Rowe On Monday – Vieira flying high with Trapeze Artist, Buccleuch boost for Twin Hills sire, more Playing God progeny for Pearce brothers

In this week’s Rowe On Monday, Bert Vieira speaks about his unwavering faith in Trapeze Artist, a massive day for Ollie Tait in both the UK and Australia, and trainers Ben and Daniel Pearce stay solid with Playing God’s stock.

Vieira lapping up Trapeze Artist’s potential new racecourse star

Six years into Trapeze Artist’s stud career, his owner-breeder Bert Vieira has no regrets about turning his back on tens of millions of dollars.

Vieira rejected offers from stud farms that reached as high as $36 million, instead choosing to retain all the equity in Trapeze Artist and have Widden Stud stand him on the businessman’s behalf.

Trapeze Artist had a first-crop Group 1 winner in Griff, who won the 2023 Caulfield Guineas, and four other stakes winners but at Flemington on Saturday, Vieira gained great satisfaction from She’s An Artist’s electrifying performance down the straight.

Unbeaten in two starts, the Ciaron Maher-trained She’s An Artist put 3.75 lengths on her rivals, running a sizzling 1:02.66 seconds for the 1100m, and ensuring she is the probable short-priced favourite for the Listed Creswick Sprint Series Final back at Flemington on July 5.

Vieira, who bred She’s An Artist and sold her at the Inglis Melbourne Premier sale in 2023 for $175,000 to Maher and Astute Bloodstock’s Louis Le Metayer, even sent the three-year-old filly’s trainer a text message after the race offering to buy her back.

“He texts me back and says they don’t want to sell,” Vieira says.

“I sat in my theatre here (at home) and I watched the race seven times. I was so excited.

“As I said to Matt (Comerford at Widden), I’m not a breeder. Even though I have all these mares, I’m really not a breeder. I breed to watch my horses run.” 

She’s An Artist shares a resemblance to a certain sprinter & she might share some of that ability… ‍

The bald-faced filly trounces her opposition under hands & heals.@CWilliamsJockey @cmaherracing pic.twitter.com/Aavk6Bmdwa

— Racing.com (@Racing) June 21, 2025

One of Trapeze Artist’s stakes-winning quintet, the Vieira-bred second crop three-year-old filly Pinito, was runner-up in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks for Godolphin earlier this month to suggest that another elite level winner isn’t far away for the powerful son of Snitzel.

The four-time Group 1 winner, Australia’s champion three-year-old colt of 2017/18, was the subject of a fierce battle from Hunter Valley stud farms but Vieira made the unusual call to keep the horse outright.

He was so steadfast in his belief in Trapeze Artist that the Sydney businessman had his fee set at $99,000 (inc GST), which was later reduced to $88,000 (inc GST) on the advice of Widden Stud’s Antony Thompson.

Despite the millions of dollars Vieira could have banked by selling the majority of Trapeze Artist to a stud, he was happy with the decision he made.

“(A major farm) was the biggest offer. They were $36 million, but they were playing games up and down,” Vieira recalled.

“I wanted $40 million, they went up to $36 million and when I was umming and ahhing, they went to $33 million, which was the lowest (offer).

“They saw me and they said, ‘look, we’ll give you $36 million now’, but I said that once I’d made my decision to keep him, I was keeping him.”

Trapeze Artist will stand for $33,000 (inc GST) this year, his lowest fee since going to stud, but Vieira is adamant the best is ahead for the stallion.

“When you get a horse like that one who looks like she does, it could re-trigger everything,” Vieira says of Trapeze Artist’s fortunes in the breeding shed and on the racetrack.

“She’s a very exciting horse, and according to Ciaron, they knew it. They kept quiet, but they knew how good she was.”

Tait’s Saturday success in both hemispheres

Twin Hills’ Olly Tait may have been at Royal Ascot, witnessing Wathnan Racing enjoy a stunning five winners, including two on Saturday, but a victory at Flemington would have also been extremely satisfying.

Two-year-old Buccleuch, a gelding by Twin Hills’ first season sire Peltzer, convincingly won the over 1420m, indicating bigger races are in store for the Patrick and Michelle Payne-trained juvenile.

Bred and owned by Tait’s father, Sandy, and racing in the family’s well-known red with a white cap silks, Buccleuch made it two wins in succession to signal that stakes races at three may well be in his grasp.

It is significant too for Peltzer, a son of So You Think who now has a city winner on the board as a sire. He will stand for a reduced fee of $11,000 in his fifth season at stud.

Buccleuch is out of the French-bred stakes-placed Fastnet Rock mare Golden Fastnet, who was bought for €80,000 at the 2013 Arqana sale.

Buccleuch surges away from his fellow 2yos under the guidance of @TheBeeegan @mj_payne pic.twitter.com/j3FK3oisac

— Racing.com (@Racing) June 21, 2025

She has a yearling colt by Hallowed Crown and a weanling filly by Prized Icon, but she died soon after having what would be her sixth and last foal.

Tait helps manage Qatari outfit Wathnan Racing, who had recently purchased Lazzat win the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on Saturday.

Tait vision – The respected industry figure leading Wathnan Racing’s northern hemisphere charge

Australian Olly Tait has been instrumental in the emergence of Qatari outfit Wathnan Racing which could have more than 50 runners at this week’s prestigious Royal Ascot meeting.

The StraightTim Rowe

Pearces stick to Playing Gods

Spurred on by the success West Australian trainers Ben and Daniel Pearce had with Lord Vampi, a winner of four of his eight starts before being sold to Hong Kong, it’s little wonder the brothers are enamoured with the progeny of the state’s leading sire, Playing God.

The siblings paid $400,000 for a colt by the Darling View Thoroughbreds-based stallion at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale in February and they doubled up again on Sunday at the Winter sale version.

The Pearces paid a sale-topping $90,000 for a sister to the Listed winner Platoon, Advanced (five wins) and Playin’ Hardball (three wins) from the Yarradale Stud draft and $65,000 for a colt by Playing God.

The colt, the second highest-priced lot of the sale, was sold by Westbury Park’s Phil Ibbotson, who reinvested some of his earnings in a $30,000 weanling filly by Playing God at Magic Millions’ Swan Valley complex.

Lord Vampi, now called Zoom Express, meanwhile, has not raced since being exported to Hong Kong.

He is in training with Ricky Yiu at his Conghua stable.