Lankan Rupee’s dominant victory in the $400,000 MRC Oakleigh Plate 1100m G1 at Caulfield gave Arrowfield’s supersire Redoute’s Choice his 24th Group 1 winner, and the second of three Group wins on a memorable day of high-class racing in Melbourne and Sydney.
A little earlier, at Randwick, the David Payne-trained mare Lilliburlero (ex Regimental Gal by General Nediym) won the ATC Triscay S. 1200m G3 for her owner-breeder Bruce Neill of Cressfield. She is the 110th stakeswinner by Redoute’s Choice, who is currently standing his second Northern Hemisphere season at the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval in France.
Less than an hour after the Oakleigh Plate, Robert & Deborah Anderson’s home-bred mare Bonaria (ex Decidity by Last Tycoon) added a second Group success to her record by winning the MRC Mannersim S. 1400m G3. The 5YO mare is trained by Pat Hyland and has now won 6 races and almost $490,000 prizemoney.
As it happened, daughters of Arrowfield’s now-retired champion sire Flying Spur completed both quinellas. Recoinage chased home Lilliburlero, while Hazard was the runner-up to Bonaria.
Lankan Rupee and Lilliburlero are both members of Redoute’s Choice’s 2009 crop which has now produced 17 stakeswinners from only 107 named foals – the same number as his benchmark second crop, but from fewer foals. Lankan Rupee is the third Group 1 winner from that Class of 2009, after Royal Descent (Australian Oaks G1) & Wylie Hall (South African Derby G1), and the second son of Redoute’s Choice to win the Oakleigh Plate, after Snitzel in 2006.
Caulfield in February has been a fortunate venue for Lankan Rupee’s owner-breeder Muzaffar Yaseen, whose famous Teeley Assets colours were carried by Redoute’s Choice himself in his first Group 1 win, the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on 27 February 1999. The same colours were in the Group 1 winner’s circle again on this Saturday at Caulfield last year, when 2YO filly Miracles of Life (by Redoute’s Choice son Not A Single Doubt) won the Blue Diamond.
Lankan Rupee’s dam Estelle Collection (by Zabeel), a Group 3 winner from the family of champion sire Lonhro, has a 2YO Redoute’s Choice filly named Timeless Choice, a weanling filly by Manhattan Rain and is once again in foal to Redoute’s Choice.
Lankan Rupee, who won twice at Group level in Melbourne during the Spring, has now won seven of his 14 starts and prizemoney of $676,260.
Arrowfield’s two brilliant sire sons of Redoute’s Choice added gloss to the day when outstanding 3YO filly Sweet Idea (by Snitzel) led home Gypsy Diamond (by Not A Single Doubt) in the ATC Light Fingers S. 1200m G2. Snitzel continues to lead the race for the Australian General Sires’ premiership with season earnings of $6.3 million and nine stakeswinners among his 58 winners.
Redoute’s Choice has 10 yearlings in the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale in March, and 36 lots catalogued for the Inglis Australian Easter Sale in April. Arrowfield will present three colts & three fillies from his 2012 crop in Melbourne and six colts & three fillies in Sydney.
