Rock star colt wins Eskimo Prince Stakes G3
Scissor Kick was a star 3YO winning twice in quality Group company & earning admiration for his courageous 2nd in the ATC Golden Rose S. G1. (PHOTO: Bronwen Healy)
Redoute’s Choice colt Scissor Kick renewed his rock star credentials with a stirring return to the Group winner’s circle at Rosehill on Saturday.
His striking good looks, exuberant athleticism and international stallion’s pedigree attract easy attention, but it is his fighting spirit that has earned him genuine admiration.
That spirit was was evident again in the $150,000 ATC Eskimo Prince S. 1200m G3 when he knuckled down to reel in a game Delectation and score by a long neck in a time of 1:09.96, cutting out his final 600 metres in 34.16. Harrier Jet was third.
Scissor Kick’s trainer Paul Messara says, “He’s outstanding, always has been right through. He’s a Group I horse, it’s just a matter of when he gets it. This is as good as any horse I’ve ever had.”
The colt has now won four of his 8 starts – three of them in Group & Listed company -and just over $500,000 prizemoney. His placings include a very close second to Hallowed Crown in the ATC Golden Rose S. G1 last Spring.
Scissor Kick will next be seen in the ATC Hobartville S. 1400m G2 on 21 February where he will meet stablemate Panzer Division. All going well, he will then start in the $600,000 ATC Royal Randwick Guineas 1600m G1 on 7 March.
The charismatic bay colt (ex Back Pass by Quest for Fame) was a $200,000 Paul Messara purchase from the Broadwater Thoroughbreds draft at the 2013 Inglis Easter Sale and is raced by his breeder Jonathan Munz’s Pinecliff Racing in partnership with Arrowfield.
Scissor Kick and his stakes-winning brother Sharkbite are grandsons of a half-sister to the great broodmare Hasili (dam of four Group 1 winners by Danehill), Arrive (dam of Danehill’s champion daughter Promising Lead) and Dissemble (dam of Animal Kingdom’s sire Leroidesanimaux).
Back Pass died in 2014 but has a 2YO daughter, cleverly named Rebound, in training with Lee & Anthony Freedman, and a yearling colt by High Chaparral catalogued for April’s Inglis Easter Sale.
Scissor Kick was part of a stellar day for champion sire Redoute’s Choice, also represented by New Zealand Group 2 winner Vavasour and Lilliburlero, a staunchly brave runner-up to Catkins in the ATC NSW Thoroughbred Breeders’ Classic 1200m G2.
Redoute’s Choice has had 11 individual stakeswinners this season and is second on the Australian General Sires’ list with earnings of more than $5 million.
