Partnership strikes another stakes winning blow

[Wandering Eyes]

Bella Waters winning the Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m) at Arawa Park last Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)

A long-standing association that provided Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay with their breakthrough Group 1 success has again come up trumps at stakes level.

The Lindsays bred and raced the 2015 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) winner Marky Mark, who was prepared by Moira Murdoch.

Now operating in partnership with daughter Kieran, Murdoch also trains Cambridge Stud’s progressive mare Bella Waters, who claimed the Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m) at just her ninth appearance.

“Brendan and Jo’s relationship with the Murdochs pre-dates Cambridge Stud, with their first homebred Group One winner with Marky Mark,” the stud’s Sales & Nominations Manager Scott Calder said.

“That’s always going to be a special milestone and it’s pretty cool that the association with the stable is continuing to this day.

“In my time at Cambridge Stud, we’ve pretty much always had something in the stable.”

Sacred Falls’ daughter Bella Waters was part of another successful weekend for Cambridge Stud, whose shuttle stallion Almanzor sired Group 2 SA Fillies’ Classic (2500m) winner Positivity and impressive domestic three-year-old winners Geriatrix and Eliud.

“I think she’s been in work since May, so to have Bella Waters peak for a career best result is testament to the Murdochs’ training skills,” Calder said.

Bella Waters is out of the Pivotal mare But Beautiful and a second stakes winner for the Pivotal mare following the Group 2 Autumn Classic (1800m) victory of Immediacy, a son of Tarzino.

“The way he is bred, there could be even more to come from his as an older horse and the same could be said for Bella Waters,” Calder said.

“She is still lightly raced and there’s a lot to look forward to with her in future seasons on the racetrack.”

But Beautiful’s Hello Youmzain filly sold at Karaka this year to Busuttin Young Racing and Andrew Williams Bloodstock for $280,000 and she is in foal to Embellish.

“It’s good for Embellish and he probably bred a high quality of mare last year than before with the way his early runners kicked off and he’s got some nice ones to hit the ground,” Calder said.

“You’d struggle to find a nicer mare than But Beautiful, she’s become a topliner in our broodmare band very quickly.”

The Andrew Forsman-trained Positivity became Almanzor’s 17th black type winner when she outstayed her rivals in the SA Fillies’ Classic.

“It was another really good training effort, she has been up for a while and Andrew has done a great job and she won it pretty convincingly,” Calder said.

“What we keep seeing is the stamina of Almanzor’s progeny coming to the fore. He’s had a Sydney Cup (Group 1, 3200m) winner now (Circle Of Fire), but he’s also had an unbeaten two-year-old stakes winner (Nucleozor).

“He’s really starting to cement his place as one of the better proven options at stud in New Zealand.”

The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-prepared Geriatrix, who was bought out of Cambridge Stud’s Karaka draft for $675,000, will now head to the Brisbane winter carnival off the back of his Rotorua win while Tony Pike’s Eliud romped home at New Plymouth.

“Almanzor continues to build momentum and Geriatrix is a horse that doesn’t have black type yet, but hopefully he can do it in Queensland,” Calder said.

“Eliud was bred by Kevin Hickman and again, he’s a horse that has got better and better with time and broke his maiden as easy as you can.”

Meanwhile, Almanzor’s fellow multiple Group 1-winning shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain has made a flying start with two winners, Allee de Bercy and Reux, from four first Northern Hemisphere crop starters.

“While we hoped Hello Youmzain would have early runners, he didn’t debut himself until August so he was a back end two-year-old,” Calder said.

“It’s encouraging to have two winners on the board already and the other thing that is really shining through this year is his results at the two-year-old sales, they have been very, very strong.”

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