Foxplay (pic. Lisa Grimm)
There were 27 yearlings by Foxwedge at the 2015 Gold Coast Magic Millions.
First crop sons and daughters by Fastnet Rock’s Group One winning sprinter.
Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds had liked Foxwedge as a racehorse and liked his progeny too. One in particular was the filly from stakes winning North American mare, Butters.
So, Martin proceeded to bid on the filly as she entered the ring, winning out at $160,000. This wasn’t the most expensive Foxwedge on the Gold Coast and was still $400,000 shy of the money paid for a Foxwedge in Sydney that year.
Still, Martin has found the most successful Foxwedge to date with the filly – Foxplay – winning the Group Two Fitzy & Wippa’s Fast & Furious Stakes on Saturday.
Foxplay produced a withering burst down the Randwick straight to haul in the leader and became Foxwedge’s first Group winner in the process and his second stakes winner overall.
It’s been a promising start for Foxwedge who now has 23 winners and will stand the coming season at Newgate Farm at a fee of $22,000.
Martin recalls the time she first laid eyes on Foxplay: “She wasn’t a big filly but she was nicely put together. I thought she had a good walk – a purposeful walk – which is something I always look for in a yearling.
“She was certainly purposeful in the Furious on Saturday.”
Trainer Chris Waller was equally impressed with the latest star from Star Thoroughbreds: “To reel in the leader like that was a big effort. She (Foxplay) will now progress through the Princess Series and the Group Two Tea Rose Stakes in two weeks is her next target.”
Foxplay was also bred at Newgate Farm and it was a big weekend for the Hunter Valley Stud as it also sold Group Two Dato Tan Chin Nam winner, Awesome Rock, as a yearling on the Gold Coast.
“It was terrific to see Foxwedge get a Group Two winner after Volpe Veloce had broken the ice with a stakes win in New Zealand earlier this year,” Newgate Farm’s Bruce Slade points out. “Aside from other black type horses in Kentucky Miss and Aghna, he’s also had considerable success in the northern hemisphere with Urban Fox and Seafront both securing black type in Britain in 2016.
“Not surprisingly, Foxwedge has again been popular leading into the spring and it’s worth noting there are plenty more coming through with something like 130 foals from his second crop.”
