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Crosshaven lands Caulfield Guineas Prelude and is on track for a tilt at the Guineas.
Adelaide filly Instant Celebrity (3 f Not A Single Doubt - Celebrity Girl by Starcraft) kept her unbeaten record intact as she proved too classy for her rivals in the Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr 2, 1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
A winner of her last three starts, headlined by a victory in the Oaklands Plate (Listed, 1400m) in July, the Phillip Stokes-trained Instant Celebrity scooted clear to defeat Group 1-placegetter Personal (Fastnet Rock) by a length with Rock My Wand (Wandjina) a head away third.
Stokes said he did not think the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) trip would pose any problems for the daughter of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute's Choice).
"I don't think (the mile of the Thousand Guineas) will be a big problem," Stokes said. "She's a lovely, big, scopey filly, I think she'll even get further in time.
"That's how we've been riding her at home and she's built on that. It's been hard to run on today, so she's done a good job."
The filly is the second winner out of Cap d'Antibes Stakes (Listed, 1100m) winner Celebrity Girl (Starcraft), who was purchased by Aquis Farm for $280,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Celebrity Girl is a daughter of Listed scorer Dashing Granada (Keltrice), making her a half-sister to stakes-placed duo Lady Lakshmi (Lonhro) and Albaicin (Redoute's Choice) with the latter the dam of Group 3 winner Generalife (Lonhro). She is also the half-sister to Group 1-placed Sheezdashing (Myboycharlie).
Further back this is the family of Listed scorer Kablammo (Marauding) and Group 3 winner Northwest Shelia (Keltrice), who in turn produced Listed scorer Jacqueline Rouge (Ne Coupez Pas).
Celebrity Girl has proved difficult to get in foal, missing to Pierro (Lonhro) in 2018, while her 2019 colt by the same Coolmore stallion died and she has most recently missed to the Aquis Farm-based Santos (I Am Invincible) having been covered by that stallion last December.
Not A Single Doubt was pensioned earlier this year due to his declining health.
Earlier in the day, the Lindsay Park-trained Crosshaven (3 g Smart Missile - Irish Colleen by Shinko King) followed up his victory in the Exford Plate (Listed, 1400m) with a fine win in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (Gr 3, 1400m) on Saturday and will now press on to the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) on October 10.
The son of Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) raced up front early on in the contest and as his rivals faded away on turning for home, he sprinted clear and on the line had a length and three quarter advantage over Amish Boy (Star Witness), with National Choice (Snitzel) finishing another neck away in third.
''It looked as though they really ran along and he was able to do it at both ends of the race. He's now a serious contender for the Guineas,'' co-trainer Ben Hayes said.
Crosshaven was purchased by Lindsay Park for NZ$80,000 at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale from the Haunui Farm draft and he is one of five winners out of Group 2-winning Shinko King (Fairy King) mare Irish Colleen, making him a half-brother to Group 3 winner Killarney (O'Reilly).
After missing to the late Widden Stud-based sire Sebring (More Than Ready) in 2018, Irish Colleen produced a colt by Valachi Downs-based sire Zacinto (Dansili) the following year.
Smart Missile - whose stakes winners are headed by his Group 1 winning daughter Maid Of Heaven, covered a book of 136 mares last season and will stand again this year for an unchanged fee of $22,000 (inc GST).
