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Newgate’s Extreme Choice hits new heights with first Group 1 win
Newgate Farm’s lucrative season with their new stallions continued on Saturday, as Stay Inside (2 c ex Nothin Leica Storm by Anabaa) - who is a son of their resident sire Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) - produced a breathtaking display to win the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), handing the stallion not only his first Group 1 winner, but also his first stakes winner.
The victory propelle the son of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) to the head of the leading sires table by earnings in Australia, with prize-money now totalling $2,531,825, just under $200,000 ahead of his barnmate Capitalist (Written Tycoon).
Having surrendered his unbeaten record when finishing fourth in the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) on his most recent start, the Michael and Richard Freedman-trained Stay Inside was subject to a beautiful ride by Tommy Berry, who tucked him in just behind the leaders, with Profiteer (Capitalist) setting a strong pace in the early stages.
As the field entered the straight, Berry made his move on the colt and had the race won from a long way from home, putting daylight between him and his rivals with every stride, eventually coming away with a length and three-quarter victory over the James Cummings-trained Anamoe (Street Boss), while his stablemate Ingratiating (Frosted) was another two and a quarter lengths away in third.
It has been an incredible year for the Newgate’s new stallion’s and his win comes off the back of Artorius’ - who is by Extreme Choice’s barnmate Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) - victory in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m). Artorius - who is trained by Michael and Richard’s brother and nephew, Anthony and Sam, finished sixth in Saturday’s Group 1.
The colt also cemented Newgate’s faith in Stay Inside, with the operation purchasing a share in him after his second victory on his second start in the Pierro Plate (1100m) on February 13.
The win is made even more remarkable given that Extreme Choice’s first crop only produced 48 live foals and he has now produced four winners from only ten starters. The victory means Extreme Choice moves $212,097 ahead of his barnmate Capitalist in the leading first-season sire table by earnings and he now also heads the Australian leading two-year-old sires table.
The Freedman family have been synonymous with Golden Slipper, with their brother Lee, landing four editions of the Group 1 in a row, starting with Bint Marscay (Marscay) in 1993 and Michael said he was over the moon to land the race given the family’s long history in it.
"It's an amazing feeling. My brother Lee, who I think is on course today, I was there with for all our four wins prior and Anthony, who is back in Melbourne at the moment and trained Bint Marscay to win our first Slipper," Michael Freedman said.
"It's an amazing feeling."
Michael Freedman, who returned to Australia from a short stint in Hong Kong at the end of 2018 before teaming up with Richard at the start of the 2019/2020 season, said Stay Inside's victory was a long way from their Golden Slipper day experience 12 months ago.
"Last year we sat at home, we didn't have a runner anywhere," Michael Freedman said
"To have two in the race today and come away with the winner, I'm a bit speechless."
Stay Inside was purchased by his trainers and Rick Connolly Bloodstock for $200,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2020 from the Newgate Farm draft, with Newgate Bloodstock having purchased the colt for $60,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale from the draft of his breeder Kingstar Farm the year before.
Connelly told Racing & Sports Bloodstock he thought Stay Inside looked like a two-year-old when he saw him at Newgate before the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
“Super win, he’s a proper horse,” he said. “I first saw him before Christmas at Newgate and he was just a well-balanced muscled up colt. He looked like he would have a lot of speed and looked a proper two-year-old.
“The Freedman boys are quite adept at training two-year-olds and Michael came back from Hong Kong and wanted to make a statement and I guess we have achieved that.
“We paid decent money for him, but if you’re going to buy one you should buy the best and in our opinion he was the best.”
Connelly said he always admired Extreme Choice as a racehorse and so was keen to purchase a yearling by the stallion.
“Extreme Choice was a remarkable sprinter himself, when he won the Blue Diamond as a two-year-old it was incredible. He only has limited progeny on the ground, but if his progeny were going to be half of what he was we knew we would get a good horse.
“Henry Field and Newgate are at the forefront of the industry and identifying top colts, like Artorious, Profiteer and this bloke just gives all their clients and breeders support. They do a great job.”
Connelly was quick to heap praise on the Freedman brothers, believing the key to their success is their ability to get a horse to produce on grand final day.
“We had the inkling two starts ago in the Pierro Plate when he put the race to bed very early on. His start before the Slipper [Todman] things just didn’t go right for him, he didn’t step well and didn’t get a lot of room and it was a little bit frustrating for the owners, but that is certainly all forgotten now, isn’t.
“A lot of this comes down to the genius of Michael and Richard Freedman and how they can produce two-year-olds in the grand finals and make sure they are at the top of their game and that certainly was the case today.”
Reflecting on his first Slipper success, Connelly said: “This is my first Slipper winner in my own name and it feels terrific. There is just something special about the Golden Slipper, when we have the barrier trials in September for the two-year-olds it’s like unwrapping Christmas presents you just don’t know what you are going to get.
“It is steeped in history and the winners of the Golden Slipper are great racehorses - I am still pinching myself to be honest.”
Saturday’s victory took Say Inside’s record to three wins from four starts and he is out of winning Anabaa (Danzig) mare Nothin Leica Storm, who was purchased by Kingstar Farm for $90,000 at the 2018 Inglis Chairman's Sale carrying this colt in utero.
Further back this is the same pedigree as Group 1 winner Wonderful World (Anges World) and Listed-winning duo Wonderful Lass (Catbird) and Husson Eagle (Husson).
In 2020 Nothin Leica Storm produced a filly by Russian Revolution (Snitzel) and she has most recently been covered by Newgate Farm’s new stallion Cosmic Force (Deep Field).
The two-year-old division has been dominated by first-season sires this season with the four Australian juvenile races worth over $1,000,000, run to date this season, all being won by the progeny of first season sires. The aforementioned Flying Artie sired the Blue Diamond Stakes winner in Artorius, while Capitalist’s son Profiteer landed the Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) and the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) was taken out by Shaquero - who is from the first crop of Arrowfield Stud shuttler Shalaa (Invincible Spirit).
