Smart Missile 2YO pleases Triple Crown
Chris & Michael Ward’s Triple Crown Syndications have a knack for spotting stallion talent early.
They did it with Snitzel, buying Hot Snitzel in 2010, Flying Snitzel a year later & Redzel in 2014. The rewards for their owners have been spectacular: almost $9.5 million prizemoney and 22 wins, 13 of them at Group level, including three Group 1 victories and, with Redzel still racing, surely more to come.
They have taken a similar approach to Smart Missile, backing up their first-crop purchase of 2YO stakes-placed city winner Jericho with city winner Smartedge and stakes-placed winner Island Missile, all still in training with Peter & Paul Snowden.
In 2017, they bought a $40,000 Inglis Classic filly from Davali Thoroughbreds that may turn out to be their best Smart Missile buy. Named Ballistica, she has made a big impression with two trial wins, at Warwick Farm on 22 January and today at Gosford, where she defeated another Smart Missile filly, Elenara. Both fillies are trained by Bjorn Baker.
Watch Ballistica’s trial win at Gosford.
Soon after the trial quinella, Baker tweeted enthusiastically about the Smart Missile-Whatevs filly he and Hughes Bloodstock purchased for $NZ80,000 from the Koru Thoroughbreds draft at Karaka. The top-priced Smart Missile yearling at the Sale, a colt out of Petrushka, was sold by the same vendor for $NZ170,000 to Tartan Meadow Bloodstock & Edmond Wong.
Smart Missile, who leads the current Third Season Sires’ list, has a strong line-up of 35 yearlings in the Inglis Classic Sale including five colts & a filly in Arrowfield’s draft.
And if you’re interested in the next Arrowfield stallion Triple Crown has ear-marked for success….Chris & Michael bought Arrowfield’s Olympic Glory-Hussterics filly for $85,000 at the Magic Millions Sale.
