First Group 1 winner for Kuroshio as Savatoxl surprises in Furphy Goodwood

Starfield Stud resident Kuroshio sired his first Group 1 winner when Savatoxl sprang a surprise in the Furphy Goodwood at Morphettville on Saturday.

Ridden expertly by Barend Vorster, the 18-1 shot powered clear in the straight and was strong through the line, recording a two-length victory over Instant Celebrity in the six-furlong contest, with favourite Gytrash third.

The five-year-old was bred by Carrington Park’s Sheryl and Mark Atkinson, and was adding a second Group victory to his CV after winning the DC McKay Stakes at the same track on his previous start for trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy.

Savatoxl is out of the New Zealand-bred Savabeel mare Li'l Miss Hayley, herself a daughter of the Moyglare Stud-bred Sadler's Wells mare Incommunicado, and cost a mere A$8,000 (£4,400/€5,100) when bought by the Alice Springs Turf Club at the 2017 Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale.

From running midfield in the Northern Territories to winning at the top level in South Australia, the hard-knocking gelding is the latest in a long line of rags to riches stories that have woven their way into the fabric of the Australian turf, and Saturday's success took his earnings to A$725,140.

Kuroshio was a high-class performer for trainer Peter Snowden in Australia, winning the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude at two before adding the Group 2 Mitty's McEwen Stakes the following season. He was also third in the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes.

Bred by Darley, the ten-year-old raced in the famous maroon and white silks of Sheikh Mohammed. He stood at Darley's Northwood Park until 2018, shuttling for duties at Overbury Stud in 2015, and since 2019 has been part of Micheal Orlandi's Compas Stallions roster in Ireland, now based at Starfield Stud.

A delighted Orlandi said: "He's been well supported by a good bunch of breeders in Ireland and we're thrilled. It's a great achievement for the stallion himself.

"That Savatoxl is a five-year-old who's obviously trained on – I think he's had 16 wins from 28 starts – makes it a fantastic achievement, and it definitely helps the confidence we have in him now he's back in the northern hemisphere.

"Very few stallions breed a Group 1 winner, and to breed a Group 1 sprinter in Australia is some feat."

He added: "We brought him over from there and he had a very successful first crop in the northern hemisphere. You wouldn't have known how he'd be accepted in the marketplace, but he went down a treat and got a lot of support.

"Last year he covered up to 130-odd mares and he's probably going to do something similar this year."

The son of Exceed And Excel is out of the placed Gone West mare Arctic Drift and is a full-brother to Believe'N'Succeed, the dam of the ill-fated 2019 Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck and New Zealand Group 1 winner Bounding.

Kuroshio has sired four individual Group winners to date, including Kurious – winner of Sandown's Group 3 Coral Charge and who made 900,000gns to Hillwood Bloodstock at last year's Tattersalls December Mare Sale – and La Rocque, winner of the Group 3 Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Flemington in March.

The ten-year-old has also sired a number of Group and Listed-placed runners, including Vintage Stakes third Dunkerron, Premio Tudini runner-up Siculi, Marygate Stakes second Daphinia and Singapore 3yo Classic runner-up Makkem Lad. He stood this year for a fee of €6,000.

Credit: Goffs UK

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