The Inglis Millennium form was franked in the best way possible at Randwick on Saturday when its quinella of Rivellino and Within The Law won the feature 2YO races and key Golden Slipper lead-ups.
Rivellino (Jason Collett, outside) wins the Skyline Stakes at Randwick (Pic – Martin King/Sportpix)
The colt Rivellino (Too Darn Hot) kept his unbeaten record intact with a powerful victory in the Gr2 Skyline Stakes while the filly Within The Law (Lucky Vega) come from near last on the home turn to win the Gr2 Sweet Embrace Stakes in remarkable fashion.
Off the strength of today’s wins, Rivellino and Within The Law firmed into A$15 and A$11 respectively with Ladbrokes for the Gr1 Golden Slipper, which will be run at Rosehill in three weeks.
As he did in the Millennium, the Kris Lees-trained Rivellino again settled in the second half of the field today before producing a powerful finishing burst to score a third career win from as many starts.
Lees teamed up with Justin Bahen to purchase Rivellino – bred by Scott Murray with Brian and Pat Ireland – for A$180,000 at last year’s Classic Yearling Sale, where he was offered in the Lime Country Thoroughbreds draft.
“He’s a proper horse this bloke, I’m looking forward to getting him to the Slipper now,’’ Lees said after the win. “He’s pretty versatile and on a pretty hot speed I think you’ll see an even better product again.
“As we’ve said all along he appears more a 1400m horse so three weeks into a fast run Slipper will be perfect. He’s one of the few undefeated ones going into the race, they’re all taking their turns and they might not get another one.’’
Rivellino was bred and raised at Segenhoe Stud, whose General Manager Peter O’Brien is among the owners of the exciting colt.
“He’s a beauty, isn’t he,’’ O’Brien said. “In a nutshell, he exemplifies what we do and why we do it and that you can buy a colt for A$180,000 and he can change your address.
“He’s a beautiful colt by a stallion I’ve always loved and we can’t wait to see what the future holds with him.’’
Rivellino will be joined by fellow Classic Sale graduate Within The Law in the Slipper, who booked her berth in the world’s richest 2YO race with today’s stunning last-stride win.
Within The Law is arguably the most consistent filly of her crop – she has now raced four times for three wins and a 2nd (in the A$2m Inglis Millennium) for A$1.143m in prizemoney.
It’s an incredible return on investment for Scott Darby and his Darby Racing connections, who bought Within The Law for just A$30,000 at last year’s Classic Yearling Sale, where she was offered by her breeder Yulong.
Yulong’s General Manager Vin Cox described Within The Law as “an exceptional 2YO’’.
“She’s by our stallion Lucky Vega, who’s really doing a great job, obviously mainly through the deeds of this filly Within The Law who looks an exceptional 2YO. If she’s not one of the top 2YOs in the country, I’ll give the game away,’’ Cox said.
“She just keeps turning up and running terrific races and she’s got to be one of the top chances in the Golden Slipper.
“It’s great for the business, it’s great that we sold her, we sold her at Classic for not a lot of money and fair play to Darby Racing and Bjorn Baker, it’s wonderful.’’
Within The Law led in an Inglis graduates quinella in the Sweet Embrace, defeating Bellazaine.
Within The Law continues a stunning run for Darby Racing purchases from the Classic Sale, headlined by A$20,000 Golden Slipper-winning filly She Will Reign and A$10,000 buy Yankee Rose, a dual Gr1 winner in Australia before selling for an undisclosed significant sum to Japanese interests as a broodmare.
Yulong will offer a draft of 75 yearlings at the Premier Yearling Sale, which starts on Sunday at Oaklands.
“We’ve been busy, as you would be with 75 horses, we’ve got a couple of Lucky Vegas in there, some Alabama Expresses, Written Tycoons etc, we’re very happy with how parades have been going and we’re looking forward to the next few days at Oaklands,’’ Cox added.
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