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Big pay day for Sneaky Five in Inglis Banner
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Sneaky Five (2 f ex Small Minds, by Canny Lad) handed Coolmore Stud stalwart Fastnet Rock (Danehill) his 161st stakes winner when he landed the lucrative Inglis Banner 2YO Stakes (RL, 1000m) at Moonee Valley on debut on Saturday.
Raced by Rosemont Stud, the two-year-old filly beat her stablemate The Art Of Flying - who is by Newgate Farm’s first-season sire Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) by a length and a quarter, while The Tempest Charm (Trust In A Gust) was another quarter of a length further away in third.
The filly was purchased by Rosemont Stud for $305,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale from the Goldin Farms draft and Anthony Mithen said the two-year-old got her name the moment the gavel fell in his favour.
“We had a limit of $300,000 but got on the wrong leg and were $290,000 and Brae Sokolski and Matt Scown beat us to the $300,000 bid but I stood there with Nige and I said to him ‘if you were going to be $300,000, you could be $305,000 couldn’t you?,” Mithen explained.
“And he said ‘yeah, go on, let’s be brave’ so we put in a little $5000 bid…we broke our rule and went $5k over and the auctioneer [Chris Russell] bought the gavel down and said ‘well done Mitho, the sneaky five wins’.
“We had a laugh after and said, ‘well we’ve got her name anyway’.’’
Maher said the filly would now go in pursuit of another lucrative purse when she tackles the Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill on November 7.
“The team have done a great job and the system is working well. I’m very proud,’’ Maher said.
“It’s great to win for Anthony Mithen and Nigel Austin and the Rosemont team.
“She gets most of her purse back today and she’s going to be a lovely broodmare for them moving forward.”
The filly is out of 2010 Schweppes Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) winner Small Minds (Canny Lad), making her a half-sister to Listed winner Beautiful Mind (So You Think).
Small Minds herself is a half-sister to Listed scorer Marwin Gold (Marwina).
Small Minds’ weanling colt by Fastnet Rock was purchased by Ben Kwok for $22,500 via the 2020 Magic Millions May Online Sale.
Fastnet Rock’s progeny is headed by 39 Group 1 scorers and he is standing for a fee of $165,000 (inc GST) - making him the most expensive stallion on the Coolmore Australia roster.
