'His attitude, tractability and his manners are going to help him.' - Trapeze Artist's first winner

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Disneck produced a taking turn of foot to win the opening 1100-metre handicap at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, and in doing so fulfilled the pre-Christmas promise shown by the cluster of Trapeze Artist juveniles who’ve stepped out so far this season.

After a slightly disappointing result when eighth in the $1 million Golden Gift on debut, Disneck showed improvement to claim his maiden win, racing with maturity to settle at the rear of the field. Tracking Godolphin’s pre-race favourite Diabelli (Fastnet Rock), he loomed up in the home straight and dispatched his rivals without much fuss, running out an impressive, 1.35l winner.

“He’s a pretty unassuming horse, but Bjorn’s always spoken pretty highly of him,” Clarke told TDN AusNZ. “Going into the Golden Gift he thought he was a genuine chance of being in the finish and he was a bit unlucky there, getting interfered with at the half-mile (marker), he got checked and lost momentum.

“But, with that experience under his belt he was pretty well set up on Saturday and he certainly turned it around. He was strong to the line and made a very impressive start to his career.

“He (Trapeze Artist) was obviously a very good 2-year-old and he just improved throughout his career, hopefully this guy can do the same.”

Trapeze Artist, although not particularly early, was a high-class juvenile who won the G3 Black Opal S. and placed third in the G1 Sires’ Produce S. However, his progeny have long promised to succeed in one of the few areas their sire couldn’t by winning as pre-Christmas juveniles.

Speaking to TDN AusNZ in July this year, Widden Stud’s Matt Comerford said: “We’re hearing that… they’re smart, intelligent horses that are able to handle the pressures of being in training at an early stage. I think that gives us a lot of confidence going forward that we will see them (before Christmas).”

Those early indications proved prescient and, including Disneck, Trapeze Artist has had five juveniles represent him on the track so far, with plenty more triallers too. On the whole, they have acquitted themselves well and despite their promise to keep developing with time he had three runners between the opening two juvenile stakes races at Randwick on October 1.

According to Clarke, it’s the disposition of Trapeze Artist’s progeny that’s allowing them to show up so well at a still early stage in their careers.

“Disneck will keep developing and growing, but the biggest thing in his favour at the moment is his attitude. He’s a very laid-back horse, and that was pretty evident on Saturday where he was quite quick out of the gates and then he was very easy to come back under Rachel (King) and settle off the pace.

“He was still a bit green and switching on and off in patches during the race, but certainly when she asked the question, he had a very good turn of foot. So, in terms of his ability as a 2-year-old it’s his attitude, tractability and his manners that are going to help him.”

Given that he’s ever-developing, Clarke finds it hard to say quite what level Disneck will get to just yet, though it’s likely that he’ll shortly bid to add another first to his record and become Trapeze Artist’s initial stakes winner.

“There’s the half-million dollar (R. Listed) Inglis Nursery on the 10th of December, so I suspect that will be the short-term goal,” Clarke revealed. “If he gets there and runs well he’ll probably spell and be aimed up at the autumn races.”

First-season sales strategy

With Disneck purchased by Clarke and his trainer for $200,000 at the 2022 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, he explained that each year he and Baker look to the first-season sires as an opportunity for value, and try to purchase a limited number as part of a risk-balanced approach to the yearling sales.

“We never pile in too hard, but it’s always good to find one or two,” he said. “We bought a couple of Written Bys and one by The Autumn Sun, but we were certainly keen to find a horse by Trapeze Artist too.

“I thought overall his stock were very good. They were very strong horses, they looked sharp.”

Evidently, Clarke’s opinion was shared by many others as he admitted to being outbid on a number of Trapeze Artist yearlings at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale earlier this year.

Heading to the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, his appetite certainly hadn’t waned and when he came across a smart-looking colt with an interesting pedigree he was determined to get on the score sheet.

“There were a few at Magic Millions that we bid on that we missed out on, but this guy at (Inglis) Classic (Sale) was pretty high on our agenda. Right from first inspections we thought he fit the mould of what we try to buy.”

Although it was his physique which stood out first and foremost to Clarke, he said that part of the appeal was also that the female side of Disneck’s family represents an opportunity which has been exploited to great success in Australia for a number of years now.

“He’s out of a very sharp, fast American mare and we thought he was a bit more precocious than some of the others - I guess it turns out we’re fortunate to have got him.”

Disneck’s dam, the Listed winner Lindisfarne (USA) (City Zip {USA}), won three races over sprint distances in the States and is a half-sister to another stakes winner.

“She was very, very fast, and it’s a slightly different pedigree to what most of the Trapeze Artists were. But, those sharp, fast American mares are working very well in Australia at the moment, which gave us a bit of confidence with this bloke.”

On the lookout for opportunities

Clarke’s confidence was imbued by imported mares such as Gypsy Robin (USA) (Daaher {USA}) who was purchased at the 2013 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and went on to produce G1 AJ Moir S. winner turned Newgate Farm stallion Wild Ruler, whose barnmate Russian Revolution has a similar story.

“With Lindisfarne, we certainly considered that there are many American mares doing the same,” said Clarke. “With the likes of those two at Newgate that are out of American mares, it gives you a bit of confidence in stepping outside the gene pool on offer in Australia.

“I think buying mares out of Europe and North America just gives you exposure to bloodlines that you can’t get in Australia. There’s a significant number, particularly in America but also in Europe, that are free of Danehill. There’s some very good broodmare sires here that have worked very well like Shamardal and Invincible Spirit, and it’s harder to tap into those lines back in Australia.”

Constantly on the hunt for similar opportunities, Clarke is currently in the UK at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale, having not long returned from a trip to the US where records were broken in the same market.

“I’m here with a client of mine, Michael Sherrin. We bought a mare in America that will go to Frankel on Southern Hemisphere time. We were hoping to buy two there but only came away with one.”

In purchasing Group 3 winner Chardy Party (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for US$325,000 (AU$503,900), Clarke noted that a plethora of options are left open to Southern Hemisphere-based buyers when raiding Northern Hemisphere markets - and there’s a similar suite of options available to him at Tattersalls this week.

“Out of this sale there’s a few different angles, but we’re here to try to buy the nicest mare that we can,” he explained. “If she suits staying here and being covered by one of the top Northern Hemisphere stallions on Southern Hemisphere time we’d do that. Otherwise, if it’s more suitable that we bring her straight home we will.

“It all depends on whether we’re able to get on the score sheet or not. All will be revealed in the next few days.”