Spright (pic. Lisa Grimm)
“I’m a deadset mug to think lightning is going to strike twice,” Gary Mudgway told Yarraman Park’s Harry Mitchell at the 2014 Inglis Sydney Weanling & Bloodstock Sale.
Mudgway had just paid $12,000 for a second crop filly by the Yarraman based, Hinchinbrook, and was referring to the stallion’s stud mate, I Am Invincible, who had gotten off to a flying start at stud with a number of promising gallopers.
“I Am Invincible was all the rage and buyers couldn’t get enough of them,” Mudgway recalls. “I said to Harry there was no way there would be as much hype around their other stallion.
“Still, I’d had a number of good results with I Am Invincible progeny by that stage and $12,000 for a Hinchinbrook was hardly make or break.
“The thing was though, the (Hinchinbrook) filly was a very nice type from day dot. She just went from strength to strength and even though I struggled to get her into the Melbourne Premier – she ended up in P2 (the sale’s second catalogue) – I knew she’d make a good return on investment.
“I told them at Inglis she would make around $50,000-$60,000 and they laughed at me, but by the time she got into the ring, they came at us from all angles.
“There were a few in the syndicate and I had some people that wanted to buy her from within the group, while another shareholder had John McArdle bidding on his behalf as well. In the end, we all got blown away when she was knocked down for $100,000.”
Ultimately purchased by the White family and placed with Hawkesbury trainer, Garry Frazer, the filly – subsequently named Spright – captured the first stakes victory of her short career by taking out the Listed Ainsworth Sir Brian Crowley Stakes at Royal Randwick on Saturday and, in the process, has doubled her yearling sale price.
Racing in the same purple and white colours sported by numerous stars of the turf such as Marscay, Triscay, Eremein, Jetball, Filante, Yippyio and Reenact, Spright has some big racing plates to fill but, according to Frazer, the $200,000 Group Three Crown Resorts Plate over 1100m at Flemington on Oaks Day could be right down her alley … or straight.
“She’s a very good filly,” Frazer points out. “I was very happy for the White family as I’ve trained a few for them over the years. Going into Saturday’s race I was wondering how she would go up against the colts but my son rode her on Tuesday morning and told me they wouldn’t beat her based on that work. Hopefully she can back it up now with a win at Flemington.”
One thing is for certain, dual stakes success in the spring would enhance her broodmare value considerably and make that original $12,000 look very cheap indeed.
HOOFNOTE: Mudgway is hoping to go back to the well in 2017 with another Hinchinbrook filly – from Chalk Ridge – that he will sell under his Grange Thoroughbreds banner at the Melbourne Premier.
“I’m not sure how much lightning there is left, but she sure is a nice filly!”
