SATURDAY’S racing in Australia provided quite a lot of good news for European-based stallions. Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) had two stakes winners, while Harry Angel (Dark Angel) and Starspangledbanner (Choisir) chipped in with one each.

Rivellino and Arabian Summer were in sizzling form as the son and daughter of Too Darn Hot won blacktype races within hours of each other in Sydney and Melbourne. The juvenile Rivellino defied a wide draw and a big field on just his second start to score a brilliant win in the Listed Inglis Millennium over five and a half furlongs at Royal Randwick. An hour and a half later, Arabian Summer got up in the shadows of the winning post to land the Group 3 Peter Le Grand Stakes over the same trip for three-year-old fillies at Caulfield.

Both are the progeny of young Darley stallion Too Darn Hot, and took their sire’s worldwide tally of stakes winners since he commenced stud duties in 2020 to a remarkable 21, and that cohort has notched up 33 blacktype successes.

Rivellino remains unbeaten after he scored on his debut in a Randwick maiden in early January. The Kris Lees-trained two-year-old finished fast to claim a massive A$1,155,000 winner’s cheque at the weekend, and boost his claims for a place in the starting line-up for the Group 1 Golden Slipper next month. The first runner for his dam, Rivellino is out of the So You Think (High Chaparral) mare Intrinsic. She won three times, including at two, and came close to earning blacktype when fourth twice in listed races.

Intrinsic is one of half a dozen winners out of Vecchia Roma (Testa Rossa), and one of just two who won more than once. Her half-brother Sagacious (Foxwedge) was victorious seven times. Twice successful at two, Vecchia Roma was a consistent performer in group and listed company, with one of her best runs coming when second in the Group 3 Sweet Embrace Stakes at Sydney.

Arabian Summer

The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained Arabian Summer, with Harry Coffey in the saddle, won her first stakes race by defeating Tobeornotobe and Shadhavar in the Group 3 Peter Le Grand Stakes, to boost her record to five wins and three placings from nine starts for prizemoney earnings of A$1,410,400.

Out of the Street Cry (Machiavellian) mare Maraam, the filly was bred by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, and consigned by Coolmore Stud at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where McEvoy Mitchell Racing and Belmont Bloodstock Agency spent A$220,000 to buy her. Prior to this win, Arabian Summer was runner-up in both the Group 3 Ottawa Stakes, also in Melbourne, and the Listed Debutant Stakes at the same track.

Arabian Summer is the best of two winners from her dam, a three-time winner herself over six furlongs. Maraam is one of five winners out of the sprint winner Munhro (Lonhro), and the best of the rest is Derryn (Hinchinbrook). That colt won the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint Stakes in Sydney, and was placed in Group 1 company. He stands at Grangewilliam Stud in New Zealand and has made a solid start with his first runners, siring Group 2 winner Leica Lucy among others.

A three-time Group 1 winner of the Dewhurst Stakes, Prix Jean Prat and Sussex Stakes, Too Darn Hot is the sire of the 2023-24 Australian champion two-year-old Broadsiding. That colt has three Group 1 wins among his five successes to date, including the Champagne Stakes. He is one of a trio of Group 1 winners for Too Darn Hot, alongside the Moyglare Stud Stakes and classic-winning Fallen Angel, and last year’s Futurity Trophy winner, Hotazhell.

Too Darn Hot stands the new season at Dalham Hall Stud for £90,000.

Angel’s son makes a spectacular return

YOU could not ask for a more impressive return to racing for the three-year-old Angel Capital than the one he made on Saturday when he finished fast to easily win the Group 2 Autumn Stakes over seven furlongs at Caulfield.

The Listed McKenzie Stakes and Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude winner from last year was eased up by Ben Melham near the line when securing his third stakes victory for trainer Clint McDonald. By notching his fourth win from just seven starts, Angel Capital lifted his prizemoney tally to A$593,750. Bred by David Peacock and offered by Mill Park Stud at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, the colt out of the Teofilo (Galileo) mare Bahamas was sold to Upper Bloodstock for A$400,000.

Angel Capital is the third winner for his group-placed dam, and the third to be successful in group company. He is a half-brother to Senor Toba (Toronado) who is a pattern winner in Australia and Hong Kong. Senor Toba has been placed at Group 1 level in both racing jurisdictions, finishing second in the Queensland Derby and third in the Champions and Chater Cup.

Senor Toba was followed two years later by his sibling Berkeley Square (Territories). That gelding has amassed eight wins to date, the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase being his headline win. His efforts have seen him win almost A$1.7 million, and with more surely to come. Harry Angel currently stands at Dalham Hall Stud at a fee of £10,000, and his 17 stakes winners, and a total of 25 stakes horses, are headed by the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes winner Tom Kitten.

Exciting juvenile daughter

of Starspangledbanner

THE Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude over five and a half furlongs at Caulfield on Saturday was won by the two-year-old Palm Angel, a daughter of Starspangledbanner (Choisir) and Noblest (Pivotal).

Trained by Jason Warren and ridden by Ethan Brown, Palm Angel won the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes on her debut and then finished fifth when coming back from a break. She bounced back from that run to produce a career best performance. The favourite, My Gladiola, looked home and hosed with a furlong to race, before Palm Angel angled out of her slipstream and surged past to win.

This win brought Palm Angel’s prizemoney total to A$329,600 (€200,000) and she will now head to the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes, giving every impression that the extra half a furlong will suit her better.

Brown has ridden Palm Angel in all her starts. “She’s got a great constitution, she’s a little racehorse,” he said. “I only hit her once or twice, she did the rest herself, and it was quite a soft win.”

Palm Angel is a half-sister to stakes-placed Narbold (Churchill), and is the second winner from three to race for Noblest, a winning own-sister to dual Group 1-winning miler Peeress (Pivotal), the grandam of last year’s Group 1 Lockinge Stakes winner Audience (Iffraaj), as well as Group 3 winners Esquire (Harry Angel) and Dark Lady (Dark Angel).

That trio of pattern winners are out of the listed winner Ladyship (Oasis Dream). Noblest was bought by Rosemont Stud at the 2016 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale for €125,000.

Palm Angel’s sire covered Noblest again in 2023, resulting in another filly born last year, and the mare is in foal to Churchill (Galileo). Palm Angel is the third stakes-winner from the Starspangledbanner and Pivotal cross, joining Group 3 Sceptre Stakes winner Spangled and the Australian Group 2 winner Brooklyn Hustle, who was also bred and raced by Rosemont Stud.