John Mcardle has no real reason to remember the 2012 Debutant Stakes.
The Mornington trainer accepted with two horses in the Listed event, Zapata Falls and Tens All Round, neither of whom took their place in the race.
McArdle therefore missed tuned of the race that heralded the arrival of a filly who, more than a decade later, is responsible for the youngster in the running to provide McArdle with his biggest win in racing.
Villa Verde won that Debutant Stakes, defeating subsequent Golden Slipper winner Overreach, which prompted McArdle to think the withdrawal of his pair might have spared him some misplaced optimism.
“I don’t remember it, but Tens All Round, she won her first start at Sale but then she unfortunately went amiss and Zapata Falls, he won three or four in a row and was then sold up north,” McArdle recalled.
This Saturday, back at Caulfield, McArdle will chase Blue Diamond Stakes success with a daughter of Villa Verde.
My Gladiola has been one of the favourites for the $2 million Group 1 ever since she emulated mum and won brilliantly on debut, in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview (1000m).
By I Am Invincible, My Gladiola is the seventh foal from Villa Verde, a $95,000 Inglis Premier buy for Shaun Dwyer, who trained her to also win a Listed Ottawa Stakes (1000m) and a Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) before she was sold for $1.1 million as a four-year-old broodmare.
Her first foal Daksha, a son of Deep Field, wasn’t offered for sale and won three times in regional New South Wales, while second foal Shivani (Sebring) was retained to race after failing to reach $475,000 reserve and won one of six.
Invencible, a full sister to My Gladiola, sold for $575,000 at Easter but was retired after one unplaced start, while her brother Blue Special sold for $1m as a yearling but has just two wins from 25 starts.
Fifth and sixth foals Wassa (More Than Ready) and Pujita (Pierro) were both retained to race by Kia Ora Stud, but have just one win between them.
My Gladiola looks clearly the most talented of Villa Verde’s progeny, which is no surprise to McArdle, who went to $575,000 to secure her at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
“I’ve seen them all and she’s the most forward of them,” he said.
“The colt that made a lot of money was obviously a very good type as well, but we buy more fillies.
“She looks like her mother, she’s a big powerful girl, she’s a very good type and (owner) Paul Johson fell in love with her when I showed her to him.”
Villa Verde is out of the Kenmare mare Young And Free, who traces back to one of the great speed influences of the past 40 years.
Young And Free’s dam Sushi Rocket is a half-sister to Rory’s Jester, the 1985 Golden Slipper winner who went on to produce the likes of Isca, Racer’s Edge, Moss Rocket, Chortle and North Boy.
Rory’s Jester was retired from stud duty in 2003, but McArdle remembers working with his progeny as a foreman before taking out his own licence just over 20 years ago and hopes the mix of his blood and I Am Invincible’s will ensure My Gladiola is a force for seasons to come.
“Obviously I worked with a lot of Rory’s Jesters when I was foreman for ‘Rogie’ (Graeme Rogerson), (Tony) Vasil and Lee Freedman and she’s a pretty forward filly,” he said.
“She looks like a two-year-old, but the ‘Vinnies’ get better as they get older, so hopefully that’ll be the way it happens.
“But she’s worth more now than what we paid for her.”
McArdle is confident My Gladiola can significantly add to her value in the Blue Diamond, in which she will start from barrier 11 with Jamie Mott aboard.
My Gladiola led when run down by Palm Angel in the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m), but McArdle always wanted to see her draw a gate that will allow her to gain a trail and launch late in the Diamond.
“We’ll go back and it will be what it will be but if we can get a tow into the race, we know she’s got an electric turn of foot when she’s ridden a bit quieter, so hopefully that’ll work out on Saturday,” McArdle said.
