Salty Pearl, who claimed the Gr.2 Fillies Classic at Moonee Valley on Saturday, now looks to have her sights set on Group 1 glory in Sydney in the autumn. But it hasn’t always gone to plan for the light grey daughter of Tagaloa.
The win marked a big result for Starblue Consultancy, an emerging syndication company that has been building steadily, but clearly enjoyed its biggest day yet at Moonee Valley on Saturday. The atmosphere was dazzling, fitting for the final race day at The Valley as we know it.
“It was a very special win,” said Adrien Senechaud, the founder and sole director of Starblue. “We have never experienced an atmosphere quite like that before. With it being the last meeting at The Valley, it really was electric.
“This filly is very special to us.”
Founded by Senechaud, the syndication and bloodstock business only began operating publicly in 2022, but Saturday’s success was its biggest yet.
“We just started real small and syndicated some shares. We had a few winners and were going okay.
“We were doing that syndicating alongside our other bloodstock work.
“In 2023 we decided to go a bit bigger and start going to the sales and offer horses from sales, and we have been going well and built that again from last year onwards, from which we sourced Salty Pearl.”
Fillies Classic success
The win saw the $75,000 yearling purchase Salty Pearl confirm her quality, patiently stalking the early leaders before finding the gaps and powering through under Ben Allen to claim a decisive victory.
The Thousand Guineas form looked the strongest heading into the race, and it proved correct. Salty Pearl, who had finished fourth in that race behind Ole Dancer (Ole Kirk), burst through late to defeat Chris Waller’s Enviable (Frankel {GB}) by a length, with the runner-up fighting on gamely for second.
“It’s great for Adrian and the Starblue crew. They get nice, value horses and they spend a lot of time at the sales,” said trainer Ciaron Maher.
“How good that they’ve got a stakes-winning filly on Cox Plate day? You don’t get much better than that.”
“Ben’s had a great association with her and he’s riding with a lot of confidence. It was a beautiful, patient ride. He had to wait for his time, and he knew what he had underneath him and it was a very good result. This race came up a bit light, so I thought we’d have a go,” Maher said.
Maher also outlined potential future targets.
“She might tackle a Group 1 like the Surround,” he said. “She wasn’t far away in the Thousand Guineas. Restricted to fillies, that is probably her go. If she improves again then she’ll be thereabouts. We put the shades on the last couple of starts and got that much more focus as well. She’s a filly with a bright future.”
The story behind the buy
Salty Pearl was bred by David Brideoake, and purchased by Starblue Consultancy and Ciaron Maher Racing for $75,000 at the 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
“We purchased her from Sullivan Bloodstock, who do a great job with their horses,” Senechaud said. “We love inspecting horses there.”
“In 2024, we started working with trainers on potential purchases. The way we did this was by combining shortlists and trying to find where we matched up,” Senechaud explained.
“We teamed up with Ciaron Maher at the 2024 Classic Sale, and she was on both of our shortlists and interestingly the only grey filly in the sale.
“There has to be an element of teamwork involved. Brian Hibberd is a key member of the Starblue Bloodstock team and he attends all the sales with me. Then we link with the trainers. I think that is very important, as the trainers have to like the stock as well.
“We liked Tagaloa, who was a first-season sire at the time. He had good speed and toughness, and we liked the mating as it was speed on speed. Her dam, Leaven Of Malice, was by Sebring and she was a winner as a two-year-old over 1000 metres.
“She was closely related to Mildred, who was a very good two-year-old, and our aim was to find something early but at value, and we thought she fit that criteria. She looked sharp, she was compact and strong, and our vision was to go early.”
The promising young Yulong Stud stallion Tagaloa has now produced two Group winners in the space of a week, following the Nick Olive-trained Spicy Lu, winner of the Gr.3 Ethereal Stakes only a week earlier.
Tagaloa won the Gr.1 Blue Diamond Stakes as a two-year-old, then went on to win the Gr.3 CS Hayes Stakes and place in the Gr.1 Australian Guineas as a three-year-old. Now standing his fifth season at Yulong Stud, his oldest progeny are three.
In addition to his two Group winners, Tagaloa has produced the promising Alottago, a Stakes-placed colt now on a path toward the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas, and the Listed-placed Meisho. From just 47 runners, he has sired 15 winners with an 8.5% stakes performers-to-runners ratio.
Did she show up early as expected?
Salty Pearl was given every opportunity to show her potential as an early two-year-old, although not everything went to plan. She had been lightly educated but encountered a setback before she could make her mark.
“She actually broke her jaw. She had been broken in and had shown plenty early, but she broke her jaw and we had to give her a little break. She had surgery and had some wires put in, but she is such a tough filly it didn’t take long before she was back in work,” Senechaud said.
“She ran in the Merson Cooper, but it didn’t work out for her. After a little break, she ran a great race in the VOBIS at Bendigo, running on for second from near last. At that stage, we thought we had a nice filly.”
That potential was quickly confirmed. Salty Pearl ran third in the Gr.3 David Coles Stakes behind Steel Trap (King’s Legacy) before breaking through in a $150,000 two-year-old handicap at Caulfield; a performance that hinted at her ability to stretch beyond sprinting distances.
Bred for speed and early success, the question mark around Salty Pearl was whether she would train on and handle extra distance. The question has been answered emphatically.
This season resuming she finished third in the Listed Atlantic Jewel Stakes and the Gr.2 Thousand Guineas Prelude, before finishing a touch unlucky fourth in the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas behind Ole Dancer (Ole Kirk). Backing her up a week later at Moonee Valley, she claimed a deserved Group 2 success.
“I was always confident she would train on. Ciaron uses a lot of data systems and we had her speed gene tested, which can help with finding optimal distances, and she came out CC Long, suggesting she would be at her best at 1200 metres up to 1600 metres.
“She can relax and then sprint, and she has proved this, so it’s been great.”
When asked if the plan was always to back her up seven days later after the Guineas, Senechaud recalled how quickly Maher recognised the filly’s condition.
“It was an interesting week. She went enormous running fourth in the Guineas, she pulled up really well and Ciaron rang me and said he wants to back her up – she’s pulled up so well. Basically, I said you and your team know what you are doing, so you are more than welcome to.
“She got a good gate, was kept fresh and was too good. When the gap opened she was always going to win, she is very game and brave.
“That is why you put horses with Ciaron Maher; he is a master and has an amazing team behind him.”
A great group of owners
Behind Salty Pearl is a syndicate that reflects Starblue’s growing reputation for creating genuine communities among its owners.
“Being a newish syndication company, we didn’t have a huge group of owners, so we advertised her as we do with all of ours via social media, and the interest was really good.
“We have owners from Victoria, New South Wales and further afield in Australia.
“They are an amazing group, get on so well and are now friends for life. That is what it’s all about – they now travel together and are great friends even outside of racing.
“We try to create a community and get good people together who can ride the highs and lows of racing horses.”
Looking ahead, Senechaud said the team’s focus remains on growth through smart, value-based buying.
“With a bit of momentum, we will be busy through the 2026 sales series. We will be looking for quality stock but at value. Value is very important for us. It is exciting, and we can’t wait to get more owners involved and have more success on the track.”
Written for TTRAusNZ
