Stunning weekend for the progeny of Always B Miki
It was an incredible weekend of results for Always B Miki, with the red hot stallion siring two new Australian Group 1 winners, a US Breeders winner and a WA Group 2 winner in the space of 24 hours.
Rising WA star Mister Smartee kicked off the remarkable weekend for his sire with another dominant open class win in the $100,000 J.P. Stratton Cup at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The Gary Hall Snr trained 4-year-old made it back-to-back Group 2 victories, leading from start to finish, and looks a shoo-in to start the favourite in next weekʻs Group 1 WA Pacing Cup.
It was his eighth win from eight starts this year and his 13th win from just 15 starts overall, with Fridayʻs prize money boosting his earnings to $288,246.
The next day in North America, last monthʻs Bluegrass Stakes winner Miki And Minnie proved too good for her rivals in the $700,000 US Breeders Crown 2YO Fillies Final at The Meadowlands.
The Chris Ryder trained and Dexter Dunn driven filly surged to the lead at the top of the straight and ran out a comfortable winner by one and three-quarter lengths.
It was her fifth win from 10 starts, with the filly never having finished out of the top three, and took her career earnings to US$671,750.
Always B Miki has now sired the winners of eight US Breeders Crown Finals since his debut crop first raced in 2020.
For the second time this season Always B Miki then sired two Group 1 winners at the same Australian meeting when Fate Awaits and Golly Gee Fellas both won their NSW Breeders Challenge Finals at Menangle on Saturday night.
The Grant Dixon trained Protostar winner Fate Awaits came off the leaderʻs back on the home turn and sprinted home strongly to score by 5.1m in the 2YO Colts and Geldings Final.
His winning time of 1:50 was a new Australian record for a 2-year-old male pacer and only 0.1 of a second outside of Lux Aeternaʻs overall juvenile record.
It was Fate Awaitsʻ fifth win and took his earnings to $394,832, making him the richest 2-year-old in Australia to date this season.
Golly Gee Fellas then made light work of her outside barrier draw to thrash the field in the 3YO Fillies Final.
Caught wide early, Golly Gee Fellas worked to the lead with 1000m to run.
The Rickie Alchin trained filly kept the speed on before skipping clear at the 200m mark and drawing away to win by 13.4m in a career best 1:50.5.
Unraced at two, Golly Gee Fellas has now won five of her 10 starts and $118,676 in stakes money.