Veladero (pic. Lisa Grimm)
Star Thoroughbreds comes up with some interesting names for its numerous horses. Foxplay and Invincibella might not be the most imaginative of monikers but plenty of other Star performers catch the eye on both the page and the racetrack.
Squamosa was one. Pheidon another. Whittington, by Tale of the Cat, was a beaut.
And the Dash For Cash galloper, Bank Robber, wasn’t bad either.
We all know that a name doesn’t make a horse run faster (or slower, as Waikikamukau would attest), but a well considered nom de guerre definitely adds to the attraction.
Veladero is a case in point. Prior to 3.15pm last Saturday, the Chris Waller trained 3YO had won two of his five starts and run third in another for $57,785 in stakes.
However, less than two minutes later, Veladero had become yet another stakes winner for Star Thoroughbreds after taking out the Group Three Schweppes Gloaming Stakes.
Importantly, the colt had now banked $178,785 – a shade over his asking price of $160,000 as a yearling, but with the promise of plenty more to come.
Bred by Gerry Harvey and sold at the 2015 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale, Veladero is a son of the hugely prolific, Medaglia D’Oro from the Belong To Me mare, Stacked.
Firstly, Medaglia D’Oro is named after a gold medal for military valour in Italy. Medaglia D’Oro, the horse, won eight races and a whole lot of gold – around $US5.7 million worth. His progeny, meanwhile, have won close to $80 million.
Enter Veladero who is, according to Star Thoroughbreds’ Denise Martin, named after a gold mine in Argentina, one of the largest in the world with estimated reserves of around 10 million ounces (some 300,000 kilos).
Whether Veladero turns into a four legged gold mine, only time will tell, but Martin is clearly pleased with his efforts thus far.
“He was a very nice yearling – very attractive, good walking type of colt,” Martin points out. “He handled the sale particularly well and I find that quite often translates to their attitude on the track.
“Veladero is now likely to head to the (Group One $500,000 Moet & Chandon) Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on 8 October.”
Martin was also pleased with the progress of Star Thoroughbreds’ other spring hopefuls, including Foxplay, Invincibella and Gretna.
“Foxplay (who has won two Group Twos at her most recent starts) is set to run in the (Group One Schweppes) Thousand Guineas on Saturday week, while Chris (Waller) is also confident about the prospects of Invincibella and Gretna in the coming weeks.
“That was a very good run by Invincibella in the Reginald Allen on Saturday (when second behind Zenalicious) and gives her further black type, while Gretna ran on very well in the (Group Three) Scarborough Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night.”
The win of Veladero in the Gloaming Stakes capped off another remarkable day for Darley’s Australian operation.
Veladero became the 93rd stakes winner for Medaglia D’Oro, while earlier in the day, Darley also produced two stakes winners which are bred and owned by the dual hemisphere operation: Impending (by Lonhro) in the Group Two Stan Fox Stakes and Allergic (by Street Cry) in the Group Three Colin Stephen Queen’s Cup.
“It was another tremendous day of racing, particularly heading into the business end of the season,” Darley’s Head of Sales, Alastair Pulford, points out. “There’s little more that can be said about Medaglia D’Oro, particularly as he edges ever closer to the 100 stakes winners milestone. He had four stakes winners on Saturday including a Group One winner in North America (Songbird), while his impact in Australia has been phenomenal with the likes of Vancouver and, just recently, Astern, in the Golden Rose.
“That was a very good win by Impending in the Stan Fox as well and Lonhro is having another terrific year, while Street Cry is sadly missed, especially with Allergic adding to his Group success and maybe Winx will notch up her second Cox Plate.”
