Rich Hill Stud principal John Thompson is no stranger to success on Australia’s biggest stage, but even he watched in awe as the filly he co-bred in Aeliana stormed away with Saturday’s $2 million Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m).
A bridesmaid in each of the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) and Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m), Aeliana had proven she was right up with the boys and they were no match as she stepped over a mile and a half for the first time, capitalising off a perfect run in transit to power clear and score by over five lengths.
Horses with the calibre of Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner Prince Of Penzance and 10-time Group One winner (King) Mufhasa headline the honour roll at the Matamata nursery, where Thompson assures Aeliana now holds her own pride of place as just the 10th filly to win the three-year-old showpiece.
“Going into the race we knew she had a turn of foot, and we knew she had class, but I guess the question was could she run out the 2400m against horses already proven over that distance,” he said.
“She certainly fulfilled all of our expectations, it was a pretty incredible performance.
“The reason we’re all in it is to breed a horse like her, we’ve been lucky to have produced Melbourne Cup winners and horses like King Mufhasa, who won 10 Group Ones, but it’s pretty special to have bred a filly who beat the colts in the ATC Derby, it doesn’t happen very often.”
Thompson and Greg Tomlinson’s Nearco Stud had gone to A$200,000 to purchase Aeliana’s dam Temolie in-foal with the filly at the 2021 Gold Coast Magic Millions Broodmare Sale, a decision that continues to reward the pair as she produced three subsequent fillies by Rich Hill’s leading sire Proisir.
While she didn’t win a race, Temolie had plenty of appeal as a broodmare prospect, as a half-sister to Group One winner Invincibella, Group Three winner Secret Blaze and Listed winner Extreme Flight.
“We were looking to upgrade our broodmares with Proisir going the way he is, which is why we purchased this mare a couple of years ago on the Gold Coast, in-foal to Castelvecchio,” Thompson said.
“She was from a great New Zealand family. Going through her pedigree she is by Star Witness out of Galileo mare, and that mare is out of a Zabeel mare,” he said. “It was quite incredible to combine probably the two greatest broodmare sires in history.
“The next dam was by Noble Bijou, who was another great New Zealand stallion, and she probably has those stamina influences through those the Galileo, Zabeel and Noble Bijou lines. It’s a great family that was developed by Jack Lindsay from Balcarres Stud, which was one of our leading farms back in the day.
“When I first started out, I helped prepare their yearlings for the Karaka Sales and knew the family very well.”
Aeliana was among the first crop by Arrowfield Stud’s young sire Castelvecchio, a multiple Group One-winning son of Dundeel. She made a good impression on Thompson and potential buyers as a youngster, reflected by the $180,000 outlaid by Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds to secure her at Karaka.
“We paid $200,000 for the mare, then Aeliana went through Karaka and made $180,000, so for a first-season sire that was quite a good price at the time,” he said. “She’s worth a hell of lot more than that now though.
“She was always a nice quality filly, she wasn’t overly robust at the time and was typical of that High Chapparal sire line, very athletic.
“It was a little bit hard to know how far she would go, she looked like a very nice miler and was unlucky not to win a Thousand Guineas earlier in the season, then she probably should’ve beaten Broadsiding at Rosehill, that was the real hint of how much talent she had.
“Any Group One is a great achievement, a lot goes in to getting there and this filly really deserved it. She had been running so well and Chris Waller (trainer) alluded to that, that she could be something pretty special.
“It’s very exciting going forward.”
Back at Rich Hill, the third of Temolie’s Proisir fillies is about to be weaned, with the late nature of her foaling persuading Thompson to leave the mare empty with the potential of going to another of his successful sires in the new season.
“She’s got a filly at foot that we are about to wean, she was the last foal born last year in late November,” he said. “Temolie had been in foal for four years running, so we decided we’ll give her a break so we can get her back on a nice early cycle next year.
“All the great old horseman have said that if you like a mating, repeat it three times, which we’ve done. She’s had three Proisir fillies now, the second of those was purchased by Denise Martin, who bought Aeliana and races her through her syndication company.
“We haven’t decided at this stage, but we’re probably leaning towards Satono Aladdin, just depending on the feedback we receive. The two-year-old filly is in work with Ciaron Maher, so we will wait to hear some feedback with her first.
“We’ll make that decision in a few months’ time.”