Flying Spur's influence grows
It doesn’t matter where Flying Spur appears in a pedigree, he works.
His champion sire status is thoroughly established, with 84 stakeswinners (more than 7 per cent of his runners), among them 12 Group 1 winners.
It’s a record that Flying Spur diligently extends every season, and he has already been represented in 2011/12 by four Australian stakeswinners, all of them in Melbourne during the spring. That all four are fillies belies his lifetime record which shows his stakeswinners are almost evenly split between the sexes: 40 colts, 44 fillies.
Pictured: Flying Fulton scores at Kranji by more than 2 lengths on New Year’s Day, taking his earnings close to $A500,000. (PHOTO: Singapore Turf Club)
Meanwhile, his admirable son Flying Fulton scored his second black type win in Singapore this season when victorious in the New Year Cup Sgp-3 on 1 January. The 5YO gelding is among Flying Spur’s 16 stakeswinners in Asia, South Africa, New Zealand & Europe.
Trainer Mark Walker‘s comments about Flying Fulton after last weekend’s win from the widest gate under topweight of 58 kg were warmly appreciative. “He’s such a tough and consistent horse. We spelled him a couple of times but we realised he’s better off racing than staying in his box. I think he’s also getting better with age.”
Flying Spur made an early start as a broodmare sire: four of his daughters produced stakeswinners when he was only eleven years old. The tally of stakeswinners from Flying Spur mares now stands at 23, including Group 1 winners Headway, Sebring, Delago Deluxe & Grand Journey. Currently fifth on the Australian Broodmare Sires’ list, he is still the youngest stallion in the top ten.
Results over the past few weeks have highlighted Flying Spur’s third act, as a sire of sires. His first season sire sons Casino Prince, Shaft and Volitant have all broken through for their first winners since early December, and it surely won’t be long before Magnus joins them – he’s had two Flemington placegetters already.
This trio follows Flying Spur’s son Jet Spur, sire of 5 stakes performers from his first three crops.
All these results make buying yearlings by Flying Spur a smart strategy, for racing & for longer term breeding success and – as it happens! – Arrowfield’s 2012 Magic Millions draft includes five of them: fillies from Hula Here, Hussta la Vista & Distinctive, and colts from Ready Magic & Ruski Rose.
But wait, there’s more…Arrowfield is also selling three colts from the Flying Spur mares Portrayal, First Date & Flying Single, by Charge Forward , Starcraft & Hussonet respectively.
