Considered to be the best Japanese racehorse ever to stand at stud outside of Japan, Maurice sired his first SA winner when his first runner on African soil, Whoa Whoa Whoa, won her debut start at Durbanville on Saturday.
Bred in Australia by local champion outfit Ridgemont Highlands, who also race her, Whoa Whoa Whoa showed maturity and ability to win first time up from a wide gate at the tricky Durbanville circuit.
Ridden by Anton Marcus, trainer Brett Crawford launched the first of his three winner streak on the afternoon when the chestnut stormed home to beat Magna Mater by 1,50 lengths as she clocked for the 75,72 secs for the 1200m.
Maurice, Japan’s 2015 Horse of the Year, six-time Group 1 winner and $12 million earner is one of the all-time great racehorses to grace the turf in Asia.
Now the leading 2nd season sire in Japan, and making his mark with his first-crop Australian performers, Arrowfield said that they are delighted to welcome him back in the wake of his eight first-crop Australian 2YO winners & 6 stakes performers, including Mazu & Silent Impact (in Sydney), Sharp Response (in Melbourne) and Balmaurice (in Brisbane).
Season earnings of almost $950,000 put Maurice among Australia’s top 10 First Season Sires in 2020/21, but as Racing & Sports analyst Adam Blencowe pointed out:
Maurice… has been undersold by conventional measures in this year’s first season sire race. He tops the list ordered by median Timeform rating…
Named his country’s 2015 Horse of the Year, Champion Sprinter & Champion Miler, Maurice was also honoured with a 2016 Special JRA Award for three elite victories including his spectacular swansong, the Longines Hong Kong Cup G1 at Sha Tin. On the 2016 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings he was awarded a figure of 127, placing him fifth overall, and third on turf in the world.
Maurice is now one of the hottest young stallions in Japan, leading the 2021 Second Season Sires’ list with 60 winners including 3 Group winners, and commanding a fee of ~A$100,000 at Shadai Stallion Station.
Whoa Whoa Whoa is out of the eight-time winning Fast ‘n Famous mare Whats New Pussycat – also the dam of Ridgemont’s exciting undefeated Kitty Cat Chat – a daughter of Press Statement.
Saturday proved a great day at the track for Ridgemont as the champion Robertson nursery also bred the eyecatching Durbanville feature winner One Way Traffic, who won the Listed Settlers Trophy, the final winner on the Cape card, Arctic Drift.
