The full sister to the highly progressive four-year-old Miss Einstein was purchased from the Inglis Easter yearling sale as the final horse in a partnership put together by Jim Clarke to target well-bred fillies.
The filly, lot 202 in the catalogue, is the third foal from the city winning Starcraft mare Simply Brilliant and is from the family of Group 1 winner Nothin’ Like A Dane. She was born and raised at Newhaven Park near Boorowa, one of the most famous nurseries in Australian breeding, with horses such as English, Unencumbered and four Golden Slipper winners coming off the farm.
She will join the Bjorn Baker stable at Warwick Farm, a trainer who has already had considerable success with the family. Baker trains Miss Einstein and also had care of the dam, who was in the stable when Clarke was racing manager.
"Simply Brilliant was in training with Bjorn when I worked for his stable and she had more talent than her race record suggests," said Clarke. "We actually had Dundeel in the stable at the same time during his Autumn campaign when he won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Bjorn has a big opinion of Miss Einstein and I am hopeful she can add some black-type to the top of the pedigree."
Dundeel is shaping up as one of the most promising young stallions in the country and Clarke believed the filly from Simply Brilliant inherited his best attributes.
"Dundeel was a very versatile racehorse – he had speed, stamina and an incredible turn of foot and seems to pass on all of these qualities to his offspring. This filly has strength and quality and gives the impression she will be up and running at two but I expect to see the best of her in her classic year over 1600m and possibly further," Clarke said.
The Dundeel filly joins a Savabeel filly that was sourced in New Zealand at the NZB Karaka sale and a Not A Single Doubt filly from the female family of Dundeel that was purchased at the Inglis Classic sale in February. Bjorn Baker will train the Not A Single Doubt filly and the Savabeel filly will join the Melbourne stable of Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young.
"The criteria for selecting the yearlings for this venture was very simple; I have focussed on fillies by elite, proven stallions from strong female families that will have significant appeal to commercial breeders if they can perform to expectations on the racecourse," Clarke said. "The focus is on managing downside risk and to some extent you can underpin the value of these fillies by putting a lot of emphasis on pedigree during the selection process."
Savabeel and Not A Single Doubt are both exceptional sires with over 10% stakes performers to runners. Arrowfield Stud stallion Dundeel is progressing in promising fashion and has already produced four individual Group 1 winners from his first two crops, with more exciting horses emerging ahead of Spring.