A good week for Smart Missile
It’s been a good week for Smart Missile, with three new first-crop winners since 4 September.
First up on that day was Jonathan Munz’s home-bred filly Exocet, who showed plenty of grit to score over 1300 metres at Geelong.
Watch Exocet’s win at Geelong.
Trained by Lee & Anthony Freedman, Exocet is a half-sister to Caulfield Guineas-placed stakeswinner Ready For Victory, out of the Zabeel mare Crillon, herself a half-sister to Munz’s Champion 2YO Meurice. The third dam is Ruby, dam of the multiple Group 1 winner and excellent sire Rubiton and his Group 1-winning brother Euclase.
Exocet is nominated for her first run in town at Caulfield on 17 September, with the Thousand Guineas G1 and the 2000-metre Caulfield Classic G3 as her October options.
Three days later, on Wednesday 7 September, Te Akau Racing sent Corporate Missile, one of their four Smart Missiles, to Matamata where she overcame a wide draw and a tardy start to drive past Saignon and Good Show close to home.
Watch Corporate Missile win at Matamata.
Corporate Missile’s dam is the unraced Mt Livermore mare Corporate, from the Best In Show family most famous in Australia for producing champion sire Redoute’s Choice.
Te Akau Racing, which turned out Smart Missile’s first stakeswinner Sassy ‘N’ Smart in New Zealand last season, bought Corporate Missile for $150,000 from the Jamieson Park draft at the 2015 New Zealand Premier Sale. Both fillies are nominated for the New Zealand One Thousand Guineas G1 on 12 November.
Finally, on Sunday a third Smart Missile filly, Snip Missile showed the benefit of race experience when she scored over 1200 metres in fine style at Kembla Grange.
Watch Snip Missile win at Kembla Grange.
A member of the Snowden stable, Snip Missile is raced by Ron Finemore and John Leaver who bred her from the Snippets mare Snip Snip. That makes her a half-sister to four winners, including juvenile Group 3 winner Husson Lightning.
Smart Missile leads the current Australian Second Season Sires’ list by winners with eight and hold second on the earnings table with almost $225,000.
