'She’ll stay here now, she won’t be going back' - Amelia’s Jewel's dam Bumbasina will not be sold

Big-ticket mare Bumbasina, the dam of Western Australia’s pride and joy and The Quokka favourite Amelia’s Jewel, won’t be sold by her owner Peter Walsh any time soon.

The WA breeder had initially flagged that he would sell the European stakes-placed mare - currently back in foal to France’s champion stallion Siyouni to southern hemisphere time - but a torrid return trip to Australia in early March has prompted a change of heart.

Bumbasina is on agistment at Segenhoe Stud in the Hunter Valley.

“She’s never been a good traveller, even after I bought her [in 2018] when she was in foal carrying Amelia’s Jewel,” Walsh told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

“Peter O’Brien showed me photos of her at Segenhoe and he said, ‘What the hell did you buy?’ because she’d lightened off, but then she came good again.

“When she flew back to France [in 2022], the same thing happened and she lost a lot of weight and again when she returned [earlier this year].

“She’s coming good now, but I don’t think she would have come up in time. Even though I was going to sell her, there was still a bit of doubt. That pushed the doubt out of my mind and I thought, ‘I may as well keep her’.”

Zoustar: the stallion of choice for BumbasinaCredit: Edward Whitaker

For everyone who said ‘sell’ there was another person who suggested he was mad for considering parting with Bumbasina, but in the end the decision has effectively been made for him.

Widden Stud’s Zoustar, whose progeny sold for up to A$2.2 million (£1.14m/€1.34m) at last week’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, and whose daughter Zougotcha made it two Group 1 wins in succession by narrowly scoring in the Queen Of The Turf at Randwick on Saturday, is short-price favourite to cover Bumbasina in the spring. 

Walsh said: “She’ll stay here now, she won’t be going back [to Europe]. We’ve got a full-brother to Amelia’s Jewel to sell next year, who will definitely be sold.

“There are good stallions here and she is in foal to Siyouni again, so that’s good news even though she lost weight travelling.”

Group 1 winner Amelia’s Jewel, meanwhile, is in her final racing campaign with Perth trainer Simon Miller, with Saturday’s Quokka slated to be her Western Australian swansong before she heads either to Adelaide or Queensland to round out her autumn preparation. 

The four-year-old mare is set to join a Sydney stable in the new season, but who that trainer is, Walsh is yet to determine, although he will liaise with Miller before making a final decision.

Walsh also revealed on Monday that Amelia’s Jewel’s two-year-old half-brother Bosustow, who was placed in the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes on his most recent start, is back in work and being aimed towards the Queensland Winter Carnival by trainer Annabel Neasham.

The Siyouni brother to Amelia's Jewel

The Western Australian owner and breeder, who retained a share in the valuable colt, sold Bosustow to the Rosemont Alliance for A$900,000 at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale through the Segenhoe Stud draft.

“She’s got the BRC Sires in mind for him and the [Champagne Classic] before that, two Group 2s, so, he’s back in work now,” Walsh said of Bosustow. 

“He ran third in the Sires in Melbourne and he came home well. I think he’s going to be a good miler, and a good three-year-old, by the looks of it.”  

As for Amelia’s Jewel, she has to run up to expectations in the Quokka, the race she was beaten in by the barest of margins last year, to justify a trip east, be that for The Goodwood or Group 1 races in Brisbane.

Adelaide’s The Goodwood recently had its prize-money increased to A$1m.

“She doesn’t have to win it [Quokka], but if she runs well enough, like she did a fortnight ago…then there’s Queensland and Adelaide,” said Walsh. 

“Originally, we thought of Queensland because there are some good races up there, but then they upped their stake money [in Adelaide] as well.

Amelia's Jewel: "I thought she hit the line very, very well [first up]."

“We really had no choice beforehand, but now there’s one with the million-dollar race.”

Amelia’s Jewel suffered a surprise defeat when resuming after her eastern states preparation last spring, finishing runner-up to Quokka rival Oscar’s Fortune in the Roma Cup on April 6.

Walsh said: “She was a bit fat, and Simon said she was going to need that run, and she obviously did, but I thought she hit the line very, very well [first up].” 

Amelia Park’s Walsh will also be represented in the race he sponsors, the Karrakatta Plate at Ascot on Saturday, when the Luke Fernie-trained two-year-old filly Yuwill Be The One runs in the A$500,000 race.

A A$90,000 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale graduate, Yuwill Be The One was bred by Walsh and carries his distinctive green, red sleeves and white armband silks along with a large syndicate of owners.

Yuwill Be The One ran home well to finish runner-up on March 30 at Ascot, with Fernie scratching the filly from Pinjarra last week to save her for a “throw at the stumps” in the Karrakatta.

The breeder said: “She’s 20-1, she’s long odds, but who knows? She’s shown a bit of ability. I had three in the Derby on Saturday [Buckets Ridge] and one ran second. 

“I’ve had a lot of seconds the past couple of weeks, so I hope to turn it around this week."

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