PROGENY of Vinery resident Testa Rossa brought up 100 individual wins for the season with a double at Sandown-Hillside on Wednesday via the lightly-raced and highly promising types Testa My Patience and Speediness.
The Mick Price trained Testa My Patience scored his third win inside seven career starts when diving through late after being held up to bag the MRC The Cove Hotel Handicap (1400m).
It was his second successive win following an easy 2.3-lens win at Hillside earlier this month.
Testa Rossa’s tonne came soon after when the Pakenham visitor, Speediness, came from off the pace to claim the MRC Betfair Handicap (1600m).
Purchased for just $18,000 in Melbourne, Speediness has won $40,522 in just four starts thanks to two wins and two minors, both of them in town.
Testa Rossa’s heroics come just in time for the start of the 2011 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale where 15 of his progeny are on offer.
In fact the Premier begins with a Testa Rossa colt out of the former smart two-year-old Gaelic Princess who placed both the Blue Diamond Preview and Prelude before finishing fourth in the Blue Diamond Stakes.
Testa Rossa has enjoyed another typically successful season and currently resides in the top 10 sires by earnings, winners, wins and 2YO winners.
”Testa Rossa has had a great year in respect to stakes races,” says Phelan,”Rostova, Ortensia, Panipique and Sistine Angel all won majors in the autumn and he has sired two new stakeswinners since the catalogue was released, not to mention the emergence of star 2yo Pane In The Glass.
”His success on the racetrack has been reflected in the sale ring, his Magic Millions yearlings were purchased by the likes of Peter Moody, Bart Cummings, Paul Perry, Grahame Begg, John Foote and Ortensia’s trainer, Tony Noonan,” Phelan said.
They also sold for up to a quarter of a million dollars at the Karaka sales series across the Tasman.
”Testa Rossa was a trained in Melbourne and won six Group One races there and stood in the Sate before coming to Vinery so he is always afforded great respect at Oaklands.
”I can’t see it being any different this year, they are a very good bunch of horses overall that are certain to be in demand.”
