Vinery champion More Than Ready is making enormous inroads as a sire of sires with the immediate success of Sebring, Perfectly Ready and his latest son at Stud, Pluck.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Pluck is the next son primed to carry on the sireline now that his first southern foals are on the ground at Vinery.
Pluck is a replica of More Than Ready and his initial book was fully subscribed. His unforgettable victory in the BC Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs ensured there was quality and quantity among the full book of 150 mares he covered last year.
One of his first foals is the filly from Miss Rangoon (Giant’s Causeway). The USA bred mare is the dam of Platinum Kingdom who racked up five black-type victories to G3 level in NZ and Australia last season.
Defying Gravity (Flying Spur) foaled a colt earlier this month. The dam is a winning daughter of Group 1 mare The Big Chill (O’Reilly).
Other mares due to Pluck include G1 winner La Chiflota, G3 winner Brief Embrace and a host of Stakes winners Aragonce, Ashkaleta, Diamond Cove, Diamond Hailey, Dirty, Magsaya and Pavlova.
Pluck (More Than Ready – Secret Heart by Fort Wood) clinched a start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf after victories at Belmont and the G3 Summer Stakes at Woodbine. He was forced to hurdle a fallen horse at Churchill Downs and was tailed off six lengths behind the second last horse in the back stretch.
Weaving his way through the field, Pluck powered to the lead with an explosive turn of foot to win going away. “He’s a very exciting sire prospect,” Vinery’s Peter Orton said. “He is a magnificent looking horse with such great depth of pedigree and possessed an extraordinary turn of foot, the most important elements we look for in any potential stallion.”
Pluck (USA) and his foals will parade at the Vinery open days on August 24 and 25. He will stand a second season at Vinery for a fee of $11,000 (inc gst).
