Vinery's Headwater and Darley's Shooting To Win both sired extremely impressive 2-year-old Group 3 winners on Saturday, with Wisdom Of Water winning the G3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic on the Gold Coast for the former and Extra Time striding away for a decisive win for the latter in the G3 National S. at Morphettville.
It was a significant breakthrough for first-season sire Headwater, with Wisdom Of Water his first stakes winner and now the ruling favourite for the G1 JJ Atkins S. next month.
The emergence of the Toby and Trent Edmonds-trained colt as a top-line 2-year-old prospect is a significant boost for Vinery Stud, where Headwater will stand his fifth season at $13,750 (inc GST).
Headwater | Standing at Vinery Stud
"It's very important. Obviously, he was a talented juvenile himself. To get a very smart 2-year-old in his first crop is a big thing and he certainly looks top notch, Wisdom Of Water," Adam White, Vinery's Bloodstock Manager, said.
"He has always been an easy enough horse to sell each year. He has always been pretty popular. Obviously getting a top-line horse in his first crop, it won't be any different.
"To get a very smart 2-year-old in his first crop is a big thing and he certainly looks top notch, Wisdom Of Water." - Adam White
"Just over the weekend, straight after Wisdom Of Water's Group win, we have already locked in a dozen mares off that. I don't think it will take him long to fill up his book of mares, the way he is going."
White said that the disruption caused by coronavirus to the usual cycle of events has meant that many breeders have not had the opportunity to get serious about their mating plans until the past couple of weeks, and so the timing of Wisdom Of Water's performances were particularly important for Headwater.
"They were all waiting to see what this horse did when he stepped up to that Group level and he won in commanding style. A lot of people, with the sales being impacted, they are only now starting to get into their matings and what stallions they want to use. From that point of view, it was a very timely win for him," he said.
While a marquee horse in his first season with runners on the track is a big fillip to Headwater's profile, White feels he has made a strong start across the board, with four winners to date.
"He has started well and he has got a couple of smart ones. Not only Wisdom Of Water, but the Adelaide filly Mileva, who will come back in the spring. We’ve got one debuting on Wednesday with Matt Dunn, which we have a big opinion of," he said.
That horse is the colt, Head Legislator, the winner of a recent Rosehill trial and set to make his debut in the Vinery colours at Randwick.
"He has got more 2-year-old winners this year than other stallions like Rubick and Zoustar. He has started off very well," White said. "He's not an expensive horse and he’ll help breeders keep their service fee budget intact and go in with a bit of confidence on a stallion that is going really well."
Headwater's second crop averaged $54,125 at the Australian yearling sales this year, a slight jump on his first crop, and a good sign for those commercial breeders looking to support him going forward.
Headwater
"He's an exceptional looking horse himself and he gets a good horse. The buying market has always warmed to the horse, right from the word go," White said.
"The first time his first crop weanlings came through, and then his yearlings there was that support. He does produce a good-looking foal and if you take one to the sales, you will generally go well."
Shooting for the stars
Shooting To Win has two crops on the track and having marked his first stakes winner with Ms Catherine and talented G1 performer Kubrick in his first crop, he produced his first 2-year-old stakes winner when Extra Time comfortably won the National S. for trainers Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas in Adelaide.
Having his fourth start, the Armidale Stud-bred gelding was a dominant winner, beating Kazuhiko (Deep Impact {Jpn}) by 3.4l and lending significant support to the cause of his sire ahead of his sixth season.
"He's getting plenty of winners and he's always had a lot of support from breeders around Australia," Godolphin's Head of Sales, Alastair Pulford, said. "He's a popular horse, a beautiful looking horse and to get that winner on Saturday in very dominant fashion, with the blinkers added was very pleasing."
The impressive Shooting To Win | Standing at Darley, Kelvinside
Darley confirmed last month that Shooting To Win will stand at $16,500 (inc GST) in 2020, with the $5500 reduction in service fee a reflection of the wider uncertainty in the coronavirus era.
He served his biggest ever book in 2019 of 179 mares and the emergence of an impressive stakes-winning 2-year-old in his second crop could prove all important to the strength of his book in 2020.
"He's had very big numbers all the way through. He's never really missed. The quality is good enough to give him every chance," Pulford said. "Like a lot of that Encosta-Northern Meteor line, they are probably not early, early 2-year-olds, but come the autumn and their 3-year-old years, they come into their own, which is like he was himself."
"He's had very big numbers all the way through. He's never really missed. The quality is good enough to give him every chance." - Alastair Pulford
In what is a very competitive market for young stallions, Shooting To Win has produced 36 winners this season, the fourth most of any second-season sire in Australia.
Shooting To Win has produced 36 winners so far this season
His Newgate Farm-based brother Deep Field, who will stand for $55,000 (inc GST) in 2020, leads that race on 69 winners. They are two of only four second-season sires to have had multiple stakes winners so far this season.
Shooting To Win has also had two stakes-placed 2-year-olds in 2019/20 in Dom To Shoot and Charlton Eddie.
That success has contributed to a good season for his yearlings at the sales, where he has averaged $64,000, a jump of $10,000 from 2019, including a top price of $180,000 for a colt at the Inglis Classic Sale.
