Photo: Trish Dunell
Precocious two-year-old Velocious is proving a gem of a filly on two fronts for Inglewood Stud.
The unbeaten daughter of Written Tycoon was bred by Gus and Bianca Wigley’s North Canterbury nursery, who will also be offering her half-sister at next year’s New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka.
Velocious followed up her debut success at Te Rapa with a hollow victory in Saturday’s Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m) at Pukekohe to earn $3 favouritism for the country’s richest juvenile event.
“She is potentially our first runner in the Karaka Million, she looks really exciting and went passed them pretty easily so we’re buzzing here at the farm,” Gus Wigley said.
The outstanding start Velocious has made to her career hasn’t come as any surprise to the stud, who were impressed by her from day one.
“She was born over in Australia at Nick Hodge’s Riversdale Farm, he looks after our wet mares over there, and she came back here when she was about 12 weeks’ old,” Wigley said.
“She was a big, bold filly and she was our biggest yearling with length, scope and muscle with a fantastic head, she was something else.
“She always looked a special filly and I said right the way through that she was the best filly that we’ve bred.
“We took her up to Karaka and we were very pleased that she went to Go Racing (for $190,000) and Stephen Marsh and they’ve done a fantastic job.”
Velocious is a daughter of the winning Snitzel mare Parmalove, whose three foals to race have all been successful and includes stakes performers Mozzarella and Penvose Lad.
“We’ve got a lovely Dundeel filly for Karaka and she hasn’t got the bulk of Velocious, she looks more of an autumn type of two-year-old,” Wigley said.
“She’s also got a very good Per Incanto filly at foot and is currently in the Waikato at Vicki Pascoe’s place and she’s coming up for a final test to Satono Aladdin.
“Parmalove is the most expensive mare we’ve ever bought so it’s nice to see her doing such a good job.”
Wigley paid A$230,000 for Parmalove, whose half-sister Liesele was a stakes winner, at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Broodmare Sale.
“It was the year that we sold a quarter of Zacinto to Valachi Downs and part of the decision to do that was to invest in some mares and we went to the Gold Coast,” he said.
“We bought another nice stakes winning mare called Green Roller that has left a good Sydney winner (Left Reeling) and we bought a cheap mare, Artesian, for A$8000 from the Book 2 Sale,” Wigley said.
“Her half-sister Kiamichi then won the Golden Slipper (Gr.1, 1200m) so she became quite a valuable mare.”
A half-sister by Flying Spur to the dam of the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) winner Ugo Foscolo, Green Roller was a A$100,000 purchase.
“She’s been up at Waikato Stud and they’ve done a great job with her. She’s got a lovely Super Seth filly for Karaka and has another Super Seth filly at foot and she’s in foal to Ocean Park,” Wigley said.
“Artesian has got a lovely filly by Bivouac, who’s by Exceed And Excel as is Kiamichi, and she’s a beautiful and powerful filly and the mare is in foal to Sword Of State.”
By Hard Spun, Artesian’s pedigree also features the Gr.1 Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) and sire Denman.
