Lucy In The Sky executed her southern plan to perfection at Riccarton and in the process earned a slice of domestic racing history.

Our promising youngster became the first winner of a black-type race on a synthetic track in New Zealand when she romped to victory in the Listed Champagne Stakes.

Due to the fierce Canterbury weather, the 1200 metre feature was switched from the turf to the all-weather track and it didn’t faze the Tony Pike-trained representative in the slightest.

She also credited our promising young shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain with his first Southern Hemisphere stakes winner.

“We came down here to get a stakes win on the board before the end of her two-year-old season and she had the class edge,” Pike said.

“It augurs well for next season and to be back here in November for the Guineas would be great.”

Lucy In The Sky crossed to lead from a wide gate and surged clear in the run home under the urging of Jasmine Fawcett to beat our homebred and sold King’s Legacy filly Queen’s Legacy.

“She’s a class horse and turning for home I was quite confident she would put them to bed,” Fawcett said.

Lucy In The Sky will now be spelled after an initial three-start campaign that has netted two wins and a gallant sixth, after being hounded in front, in the G1 Sistema Stakes.

She is a half-sister to the G2 Rich Hill Mile winner Ruud Not Too with their dam the unraced O’Reilly mare Too Many Diamonds, now retired from breeding.

Lucy In The Sky is out of a half-sister to the G3 Red Anchor Stakes winner Royal Asscher and a strong juvenile family that includes the G1 AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Diamond Shower.

Our strapping three-year-old Tycoon Prince made a successful return at Te Rapa where he proved too strong for his older rivals.

The son of Written Tycoon hadn’t raced for three months but was produced in prime order by trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray off the back of two lead-up trials.

He settled close to the away from the fence and answered every call of rider George Rooke in the run home and now has a brace of wins and a couple of placings from eight appearances.

Tycoon Prince is a son of the English-bred mare Vanity Queen, who was purchased on our behalf by bloodstock agent John Foote for 125,000gns at the 2017 Tattersalls December Mares’ Same.

She was successful as a two-year-old and is a half-sister to the Listed Newbury Fillies’ Trial Stakes winner Volume, who also placed at Group 1 level in the English and Irish Oaks, and dam of the G1 Curragh National Stakes winner Quorto.

We sold Vanity Queen’s colt by Almanzor to Foote for $260,000 at Karaka earlier this year and she have a younger sister while the mare missed last season and is now in foal to Embellish.

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Progressive filly Esternay handled a rise in class with aplomb at Flemington where she gave a competitive field of fillies a head start and a sound beating.

Trained for us by Mark Walker, the well-related daughter of All Too Hard had broken her maiden at her third start at her previous appearance at Cranbourne and continued her winning form in fine style.

“It’s great for Brendan and Jo and the whole team at Cambridge Stud, they’ve been very patient with this filly and she was quite impressive,” Walker said.

“She can throw a bit of a tantrum, so we’ve handled her with kid gloves,  and she’s needed time for the penny to drop.”

Esternay drifted well back in the running and was still last as the field thundered for home.

Rider Blake Shinn drew her to the outside halfway down the straight and the three-year-old turned on the after burners to mow down her rivals and win going away by three-quarters of a length.

“She’s got a great turn of foot, I rode her in a jump-out prior to this and she had prepped up well,” Shinn said.

“It was a quality field of fillies, and I was very impressed with her.”

We purchased Esternay out of Vinery Stud’s draft for A$400,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

She is a daughter of the More Than Ready mare Sezanne, who was a dual winner and finished runner-up in both the G1 Flight Stakes and G2 Moonee Valley Fillies’ Classic.

Sezanne boasts a highly decorated pedigree page that features the Group I winners Bonneval, Charmont and siblings St Reims and Champagne.

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