Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Foaled on November 16, 2018, Anamoe already became the youngest winner of the G1 Caulfield Guineas since Lonhro in 2001 with his most recent racetrack success and will be making fresh history this weekend.
Anamoe | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
There have been five 3-year-old Cox Plate winners in the 45 years since Surround (NZ) (Sovereign Edition {Ire}) became the only filly to win the race and the latest foaling date among them was So You Think (NZ), who was foaled on November 10.
There is no definitive foaling date data for Surround nor the 14 3-year-olds to have won the Cox Plate before her, so while Anamoe could actually aim to be the youngest winner ever of the great race, there is no absolute proof.
A measure of how rare it is to have a horse so young even contesting the race is that going back through the 47 3-year-olds to run in a Cox Plate since 1990, there is no horse with a later foaling date. Only three of those 47, or 6.3 per cent, were November foals, and a further 15, or 32 per cent of them, October foals.
| Shamus Award | 2013 | October 28 |
| So You Think | 2010 | November 10 |
| Savabeel | 2004 | September 23 |
| Octagonal | 1995 | October 10 |
| Red Anchor | 1984 | August 31 |
Table: Foaling dates for 3-Year-Old Cox Plate winners since 1980
The other 3-year-old in Saturday's race, Captivant (Capitalist), was foaled on September 5.
That it is a Godolphin 3-year-old that is set to create a slice of history is not surprising. The last November foaled colt to compete in the race was its most recent 3-year-old runner, Sweynesse, who ran eighth for trainer John O'Shea in 2014. He is a son of the poster boy of late foals, Lonhro, who won a Caulfield Guineas two months before his official third birthday, December 10, but did not go on to contest the Cox Plate that year.
Sweynesse | Standing at Novara Park
Operations such as Godolphin, and the likes of Woodlands before them, do tend to have a greater volume of later foals, with more flexibility around service dates for their own broodmare band. There is not the commercial pressure to produce foals earlier in the season, something which those breeding for sale must be cognisant of.
But a trend towards later foaling dates is not harming Godolphin's racetrack success. Bivouac and Colette (Hallowed Crown) are two further recent examples of November foals who would win Group 1 races in their 3-year-old seasons.
The blue parade
Trainer James Cummings has won six 3-year-old stakes races this season and the four individual winners of those races were all foaled after October 1, indicating a November covering date for their dams the previous season.
John Sunderland
Speaking to TDN AusNZ after Anamoe's Caulfield Guineas victory, John Sunderland, stud manager at Godolphin's Woodlands Stud, said the question mark over later foals and their race performance was a furphy.
"There is a lot of pressure to get these early foals and I understand the commercial reasons for that but here we have a colt that was foaled on November 16, he raced in the (Golden) Slipper and he was up and running early and has come on through and been one of the top horses in his crop," Sunderland said.
"So often it doesn't matter when they are born, as they will mature quick enough to do it if they are ready."
"So often it doesn't matter when they are born, as they will mature quick enough to do it if they are ready." - John Sunderland
The 3-year-old stakes results this season back that up. Of the 35 individual stakes winners of 3-year-old races in Australia so far this season, 14 of them, or 40 per cent, were foaled after October 1, 2018.
That list not only includes the Godolphin quartet Anamoe, Paulele (Dawn Approach {Ire}), Ingratiating (Frosted {USA}) and Kallos (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}) but also G1 Flight S. winner Never Been Kissed (NZ) (Tivaci). It includes a host of other horses who have Group 1 races in their sights in the coming weeks, such as Sneaky Five (Fastnet Rock), Gunstock (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), Forgot You (NZ) (Savabeel), Extreme Warrior (Extreme Choice) and Crystal Bound (Not A Single Doubt).
November filly bound for glory
Crystal Bound tackles Friday night's G1 Manikato S. for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, who paid $400,000 for the November 10-born filly through the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Crystal Bound | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Ciaron Maher Racing Bloodstock Manager Will Bourne said the foaling date was something which was noted when Maher and his team are inspecting yearlings, but more as an opportunity than as a reason not to buy a horse.
"We tend to look at it to see what development they might be able to make, but we did the statistics and as a general rule, if they are a later foaling horse, you get a discount through the sales," he said.
"They sell for less money because they tend to look more immature to the eye. It’s been statistically proven that is the case."
"They (later foals) sell for less money because they tend to look more immature to the eye." - Will Bourne
Bourne said the location of where the foal was bred was also important when considering when it was foaled.
"Especially in Victoria. Down here, you don't want them foaling too early. The weather is only coming good now in the springtime and that's when you want foals hitting the ground. That's probably the way which nature intended it," he said.
Working against the grain
The commercial imperative to get early covers and early foals are understandable given that statistics indicate those foals will sell for more through the ring, but as a buyer, it is something Maher and Bourne are happy to work against.
Ciaron Maher and Will Bourne | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
"This drive for 2-year-olds and everyone being obsessed with early covers means the weight of numbers are towards earlier foals, but we don't rule out later foals at all. It's something that actually pricks Ciaron's ears," Bourne said.
"In my opinion, commercial breeders are too obsessed with foaling dates. Given it directly correlates with a sales average, you can't blame them. But I think it's the wrong approach."
G3 Gimcrack S. winner Coolangatta (Written Tycoon), purchased through this year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by Maher and Bourne for $280,000 from the draft of Milburn Creek, is an October 23 foal and collected her first stakes win at Randwick earlier this month, still short of her official second birthday.
She was one of 48 yearlings that Maher signed for either in his own right or in partnership at the Gold Coast. Eighteen of those, or 37.5 per cent, were foaled after October 1. That is a significantly higher ratio than the overall percentage of October and November foals sold, which was 26 per cent, lending further evidence to Maher's preference towards later foals.
As well as the two and 3-year-old stakes winners, there are also plenty of older recent stars of the track which began their lives later in the spring.
Nature Strip
The Everest winner Nature Strip (Nicconi) shares a November 16 foaling date with Anamoe, while the likes of Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel), Think It Over (NZ), Duais (Shamus Award), Nettoyer (Sebring) and Celebrity Queen (Redoute's Choice) are all recent Group 1-winning November foals.
