40th juvenile stakeswinner for Snitzel

Talented filly Macroura showed plenty of class to win Saturday’s $112,000 Scone RC Woodlands S. 1100m LR at Rosehill and become Snitzel’s 40th 2YO stakeswinner, and  No. 102 on his overall record.

Macroura remains unbeaten and makes it 3/3 after taking out the @yarramanpark Woodlands Stakes @cmaherracing @mcacajamez pic.twitter.com/W7R9ILVV9j

— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 16, 2020

The Aquis Farm home-bred carried topweight of 58kg to a 1.5 length victory ahead of Marboosha & Panna Cotta.

Macroura’s jockey James McDonald said, “She gave me a most pleasant ride, she jumped well, she travelled kindly, probably a spot further forward than what I would have liked, but she came back really nicely. The speed was genuine and she has an exceptional turn of foot to put that race to bed pretty quickly.”

Not surprisingly Macroura is now  among the favoured runners for the $350,000 J.J. Atkins G1 at Eagle Farm on 6 June, if the Maher & Eustace team decides that she will handle the jump from 1100 to 1400 metres. 

Macroura joins her stablemate Away Game, Letzbeglam and Wild Ruler to give Snitzel four 2YO stakeswinners this season, a tally he shares with by I Am Invincible. However, Snitzel has sole charge of the other four categories on the 2YO Sires’ Premiership: Winners (20), Wins (28), Stakes Wins (7) and Earnings ($4,265,613).

Macroura is the 5th black type winner bred on the Snitzel/Zabeel cross from 48 named foals, after Group winner Time For War, Lubiton & Perast, and Listed winner Bavella. Her dam Zenaida is a winning half-sister to 2010 New Zealand Horse of the Year Vosne Romanee.

Completing a Scone raceday stakes double for Snitzel, and James McDonald, was Arrowfield graduate Irithea who took out the $160,000 Dark Jewel Classic 1400m G3 carrying 57kg from gate 16. 

McDonald was full of admiration for the 6YO mare. “She always gives her best, she makes her own luck up on speed. She is a pleasure to ride really, an absolute star.”

Trainer Bjorn Baker was equally effusive.“It is very exciting, she has been a stable stalwart and she always puts her best foot forward. She is always there or thereabouts and she does it the tough way. She is great to have around the stable and she has a great attitude.”

Bred by Arrowfield, Planette Thoroughbred & Belford Productions, Irithea was bought for $90,000 by syndicator Darby Racing from the 2015 Magic Millions National Sale.  Her 34-start career has returned almost 10 times that amount in prizemoney from eight wins, including last year’s Hawkesbury Crown G3, and 12 placings, five of them in stakes company.

Irithea is out of the French Deputy mare Kirovskaya, a half-sister to Cesario, Champion 3YO Filly in Japan and now the dam of Japanese Champions Epiphaneia, Saturnalia & Leontes.

Kirovskaya has a 2YO colt Real Peace (by Real Impact), a yearling filly by Mikki Isle bought at Magic Millions by Sun Bloodstock for $250,000, and a weanling filly by Scissor Kick. 

Irithea was not the only Arrowfield graduate stakeswinner on Saturday. 3YO filly Realm Of Flowers, bred by Des Whybird & Russell Board, carried the Arrowfield brand to victory in the SA Fillies Classic 2500m G3 at Morphettville. 

The daughter of So You Think and Astral Flower was a $180,000 buy for  James Bester from Arrowfield’s 2018 Inglis Easter consignment and she is trained by Anthony Freedman for a group led by Kia Ora Stud.