Lofty ambitions and high strike rates at Corumbene
Oh, what could have been! But for a mild case of lameness the ruling favourite for this year’s Blue Diamond Stakes-G1, Lofty Strike, would almost certainly have been in the finish and added to the Corumbene Stud honour roll that includes Golden Slippers with Sebring and Overreach and a Blue Diamond with True Jewels.
That the superbly bred colt by Snitzel out of George Altomonte’s Slipper winner Overreach was available at just $280,000 in a booming market is evidence of Corumbene’s realistic valuations of their stock. And the same will apply this Easter at Riverside where the Dunedoo farm will take a select draft of four individuals.
Kicking off the draft will be Lot 74, a striking chestnut colt by Snitzel out of Bennetta, Corumbene’s quality daughter of General Nediym who counted the Light Fingers Stakes-G2 amongst her career wins. To date Bennetta is the dam of two winners, this yearling’s full brother Bottega the best with three wins and no fewer than five Group placings on his CV. On at least two occasions it was the bob of the head that denied us writing about a Stakes winner. Farm Manager Trent Hewitt said of the colt, “He’s very, very nice, a lot different to Bottega, but a sharp sprinting type that will impress.”
Anyone that likes the duplication of the blood of Redoute’s Choice will find this colt most appealing as the Champion Sire appears through his son Snitzel and as Bennetta’s damsire. The colt also carries just about every desirable Australasian line of the past 50 years as his third dam is by Sir Tristram and his fourth dam is the Australasian Oaks-G1 winner Belle Chanson who ran out the 2000 metres despite being a daughter of Biscay.
Lot 107, Corumbene’s Exceed And Excel colt out of Cheetara by More Than Ready, offers a similar, strong profile. While both his sire and damsire are in the twilights of their careers, their ability to produce quality horses continues unabated. The unraced Cheetara is the dam of Single Bullet (Not A Single Doubt) whose earnings topped $500,000 and included a win in the Pago Pago Stakes-G3 as a two year-old. A half-sister to the Listed winner Being Fabulous and to the Stakes placed Embley (both High Chaparral) and Gaburin (Fusaichi Pegasus), Cheetara is out of Danehill’s daughter Dashing Eagle who dead heated for the win in the Flight Stakes-G1 and then claimed the Thousand Guineas-G1 all for herself a week later. Her dam, the Luskin Star mare La Caissiere also won the Flight when it was a G2 along with the time-honoured Wakeful Stakes at the same level. In Trent’s opinion “He’s very athletic looking, really well muscled in the shoulder and hindquarter, a well put together machine.”
One horse sure to pique the interest of the Hong Kong market is Lot 138, a Dundeel colt out of the three time winner Donna’s Appeal by Carnegie. Headlining Donna’s Appeal’s four winners is Southern Legend (Not A Single Doubt) whose international career encompassed thirteen wins and just shy of A$10 million in prizemoney. Undoubtedly the highlight if his career was a success in the Champions Mile-G1 in Hong Kong where he was G1 placed a further eight times, but he also went to Singapore and won the prestigious Listed Kranji mile twice.
Donna’s Appeal is one of three winners out of Donna Natalia, Anabaa’s daughter who won the Listed Gimcrack Stakes. Her dam Marskin by Marscay won the same race when it was accorded G3 status.
Rounding out the Corumbene draft is Lot 392, a colt by former Champion Sire Lonhro and very much a chip off the old block in both colour and type. This colt is out of another Redoute’s Choice mare in Runes, a full sister to the G3 Newcastle Spring Stakes winner Mearas. Runes is also a full sibling to the Listed placed Sindarin and a half-relation to the highly talented Chetwood (Exceed And Excel) winner of a Cameron Handicap-G1.
Runes only foal to race to date is the J H B Carr Stakes-G3 winner Laburnum by Lonhro’s son Denman. There are some important updates happening to this family throughout the Autumn as Runes grandam Voltage (Whiskey Road) produced the Australasian Oaks-G1 winner Anamato to a mating with Redoute’s Choice. Nowadays Anamato is better known as the dam of glamour colt Anamoe (Street Boss), widely considered the best horse in a tremendous crop of three year-olds. This colt has a fan in Trent who said, “He has really impressed me. As could be expected from a late foal he was behind the rest of the draft early on but he has really progressed. He has blown me away with the way he has come up”.
So in keeping with Corumbene’s policy of only taking to market horses of the highest quality, this year’s draft certainly qualifies as boutique. And while it won’t take buyers long to make their first inspections, odds are they will be back for second and third looks before the yearlings hit the ring.
- www.corumbenestud.com.au
- Trent Hewitt (stud manager): 0428 115 528
- Dunedoo, NSW