Star Turn takes final bow to stand at Vinery

Classy Australian sprinter Star Turn, placed four times at Group 1 level, has been retired to stand at Vinery Stud.

The three-year-old, trained by the Hawkes Racing Team, won the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes in October - prompting a memorable endorsement from Wayne Hawkes. "He was up against some serious older Group 1 horses today," he said. "And he gave them a short, back and sides."

Star Turn, who also won the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes, was third in each of his last four starts at the elite level, including the Coolmore Stud Stakes and William Reid Stakes. His RPR of 117 is the highest achieved to date for his sire Star Witness.

Bred by Widden Stud out of the Group 3-winning Made Of Gold mare Golden Delicious, Star Turn is a half-brother to the Listed placed Straight Gold. Alan Bell, who bought him as a yearling for A$400,000, will retain a stake in the colt.

Peter Orton, general manager of Vinery, said on Thursday: "We had been tracking him since his first win as an early two-year-old at Randwick but it was his three-year-old campaign that impressed us the most. He's the colt we rated of the current crop to stand at Vinery.

"He has pedigree, performance and physique, all essential qualities we look for in a stallion."