Battle Paint will stand for $4,000 + GST this season
Last year's Champion two-year-old in Singapore, Affleck (Battle Paint[USA]-Greenstone), has come back this season an improved horse and recently took out the Group One Singapore Guineas.
Bred by Chequers Stud he was sold to one of Laurie Laxon's major clients Phua Chian Kin on the back of two impressive trial wins. He made a winning debut in Singapore in April last year, and at the end of his two-year-old season had won three from four starts.
He continued in winning form until November scoring three more wins before a well-earned break, before resuming racing in early April where he was beaten into second in the Group Three Dester Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200 metres), the first of the Singapore three-year-old Triple Crown races. Two weeks later in the Group Two Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400 metres), he went down narrowly to Spanish Bay, before stepping up to 1600 metres and winning the Singapore Guineas.
"It's really exciting," enthused Chequers Stud's part-owner Mark Fraser-Campin, "he's a big horse and often on race day he gets the prize for being best turned out. He certainly has movie star looks. It's wonderful that he has continued to improve from a good two-year-old to a three-year-old Group One winner".
"We trialled him up as a two-year-old and he won both trials, Trudy Thornton, said don't sell this one so we put a big price on him. Battle Paint(USA) has had about 20 odd trial winners and Chris and I have sold a lot up into the Asian market and a few into Australia. They should start coming out and winning in the next six months or so.
"We have made more money out of selling a couple of trial winners than we do in service fees so it's a necessary evil."
"However it's great for the stallion especially when you consider he only served 48 mares in his first year, so to get a Group One winner is no mean feat. And on top of that he has had Battle Time here as a Group One placed two-year-old this season."
Battle Paint commenced stud duties at Chequers in 2010. A son of the Storm Cat(USA) stallion Tale of the Cat(USA), he won three races up to a mile in Europe. As a two-year-old he was Group One placed behind Holy Roman Emperor(IRE) in the Prix Jean-Luc Grand Criterium at Longchamp. He is a half-brother to three stakes winners being out of Black Speck(USA) a winning half-sister to Dynaformer(USA).
"When we chose him as a stallion we looked for a horse that would leave an impressive type that would come quick, but also had a pedigree that would indicate that they would train on at three and beyond. It looks like he is fulfilling that with four stakes horses including Battle Plan, 3rd in the Listed Wellesley Stakes, and Jet Trac who was third in the Listed Champagne Stakes last season,"Campin said.
"He was always quite well supported by the locals, and on the back of what Affleck did last year as a two-year-old, and following on from leaving such lovely looking horses, and word of mouth from trainers and breeders, he served about 100 mares last year including a good bunch of our own."
Amongst those mares was Greenstone the dam of Affleck. She is back in foal to him and has a lovely weanling colt foal as well.
We have just broken in the full-brother to Affleck, he is a rising two-year-old and he is a lovely colt too. Greenstone was a winner for us in the South Island, she is a good big mare and is an ideal type to send to Battle Paint. We breed a lot on type which is one of the attributes of Battle Paint he is a lovely type of horse and stamps his stock. It's one of our old Chequers families which has been a little bit quiet lately so it's good to get another Group One winner close up."
Greenstone is a Chequers bred mare through and through being by their former stallion Green Perfume(USA) out of the Deputy Governor (USA) mare Trio. Affleck is her second winner. Trio is the dam of the Group One Rosehill Guineas winner Sale Of Century. She is also a three-quarter sister to the Group One winner Hero and stakes placed Dominant, and a half-sister to Gimmick and Don Tristram, being out of Court (Prince Echo [IRE]- Tupelo Honey) and thus a half-sister to the Group One New Zealand Oaks winner Domino (the dam of Hero and Dominant) and the champion two-year-old filly Super Natural.
Tupelo Honey was by Vice Regal from the Chequers foundation mare Mary Poppins, and three-quarter sister to Top Of the Pops and the grandam of Westminster.
- Michelle Saba
Bred by Chequers Stud he was sold to one of Laurie Laxon's major clients Phua Chian Kin on the back of two impressive trial wins. He made a winning debut in Singapore in April last year, and at the end of his two-year-old season had won three from four starts.
He continued in winning form until November scoring three more wins before a well-earned break, before resuming racing in early April where he was beaten into second in the Group Three Dester Singapore Three-Year-Old Sprint (1200 metres), the first of the Singapore three-year-old Triple Crown races. Two weeks later in the Group Two Singapore Three-Year-Old Classic (1400 metres), he went down narrowly to Spanish Bay, before stepping up to 1600 metres and winning the Singapore Guineas.
"It's really exciting," enthused Chequers Stud's part-owner Mark Fraser-Campin, "he's a big horse and often on race day he gets the prize for being best turned out. He certainly has movie star looks. It's wonderful that he has continued to improve from a good two-year-old to a three-year-old Group One winner".
"We trialled him up as a two-year-old and he won both trials, Trudy Thornton, said don't sell this one so we put a big price on him. Battle Paint(USA) has had about 20 odd trial winners and Chris and I have sold a lot up into the Asian market and a few into Australia. They should start coming out and winning in the next six months or so.
"We have made more money out of selling a couple of trial winners than we do in service fees so it's a necessary evil."
"However it's great for the stallion especially when you consider he only served 48 mares in his first year, so to get a Group One winner is no mean feat. And on top of that he has had Battle Time here as a Group One placed two-year-old this season."
Battle Paint commenced stud duties at Chequers in 2010. A son of the Storm Cat(USA) stallion Tale of the Cat(USA), he won three races up to a mile in Europe. As a two-year-old he was Group One placed behind Holy Roman Emperor(IRE) in the Prix Jean-Luc Grand Criterium at Longchamp. He is a half-brother to three stakes winners being out of Black Speck(USA) a winning half-sister to Dynaformer(USA).
"When we chose him as a stallion we looked for a horse that would leave an impressive type that would come quick, but also had a pedigree that would indicate that they would train on at three and beyond. It looks like he is fulfilling that with four stakes horses including Battle Plan, 3rd in the Listed Wellesley Stakes, and Jet Trac who was third in the Listed Champagne Stakes last season,"Campin said.
"He was always quite well supported by the locals, and on the back of what Affleck did last year as a two-year-old, and following on from leaving such lovely looking horses, and word of mouth from trainers and breeders, he served about 100 mares last year including a good bunch of our own."
Amongst those mares was Greenstone the dam of Affleck. She is back in foal to him and has a lovely weanling colt foal as well.
We have just broken in the full-brother to Affleck, he is a rising two-year-old and he is a lovely colt too. Greenstone was a winner for us in the South Island, she is a good big mare and is an ideal type to send to Battle Paint. We breed a lot on type which is one of the attributes of Battle Paint he is a lovely type of horse and stamps his stock. It's one of our old Chequers families which has been a little bit quiet lately so it's good to get another Group One winner close up."
Greenstone is a Chequers bred mare through and through being by their former stallion Green Perfume(USA) out of the Deputy Governor (USA) mare Trio. Affleck is her second winner. Trio is the dam of the Group One Rosehill Guineas winner Sale Of Century. She is also a three-quarter sister to the Group One winner Hero and stakes placed Dominant, and a half-sister to Gimmick and Don Tristram, being out of Court (Prince Echo [IRE]- Tupelo Honey) and thus a half-sister to the Group One New Zealand Oaks winner Domino (the dam of Hero and Dominant) and the champion two-year-old filly Super Natural.
Tupelo Honey was by Vice Regal from the Chequers foundation mare Mary Poppins, and three-quarter sister to Top Of the Pops and the grandam of Westminster.
- Michelle Saba
