Selino strikes for Oxfordshire with Sydney Cup triumph

Selino provided a slice of Group 1 glory in Australia for several distinguished names familiar with a great many stars in Britain with his victory in Saturday's Sydney Cup at Randwick.

Now carrying the colours of a partnership which includes OTI Racing and Qatar Bloodstock and based with Chris Waller, the 25-1 chance was until last autumn trained in Newmarket by James Fanshawe and originally raced for his owner-breeder Dr Catherine Wills.

The son of Champs Elysees was bred by St Clare Hall Stud, Wills' breeding umbrella, which is a 'virtual' entity, and was born and raised at Kirtlington Stud in Oxfordshire.

The Wills family has had an active involvement in racing for decades and Selino hails from its most distinguished modern line.

He is out of the unraced Red Ransom mare Air Kiss, who is a half-sister to Invermark, who won the 1998 Prix du Cadran for Fanshawe and Wills' father Sir David, as well as their Sir Henry Cecil-trained Princess of Wales's Stakes scorer Craigsteel and the Scandinavian champion Inchrory.

Chris Budgett looks after Selino's dam at Kirtlington StudCredit: Laura Green

Their dam Applecross was second in the Park Hill Stakes in the same blue and white colours and, coincidentally, she is out of a mare by the 1969 Derby winner Blakeney, who was bred by the renowned Arthur Budgett, whose family run Kirtlington Stud.

Fanshawe has trained two winning siblings, Airway and Always Summer, but Selino, who took two minor handicaps in Britain before working his way up to finishing second in last year's Doncaster Cup, by then running for Qatar Racing, is very much the most successful.

He had shown promise in a couple of sighters during the Australian autumn, reaching his peak on a huge day in Sydney and travelling powerfully under lightweight pilot Ron Stewart throughout this two-mile event to hold off a chasing pack led by Rondinella by a length and a quarter.

Chris Budgett of Kirtlington, which was re-established in 1990, keeps five broodmares for the owner, an art historian and trustee for a number of good causes who lives nearby.

"Any time you raise a proper horse, it’s always a bit of a thrill," he said. "He hasn’t quite got to the mark he should have done so far, but he’s a classy individual.

"Dr Wills doesn’t breed commercially, everything is chosen with an eye to win races, so to my mind it’s great when somebody like that does breed a horse that goes on and does well."

He continued: "They all come from her father’s old families, which she’s kept going. Air Kiss is a nice mare, she's now 16 so in the twilight of her career as such, but she’s had a filly foal by Sea The Moon that’s very, very nice, born on April 13.

"She’s due to visit Golden Horn, so you can see where Dr Wills is trying to go with that. This foal is probably one of the nicest the mare has had - because of the pandemic I haven't been able to see Dr Wills very often but she's due to visit us soon and she’ll be as excited as can be."

Budgett looks after horses for a number of other clients at the stud, as well as a small band of his own mares. The major flagbearer to date has been the scintillating King George winner Harbinger.

It has had a recent active link with Ribbons, Elite Racing and Fanshawe's 2014 Prix Jean Romanet winner.

"Weirdly Ribbons was bought by [agent] James Delahooke, who came up to me after the sale and said would I like to look after her. I said, 'That would be nice, I actually know her really rather well as we bred and raised her on the farm'.

The colours of Dr Catherine Wills (right) have been a familiar sight for many yearsCredit: Grossick Racing Photography

"She’s still here and has had a very nice Siyouni colt. She had a Dubawi that sold for a lot of money and a Frankel that unfortunately misbehaved himself at the breeze-ups last week.

"He was bought back in and will go into training, and to me he’s the nicest the mare has produced so far by a long chalk. He’s bred to be a three-year-old, mile and a quarter horse, and is one of the best we’ve foaled from her in years. Whether he goes on to be a racehorse I’ve no idea, but I think he might be worth following."

The prestigious Randwick card also saw William Haggas' outstanding world-traveller Addeybb, by Pivotal, defend his Queen Elizabeth Stakes title, while Frankel gained another Group 1 in quick succession as his Waller-trained daughter Hungry Heart won the Australian Oaks a fortnight on from claiming the Vinery Stud Stakes. She was bred by Yulong Investments out of the Pivotal mare Harlech.

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