Jabali by Exceed And Excell

Condor Heroes, a colt by Not A Single Doubt, to be raced by Sun Bloodstock, raised a few eye brows at the Randwick two year old trials yesterday, when he scampered over the task of 850 metres in 50.52 seconds, putting a space between himself and his nearest rival of nine and a quarter lengths.

He is sure to become a serious contender for the time honoured Breeders Plate, to be run in a couple of weeks.

David Grant, who has a wealth of experience in the bloodstock industry, has been appointed as operations manager at Sun Stud.

He has all the skills required, having spent three years at the Irish National Stud, besides being stud manager at Devon Park and Emirates Park, in Victoria.

David is a natural for this position, Sun Stud’s Managing Director, Danielle Cheng, enthused.

“He has a wealth of experience in every facet of the industry, and importantly he is a great networker, familiar with our clients, both in Victoria and Queensland, “she said.

David is a very competent horseman, during his stint at the Irish National Stud he looked after Indian Ridge, whose opening service fee was 2,000 Euros, finally reaching 60,000 Euros.

At the same time Invincible Spirit was also at the Irish National Stud, he sired 1188 runners, of 832 were winners, including 96 Stakes winners, and sire sensation, Zebedee.

His brother, Michael, trains in Perth where he prepared Catsfun, winner of the 2006 West Australian Derby

Sun Stud's Operation Manager David Grant

Sun Stud was among the winners over the week-end, with their sires well represented in the winner’s circle.

The Newmarket Handicap success, WANTED, got the ball rolling at Morphettville when the three year old filly, Mystified, opened her winning account in spectacular fashion, collecting the thick end of the prize by two and a quarter lengths.

One would assume she can improve on that as it was her first outing under silk; she is trained by Ryan Balfour on the course.

Little is known of Capiton City, except to say he gave WANTED a well earned winner at far off Ballina.

STATUE OF LIBERTY and MAGNUS also sired winners at Bairnsdale, when New York saluted for STATUE OF LIBERTY and Magnette for MAGNUS at the same venue, he gets a stack of winners and can play some of the imports on a break.

Wanted - A Group 1 winner