Our faith in Hello Youmzain was repaid in spades during his racing days and the good times keep rolling for our shuttle sire in the second phase of his career.

He was successful in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup before we purchased the son of Kodiac with our great friends at Haras d’Etreham and we subsequently celebrated his victory in the G1 Royal Ascot Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

Hello Youmzain has made an outstanding start to his Northern Hemisphere stallion career with 18 individual winners, including the G3 Prix des Chenes victor and G1 Prix de Jean-Luc Lagardere placegetter Misunderstood and Electrolyte, triumphant in the G3 Prix Eclipse.

And now, he has made a fast start in the Southern Hemisphere with his son Hello Romeo following up a debut second over 1000 metres at Bendigo by going one better over the course and distance for trainers Ben, Willand JD Hayes.

“He had the advantage of having a run at the track and running well. On that day he hit the front and star-gazed a little bit and was just a bit green and raw still,” Ben Hayes said. 

“He had trained on nicely and did everything right at home. 

“It’s nice to get the first winner for Hello Youmzain and we really loved this horse at the Karaka sale.”

Hello Romeo was a shade slow before mustering pace along the fence to make the running and lengthened stride comfortably for rider Koby Jennings to coast home by a length and three-quarters.

“He won impressively and there are a lot of options for him, but we’ll see how he pulls up first and then make a decision whether we press on or put him aside for the autumn,” Hayes said.

The colt was bred by Jomara Bloodstock and purchased by Lindsay Park for $150,000 out of Halmark Stud’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.

He is the first foal of the Shooting To Win mare Julieta, who had another son of Hello Youmzain last season and is due to foal to him again.

Julieta is a half-sister to Humidor, the three-time Group 1winner of the Australian Cup, Makybe Diva Stakes and the Memsie Stakes.

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Progressive filly Hitabell credited her stallion Embellish with his latest black-type success when she proved in a league of her own at Wanganui.

The three-year-old headed south from her Cambridge base for the Listed The O’Leary’s Fillies’ Stakes and produced a top performance to become our resident sire’s third stakes winner.

The Stephen Marsh-trained Hitabell was quickly into stride to cross the field and lead from a wide barrier.

Jockey Courtney Barnes urged her clear into the straight and she held a strong gallop for her second victory from four appearances.

“She pinged the gates and travelled really nicely and kicked very well,” Barnes said.

“We did get a couple of soft sectionals which helped and at the top of the straight I knew she’d be hard to beat.”

Marsh said the G2 Eight Carat Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day was now a likely target.

“She’s a really nice filly. She won very well on debut, then had those couple of runs at Ellerslie and was probably unlucky not to win one of them, and now she’s come out and led all the way in a black-type race.

Hitabell is a daughter of the late Stravinsky mare Anahita, whose last foal is a juvenile filly also by Embellish, and she was a half-sister to the multiple Group 2 winner and Group 1 placegetter Shikoba.

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Luberon continued her golden run of form to effortlessly collect a second black-type title on the bounce following a dominant performance at Pukekohe.

Our high-class daughter of resident sire Embellish is unbeaten as a four-year-old after she resumed with a Rating 75 victory at Ellerslie and has subsequently risen to two stiffer challenges in style for trainer Lance Noble.

Luberon romped home in the G3 Sweynesse Stakes at Rotorua last month and again thumped a highly competitive line-up of sprinters over 1100 metres in the G3 Counties Bowl to put her hand up for higher honours.

“We’ve just been keeping her fresh and happy and she’s very exciting,” Noble said.

“Obviously, the sprint series is pretty tempting and the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m) fits in nicely as I think she may be slightly better left-handed.

“We’ll just take it one day at a time, but that’s the plan.”

Luberon began quickly before settling in the trail and rider Joe Doyle had her into the clear at the top of the straight.

The mare strode to the front 150 metres from home and surged clear to triumph by two and a-half lengths without being fully extended.

“The race played out as planned beforehand and she won so easily, she cantered to the line,” Doyle said.

“I’m very grateful to Lance and everyone at Cambridge Stud for calling me up. I haven’t been on one quite as fast for a while.”

We bred Luberon who is a daughter of the unraced Fastnet Rock mare Elegant Achiever and her pedigree features the G1 July Cup winner Mill Stream and fellow European stakes winners Wunder’s Dream, Grecian Dancer, Muffri’ha and Asymetric.

Elegant Achiever has a two-year-old brother to Luberon named So We Go and is due to foal to Almanzor.

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