Aysar delivers on potential

Cover image courtesy of Darren Tindale

Enigmatic entire Aysar finally delivered on his potential on Saturday, taking out the Listed Chautauqua S. at The Valley.

As the saying goes, ‘Good things come to those who wait’. And that was most certainly the case for the team at Victoria’s Leneva Park, including Company Director Luke Vandersluys and General Manager Mick Sharkie, who waited, and waited, and waited for their well-bred stallion Aysar to register his first stakes win.

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Leneva Park (formerly Rockmount) is a 240-acre property, nearby Lindsay Park’s renowned Euroa base, and was purchased in 2019 by Vandersluys and his family, who were originally farmers from Wodonga. They currently have two stallions on their roster, multiple Group 1-winning miler Fierce Impact (Jpn), who they invested in, and unbeaten Group 1-winning 2-year-old Royal Meeting (Ire).

Gallery: Stallions standing at Leneva Park in 2022

What seemed a formality when they bought the son of Deep Field in mid-2021 became more and more unlikely, as the highly talented entire failed to reproduce the sort of form that saw him run second, beaten just 0.4l, in the 2020 G1 Caulfield Guineas behind Ole Kirk and fourth, beaten 1l, in last year’s G1 Sir Rupert Clarke S.

Of course, nothing is gifted to you in racing, but Aysar simply had too much ability to retire without a Listed victory at worst next to his name.

As each test came and went, the calls of him being a ‘non-winner’ grew louder and louder. Sharkie, though, is one of racing’s great optimists and maintained the faith, so you can imagine his delight when the 5-year-old saluted under Michael Dee in Saturday’s Listed Chautauqua S. at The Valley.

Aysar’s 1l victory was his first triumph since September 9, 2020 and snapped a 17-start winless run.

“It’s a massive relief, a massive relief,” Sharkie, who was still grinning from ear to ear on Monday, told TDN AusNZ.

“It was one of those ones where his trackwork had still been very, very good, and you know he’s got the ability, so you always hold the hope that he’s going to do it.

“I couldn’t believe it. I called Luke immediately after the race and he couldn’t talk, he was in tears. He said, ‘I feel like my whole world’s changed’. He and his family are not billionaires, they’re not millionaires, they’ve just put what they’ve made in other businesses into Leneva Park, into this project, and probably everything they’d made and some in that first two years into Aysar and Fierce Impact. They have so much riding on those two horses.

“Fierce Impact’s first foals arriving and looking good was a huge relief, but you still had Aysar hanging over your head if he didn’t fire, so the fact that he’s now been able to go and win that race it’s just awesome.”

Hatching a plan

Running out of ideas, Sharkie said he and co-trainers Ben and JD Hayes went back to the drawing board in what was almost a last-ditch bid to get the horse to deliver on raceday.

Sharkie said the Hayes brothers were receptive to ideas and he praised them for the work they have done with the horse.

“We spoke with the boys and we decided we had to try something different, because what he was doing back home wasn’t translating to the races,” Sharkie said.

“To their credit, they backed right off him in his work, I think he only galloped twice in the last two weeks. We took the approach that we would just leave him alone. It was music to my ears when JD rang me about a week ago saying, ‘I’m telling you, this horse has switched himself on, he’s right on’.

“He’s a 5-year-old bull… do you need to get up him? Probably not. Keeping him on the fresh side seems to have done the job.”

Grabbing an opportunity

Aysar was bred by Torryburn Stud and was a member of their draft at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He was bought by Shadwell Stud Australasia Ltd for $260,000.

Following the announcement in February 2021 that Shadwell Stud Australasia Ltd would be disbanded, Aysar was bound for Hong Kong.

That changed, however, and Sharkie pounced.

“We had been looking for stallion prospects that were within our budget,” Sharkie explained.

“We asked a few questions about Aysar, but was told he was going to Hong Kong, so you move on.

“I was with JD (Hayes) at Lindsay Park one day and he got a call to say the deal had fallen over. He asked if we were still interested. We had him vetted, did the deal, and within three to four days he was ready to go.

“We offered a little less than what Hong Kong had offered; we don’t have that kind of money… it was still good money, though.

“It was kind of the right place, right time, I guess.”

Plenty of appeal

Aysar boasts a beautiful pedigree. His sire was a Group 2 winner and a Group 1 placegetter during his short career and he has gone on to become a proven stakes-producing sire, with Group 1 winners Portland Sky and Sky Field two of his star performers.

Aysar’s dam, Miss Interiors (Flying Spur) was a handy racemare, winning three races and placing fifth in the G2 Sweet Embrace S. on debut at two, but it’s as a broodmare where she has made her name. After throwing Aysar as her first foal, Miss Interiors produced Home Affairs, by I Am Invincible, who was bought by Tom Magnier of Coolmore Australia for $875,000 at the 2020 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, again from the Torryburn Stud draft. Home Affairs won two Group 1s in a 10-start career and now stands at Coolmore Australia. Miss Interiors’ third foal is a 3-year-old by Capitalist named Wilbury; he was a $1.05 million buy for James Harron Bloodstock from the Torryburn Stud draft at the 2021 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. The colt has one placing from four starts.

The entire’s second dam, Ballet D’Amour (USA) (Stravinsky {USA}), is the dam of dual Group 1-winning sprinter Russian Revolution, who was crowned Champion First Season Sire in 2021/22.

Add the fact that Aysar is a cracking type himself and it’s easy to understand why Sharkie was desperate to get his hands on him.

“He’s got the pedigree – he’s a half to Home Affairs, closely related to Russian Revolution; it’s a great family,” said Sharkie.

“Physically, he’s a great type, I think he’s always the pick of the yard – he’s a grouse sort.”

Mission complete, but no swansong just yet

Aysar is finally a stakes winner, which has taken a hell of a lot of pressure off Leneva Park.

Sharkie believes Aysar has already done his job and would attract significant interest from breeders if he was to head to stud tomorrow.

But it’s taken them this long to get him back into form, they’re not about to pull up stumps anytime soon.

Sharkie said: “Initially when we bought him, we thought we would race him for a season, as we thought he would get it done. When you look at his 3-year-old prep, the form was all there and you would just think he would go and knock over a Group 3 or a Group 2.

“Obviously, it’s taken him a little bit longer to get that stakes win.

“We were saying pre-race that 75 per cent of the job is done; the pedigree is there…

“It was just getting that stakes win to go along with those five or six Group placings. He’s done that, so technically he’s got commercial appeal, you could stand him on that.

“If he’s turned the corner and wants to win races again, well, there’s some options for us. We can roll on to the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke, a race he got beaten narrowly in last year when arguably he wasn’t going as well.

“If he wins that, what’s he worth?”