Pluck (USA) is making his own luck this season and the winners can keep coming this weekend at home and abroad.
Vinery’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner has jumped the gun with his second-crop colt Aspect (G3 Maribyrnong Plate) and his upside filly Lucky Louie who was stakes-placed at Randwick and Flemington.
Pluck topped the (Aus) freshman winner-count last season with 8 individual winners and they’ve been arriving at regular intervals since August with the likelihood of more this weekend.
His brilliant 3yo filly Life On The Wire returns from a spell in Hobart on Friday afternoon and his Singapore expat Neo’s Classic is poised to win again at Kranji on Sunday.
New Zealand-based pin-hooker Shane Crawford of Regal Farm is also likely to sell his Pluck colt (Lot 181) this weekend after it was passed-in at the NZB Ready to Run Sale on Wednesday.
“I was surprised he didn’t make the $150,000 reserve,” Crawford said. “I thought he was worth that at least so it didn’t bother me bringing him home. There was a lot of interest at Karaka and there’s still people keen on him from Australian and Asia.”
Crawford bought the Pluck colt for $72,500 from Vinery’s draft at the Inglis Classic Sale. The Asian interest stems from his older half-brother Golden Bauhinia (FuPeg) who won 10 sprints in Hong Kong.
Their dam Dream Leica (Maroof) is a Caulfield winning half-sister to Leica Guv (G1 NZ Derby).
Pluck sired New Zealand winners Gasoline and Pluck That from his first crop earlier this year and they were subsequently sold to Hong Kong.
Crawford was struck by his Pluck colt’s physique as a yearling. “He’s got a strong shoulder and there was a certain presence about him. I broke him in and he felt like a get-go horse from Day 1. I really rate the horse and he should sell in the next few days.”
Pluck (USA) stands alongside his sire More Than Ready at Vinery for a $9,900 (inc gst) service fee.
