El Segundo Looking Hot for Spring
17 September 2007
Star Karaka graduate El Segundo (Pins x Palos Verdes) beat a field of class gallopers to take out the Group 2 Dato' Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Displaying courage and determination, he and Luke Nolen fought an epic battle to down Haradasun (Fusaichi Pegasus x Circles of Gold) by just a nose.
His ecstatic trainer Colin Little proclaimed after the race, "He has a great turn of foot and he can out-sprint any horse in the land."
Fellow Karaka Premier Sale graduate and last season's VRC Derby winner, Efficient (Zabeel x Refused the Dance) produced an eye catching run from the back of the field to finish fourth.
A strong candidate for this year's Cox Plate, El Segundo may have just one start, in the Turnbull Stakes, before lining up in Australia's second richest race. The six-year-old has four Group 1 wins to his credit, boasting 11 wins from 23 starts and a prize purse pushing AU$2 million.
Pins, who stands at the Chittick family's Waikato Stud, has sired three other Group 1 winners in Legs, Porotene Gem and Econsul who, with El Segundo, currently boast a total of eight Group 1 races between them.
While his powerful sprint could be attributed to his sire who retired the most successful son of Snippets, El Segundo's staying capacity is no doubt from his dam Palos Verdes. A daughter of Oak Ridge she won on ten occasions including four stakes races over distances from 1300m to 2500m.
Michael Stedman Bloodstock purchased E Segundo at the 2003 Karaka Premier Sale graduate for NZ$140,000 from Philip and Catherine Brown's Ancroft Stud.
Meanwhile, Karaka Select Sale graduate Antarctic Miss (Ustinov x Far South) was guided by Greg Childs to capture a half-length victory over stakes-winner Bel Mer in the Group 3 Champagne Stakes. Her win in the AU$121,000 event over 1200 metres is the filly's second in just six starts which also include a gallant last-start third in the Listed MRC William Crocket Stakes.
For trainer Nigel Sutcliffe, and sire Brighthill Farm's Ustinov (Seeking the Gold), the victory was their first taste of stakes success.
During his racing career Ustinov won the prestigious Group 2 AAMI Vase and was third behind Lonhro and Sunline in the Group 1 Yalumba Stakes before retiring to Nick and Anne-Marie King's Brighthill Farm in 2003. He stands alongside St Petersburg and is joined this year by the Group 1 winning son of More Than Ready, Perfectly Ready.
Bred by Jeff and Jackie McVean, Mark Pilkington secured Antarctic Miss for NZ$70,000 from the Brighthill Farm draft.