It was a weekend to remember for Vinery graduates and stallions, with black-type success spanning Australia and New Zealand. Unbeaten farm graduate and emerging star Lara Antipova earned coveted Group 1 status in New Zealand, while Sass Appeal confirmed her promise with an impressive Group 2 victory.
Champion First Season Sire Ole Kirk kicked off the Autumn with a bang as Aerodrome captured the Listed Canberra Guineas, alongside a dominant Flemington return from Legacy Bound and a Group 3 placing for Jadzia in the Ottawa Stakes highlighted another talented juvenile on the rise.
Not to be outdone, All Too Hard’s two-year-old Music Time stormed to victory in the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes marking his second juvenile Stakes winner in three weeks.
Lara Antipova Earns Group 1 in the Sistema Stakes
Vinery graduate filly Lara Antipova continued her meteoric rise with a brilliant victory in Saturday’s Group 1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie, extending her unbeaten record to four and stamping herself as the best 2YO in New Zealand.
Ridden by visiting jockey Mick Dee, the talented filly enjoyed a near perfect run and once straightening quickly asserted her class, surging clear to to defeat Liguria by almost two lengths.
“She made my job easy – she’s certainly very well educated,” Dee said. “She travelled beautifully throughout and once she balanced up she showed a great turn of foot. She even had a look around late, so there’s plenty left in the tank.”
Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson are now eyeing an Australian campaign for the exciting filly, with plans for her to join the stable’s Cranbourne base in the coming weeks.
“We think she’s up to Australian class and we’re looking forward to getting her to Melbourne,” Walker said. “There’s a race down the Flemington straight that could suit, or possibly the Percy Sykes in Sydney, before we look towards the Coolmore Stud Stakes in the spring.”
Walker noted similarities to Fortuna Racing’s previous star Bellatrix Star, runner-up in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes in 2023.
“Her form stacks up with Bellatrix Star – she’s every bit as good as she was,” he said.
Lara Antipova was purchased by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis in conjunction with Fortuna Racing for $100,000 from Vinery Stud’s 2025 Magic Millions draft.
Bred by Eden and Jenni Harrington and foaled and raised at Vinery, Lara Antipova is the best of four winners from five foals to race out of Vinery sales graduate Artistic Lass, a metropolitan-winning half-sister by Myboycharlie to Group winners Sistine Angel and Sistine Demon. Adding a special touch, her sire Russian Revolution was also bred and sold by Vinery, making Lara Antipova a homegrown star in every sense.
A three-quarter brother to Lara Antipova by In The Congo was sold from Vinery’s draft at the Inglis Classic Sale for $150,000 to Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing in partnership with Kestrel Thoroughbreds.
Sass Appeal Shines in Group 2 Kewney Stakes
Progressive So You Think filly Sass Appeal continued her impressive rise through the ranks with a commanding victory in Saturday’s Group 2 VRC Kewney Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.
Stepping up to the mile for the first time, the Danny 0’Brien-trained filly relished the distance and delivered a dominant performance. Well handled by Jordan Childs, Sass Appeal settled in a perfect stalking position before quickening clear in the straight to score by nearly three lengths.
The victory takes her record to four wins and a second from just five starts, with prizemoney now surpassing $400,000.
“Once they settled today there wasn’t a horse behind her that looked likely to finish in front of her. She only had to get past the leader and once she did, she put the race away.”
O’Brien believes the talented filly can measure up against older horses and is keen to give her time before targeting major spring races.
“Often with three-year-old fillies you want to make the most of racing against their own age and sex,” O’Brien said. “But I think this horse will measure up to the older horses, so after five runs this prep, we’ll give her a break and look forward to the spring.”
Potential targets later in the year include races such as the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes, Group 1 Toorak Handicap and Group 1 Sir Rupert
Clarke Stakes.
When asked what heights the talented filly might reach in the spring, O’Brien was bullish.
“There’s a great group of fillies around at the moment,» he said. “But I wouldn’t swap her for any of them.”
