🔒 🔒 Cunningham holds a hot colt hand, but he won’t be rushed into Warwoven stud deal

To the surprise of no one, Golden Rose-winning colt Warwoven is hot property.

The majority of Australia’s major stallion farms have reached out about acquiring equity – and standing rights – in the son of Sword Of State after his Group 1 Golden Rose victory in September.

However, as the Bjorn Baker-trained colt attempts to join rare company with victory in Saturday’s Caulfield Guineas, Warwoven’s managing owner Mitch Cunningham revealed talks were on hold until after the three-year-old’s spring preparation.

If the Golden Rose and Run To The Rose-winning Warwoven is able to add the Caulfield Guineas to his impressive record, he would join Ole Kirk (2020) and The Autumn Sun (2018) in completing the rare double.

Arrowfield’s The Autumn Sun and Vinery’s Ole Kirk are now among the top echelon of Australia’s stallion ranks.

In Top Swing also completed the Golden Rose-Caulfield Guineas double in 2003, when the Sydney feature was reduced to 1400 metres for the first time. The Golden Rose was awarded Group 1 status in 2009.

Warwoven was bred by Kia Ora Stud, which remains a part-owner in the colt who is out of New Zealand Group 2-winning Makfi mare Needle And Thread and from the first crop of Cambridge Stud’s Group 1-winning two-year-old Sword Of State, himself a son of Snitzel.

Kia Ora merged with Vinery more than two years ago and this year the late Ananda Krishnan-owned Hunter Valley nursery consolidated its stallion roster, headed by Golden Slipper winner Farnan, by moving them to the neighbouring farm.

The connection would have Vinery as the front-runner to secure Warwoven as a stallion prospect, but Cunningham insists commercial negotiations will take place with all interested parties.

“Kia Ora has been great and they’re cognisant that horses like this will be going to market to find their value that way,” Cunningham told The Straight. 

“I’m sure Vinery will be enthusiastic about him finding a home with them. But that’s all going to come out in the wash in a few weeks’ time with the process we run. 

“We’re of the collective view that we’ll see out this preparation and then we can engage in those conversations. 

“To this point, we’ve had interest from just about all the studs and they’ve all been assured that Jim Clarke is going to be running a very fair process with that.”

Ridgmont’s bloodstock agent Clarke will conduct the negotiations and table offers for Warwoven.

Clarke was also instrumental in negotiating a $20 million-plus mega deal for Storm Boy to Coolmore on behalf of principal owner Ridgmont soon after the Justify colt’s dominant 2024 Magic Millions 2YO Classic victory.

The Brisbane-based bloodstock agent also played a role in a stallion deal which saw Yulong buy a controlling interest in Warwoven’s stablemate Paradoxium, who also raced in the Cunninghams’ colours.

While Paradoxium’s fellow owners, including Carl Holt and G1G Colts and Breeding’s Gary Diamond, sold their shares, Ridgmont retained equity in the sprinting son of Extreme Choice.

The deal was completed after his luckless unplaced run in the Golden Slipper and prior to the Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes in which Paradoxium finished sixth/ Cunningham’s faith in the horse appears justified.

Paradoxium resumed with an impressive win in the Group 3 Poseidon Stakes at Flemington on September 12 in a dress rehearsal for the Coolmore Stud Stakes later this month.

Kept fresh since that first-up victory, the three-year-old is the $2.60 favourite for Saturday’s Roman Consul Stakes at Rosehill in what is a proven Coolmore path used by Baker.

In 2023, the Sydney trainer ran Zoustar colt Ozzmosis in the Roman Consul on his way to the stallion’s Derby day Group 1 win in the Coolmore.

“As far as Bjorn’s opinion and his team’s opinion go, he’s going to be a live chance in a Coolmore, so credit to Yulong for getting involved when they did,” Cunningham said.

“Now we get to share that upside moving forward.”

If all goes to play after the Roman Consul, Paradoxium will clash with $2.8 million Snitzel colt The Next Episode, last weekend’s Group 2 Danehill Stakes winner.

Widden, who bred and part-own The Next Episode, would be in the box-seat to stand the high-priced colt, whether the Ciaron Maher-trained three-year-old wins a Group 1 or not.

As for Warwoven, he could also be at Flemington seven days prior to Paradoxium’s shot at a Group 1 breakthrough, with Cunningham and Baker considering stretching out the colt to 2000m at weight-for-age in the Cox Plate.

“We’ve sort of established that commercial sprinting piece for his stud value and we just want to see where we can go with him now,” Cunningham said.

“The mile may be his ceiling, but who knows beyond that? We’ll just take it race by race. 

“But certainly, if we were to run well on the weekend, then I think we’d be crazy not to consider going to a Cox Plate.”