“WRITTEN Tycoon is a champion in every way, and we are taking special care of him as he ages,” said Yulong’s Sam Fairgray. “He has been a fantastic stallion and if we can keep breeding some nice foals by him then we’ll be thrilled.”

Little wonder that his owners are keeping a close eye on the brilliant sire, as last weekend he sired his second winner of the prestigious Group 1 Golden Slipper, Lady Of Camelot. This was the filly’s second win in four starts, all at pattern level, and her other runs saw her win the Group 3 Widden Stakes, run second in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes and finish fourth in a Group 3.

Written Tycoon, a son of Iglesia (Last Tycoon), claimed his eighth Victorian champion sire title at the 2023 Victorian Breeders Awards, with an outstanding season across Australia. He produced four stakes winners for the season and more than 160 individual winners, headlined by star three-year-old filly Coolangatta who won the Group 1 Moir Stakes and the Group 1 Lightning Stakes.

Australia’s leading first-season sire in 2010/11, leading sire of two-year-olds in 2015/16, and the 2020/21 overall Australian champion, many of Written Tycoon’s sons are now forging their own careers at stud.

The first sire since Redoute’s Choice and Danehill in the last 25 years to sire two colts to win the two richest Group 1 juvenile features in Australia, when Capitalist took out the Golden Slipper Stakes, and Written By claimed victory in the Blue Diamond Stakes, Written Tycoon is also the first stallion in 44 years to sire the winner of both the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (Ole Kirk) and the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (Odeum).

Capitalist

His 62 individual stakes winners include two Golden Slipper victors in Capitalist and now Lady Of Camelot, Blue Diamond winner Written By, and a further 12 Group 1 winners including Velocious, Southport Tycoon, Coolangatta, Ole Kirk, Pippie, Tycoon Tara, Music Magnate, Despatch, Tyzone, Booker, Odeum and La Luna Rossa. Written Tycoon’s yearlings continue to shine in the sale ring, averaging A$306,792 and selling for up to A$1.4 million in 2023.

Written Tycoon has served the cream of Yulong’s broodmare band over the last two years, including Group 1 winners In Her Time, Viddora, Hungry Heart and Melody Belle. This has been quite a career for a horse who won twice at two, including the Group 2 Todman Slipper Trial, was stakes placed at three, but showed little when kept in training at four.

Lady Of Camelot’s Group 1 success crowned a great weekend for her damsire Fastnet Rock (Danehill). His daughter Via Sistina, a 2,700,000gns buy at the Tattersalls December Sale, won the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes, and he was also broodmare sire of another Group 1 winner in Veight (Grunt), successful in the George Ryder Stakes.

Lady Of Camelot is one of three foals, all group winners, out of Miss Debutante (Fastnet Rock). Her four wins included a listed race, while her others pattern winners are Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) and Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar). All four of Queen Of The Ball’s wins were in Group 3 races, while Platinum Jubilee won just once at two, but this was the Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes.

James Bester

Miss Debutante is one of six winners from her dam More Than Real (More Than Ready). She won the then Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, was Grade 1-placed at three, and then sold to James Bester for $675,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Sale in 2011. Miss Debutante is the best of her dam’s six winners, and they come from eight foals, all but one of which have run.

All of the first four dams of Lady Of Camelot are stakes winners. Her third dam Miss Seffens (Dehere) won 11 times in the USA, five of them stakes races, and she is also the grandam of the 2019 Grade 1 Coolmore Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Structor (Palace Malice). Lady of Camelot’s fourth dam Noise Enough (Bold Ruckus) was a listed race winner at Woodbine in Canada.