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Clarken Racing | Clarken Racing News 57546 Exciting Filly Scores On Debut As Clarken Oshea Weigh Up Blue Diamond Tilt

Exciting filly scores on debut as Clarken-O'Shea weigh up Blue Diamond tilt

Exciting filly scores on debut as Clarken-O'Shea weigh up Blue Diamond tilt

Hype filly Kuroyanagi was all the rage heading into the opening race at Gawler on Saturday, and the Will Clarken and Niki O'Shea-trained youngster made light work of her rivals, cruising to an easy debut win and keeping a Blue Diamond assault under consideration.

The two-year-old daughter of Written Tycoon – who was a $390,000 purchase at last year's Inglis Premier Yearling Sale – was a heavily-backed $1.35 favourite off the back of impressive trial form in recent weeks, and it was clear to see why when she loomed up to take the lead on the home turn with jockey Ben Price almost unmoved in the saddle.

The filly cruised to a comfortable 2.7 length win over her rivals and has been nominated for the Group 1 Blue Diamond (1200m) at Flemington next month, but metro premiership leading trainers Clarken and O'Shea are yet to determine what they will do with their promising filly – who is now an $11 fancy (TAB) in the early Blue Diamond betting markets.

"We'll see how she pulls up, whether she goes to the paddock or goes on," Clarken said.

"I'm more excited about training her into the three-year-old season, she's really raw and if you asked me six or eight weeks ago I'd say she wouldn't have gotten to the races.

"She's really come on in leaps and bounds in the last month, she came through my system, she was broken in at the farm and she was really backwards.

"She's just kept improving and kept improving, it's a little bit of a feat for one to come through the whole system."

Price was confident in the filly winning a long way from the line, but he also believes she has a lot more to learn.

"I was the winner a long way out, (she's) just a beautiful filly," Price said.

"She's going to need to switch on a little bit more when the company gets a bit better but she won well today knowing that she's got a stack of improvement to come.

"She's a racehorse that's going to learn a lot more after today. The way she cruised up, I thought I was going to put 4, 5, 6 (lengths) on them but you will be able to see in the replay her ears were pricked the whole way from the moment she got to the front.

"In time if they can run her a long a little bit and she can get a couple of pairs back she's going to chase really well – she's a lovely filly going forward."

Kuroyanagi was the first of two winners for the Clarken and O'Shea's stable on Saturday, with in-form mare Second To Nun saluting for her third consecutive victory with an impressive on-speed display with Rochelle Milnes aboard.

Story from Racenet (Tyler Maund)

RELEVANT NEWS

Keeping it in the family

Later in the day, a pair of lots sold for $200,000 respectively to secure their placings as the joint-second-top lots on the second day of trade. Lot 273, the first of the duo to go under the hammer, is a filly by Yulong’s Written Tycoon who sold to Ridgeport Holdings, Clarken Bloodstock, and Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA). The filly is out of Blue Morpho (Hussonet) who from 16 starts on the track managed three wins, including landing the 2018 Laelia Stakes (Listed, 1600m).  Clarken and his training partner Niki O’Shea know about the family, with the filly’s brother, the unraced Windrow, and her Alabama Express half-sister, who Clarken bought for $80,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in 2021, both residents of their Murray Bridge stable.  “The quality always makes money and there have been some really nice types and there’s been no doubt that they have been well received. We were narrowly beaten on the Zoustar filly [Lot 255] earlier today and we were lucky enough to get the Written Tycoon filly a second ago,” Will Clarken told ANZ Bloodstock News. “I’ve got her two relations who have shown great promise and haven’t been to the races yet. Written Tycoon has been a good stallion to the yard and we’ve got Kuroyanagi who was Group 1-placed in the Blue Diamond and it’s going to be for the same ownership group [Ridgeport].” “We’ve got four so far [on the day], we’ve been sent a few and I think there’s a couple more on the list for the rest of the day, but we really came here to buy what we thought was the best filly and the best colt and I think we’ve done that. “Adelaide has been a really happy hunting ground for us. We bought Beau Rossa here and he was narrowly beaten in a Group 1. I bought Galaxy Patch out of here, Prawn Baba and  both of them have run in a Hong Kong Derby [Galaxy Patch second in 2024] and I just know the sale and it’s been really good for us. “Let’s hope the Magic Millions lives on here in South Australia. Obviously there are some changes ahead, but it’s a great asset to have a sale in our backyard.”Story from ANZ Bloodstock News

