I REMEMBER reading in an old Timeform Annual essay that a function of the classics is to identify elite candidates for breeding future generations of thoroughbreds, so in an ideal world one could mate together the winners of the Derby and Oaks and the result would be a potential winner of either race.
When Australia beat the highly-regarded Free Eagle so easily in a Group 3 contest in September 2013 there were many of us firm in the belief that we had seen the following year’s Derby winner in action, and not just because of his pedigree.
Australia is the son of dual Derby hero Galileo (by Sadler’s Wells) and of the dual Oaks star Ouija Board (by Cape Cross), and exactly nine months after that six-length Leopardstown victory he secured his place in the history books with a one and a quarter length defeat of Kingston Hill at Epsom.
He followed-up with success in the Group 1 Irish Derby three weeks later, then beat classic victor The Grey Gatsby by two lengths in the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes at York.
A shock neck defeat by that latter rival in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes tipped his earnings past the £2 million mark, and he retired with a Timeform rating of 132, comparing favourably to the 134 earned by his sire and 125 by his dam.
Ouija Board, whose 10 wins included the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, Group 1 Nassau Stakes, Group 1 Hong Kong Vase, and two editions of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, earned over £3.5 million. Australia is her fourth foal and her first was the Group 3 scorer Voodoo Prince (by Kingmambo).
Her dam is Selection Board (by Welsh Pageant), a half-sister to Rosia Bay (by High Top) – who is the dam of Group 1 stars Ibn Bey (by Mill Reef) and Roseate Tern (by Blakeney) and ancestress of a string of stakes winners - and an own-sister to the Grade 1 Arlington Million winner Teleprompter, a trailblazer whose talent contributed to the decision to permit geldings to participate in Group 1 races in Britain and Ireland.
With nine sons of Galileo already having at least one flat Group/Grade 1 winner to their name as stallions, and a first crop of foals that fetched up to 300,000gns in Newmarket and €120,000 in Deauville, Coolmore Stud’s Australia looks set to make an impact in his second career too.
Jt Champion 3yr old colt in Europe in 2014. Won five races, £2,090,502, from 7 furlongs to 1½ miles, at 2 and 3 years including, Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, Curragh, Gr.1, Investec Derby Stakes, Epsom Downs, Gr.1, Juddmonte International Stakes, York, Gr.1, Icon Juv.Turf Trial Golden Fleece Stakes, Leopardstown, Gr.3, also placed second in Qipco Irish Champion Stakes, Leopardstown, Gr.1, and third in Qipco 2000 Guineas, Newmarket, Gr.1.
Retired to stud in 2015, first crop now yearlings
Stands at: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Ireland
Contact: Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Mathieu Legars or Jason Walsh
Telephone: +353 (0) 52 6131298
Email: info@coolmore.ie
Web: www.coolmore.com
Fee: €35,000