A pair of quality 2YO colts opened The Championships at Randwick with an Arrowfield sires’ quinella in the $200,000 Kindergarten S. 1100m G3.
Shalaa’s son Semillion has been hard to fault, winning the Inglis Banner RL at his October debut, then second to Lofty Strike in the Blue Diamond Prelude G3 before a close-up 5th in the Blue Diamond G1.
Here he jumped smartly to the lead accompanied by Asteria, then took control on the turn and kept going strongly to hold off the fast-finishing Voldemort (by Not A Single Doubt) and Spacewalk.
He’s the third Arrowfield-sired Kindergarten winner in the past 7 years, following El Divino (by Snitzel) in 2016, and Easter graduate Doubtland (by Not A Single Doubt) in 2020.
Bred by Rob Crabtree of Dorrington Farm, Semillion has a deep pedigree, as the third foal of city winner Sistonic (by Bel Esprit from Danehill’s daughter Danavia) from the immediate family of world champion sprinter Black Caviar, Champion 3YO Colts All Too Hard & Ole Kirk and Group 1 winner & sire Magnus.
Semillion was purchased for $300,000 from Blue Gum’s Inglis Melbourne Premier draft by Mark Player’s International Thoroughbred Solutions, and he is raced by Neil Werrett and partners.
Shalaa, now residing at Arrowfield after shuttling between France & Australia for four seasons, is second by winners on the current Australian 2nd Season Sires’ table with 32. He has so far left three 2YO Group winners (the colts Shaquero & Semillion and the filly Seven Veils), plus 6 other juvenile stakes performers from his first two Australian crops.
