Group 2 goes to Arrowfield graduate
Arrowfield graduate Not Listenin’tome returned to the winner’s circle on a Sunday evening with a polished performance in the $HK4 million HKJC Jockey Club Sprint 1200m G2.
His half-length defeat of a quality field, including his champion stablemate Able Friend (4th), Lucky Bubbles (2nd) and Group 1 winner Aerovelocity (3rd), surprised punters but it’s not out of place on his excellent record. He’s now won eight and placed in seven of his 27 starts for $2.4 million prizemoney and, while this win is his best, he’s also won four Group 3 races, and placed three times at Group 1 level.
One of those Group 1 placings was in last year’s Hong Kong Sprint and Hugh Bowman, who rode him then and on Sunday, is happy tobe on board on 11 December.
He said, “I got a lovely run, he settled the best he’s ever settled for me. All the times I’ve ridden him have been over 1200m and in that time, all his best form has been over 1000 metres.
“Twelve months ago, after the Hong Kong Sprint, I thought that the 1200m was too far for him, or at least for him to produce his best, but obviously after what he produced this afternoon, it makes me very excited going into the international meeting.”
Not Listenin’tome (Dylan Thomas-Flame of Sydney by Encosta de Lago) was a $270,000 purchase by George Moore Bloodstock from Arrowfield’s draft at the 2012 Inglis Easter Sale and is prepared for Matthew Wong Leung Pak for champion Hong Kong trainer John Moore.
The 6YO gelding was bred with Mark Read by long-time Arrowfield client Michael Pitt, who said, “It’s wonderful to see Not Listenin’tome back in form. I’ve done really well with Flame Of Sydney and I might try to do it all again, as I do want to keep an involvement.”
Flame Of Sydney has been a wonderful racing and breeding story for Michael over the past decade. A $NZ230,000 buy out of Karaka in 2005, she earned $315,000 in a career that featured a Listed win at Flemington and multiple Group placings.
Her five yearlings, her broodmare daughter Star of Sydney and finally Flame Of Sydney herself, sold for $605,000 at the 2015 Inglis Broodmare Sale, have returned a healthy seven-figure sum, undoubtedly aided by Not Listenin’tome’s racetrack success.
And the story’s not over yet. Flame Of Sydney’s current 2YO Invader (by Snitzel) was fourth on debut for the China Horse Club and partners in the ATC Breeders’ Plate LR, and she has since produced a yearling filly and colt foal by Snitzel for her new owner Yulong Investments.
Meanwhile, Michael’s only current mare Tennessee Sunrise, from the brilliant family of dual Group 1 winner Malaguerra, has an attractive Smart Missile filly in Arrowfield’s draft for the 2017 Inglis Classic Sale in February.
