Prince of Brooklyn’s first foal to hit the ground has a certain sense of timing.
Just a matter of days after Avantage was named the Champion Two-Year-Old at the 2018 New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards on Sunday night, a relative to the near-unanimous champion juvenile arrived at Grassyards Farm near Mosgiel early on Wednesday last week.
Avantage and the brand-new chestnut filly, out of the Ruby’s Jester mare Carpathia share the same third dam – the Centaine mare Raining.
It’s a quality southern family which includes Avantage’s grand-dam Pins ‘N’ Needles (by Pins), who was a half-sister to Carpathia’s mother Drizzle.
Pins ‘N’ Needles made her mark across New Zealand during her 42-start career, winning the G3 2007 White Robe Lodge Stakes at Wingatui just a fortnight after a massive 2nd in the G1 2007 Thorndon Mile behind Sir Slick.
Drizzle was unraced but her second foal Dynamic Five (Coats Choice) was sold to Hong Kong, while she also has produced three other foals – a Nom du Jeu colt, a Highly Recommended filly and a Pins filly that is in full work at the John and Karen Parsons’ stable.
Grassyards Farm studmaster Jason Coutts said he couldn’t be happier with the first arrival from Prince of Brooklyn’s first crop.
“It is early days but she’s a striking filly, well-boned and very athletic,’’ Coutts said.
Carpathia was no slouch on the race track, winning three races in her 22-start career out of the Parsons’ stable, all over the 1200m sprint distance.
"Prince of Brooklyn’s three career wins were over the shorter trips of 1200m through to 1400m, so this dual injection of speed should serve the filly well as she progresses towards a racing career in the next two to three years," Coutts says.
The week-old filly has now been joined by two other Prince of Brooklyn foals on the ground, and Coutts is excited about Prince of Brooklyn’s sophomore season at stud, with continuing interest in the son of Magnus.
Magnus sired 103 individual winners and over A$6.2 million in progeny earnings for the 2017/18 season, including G1 winner Great Shot and 2-year-old G2 winner and 1 Blue Diamond Stakes runner-up Enbihaar. -Grassyards Farm