Starspangledbanner Group Double
Starspangledbanner is back in Australia this spring and the powerhouse son of Choisir had a Group race double in Europe on Friday with Dun Na Sead (4m Starspangledbanner x Alice Thornton, by Hurricane Run) winning the Group III Mercury Stakes (5f) at Dundalk, while Exxtra (3f Starspangledbanner x Rolling Stone, by Raven's Pass) and American Kestrel filled the quinella in the Group III Prix de Seine-et-Oise (1200m) at Chantilly.
Trained by Carlos and Yann Lerner, three year-old filly Exxtra was a Listed winner at Deauville earlier this year and added another Black Type win to her tally when beating four year-old Starspangledbanner mare American Kestrel (4m Starspangledbanner x Marsh Hawk,by Invincible Spirit) by three-quarters of a length.
With four wins from 14 starts, Exxtra was a modest € 26,000 purchase from the Arqana Deauville October Yearling Sale and is the best of three winners from three to race from Rolling Stone, a placed Raven’s Pass half-sister to the dam of triple US Group I winner Raging Bull.
Scoring her first stakes victory at Dundalk was four year-old mare Dun Na Sead, who scored a dominant two and a quarter length win in the Group III Mercury Stakes on the all weather track.
Having her first start for new trainer Danny Murphy, Dun Na Sead found career best form following a very busy year in which she has started 14 times.
Raced by the Kildare Racing Syndicate and not offered at auction, Dun Na Sead has won five of 19 starts and is the best of two winners from Alice Thornton, a winning Hurricane Run mare from the family of Group I Epsom Oaks winner Lady Carla.
Dun Na Sead is the 36th stakes-winner for Starspangledbanner, who stands at a fee of $33,000 this spring.