WINNER of the 2011 Group 1 Caulfield Cup, defeating future Group 1 Melbourne Cup hero Green Moon, Southern Speed was sold to Japan where she has enjoyed a moderate degree of success, until now.

A daughter of Southern Image (Southern Halo), Southern Speed won seven times in all, her other successes crowned by a victory in the Group 2 Makybe Diva Stakes. She also hit the crossbar a number of times, with runner-up finishes in a trio of Group 1 contests, the Australian Cup when denied victory by a short head, the C.F. Orr Stakes to Black Caviar, and the Underwood Stakes.

At stud, she has six foals of racing age, five of which have run, and four are winners. The sixth is a three-year-old son, Cosmo Kuranda, and he is from the first crop of the classic winner Al Ain (Deep Impact). His form at two did not indicate that he would be something special, winning one of his five starts, but on his second outing this year he put himself in the classic picture when landing the Group 2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho Deep Impact. He also became the first stakes winner for his sire.

Cosmo Kuranda will now be pointed at the Satsuki Sho, the Japanese 2000 Guineas, a race won by his sire. Al Ain also captured the Group 1 Osaka Hai and he has made a modest start at stud, with nine winners from some 50 starters. None of his other progeny to date have earned any blacktype.

Southern Speed was the outstanding performer among seven winners produced by the New Zealand-bred Golden Eagle (Zabeel). A daughter of the unraced Rising Eagle (Danehill), Golden Eagle was a placed own-sister to three-time winner Elegant Eagle (Zabeel), and she too enjoyed Group 1 success as a producer. Her daughter Go Indy Go (Bernardini) won the Group 1 Champagne Stakes at two, while two of her sons are Group 3 winners in Australia.

Suave Richard, a son of Heart’s Cry (Sunday Silence), is another winner of the Group 1 Osaka Hai to be represented by his first crop of three-year-olds.

Standing at the Shadai Stallion Station for the equivalent of about €90,000 this year, the Group 2 Japan Cup winner Suave Richard made an impressive start at stud last year when his first-crop daughter Regaleira ended her three-race season with victory in the Group 1 Hopeful Stakes.

Classic trial

Another of Suave Richard’s daughters, Corazon Beat, won the Group 2 Keio Hai Nisai Stakes before running third in the Group 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. Now a third daughter, Sweet Feet, is his third stakes winner, and she won a classic trial, the Group 1 Tulip Sho at the weekend. She had previously been stakes-placed. A fourth winner from as many foals, she is out of the winning Deep Sky (Agnes Tachyon) mare Bijou Tosho.

This is a solid Japanese female line. Bijou Tosho is a daughter of the champion older mare Sweep Tosho (End Sweep), and her crowning moment in an eight-race winning career came in the Group 1 Takarazuka Kinen. None of her offspring earned any blacktype, though eight of them won.

Half of the six wins to date for Toshin Macau, a son of Big Arthur (Sakura Bakushin O), have been at Group 3 level in Japan. At three and four he won the Keihan Hai, and now has added, at the age of five, the Yukan Fuji Sho Ocean Stakes.

One of 11 foals out of the multiple winner Yukino Mermaid (Special Week), he is one of a pair of stakes winners. His half-brother Besten Dank (Taiki Shuttle) has been successful seven times, and runner-up in a Group 2.

Very familiar

This is a female line that is very familiar in Europe. Toshin Macau’s grandam Suspense Queen (Woodman) is a winning half-sister to the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Iktamal (Danzig Connection), French Group 2 winner First Magnitude (Arazi), and the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby winner Rockamundo (Key To The Mint). Another of their siblings, Aguinaga (Machiavellian) bred the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Conquest (Invincible Spirit).

The fourth dam of last weekend’s group winner, Rose Bowl (Habitat), was a half-sister to Ile De Bourbon (Nijinsky), a champion at three and four. Rose Bowl was one of the best racemares of her generation, winning the Group 1 Champion Stakes, and the then Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on two occasions.

In the Champion Stakes, Rose Bowl beat a pair of Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Stakes winners, defeating Allez France with the Prix d’Ispahan winner Ramirez in third and Star Appeal unplaced.

St Patrick’s Day celebration came early

DO you remember St Patrick’s Day? The nine-year-old son of Pioneerof The Nile (Empire Maker) started his racing career in the USA, came to Ireland to race, and now stands for $3,500 at Journeyman Stallions in Ocala, Florida. Appropriately, given the time of year, he has sired his first stakes winner, Fiona’s Magic.

Raced twice on dirt at two when trained by Bob Baffert, St Patrick’s Day was beaten by a stable companion on his debut at Del Mar over six furlongs, and stretched half a furlong more to win at the same track. He was then moved to Ballydoyle, made his Irish debut on Derby weekend at the Curragh at three, and was beaten half a length and a neck in a mile listed race.

In seven subsequent starts at three and four, he failed to build on this, with one exception. Back over six furlongs at Naas for the Group 3 Renaissance Stakes, he was beaten half a length by Unfortunately, with Gordon Lord Byron back in fourth. St Patrick’s Day went to stud in 2020 at a fee of $5,000, and while his race career was disappointing, he had one ace up his sleeve. He is an own-brother to American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile).

American Pharoah

Standing for $50,000 at Ashford Stud, American Pharoah won nine of his 11 starts, was the 2015 Triple Crown and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and to date is responsible for eight Group and Grade 1 winners. Here we are most familiar with the Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary winner Above The Curve, and the French juvenile Group 1 winner Van Gogh.

Fiona’s Magic is a second stakes winner and fourth winner in all for her unraced dam Mollie’s Magic, a daughter of Factum (Storm Cat). While there is no shortage of stakes winner in the first four generations of this female line, none are memorable.

Fiona’s Magic won the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, but only one other stakes winner in the four generations did so at pattern level. That was Life’s Luck (Mogambo), winner of the Group 2 German 1000 Guineas exactly 30 years ago.