The Alabama Express rolls on!
WFA Gr.1 winner Alabama Express notched a new first-crop winner on Friday night with a bold front-running performance from three-year-old Brandjam at Moonee Valley. Having trained his sire Alabama Express, Mike Moroney looks to have unearthed another very promising prospect, with the colt leading from pillar to post to record a debut victory on his second start.
Brandjam is the first foal out of the winning Turffontein mare Falling Waters and from the extended family of three-time Gr.1 winner Priolo. He is the 15th individual first-crop winner for young sire Alabama Express and the seventh that carries a second line of Danehill following Stakes winners Alabama Lass and Discretion Rules.
Juvenile Gr.1 winner Lucky Vega sharp off the mark
Yulong’s own Gr.1-winning two-year-old Lucky Vega kick started a sensational Saturday, siring a smart debut winner in one of the first juvenile contests of the season. Following an eye-catching trial win a week earlier, first-crop colt Vega For Luck stepped up to emulate his precocious young sire taking out the 950m contest at Tauranga for trainers Ben & Ryan Foote.
The New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 graduate held off sustained pressure from Te Akau-owned Dare To Prosir, kicking clear in the final 100m to land a comfortable one and a half-length victory over the fast-finishing Luminance. This win secures Vega For Luck a slot in January’s Karaka Millions 2YO race, won last season by fellow Inglewood Stud graduate Velocious (Written Tycoon).
Vega For Luck is out of the winning Darci Brahma mare Badea, a half-sister to Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes winner Lilikoi, herself out of a Giant’s Causeway sister to high-class juvenile Requinto. This potent combination of Lucky Vega’s own sire Lope De Vega with Danehill-line mares has so far produced no fewer than eight top-flight winners, including five-time Gr.1 sprinting star Santa Ana Lane, Breeder’s Cup Juvenile victrix Newspaperofrecord, and Dewhurst hero Belardo. Many will be familiar with inbreeding to the great Storm Cat, a cross that has yielded no less than 51 individual Gr.1 winners, but doubling up on his famed son Giant’s Causeway is also nothing to sniff at. Among the Stakes winners is two-year-old American Gr.1 winner Gunite who carries two-lines of Coolmore’s “Iron Horse”.
First Settler cements Coolmore contention with tough Gr.2 Danehill Stakes win
Yulong-owned three-year-old colt First Settler firmly staked his claim for Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes glory with a gritty win in Saturday’s Gr.2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington. The son of nine-time Victorian Champion Sire Written Tycoon lead home a quinella for the Price Kent stable following a tenacious final stride battle with stable-mate Reserve Bank.
Last seen bravely chasing home fellow Yulong-owned Growing Empire in the Listed Poseidon Stakes on his sole defeat from four starts, First Settler will now head straight to Victoria’s premier three-year-old sprint on the first Saturday of November.
A Magic Millions graduate, First Settler is a half-brother to Listed Twilight Glow winner Vienna Princess, out of a winning Street Cry sister to Gr.1 winner and sire Casino Prince. This is also the family of Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Best Of Bordeaux and Gr.1-winning juvenile Prince Fawaz.
First Settler is the 64th Stakes winner for former Australian Champion Sire Written Tycoon, and the eighth individual Group winner this year alone following the Gr.1 wins of Velocious, Lady Of Camelot and Southport Tycoon. Saturday also marked another significant milestone in Written Tycoon’s career with his dual Gr.1-winning son Ole Kirk producing a Stakes winner from his first starter. Of Written Tycoon’s five sons currently at stud with progeny of racing age, all five have since produced Group winners, cementing his status as a leading source of stallion prospects.
Viva Via Sistina!
Sweet redemption for Yulong’s star import Via Sistina, with a hard-knocking victory in Saturday’s Gr.1 Turnbull Stakes. Following a below par performance in the Gr.1 Makybe Diva, the battle-hardened daughter of Fastnet Rock bounced back with a heart-stopping win over Gr.1 Underwood Stakes hero Buckaroo. Headed briefly 100m out following a clear run up the straight, Via Sistina showed her class digging in to score by an eventual head, reinstating herself as a serious threat in this year’s Gr.1 Cox Plate.
Via Sistina is now the winner of four Gr.1 contests, with three wins since her arrival to Australia earlier in the year, adding a further $2.5 million to her earnings. Trainer Chris Waller has previously used the Turnbull Stakes as a stepping stone to the Cox Plate glory with another mighty mare in the shape of Winx, and the Yulong team are hoping Via Sistina can emulate her feats later this month at The Valley.
