Roll The Dice currently has four stakes-winning fillies and mares on its books in La Falaise (Canford Cliffs {Ire}), Anjana (Sepoy), Krone (Eurozone) and Twitchy Frank (Choisir), all of which have substantial residual value beyond their time on the track.
It was with that in mind, and with the assistance of one of the trainers they utilise that Roll The Dice hatched a plan to see if they could source stakes-performed fillies and mares out of New Zealand.
"We decided that having some nice fillies and mares at the moment, we thought if we are going to buy some tried horses, we want to buy some that have got some residual value at the end," Steve Travaglia, Roll The Dice's Racing Manager, told TDN AusNZ.
"We thought if we are going to buy some tried horses, we want to buy some that have got some residual value at the end." - Steve Travaglia
"We don’t want to buy a gelding or a horse that doesn't make it over here and then there is little value at the end of it."
"Mick Kent Jnr has got a great relationship with Phill Cataldo, and this filly came up and Jen Campin wanted to sell half and she wanted Mick Price to train her. We have obviously got horses with him, and it all fell into place from there."
Gold Bracelet, then trained by Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard, was an upset last-start winner of the G2 Wellington Guineas at Trentham in March, taking her record to three wins from four starts.
As a stakes-winning filly with considerable upside out of a mare who is a full sister to Group 1 winner Beauty Flash (NZ) (Golan {Ire}), she fitted the bill perfectly and Cataldo arranged the deal.
"She was a bit more expensive but she has got black type already. She's by Pins out of a really good New Zealand family, so no matter what happens, she is still going to have value as a broodmare in years to come," Travaglia said.
"We felt it was reasonably risk-free in that regard. She has obviously got some upside from the racing side of things and if that doesn't come to fruition, she can repay us as a broodmare later on."
Gold Bracelet (NZ) as a yearling
Measuring up formlines on either side of the Tasman can be a tricky business, but Roll The Dice engaged several form analysts to assess the strength of the Wellington Guineas win, which came over highly rated filly Levante (NZ) (Proisir).
"That horse, Levante, is touted as a Group 1 winner. You could debate she should have beaten our horse. I had the rating guys over here look at the race and they put it at about Listed level quality in Australia. They said that she is hard to judge, because she only ever does what she needs to do to win a race," he said.
"That excited us, because if she puts it all together here, she can measure up to the Group 2 and Group 1 level mares races."
Gold Bracelet's major spring goal under the care of Price and Kent Jnr would be a race like the G1 Empire Rose S. at Flemington.
Gold Bracelet will be under Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr's care
Roll The Dice has bred from a few of the horses it has raced in the past, but Travaglia said it would take a more commercial approach with its better performed mares.
"Our general rule is that we sell them. We are not really equipped as breeders and it can be risky breeding yourself with these more valuable fillies and mares," he said.
"When you have these better mares who are Group or Listed winners, you are risking $400,000 or $500,000 to breed with them. Where if you sell them, you get the money up front. You can then decide if you go back and you might buy the first foal from them.
"With Gold Bracelet, Jen Campin is a breeder and so she might be interested in buying the other half back."
Krone's Ripper plan
Dual Listed winner Krone is one of Roll The Dice's mares who could be set to go through the Magic Millions Gold Coast Broodmare Sale next month.
A last start runner-up in the L. Helen Coughlan S., she contests the G2 Dane Ripper S. at Eagle Farm on Saturday, looking to boost her page ahead of a likely trip to the broodmare barn later this year.
"She didn't draw great in 13. We were really confident if we could have drawn from one to five, that means she never gets further back than midfield and she can get a good run through. From 13, we are just not sure where she gets to," Travaglia said.
"There looks to be a bit of pace in the race, which helps. A bigger track will help too, that should suit. It will be an interesting one."
"There looks to be a bit of pace in the race, which helps. A bigger track will help too." - Steve Travaglia
Having started her career with Darren Weir, Krone joined the Mick Price stable at the start of 2019 before heading to Queensland earlier this year to be trained by Tony Gollan.
"She hasn't missed a beat since joining Tony. Mick did a great job with her and took her on her 3-year old campaign up there in Brisbane. She ran third in a Fred Best Classic, having won the Darby Munro in Sydney on the way through. Then she came back and suffered some stress fractures in her cannon bone," Travaglia said.
"We thought that was it for her, but they weren't as bad as we thought and we chatted with Rosemont and a few of the other owners and thought she might as well finish her career in Queensland and go to the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale.
"She does seem to have liked the move up there. Tony has put his own spin on her. He put a tongue tie on her first-up and she resented that, but second-up she was great. The Dane Ripper was the race she was sent up to there to win, so hopefully she can do really well."
Krone (inside, blue silks)
While a winning performance on Saturday would certainly add some value on Krone through the ring, Travaglia said that it was possible the owners could yet decide to race on for another season with the daughter of Eurozone..
"If she does run really well on Saturday and she is sound when it comes to the Broodmare Sale, we might consider a race in January at Magic Millions. It's the race Invincibella has won the past three years. It would be a really nice race for Krone to target," he said.
"If she is sound and happy and well, she might have another year with us, have four or five runs and then we can sell her next year. But if she shows us that she has had enough, she will go through the sales this year for sure."
