PROLIFIC has long been the adjective that proceeds Vinery resident and trainer’s favourite Testa Rossa who enhanced his reputation with another winning treble at Flemington yesterday.
The former six-time Group 1 winner is a permanent Top Ten Sire by earnings and is currently ranked fourth on the Leading Australian sires table by winners with 122 winners this season of 188 races with earnings of over $6.1 million.
Champion trainer Peter Moody was quick to give praise to Vinery Stud’s Testa Rossa whose son Testascana gave Moody his century of winners in Melbourne this season in Saturday’s Hanan Displays Handicap (1600m) at Flemington. Earlier in the day the Testa Rossa gelding Sidecar took Moody’s tally to 99 1/2 winners with victory in the Australian Lamb Company Handicap (1700m) but Testa Rossa’s had yet another winner with the Jim Mason-trained Gossip Girl giving Testa Rossa three winners on the Flemington programme.
Moody has enjoyed remarkable success with the progeny of Testa Rossa, highlighted by the South Australian Derby (G1) win of Testafiable.
Testa Rossa registered his own century of winners for the season a long time before Moody. He began the day with 127 individual winners. Only Commands, Encosta de Lago and Lonhro have sired more.
All three of Testa Rossa’s Flemington winners came out of the Inglis Premier Yearling sale.
Last weekend’s treble was not the first time that progeny of Testa Rossa have featured on multiple occasions at the one meeting – far from it – the frequency which he has done so during this season is quite extraordinary.
“I think when you have a stallion that can get winners from 1000m up to 2500m and they can get going as 2yo’s and stay around winning races when they are 8yo’s certainly helps,” says Vinery’s Conor Phelan.
“Testa’s are not ‘just’ sprinters or ‘just’ milers’ and not forgetting that he is the sire of a Group 1 Derby winner.”
Testa Rossa’s progeny have a versatility and toughness (soundness) that he seems to pass down to his stock. These are among the main reasons why he is often referred to a “trainers stallion”.
“Yes I have heard that said,” Phelan commented, “trainer’s like to buy them because they are sound (over 80% of his foals race) and will get to the races and of those over 70 percent will win. And that’s nationwide too, he gets his winners coast to coast and everywhere in between on good slow or heavy. That’s all you can ask for from a stallion.”
One of Testa Rossa’s hat-trick last Saturday at HQ was the Jim Mason trained Gossip Girl who registered her sixth win from 15 career starts.
The four year old mare has always shown above average ability dating back to her awesome 6-lens debut win at Donald over 1000m.
Since then has added victories at Lakeside and Hillside tracks in the lead-up to her most recent Metropolitan triumph.
