Darley Australia have completed the purchase of Shooting To Win and the 2014 Caulfield Guineas winner has been retired to stand at their Kelvinside Stud for the upcoming breeding season.
Shooting To Win scored the biggest win of his racing career in the 2015 Caulfield Guineas. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Shooting To Win started his racing career with a win at Kembla Grange on May 29 last year and he went on to record a comfortable victory in the Early Quaddie Handicap (1250m) at Canterbury on June 11.
The Northern Meteor colt made his debut at Group level with a lackluster performance in the Group 3 Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) at Royal Randwick on August 23 before he performed well without winning in the Group 3 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m) at the same venue on September 6 and the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on September 13.
Shooting To Win stamped himself as a genuine Caulfield Guineas contender when he scored an upset win over Scissor Kick in the Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on September 27 and he produced a very impressive effort to upset Rich Enuff in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 11.
A great deal was expected of Shooting To Win during his autumn campaign and he returned to the races with a credible fourth in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on February 21, but he failed to live up to his expectations in both the Group 1 Royal Randwick Guineas (1600m) on March 7 and the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 21 before he was beaten by five lengths in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on April 18.
Despite his failure to fire in the autumn, Shooting To Win still sits equal second on the Australian Timeform Three-year-olds rankings for his Caulfield Guineas victory and Darley Head Of Sales Alastair Pulford said that the organization was thrilled to have acquired the son of Northern Meteor.
“To say we are absolutely delighted to have secured Shooting To Win as a stallion prospect is an understatement,” Pulford said.
“The trio of Brazen Beau, Hallowed Crown and now Shooting To Win enables us to offer breeders the best group of three-year-old colts to retire to stud we could possibly hope for.
“People who come to see Shooting To Win will be staggered by his physique.
“He is, to my mind, a commercial breeder’s dream – an awesome looking son of a great stallion who lived up to all expectations.”
Shooting To Win was purchased for $160,000 at the 2013 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and he accumulated almost $1 million in prizemoney during his 11 race starts.
Shooting To Win will stand for an initial service fee of $38,500 and he joins Hallowed Crown ($33,000), Sidestep ($11,000) and Brazen Beau ($44,000) as the new recruits on the Darley roster for 2015.
