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Fifty Stars hands Sea The Stars his second Australian Group 1.
Lindsay Park continued their domination of the Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington on Saturday as Fifty Stars (5 h ex Swizzle Stick by Sadler's Wells) handed the stable their tenth win in the Group 1, while he also handed his sire Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) his 13th top-flight winner and second in Australia.
The Hayes, Hayes and Dabernig team have captured the last two renewals of the Group 1 with Harlem (Champs Elysees), who finished a brave fourth this year, but he had to give way to his stablemate this year as he sliced through the field to beat Regal Power (Pierro) by half a length. Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War) made a brilliant return to the track to finish third.
"It is a fantastic effort from everyone for over 50 years so I am just thrilled," said David Hayes, who will leave Australia and return to the Hong Kong training ranks at the end of the season.
"And to win a Group 1 with this horse for (owner) Gerry (Ryan), I couldn't be more pleased.
"We planned this race for a long time and those carrots can sometimes throw you off but Gerry (Ryan) in his wisdom said, 'Let's go for the Group 1' and it paid off," Hayes said.
"It's (Australian Cup) just a race that comes along at the right time and basically you have to have a high-quality horse and he's that."
Bred on the same cross as multiple Group 1-winning mare Taghrooda, Fifty Stars has now won nine of his 22 starts which has seen him accumulate $1,138,550 in career prize-money.
Purchased by John Foote for 110,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2016, Fifty Stars is out of Swizzle Stick (Sadler's Wells) is herself out of Viz (Darshaan) making her a half-sister to Group 2 winner Viztoria (Oratorio).
Sea The Stars stands at the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud in Ireland and his 2020 fee is advertised as €150,000 and this is his second Group 1 winner in Australia, following on from Shraaoh's victory in the 2019 Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m).