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‘Quality’ So You Think colt heads to Clarken and O’Shea

A week on from claiming Adelaide Cup (Gr 2, 1200m) success with Silent Surrente (Fiorente), Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea secured a win in the sales ring when they went to $240,000 to secure a stunning colt by So You Think (High Chaparral) early on day one of selling at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale. Catalogued as Lot 25 and offered by Mill Park Stud, the colt is out of winning mare Miss Otto (Elusive Quality), making him a brother to Group 2 winner, and now Twin Hills Stud-based sire, Peltzer (So You Think). Bidding ringside at the Morphetville sales complex, the stable’s racing manager Lachie Weekley was thrilled to snare the colt, who was knocked down to Clarken Bloodstock in partnership with Suman Hedge Bloodstock and prominent South Australian businessman Rob Chapman. “He’s just got a lovely action and a really nice demeanour, beautiful head on him, great eye,” Weekley said.  “Very importantly he came off a terrific farm in Mill Park Stud down at Meningie, from Chris Watson and the team, their record is second to none and one of the best in the land.” The partnership, who purchased four lots at this sale last year for a combined total of $285,000, had to stay strong to win the colt, and plan to continue the momentum on the second day.  “We were right at [our limit on him]. We wanted to be pretty strong on him, obviously he’s a quality colt so we didn’t want to miss out and there was some good competition as always, with those nice horses. “The clients that we bought him for, they were keen to attempt to try and buy the best horse here and that’s what we saw him as. We did the job early and there’s a couple over the next day or two and that’ll be us.”  A close relation to 2019 Adelaide Guineas (Listed, 1600m) winner So We Are (So You Think), Weekley said the colt will be given time to mature and develop.   “He’s just a lovely horse and we’ll give him a bit of time. He’d be more that sort of three-year-old type. We’ll just let the ball come on to the bat.” Mill Park finished the first day as the leading vendors by aggregate, having sold 12 yearlings for $1,031,000, the only vendor to break the million barrier. 

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Peltzer's brother turns heads

Peltzer's brother will stay in South Australia and be trained by Will Clarken and Niki O'Shea after being bought for $240,000 in the opening session of Monday's Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale. Offered as part of leading SA nursery Mill Park Stud's draft, the colt (Lot 25) was on the shortlist of several good judges but was ultimately knocked down to Clarken's Racing Manager Lachie Weekley on behalf of the stable, owner Rob Chapman and bloodstock agent Suman Hedge. As well as leaving multiple Stakes winner and now young stallion Peltzer, who was purchased for $260,000 as a yearling, the colt's dam Miss Otto has also left Stakes-placed filly Madison Kate. Weekley said the stable targeted the colt and was buoyed by the record of Mill Park Stud, the property on SA's Limestone Coast which has bred or raised more than 20 Group 1 winners. "He's a beautiful colt, just a lovely, well-balanced horse," Weekley said. "He has a lovely So You Think head on him and he looks to have a lot of class. "You'd like to think he'd be that sort of miler type O like. "We tend not to rush our young horses, it's cliche to say but we'll give him plenty of time. "Mill Park Stud is such a fantastic nursery, Chris Watson and the team down there do such a good job and the stats are just phenomenal. "They've nearly got the alphabet of Stakes winners, which speaks for itself."   Story by James Tzaferis from Racing.com

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