Photo: Trish Dunell
There was a sense of relief at Highview last weekend as Wrote (IRE) (High Chaparral [IRE]-Desert Classic [GB]) sired his first stakes winner when Best Seller (ex Star Amazing) won the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes.
“That was good he needed to do something,” Highview proprietor Brent Gillovic said.
“Being by High Chaparral, Wrotes were always going to take a little time. This is his second crop of three-year-olds, and there are more of them and they are better types than the first crop. That’s why he is getting results.”
Wrote commenced stud duties in the USA in 2014 and has around 60 odd winners in the Northern Hemisphere. He retired to stud in New Zealand in 2017 and has produced 10 winners in the Southern Hemisphere including Best Seller and Love Letter, who was third in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes last season.
Best Seller is the only living foal of the Danroad (AUS) mare Star Amazing, who according to Gillovic is about to drop a full relation to her any day now. All going to plan she will return to Wrote.
The win in the Gold Trail Stakes was Best Seller’s second win from just six starts and came on the back of a win at Taupo over 1100m last month. As a two-year-old she was placed second behind the Champion Two-Year-Old Maven Belle in the Gr.2 Matamata RC Breeders Stakes, and fourth in Wolverine’s Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes.
Best Seller was purchased by Adrian Clark for the Challenge Zen Syndicate for $12,000 at the 2021 NZ Bloodstock Book 2 sale. She was born and raised at Highview, as was her mother Star Amazing.
“Her mother is a beautiful mare who showed a bit but had a bit of a problem and her owner Peter Yip said just get her in foal,” Gillovic recalled.
“I had bought the grandam Starnet at the Sydney Easter sales for Peter Yip (Hong Kong Breeders’ Club), and she’s by Last Tycoon (IRE) and has a lovely pedigree. I had also bought a share in Snitzel (AUS) for Mr Yip so she went there and produced a stakes winner in Dances On Stars, and she also left a good winner by Bullbars (AUS) in Ruthless Agent.”
“She’s by Danroad (AUS) and boy is he turning into an unbelievable broodmare sire, what with Verry Elleegant (ex Opulence) being out of a Danroad (AUS) mare and Lost And Running (ex Dreamlife), as well. He shuttled to the UK for two years and he is the sire of the dam of Aclaim who was the third leading first season sire in Europe in 2021.”
It was Danroad that bought Yip, a Hong Kong businessman, to Highview when he was looking for a place to stand the stakes winning son of Danehill (USA) and the Strawberry Road (AUS) mare Strawberry Girl (AUS). He had met Gillovic in China on a previous visit and Highview has been the base for his bloodstock in the Southern hemisphere ever since.
Harking back to Best Seller’s family, her third dam was the Sir Tristram (IRE) mare Fancy Miss who won five races including the Listed Manawatu Challenge Stakes. She was the dam of 10 foals, nine to race and four winners including Miss Margaret (by Marscay [AUS]), the winner of the Gr.1 Chrysler Stakes and South Australian Oaks. She in turn left the stakes winners Confront and Celebrity Miss (the dam of the Gr.1 VRC Oakleigh Plate winner Celebrity Queen) and two other stakes performers.
Fancy Miss also left the dams of the stakes winners Got Unders, Dreamaway and New Spice.
As for Best Seller, the John Bary trained mare looks to have an exciting spring in front of her. -Michell Saba, NZTBA
