First Foal of Sunlight a Stakes-Winner
Blueblood colt Dawn Service (3c Justify x Sunlight, by Zoustar) opened his Black Type account at Flemington on Saturday when taking out the Listed VRC Exford Plate (1400m).
The first foal of Champion 3YO Filly Sunlight, Dawn Service is trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. He was stepped up into stakes class company off a win and two placings at his three previous starts and rose to the challenge.
Rated sweetly in front by Blake Shinn, Dawn Service was strong all the way to the line to win by the best part of a length.
"He made all from the start. Full credit Gai and Adrian. He's impeccably bred out of a great mare in Sunlight,” said Blake Shinn.
"He's a bold going horse, he's a free-running type and it was our plan to make them chase us. He's hard fit and had some good runs under his belt. It was a dominant effort.
"He controlled it, he went at a good gallop. I was confident he could do that. Gai and I had a chat this morning. That was the plan and it was good to get the result on him.”
Owned in a partnership that includes the industry heavy hitters Coolmore, Yulong and Go Bloodstock, in whose colours he runs, Dawn Service was a $1.4million buy for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing/Kestrel Thoroughbreds from the Coolmore draft at Magic Millions.
The handsome chestnut has now won two of four starts earning in excess of $160,000, but there are bigger fish to fry this spring.
“Super effort. He handled it really well. 1400 (metres), we knew would always suit him. He was too strong late,” said stable representative Claudia Fitzgerald.
"We'll look to the Stutt Stakes (G2 1600m)and hopefully the Caulfield Guineas (G1 1600m)."
Bred by Coolmore, he is the first foal of the Champion 3YO Filly in Australia in 2018-19, Sunlight, who was bought by Tom Magnier as a broodmare prospect off the track at the Magic Millions National Sale in 2020 for $4.2million.
Sunlight won eleven of her 24 starts, highlighted by Group I wins in the Coolmore Stud Stakes, Newmarket Hcp, and MVRC William Reid Stakes and banked over $6 million putting her now champion sire Zoustar on the map.
Coolmore sold a Wootton Bassett colt from Sunlight for $1.4million at Inglis Easter to Paul Moroney Bloodstock / C Bruggeman and she has a yearling filly to follow by Home Affairs.
Sunlight was one of 188 mares covered last spring by Justify and foaled last month producing a bay filly by the champion sire, who remains in Kentucky this year.
Dawn Service is the 36th stakes-winner for Justify.