In today's Straight Shorts, we take a sneak peek at the Magic Millions weanling catalogue, recap two Easter Monday results on the track, check out the latest Hong Kong news leading into Champions Day and cover off an Australian-bred stakes winner in Japan.
Magics’ weanling sale catalogue released
A Home Affairs half-brother to Hong Kong’s champion Golden Sixty and a The Autumn Sun half-sister to Melbourne Cup hero Knight’s Choice will go under the hammer at next month’s Magic Millions National Weanling Sale.
The high-profile foals with commercial pedigrees feature among a bumper 365-lot one-day foal session on the Gold Coast which opens Magic Millions National Sale on Sunday, May 25.
Relations to Group 1 winners Chain Of Lightning, Royal Merchant, Shadow Hero, The Mission and Vibrant Sun have also been catalogued for the sale, which will be represented by the progeny of more than 100 stallions.
"This is a sale with a proud history of producing future stars - whether in the sale ring, on the racetrack or in the breeding barn," Magic Millions managing director Barry Bowditch said.
"From Golden Slipper winners like Pierro and Stay Inside to champion sire Zoustar and Group 1 winners Pinstriped, Tropical Squall, Veight and Ellsberg - the National Weanling Sale is the industry benchmark for success.
"Incredibly the sale this season has already produced six individual two-year-old stakes winners - Bona Sforza, Icarian Dream, King Kirk, Scenic Point, Shining Smile and the Group 1 performer Tycoon Star.
"Recent stakes winners Autumn Glow, Stay Focused and Wonder Boy were also purchased from the Gold Coast as weanlings."
Two days have been set aside for the National Broodmare Sale - May 27 and 28 - while the yearling sale will be staged on June 2 and 3.
Fee increase for Sword Of State in unchanged Cambridge line-up
Young Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State has earned a fee increase, with the son of Snitzel to stand for NZ$20,000 (all fees plus GST) in 2025.
In announcing an unchanged stallion roster of five, Cambridge Stud’s Scott Calder said Sword Of State had proven an early commercial success story for those breeders who supported the Group 1 Sistema Stakes winner.
He stood for NZ$15,000 in his first three seasons at stud.
“Sword Of State has provided some fantastic results for his supporters this year. Many of the best trainers and agents have put their faith in his progeny, which bodes very well for his future,” Calder said.
“He has more exceptional stock in the pipeline and we are very bullish about his prospects.”
The Cambridge Stud roster is headed by second season shuttler, Frankel’s Chaldean (NZ$35,000), with Almanzor (NZ$30,000), Hello Youmzain (NZ$30,000) and Embellish (NZ$5,000) also standing for another season.
“Chaldean covered an outstanding book of mares in his first season – 59 per cent of the mares were either black-type performers or producers,” Calder said.
“Probabeel is one of four Group 1 winners in foal to him as are the dams of Gr.1 winners Asterix, Ceolwulf, El Castello, Pinarello and Signify.”
Queensland carnival awaits Silver Wedding
Silver Wedding, the sister to Group 1-winning sprinter Schwarz, has rewarded owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay with a breakthrough maiden win at Canterbury.
And trainer Ciaron Maher believes stakes races are within reach for the Cambridge Stud-raced three-year-old filly by Zoustar after her dominant 2.2-length first-up win.
“She's got a pedigree to die for and congratulations to Brendan and Jo Lindsay . I think it was their silver anniversary when Jo went ahead and bought her,” Maher said.
“She's always shown plenty. We just had to wait for her just to mature a little bit mentally, but it was a beautiful ride by Jason and the team down at Bong Bong have done a great job with her.
“She just thrives down there in that relaxed environment.
“They have got a very nice filly on her hands now. So we'll just see where she ends up, possibly in Queensland chasing a bit of black-type.”
Royally bred Zoustar🌟 fillies quinella Canterbury @aus_turf_club with Silver Wedding for @CambridgeStud saluting. The full sister to G1 winner Schwarz with an impressive win for @cmaherracing. An @inglis_sales Easter purchase and Wedding gift for Jo Lindsay. 👰♀️🥂🥂 pic.twitter.com/8QmMtjA0zr
— Widden (@widdenstud) April 21, 2025
An $800,000 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale graduate, Silver Wedding raced once as a two-year-old and just twice in the spring when fourth in a maiden and unplaced in the Group 3 Reginald Allen but the merit of her first-up win suggests better is in store.
Schwarz will retire to Rosemont Stud after the Doomben 10,000 while his brother, also by Zoustar, was bought earlier this month for $1.4 million by the James Harron and Tony Fung colts partnership.
Their dam Summer Sham is owned by a syndicate headed by Widden alongside Qatar Bloodstock, Haltex Pty Ltd and Jeff Dimery’s Uluru Stud.
