A Monday and we head to a cold Echuca in Victoria where we find a 3yo called Hugo Drax having his first start. Hugo Drax is of interest to us for a few reasons. He is by Bel Esprit, who of course is the sire of Black Caviar, but more interestingly hails from an Exceed and Excel mare called Kurylenko. Exceed and Excel is the ruling Champion Sire in Australia, and has started the current season in a manner that would suggest he will be again hard to beat in the title this season. Hugo Drax is one of the first runners to have Exceed and Excel as his damsire, and it will be some years before we find out just how important his legacy will be to the breed in this role. Kurylenko is more than just a mare by Exceed and Excel. Her dam is the wonderful stakes mare, Miss Pennymoney who had a disappointing breeding record producing only five live foals in a thirteen year stud career. Depending upon your outlook, she was certainly well supported with her 2007 foal, Vauxhall by Redoute's Choice bringing a cool $1 million when offered at the Easter Inglis sale. Miss Pennymoney won 5 races and a little shy of the million dollars in stakes. She won two Group 1 races in the Newmarket and Australia Stakes. Her dam in turn was Bold Promise, arguable one of the best 2yo's ever to race in Australia. Bold Promise was a Magic Millions winner, and in total won 8 races and $1.7 million in prizemoney. At stud she excelled, producing not only Miss Pennymoney but also Golden Slipper winner, Merlene, and Blue Diamond Preview winner, Compulsion.
Hugo Drax has a lot to live up to given his family. His pedigree features three lines of Northern Dancer, and the subsequent duplication of Natalma that we see through sons of Danehill. We also see a duplication of the mare, Stepwisely who is the dam of Bolero and Watch Your Step. In terms of dosage we see a profile that reads [1.07/4.60] [12-8-6-2-0] which highlights many of the speed factors in the pedigree. Hugo Drax is bred to run over shorter trips, and the 1000m of today's race should certainly suit. Unfortunately if we delve a little into the family, we see that the successful family members have not only stamina lines present, but importantly professional lines rather than the solid presence of Nijinsky in the pedigree of Hugo Drax. We also see that older lines of Fair Trial, Hyperion, Owen Tudor and Blenheim playing important roles in their success. it would seem then that Hugo Drax may have missed the mark. While we don't expect to see this gelding in any black type races, his heritage alone should make him competitive in the type of race he faces today.