Fifth Group One 2YO Winner for Snitzel

Over the weekend, Sword Of State (Snitzel) made becoming Snitzel’s fifth Group 1 juvenile winner look easy with a superlative, 3.5-length victory in the NZ$200,000 Gr1 ARC Diamond S. 1200m Ellerslie. It advanced his record to four wins from 5 starts, with a total winning margin of 17.5 lengths, and includes twice defeating the Karaka Million winner On The Bubbles (Brazen Beau), initially at Group 3, and now Group 1 level. Bred by Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock, Sword Of State is the first foal of juvenile winner In The Vanguard (by Encosta de Lago) whose Group 2 placing was achieved in the 2016 Sweet Embrace Stakes won by Scarlet Rain (Manhattan Rain). The laid-back colt was bought by Te Akau’s David Ellis from the Magic Millions draft of Newgate Farm for $600,000, a figure that placed him among the dozen top-priced Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) yearlings of 2020. Sword Of State’s rapid progression since his 12 December debut has given Ellis and his trainer Jamie Richards plenty to think about as they eye Australian 2YO riches (see above). Snitzel already has a Golden Slipper winner on his record (Estijaab), along with 2017 Diamond Stakes winner Summer Passage who subsequently filled third spot behind Invader & Trapeze Artist in Snitzel’s history-making Gr1 Inglis Sires trifecta. His first Group 1 winner Sizzling, successful in the 2012 Gr1 J.J. Atkins S., rounds out Snitzel’s quintet of elite 2YO winners. The four-time Champion Sire has a stellar group of 44 yearlings in next month’s Inglis Easter Sale, including four fillies (Lots 106, 188, 257 & 370) out of Encosta de Lago mares, like Sword Of State.

Opie Bosson sits as still as a mouse on Sword Of State (pic: Trish Dunell)