Career Best Season For Blackfriars
A ground-breaking season for Blackfriars reached another level at Belmont on Saturday when he achieved a career-high $4.36 million in prizemoney.
It bettered his previous record of $4.29 million set in the 2011-12 season.
Blackfriars is a few weeks away from winning his fifth Sunspeed sires’ title and he sits 22nd on the Australian premiership which is a truly amazing statistic for a stallion based in Western Australia throughout his stud career.
A Belmont double on Saturday courtesy of Woodsville and Young Lionel contributed over $65,000 to the total. Both geldings are six year-olds and are racing as well as ever.
Black Queen, a half-sister to Karuta Queen, added the extras at Broome on Saturday and Smart As A Fox weighed in with his 6th win in Kalgoorlie on Sunday.
Blackfriars (Danehill) stands for an advertised service fee of $12,000 (plus gst) and Scenic Lodge is currently offering short-term, special discounts for the stud’s four stallions until August 3.
“We want to ensure Blackfriars remains accessible to as many local breeders as possible,” Scenic Lodge general manager Jeremy Smith said. “And with some quality books in recent years, we are very confident the best of Blackfriars as a sire is still ahead.”
Scenic Lodge associate Universal Ruler sired his second stakes horse in a week when Rebel King was a brave runner-up in the LR Beaufine Stakes on Saturday. His filly Fo’ Shizzle had been beaten less than a length in the LR Belmont Oaks on July 4.
Front-runner Calabria Joe won for the third time at Belmont on Saturday and that increased his earnings to $176,590 including $60,000 Westspeed bonuses.
It also took Universal Ruler to within $7,000 of breaking through $1 million in progeny earnings this season. He owns a 52% winning strike-rate which is next best to I Am Invincible among Australia’s second-season sires.
Incoming Scenic Lodge stallion Snippetson continued his successful run when Kenjorwood won the Shoot Out Mile despite a wayward finish at Randwick on Saturday. The Peter Moody trained gelding was racing first-up in Sydney and will only improve with the benefit of that clockwise outing.
Snippetson is also a Top 10 stallion on the Australian 2YO winners table with 9 individual winners of $471,110.
Dash For Cash rounds out the Scenic Lodge roster and he was represented by another three winners over the weekend to increase is earnings to $1.25 million this season. His smart sprinter Dodging Bullets completed a hat-trick with a last-start victory at Flemington and trainer Symon Wilde will back him up in Melbourne before the end of the season.
For more information on Scenic Lodge’s discount deals, breeders should contact Jeremy Smith on 041 994 3356 or email [email protected]
BLACKFRIARS (Danehill) – $12,000
SNIPPETSON (Snippets) – $6,500
UNIVERSAL RULER (Scenic) – $5,500
DASH FOR CASH (Secret Savings) – $4,000
All service fees (plus gst)