Purchased for $120,000 by O’Brien from Vinery Stud’s draft at the Inglis Premier Sale, Sass Appeal races for a large group of stable clients and is the best of three winners from three runners out of Group 3-placed Cristal Eyes. Cristal Eyes produced a colt by Ole Kirk last spring before visiting Exceedance.
Ole Kirk Bursts into Autumn with Stakes Success
Vinery’s Champion First Season Sire Ole Kirk has launched into the autumn in outstanding fashion, highlighted by a Stakes victory from promising three-year-old Aerodrome in Sunday’s $165,000 Listed Canberra Guineas (1400m).
Prepared by Michael Freedman and ridden by Regan Bayliss, the talented gelding controlled the race from the front and fought on strongly to score by three-quarters of a length. The win continued an impressive record for Aerodrome. who has now claimed three victories from seven starts with earnings approaching $300,000.
A precocious juvenile, Aerodrome won his first two starts at two before finishing fifth in the Group 1 JJ Atkins behind Cool Archie. After being given time following a single spring run, he returned second-up in Canberra with a dominant all-the-way performance.
Aerodrome was a $190,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Nine9park from the Gilgai Farm draft and is the first foal from Group 3-winning Epaulette mare She Shao Fly. The full sister to Aerodrome by Ole Kirk recently sold for $430,000 at last week’s Inglis Premier Sale to Bennett Racing.
Ole Kirk’s strong weekend also featured the exciting Legacy Bound, who returned to salute first up this preparation at Flemington over 1100m. The Robbie Griffiths-trained gelding now boasts four wins from six starts and close to $500,000 in prizemoney, highlighted by victories in the Group 3 Breeders’ Stakes and Listed Poseidon Stakes as well as a placing in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes last spring.
Bred and raised at Vinery, Legacy Bound will now target the Group 1 Goodwood Handicap in Adelaide.
Adding further depth to Ole Kirk’s impressive run was two-year-old Jadzia, who made a strong impression when finishing second on debut in Group 3 company. The promising Grahame Begg trained filly is nominated for both the Group 1 Golden Slipper and Group 2 Percy Sykes Stakes with further upside insight.
Aerodrome became the sixth Stakes winner for Ole Kirk and also marked his seventh individual winner in as many days, underlining the remarkable momentum of the young sire who currently boasts a 7.3% Stakes winners-to-runners strike rate. With stakes winners, elite juveniles and emerging three-year-olds all featuring among his runners, Ole Kirk’s early autumn results suggest the young sire’s impact this season is only just beginning.
Music Time Delivers Black Opal Glory for All Too Hard
Vinery sire All Too Hard added another stakes winner to his impressive record when talented juvenile Music Time produced a dominant
performance to win the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes (1200m) at Canberra.
Trained locally by Gratz Vella, the precocious two-year-old led throughout under jockey Pierre Boudvillain, taking control of the race from an outside barrier before powering clear in the straight to defeat Pearl Of Dubai by almost 2 lengths on the line.
Nicknamed “Rocket” by connections, the colt showed his trademark early speed to cross from barrier 12 and take up a prominent position outside early leader Bar Jester. The pair quickly put several lengths on the field before Music Time asserted his superiority in the straight, stretching clear in a performance reminiscent of his earlier Black Opal Preview win.
“From day one, Music Time showed me he would be competitive in the Black Opal,” Vella said.
“Have a look at what he did today. He worked early taking on the other local horse for the lead but the way he finished off was unreal.
“I’m going to be fair to him now – he’ll go out for a spell and hopefully when he comes back, we can look at bigger things.”
Music Time has now won three of his four starts, along with a second placing, and has already earned $180,000 in prizemoney.
Music Time was purchased by Vella Lodge for $45,000 from the Vinery Stud draft at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and is the fourth winner from four runners out of the Manhattan Rain mare Miss Eisenstadt, making him a half-brother to Listed Manihi Classic winner Little Miss Kubi.
Bred by Greg Perry, Music Time becomes the 33rd individual Stakes winner for All Too Hard and marks his second juvenile Stakes winner in three weeks with Hard Kick taking out the Listed VRC Talindert Stakes in February.
