3 minute read
Trainer parts with $330,000 for a colt from the Ohukia Lodge draft.
Co-trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young have enjoyed enormous success with progeny of Waikato Stud-based sire Savabeel (Zabeel), so it was no surprise to see the training duo pay $330,000 and $310,000 respectively for a pair of colts by the sire at Tuesday's Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale.
The first of these was Lot 117, who realised $330,000 was offered by Ohukia Lodge at Tuesday's sale. He is also bred on a tried and tested cross, with the youngster being out of winning O'Reilly (Last Tycoon) mare Simply You.
Simply You herself is out of dual Australian Group 1 winner Glamour Puss (Tale Of The Cat) and she produced eight winners headed by stakes-placed pair Beckham (Pins) and Royal Elite (Savabeel), while she is also the grandam of 2019 Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr 2, 1400m) winner Acting (Savabeel), who was trained by Busuttin and Young.
Glamour Puss herself is a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Vision And Power (Carnegie) and Group 2 scorer Rare Insight (O'Reilly) and the dam of Group 1 winner Steps In Time (Danehill Dancer). The colt breezed in a time of 10.47 seconds.
Busuttin and Young enjoyed success on the weekend with another son of Savabeel in Albarado, who showcased his VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) credentials when winning the Caulfield Classic (Gr 3, 2000m). Albarado himself is out of O'Reilly mare O'Fille, which is a cross that is responsible for 18 stakes winners and four Group 1 scorers, firing at a 13 per cent strike rate for stakes winners to runners.
"We all know what Savabeel does year in year out," said Busuttin. "Obviously we've got Albarado who is going to be one of the favourites for the Derby on the same cross as him and he comes from a farm that produces Group 1 winner after Group 1 winner and he was just a lovely individual with a good page to back it up.
"Acting was a sharper Savabeel so we'll just let the horse tell us. They win at all distances so we'll let the horse do the talking."
Busuttin said was planning to target the two-year-old sales in both Australia and New Zealand this year: "We've always been strong supporters of the ready to run sales. A lot of good horses come out of them so we'll always be big supporters of ready to run sales in both Australia and New Zealand especially."
Busuttin and Young are based in Victoria and due to the restrictions surrounding the coronavirus, many Victorians have been unable to make the trip to Riverside for the sales.
"We've had a couple of good judges in Mike Kneebone and Jim Clarke checking out the horses for me and with the footage from the vendors and Inglis, you can watch a lot online," said Busuttin. "It's certainly not the same as being there but we make sure all the boxes are ticked before we put the name to the paper."
Later on in the afternoon, the training partnership went to $310,000 for another colt by Savabeel and he too was out of a winning O'Reilly mare in Dubonnet, whose two foals to race have been winners.
Dubonnet herself is out of Group 1 winner Pernod (Centaine) and she is also the dam of Group 3 winner Martini Red (Red Ransom). Further back this is the same family as 2014 South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Kushadasi (Choisir) and Listed scorer Karlovasi (Reaan)
Offered as Lot 220 and consigned by Lime Country Thoroughbreds on behalf of Trelawney Stud, the colt breezed in a time of 10.82 seconds and Jo Griffin told Racing & Sports Bloodstock he was the second most popular during the inspections.
"He was very popular during the inspections and was probably the second most inspected horse in our draft," said Griffin. "I guess timing is everything in this game and I think with Albarado winning a Group 3 over the weekend would have helped his popularity."