Stakes winner in Japan for Shalaa
An Australian-bred sprinter by former European shuttler Shalaa has won a black-type race in Japan for the first time.
The progressive three-year-old Invincible Papa won Sunday’s Listed Keio Stakes at Nakayama despite giving away an age disadvantage to his northern hemisphere-bred rivals.
Trained by Daishi Ito, Invincible Papa was ridden to victory in the Listed race by Joao Moreira and became the sire’s 19th individual stakes winner.
Bred by Arrowfield Stud and sold at the 2023 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale for $200,000, Invincible Papa has won five of his eight starts.
Shalaa, the sire of this season’s Group 1 Moir Stakes-winning sprinter Mornington Glory, now stands in Victoria at Eddie Hirsch’s Woodside Park Stud.
Tactics change flagged for Mr Brightside in Champions Mile
Mr Brightside is likely to figure in a change of tactics when he represents Australia in the Champions Mile at Sha Tin.
Ben Hayes, who trains in partnership with his brothers Will and JD, is hoping a favourable barrier draw will allow jockey Craig Williams to give the seven-year-old gelding a kinder run than has been the case in recent Australian starts.
In Mr Brightside’s three runs this campaign – twice at 1400m and his most recent when second in Group 1 The All-Star Mile (1600m) on March 8 at Flemington – he has raced close to the speed.
“In this preparation our horse has had to lead and has hit the front at the 400m every race this prep,” Hayes told the Hong Kong Jockey Cub.
“And he has been a bit of a sitting duck.
“And we are hoping with Hong Kong, they tend to go a bit harder earlier and through his whole career he has always taken sits and we are hoping this time we can draw a barrier where we can look to ride him a little bit quieter and we’ll be the last one hitting the line.”
Hayes said Mr Brightside had done everything right since arriving in Hong Kong last week and completed a leisurely canter around the Sha Tin’s dirt on Monday morning.
He said the gelding had a great temperament was not phased by the flight over or his new surroundings.
“We couldn’t be happier with the way he has arrived and we look forward to seeing him gallop tomorrow,” Hayes said.
“He is moving well and has got a great coat on him and he looks fantastic. We are as happy as we can be.”
El Vencedor on track despite minor HK setback
A hoof issue has forced a change in trackwork routine for New Zealand star El Vencedor ahead of a QEII Cup bid at Sha Tin on Sunday.
New Zealand’s highest-rated racehorse, El Vencedor was pencilled in for two exercise gallops this week but trainer Stephen Marsh will alter that build-up because of an abscess.
Hong Kong Jockey Club vets cleared El Vencedor of lameness on Monday but the raider will be restricted to one piece of faster work on Thursday.
“We are lucky in that he was very fit before we sent him up here,” Marsh told the New Zealand Herald.
“So I am pretty confident a good blow on Thursday will bring him on and we will have him right for Sunday.
“One of the great things is he is a hardened campaigner who has been around and it is not like he is a young three-year-old learning the ropes.
“He is used to going to work and getting on with it.”
Golden Slipper winner’s brother breaks through at Canterbury
Racing’s unkindest cut has brought out the best in Secure, a high-priced yearling who broke through at Canterbury on Monday.
Trained by Chris Waller and having his first start as a gelding, the brother to Golden Slipper Estijaab made his own luck in scoring a two-length win under Nash Rawiller.
Secure was tried three times as a colt for a Kia Ora Stud and TFI alliance after the partnership paid $1.4 million for the son of Snitzel as a 2023 Australian Easter Sale Yearling from the Arrowfield Stud draft.
SECURE too good in the first on the card at Canterbury today, with the full brother to Golden Slipper winner Estijaab racing away to win by over two lengths 👏#KiaOraStud pic.twitter.com/eKBpiaKR41
— Kia Ora Stud (@kiaorastud) April 21, 2025
“Obviously we held him in pretty high regard last preparation, but he just wasn't going on with the job,” assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth said.
“It's nice to see him return in this way and reward the owners for actually biting the bullet early and getting him gelded.
“He's only off the back of one trial so he's entitled to show significant improvement off today, and as a result he should be in for a really good winter.”
Gosford track cleared for feature meetings
Two signature race meetings staged by the Gosford Race Club will go ahead as planned after urgent racetrack remediation.
The club’s Anzac Day fixture and a standalone Saturday card on May 10 have been saved after concerns about the state of the track were raised following a recent abandoned meeting.
Gosford subsequently engaged the services of Evergreen Turf, the consultants who remediated the Gold Coast Turf Club's track at the recent Magic Millions carnival, to fix an area of concern.
Senior riders Tommy Berry and Josh Parr took part in a set of gallops last week and they were satisfied the track is safe to race on.
Gosford’s standalone meeting features The Coast, a $500,000 race for three and four-year-olds, the Gosford Cup and the Takeover Target Stakes.
