Get ready for the Australian debut of Alcohol Free - among the international queens changing Turf track

This article, By The Numbers, by Bren O’Brien, is from Friday’s edition of ANZ Bloodstock News: for a free daily subscription, just fill out the form here

The Queen Of The Turf Stakes is often notable for the added residual value to the winner, but this year’s edition is different, thanks to an unprecedented contingent of internationally bred mares.

On Saturday, Alcohol Free will become the most expensive horse – in terms of price at public auction – to contest a race on Australian soil.

The star mare, a four-time Group 1 winner, makes her local debut in the bottle green and white of Yulong for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes at Randwick.

The narrative of this race, one of only five Group 1s reserved for fillies and mares on the Australian calendar, is so often about the potential upside in value for the winner. But in the case of Alcohol Free, who cost Yulong 5,400,000gns at last year’s Tattersalls December Mares Sale, that transaction is much more of a focus than what she may be worth afterwards.

It’s arguable that adding a fifth Group 1 win would not provide any boost to that eight-figure value, which places her as the second most expensive mare sold anywhere in the world in 2022. In any case, Yulong aren’t likely to sell her, as they have grand plans to make her a blue hen within their massive broodmare band.

Since 2017, Yulong has spent an astronomical amount on bloodstock and, by far, the majority of that spend to date has been on broodmares.

In 2022, as well as paying for Alcohol Free, Yulong also parted with $2.5 million for Going Global at Fasig-Tipton. 

Their Written Tycoon Syndicate signed for the two most expensive mares in Australia last year; Away Game ($4m - £2.15m/€2.46m) and Tofane ($3m). Both horses were purchased out of the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Moreover, Yulong paid NZ$1.75m (£880,000/€1m) for Tofane’s dam Baggy Green through Gavelhouse Plus. 

Across those five mares, Yulong spent A$22.9m, financed to not only support their champion stallion,Written Tycoon, but also, in the case of the two high-profile international purchases, pursue Australian racetrack success.

Going Global’s Australian debut in last weekend’s Group 1 Doncaster Handicap for Chris Waller didn’t quite go to plan and she has subsequently been spelled after running 16th, but the expectations are sky high for what Alcohol Free may do in her first Australian appearance in the Queen Of The Turf.

Going Going sells at the Fasig-Tipton November SaleCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photo

The five-year-old is aiming to become just the second northern hemisphere-bred mare to win the race and she shares more than one similarity with the only other - Con Te Partiro. 

The first similarity is that they were both entrusted with Waterhouse and Bott, with Bott, in particular, renowned for his ability to work with horses adapting from overseas environments.

The second parallel is in their pedigrees. Both are from the same sireline. Con Te Partiro is by Scat Daddy and Alcohol Free is by his sire son No Nay Never. Furthermore, both are out of American-bred mares, ensuring their pedigrees feature multiple crosses of both Mr Prospector and Northern Dancer.

What Con Te Partiro’s success in the Queen Of The Turf has done is to open up the race to the possibility of international-bred mares contesting it and, as a result, six of the 20-strong field (including emergencies) in the 2023 edition are northern hemisphere-bred.

That is the most ever for a single renewal of the Queen Of The Turf. A look through the history of the race indicates just seven northern hemisphere-bred mares have contested this race since it was upgraded to Group 1 status in 2005. 

The price tags of four of the six internationally bred horses in the 2023 edition, including Alcohol Free, also tell a story about the profile of mares now targeting this race. 

The William Haggas-trained Purplepay cost €2m at the Arqana Breeding Sale in 2021, while Times Square was a €1.25m buy at the same sale last year. Statement, for Joseph O’Brien, sold for 600,000gns through the same Tattersalls sale which Alcohol Free topped.

The British-bred Promise Of Success was bought by Rosemont for a humbler 27,000gns and second emergency Cap De Joie was purchased privately.

What is a little unusual about the 15-strong Australian and New Zealand-bred contingent in this weekend’s Queen Of The Turf is that just five of them were sold through yearling sales. Of those, only Excelida, who was a A$460,000 Easter graduate, and Atishu, who was sold through Karaka for NZ$260,000, cost more than A$100,000.

The connections of that locally bred contingent will be looking for upside in the residual value of their high-class mares. One of the leading chances on Saturday, the multiple Group 1 winner Levante, is already catalogued to sell at the upcoming Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale and several others could follow suit through the breeding sales.

Interestingly, last year’s Queen Of The Turf winner Nimalee will go through the ring at the upcoming Inglis Chairman’s Sale, as will third-placed Icebath.

Going back through recent Queen Of The Turf winners, we can see how the race has been seen as an important proving ground for broodmare prospects, given their subsequent sale at auction. 

While only four of the 18 winners since the race was upgraded to Group 1 in 2005 have been subsequently sold at auction, all of them have sold for in excess of A$1m. The 2021 victrix Nettoyer was initially a A$900,000 purchase, but was then sold the following year to Trilogy Racing for A$1.3m, while Con Te Partiro fetched $1.6m to David Redvers through Keeneland in 2020.

Con Te Partiro: only northern hemisphere-bred mare to win the Queen Of The Turf - so farCredit: Caroline Norris

Rosemont Stud paid A$1.5m for 2015 winner Amanpour, while Darley/Godolphin parted with A$2.7m for Divine Madonna, who won the race in 2007.

The 2017 winner Foxplay and 2016 winner Azkadellia were both sold privately, the latter in opaque circumstances following much-publicised ownership complications.             

The best performed broodmare out of the Queen Of The Turf winners since 2005 has undoubtedly been 2006 winner Mnemosyne. Purchased by Bob Ingham as a yearling, the star filly was the last of John Hawkes’ four winners in the race and, after initially heading to Woodlands Stud, then came under Darley’s ownership as part of their Woodlands Stud acquisition in 2008.

Mnemosyne produced dual Group 1 winner and now Darley resident Impending, as well as stakes winners Forget and Epidemic. She is also the granddam of Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Lyre.