Redwood continues his run of success

[Wandering Eyes]

A highly successful season for Redwood continued at the weekend with another pair of significant home-bred winners for the Westbury Stud resident.

The Group One-winning son of High Chaparral added to his stakes haul for 2022/23 at Sha Tin on Sunday evening when Tuchel triumphed in the final Group event of the Hong Kong season, while St Lawrence made an impressive return to competition the previous day at Caulfield.

“Tuchel just went down in the Hong Kong Derby (2000m) and made amends with a consolation prize on Sunday night,” Westbury Stud General Manager Russell Warwick said.

Tuchel won the Gr.3 Premier Plate (1800m) and was bred by farm principal Gerry Harvey and purchased for $130,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National yearling Sale for $130,000 by Simple Bloodstock Services.

He is a son of the Testa Rossa mare Trista Rossa, who has a juvenile sister to Tuchel retained by the nursery and the mare is back in foal to Redwood.

The progressive St Lawrence, also bred and part-owned by Harvey, successfully resumed at Caulfield for trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace off the back of a four-month break.

Following Tuchel’s success, Redwood has been represented by six individual black-type winners during the 2022/23 term, with his flagship performer being the three-time elite level winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart.

“It’s been a magical year and starting with Sharp ‘N’ Smart winning a Group One in Sydney and going on to win the races he has,” Warwick said.

“He won the Gloaming Stakes (Gr.3, 1600m) and from there he competed in Group One events and never finished further back than fourth, so that was very gratifying.”

Also bred by co-owner Harvey, Sharp ‘N’ Smart won the Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m), Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) and the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m).

“Redwood has backed it up with a couple of other smart ones like Antino and Solidify, and Platinum Invador won the Auckland Cup (Gr.2, 3200m),” Warwick said.

Antino ended his campaign with victory in the Listed The Wayne Wilson Plate (1600m), Solidify claimed the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes (1200m), while Black Thorn won the Selangor Gold Cup (1600m) at Listed level in Malaysia.

“It’s also been the consistency of these horse that stands out, Tuchel hasn’t finished further back than fourth this year and St Lawrence has won five of his six starts and third in the other,” Warwick said.

“Antino has won eight of nine and Louisville has never been further back than third and flashed home for second (at Randwick) at the weekend.

“The stallion is not just getting the good horses, they have also been wonderfully consistent throughout the season.”

Versatility has also been a feature of Redwood’s representatives this season.

“Sharp ‘N’ Smart and Solidify have both won stakes races as two-year-olds, he can get anything from two-year-olds to an Auckland Cup winner and a few seasons ago won the Jericho over 4600m on the flat,” Warwick said.

“Now he’s got jumpers, so he covers all aspects, and it comes down to the broodmare and what the pedigree says, if it’s a sprinting family he can get a sharp horse, a top-class miler or a stayer.

“He has probably flown under the radar to be fair, unreasonably in some ways because from day one they sold exceptionally well and up to $200,000 in the first year.

“If you start comparing him to other stallions, he’s batted just as well as a lot of them but hasn’t had the commercial profile until this year.

“The response to the horse has been very fruitful and he’ll be serving a good book, and for New Zealand breeders he stands at a very modest fee at $10,000 + GST.”

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