News

Aussie Anthem Should Have Followed Starspangledbanner

21st Oct 2009

Virtual Formguide - Brian Russel Media - Friday, 16 October 2009

Although the crowd stood and sung their appreciation when Starspangledbanner stirred from the front at Caulfield races on Saturday, it was the Australian National anthem that they should have been rendering after the running of the historic Caulfield Guineas.

The winner ran under the name of Starspangledbanner, but all first four home were by Australian bred sires, in order Choisir, Elvstroem, Encosta de Lago and Danzero.

Starspangledbanner is the first Group1 winner for Choisir, but he is entrenched as one of the best sires in Australia.

A Coolmore owned sire who shuttles between their studs in Ireland and Australia, Choisir is of course the Newcastle horse who in 2003 became the first Australian bred, owned and trained galloper to win a major race in England.

Now winner of five of nine outings and earner of over $1million, Starspangledbanner is trained in Victoria by Leon Corstens for a syndicate of over 30 owners including his breeder Tony Santic, the breeder and owner of triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.

Knocked down for $120,000 at the Inglis Melbourne Premier yearling sale, Starspangledbanner is one of three winners, two of the stakes performers, from the first three foals out of Gold Anthem, an Adelaide 2-year-old winner by Made of Gold. Like the dam of Makybe Diva, Gold Anthem, a $40,000 Magic Millions Adelaide yearling, was purchased for Santic by Brisbane agent John Foote.

Starspangledbanner is the only colt among the five foals from Gold Anthem, the last two of which are by Royal Academy (2007) and Rock of Gibraltar (2008). She went to Purrealist, a smart Tale of the Cat performer, in his first season at Santic’s Makybe Stud in Victoria last year.

Choisir’s Caulfield Guineas winning son Starspangledbanner has close blood ties through sire and dam with Elvstroem, the sire in his first crop of the runner up in the race, the Tony Vasil trained Carrara, an earlier winner of five of eight outings. Both horses represent the Danehill male line and Circles of Gold, the dam of the Blue Gum Farm, Euroa based Elvstroem, is a half-sister to National Song, the grandam of Starspangledbanner.

National Song was bred by Widden stud, but both Elvstroem and his Fusaichi Pegasus half-brother Haradasun, a Coolmore, Hunter Valley sire, were bred by F.B.J. Tagg, F. Meduri and G. Moffitt, NSW. The Taggs race Carrara, but bought him for $200,000 out of the Little Plains stud, Wangaratta draft at the Inglis Melbourne sale.

Elvstroem and Haradasun, Group1 winners in both hemispheres, and Starspangledbanner, are envigorating the historic Eulogy family. Circles of Gold, the dam of the first two mentioned, was a magnificent racemare by Marscay whose efforts included a win in the AJC Oaks and a second in the Caulfield Cup.

Her brother Modern Era, a winner of three races in Melbourne and stakes placed, started a sire career in 2006 at Di Hill’s now closed Foxes Hollow stud at Oakdale, NSW but is now in South Australia. There are some 40 first crop foals, current 2-year-olds.

Other recent representatives of the family have included Circles of Gold relations Polar Success (won the Golden Slipper) and Ain’t Seen Nothin’ (eight wins, third MRC Underwood Stakes and fourth AJC Oaks and VRC Mackinnon Stakes).