Star colts enjoying change of pace

The past month has seen Shooting To Win, Hallowed Crown and Sidestep retire from the racetrack and move from the hustle and bustle of city racing stables to the fresh country air of Darley Kelvinside where they will join the stallion roster for the 2015 breeding season
Shooting To Win

G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Shooting To Win has arrived at Kelvinside in the Hunter Valley where he will stand his debut season at stud alongside fellow first-season sires Hallowed Crown and Sidestep.

Shooting To Win has settled in quickly to his new surroundings, just as Hallowed Crown and Sidestep did when they arrived on farm at the start of April.

Barley Ward-Thomas, Darley’s Stud Manager at Kelvinside said, “Sidestep and Hallowed Crown arrived at the farm within a couple of days of each other. Both have thrived during their time here and look sensational. They are both quality animals.

“Shooting To Win only arrived last week but has immediately settled in. He is an incredibly powerful horse with a great nature and I am sure anyone who sees him will be extremely impressed.”

Ward-Thomas continued, “The three of them are enjoying a well-earned break with the sun on their backs. In July we will begin to exercise them daily to ensure they are raring to go come September 1. All stallions are different but I would expect them to put on around 50kgs between now and the start of the breeding season and then they really start to change physically once they start covering and get a bit older.”

The trio combine with Royal Ascot-bound multiple G1 winner Brazen Beau, who will stand at Northwood Park in Victoria, to form what is arguably the most exciting group of young stallions to join a stud’s roster in the one year.

Shooting To Win was undefeated as a two-year-old and graduated to the elite level in the spring of his three-year-old year with a fast-finishing third in the G1 Golden Rose behind his new barn mate Hallowed Crown. At his following start Shooting To Win stormed to a three-length victory over a high-class field in the G2 Stan Fox Stakes.

Shooting To Win then took on the best of his generation in the Caulfield Guineas, one of Australia’s signature stallion-making races. Once again his finishing burst proved too powerful for his rivals as he swept past Rich Enuff in the concluding stages to win, with subsequent G1 winner Wandjina back in third.

He retires as the highest-rated son of Northern Meteor, who left an indelible mark on the Australian breeding industry in his short time at stud.

Hallowed Crown

Unbeaten as a two-year-old including victory in the G3 Kindergarten Stakes, Hallowed Crown returned at three to win the G1 Golden Rose defeating Scissor Kick and Shooting To Win.

Hallowed Crown’s autumn three-year-old campaign began with a win in a star-studded G2 Hobartville Stakes first-up with four G1 winners behind him before he claimed a thrilling victory in the G1 Randwick Guineas. A grandson of Street Cry and out of G3 winner and G1 Golden Slipper runner-up Crowned Glory, he hails from the family of Champion stallion Zabeel.

Sidestep

Also runner-up in the Golden Slipper, Sidestep was a blistering fast son of Exceed And Excel. Winner of the G2 Pago Pago Stakes, he was the highest-rated two-year-old colt of his generation and claimed multiple Stakes victories at three including the G2 Royal Sovereign Stakes, where he defeated G1 winners Bounding and Chautauqua.

Sidestep becomes the first son to stand alongside his Champion sire Exceed And Excel at Kelvinside, with his other two sons, Helmet and Kuroshio, both standing at Northwood Park.