Fierce Impact Brother First-Up in Winx

Meanwhile, an interesting runner declared for Saturday's first Group 1 of the season, the Winx Stakes, is Japanese import Keiai Nautique (Deep Impact-Keiai Gerbera, by Smart Jones), who is a full brother to multiple Group 1 winner Fierce Impact, now at stud. Trainer Matthew Smith told racing.com, "The breeder of this horse also bred Fierce Impact. This horse had lost a bit of form overseas and he just thought it was worth a try to see if he could get him back into form by having him with someone else and giving him another shot. They're quite similar horses to be fair, very similar. This horse is physically probably not as big a horse, and once he gets up and going, he's probably going to be a miler to 2000m, probably similar in that way." Keiai Nautique has won three of his 24 starts, but most notably won the 2018 Gr1 NHK Mile Cup, then in 2020 ran fifth in the Gr1 Yasuda Kinen behind champion mares Gran Alegria (Deep Impact) and Almond Eye (Lord Kanaloa). The market assessment – Keiai Nautique is a $61 chance – is he'll need the run against hot company.