Charge Forward the unsung hero in Estijaab's Golden Slipper tale

It is mind-boggling to think that Snitzel has already smashed the A$20 million barrier by earnings this season in Australia. Of course, a hefty wedge can be attributed to Redzel, whose win in The Everest at Randwick - worth A$10,000,000 - last October secured A$5.8 million of that total. However, that hardy gelding is one of four Australian Group 1 winners so far this season for Snitzel, whose overall tally of 23 stakes winners puts him firmly on course to surpass the previous seasonal record of 26 held jointly by himself and Danehill.

Snitzel's dominance continued unabated into last weekend when his daughter Estijaab captured one of the most eagerly anticipated two-year-old races of them all, the Golden Slipper Stakes. One of three runners in the Rosehill Group 1 for her sire, Estijaab made light of barrier 14, making a flying start to set the pace before bravely holding off Oohood, another feather in the cap for the Invincible Spirit stallion I Am Invincible, to score by a head. Sunlight, an excellent advert for the first crop of her sire Zoustar, wasn’t far away in third.

With that result in the bag, Snitzel now also boasts approximately A$3.2 million in two-year-old earnings. Six of his 30 juvenile runners this season are winners although what is most striking is the fact that four have already struck in stakes company.