Cover image courtesy of Darren Tindale
The G3 Ottawa S. was the first feature on Ladies’ Day at Flemington, and it was also the first of a raceday double for bloodstock agent Sheamus Mills with his 2-year-old filly Charm Stone (I Am Invincible).
In the Inglis Bracelet immediately after, Mills' odds-on mare Roots (Press Statement), a 4-year-old, was a hugely popular on-course winner at $1.60, but from a bloodstock perspective it was all about Charm Stone in the Ottawa.
The daughter of I Am Invincible, who’d been third on debut in the Listed Maribyrnong Trial down the Flemington straight in early October, jumped from barrier 12 in the 16-horse field and, at the winning post, she was 1.75l to the good of Annabel Neasham’s Empress Of Wonder (Choisir), with a further 2.25l to Hell Queen (Hellbent).
Trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, the 2-year-old filly had drawn plenty of money from the betting market ahead of the race. She was the only one with experience down the Flemington straight, and it told in the end as she clattered away with jockey Damian Lane.
The winning time on the Soft 5 was 57.93s, and it was a satisfying result for Mills who, via his Sheamus Mills Bloodstock (FBAA), had paid no less than $1.55 million for Charm Stone at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Charm Stone storms home to win the G3 Ottawa S. at Flemington | Image courtesy of Darren Tindale
Black cats get black kittens
Charm Stone is the third surviving foal from the Northern Meteor mare Najoom, which explains the hefty pricetag on the Gold Coast.
She is a full sister to the dual Listed winner Najmaty who, in the colours of her breeder Emirates Park, is trained at Flemington by the Snowden team and a winner of four races in 11 starts to date.
Last time out, Najmaty was second in the G2 Dane Ripper S. and her wins include the Listed Redoute’s Choice S. last year and the Listed Helen Coughlan S. in Brisbane earlier this year.
Najoom when racing | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Charm Stone was the very first of Najoom’s foals that Emirates Park sold at public auction. The others, both fillies, have been retained, and in the opinion of Bryan Carlson, the general manager of Emirates Park Stud, the decision to sell her was pure economics.
“It’s always hard to sell those ones,” Carlson said, speaking to TDN AusNZ on Thursday. “It was just one of those decisions that we made. Being such a nice filly by I Am Invincible, it comes with a high pricetag and we’d love for her to have won in our colours, but it’s also good to show the market that we can sell good types as well. Like anyone, we have to make money, breed good types and get results.”
When Mills went to $1.55 million back in January for Charm Stone, he conceded at the time that it was a lot of money.
“I suppose in terms of looking into the future and the long-term project of breeding out of these horses and so on, you hope that black cats get black kittens and they’ll produce types like themselves,” he said. “I’ve seen enough of these Vinnies. He’s the one stallion who just continually produces a type, and he’s a horse you can really trust in that regard.”
“I suppose in terms of looking into the future and the long-term project of breeding out of these horses (like Charm Stone) and so on, you hope that black cats get black kittens and they’ll produce types like themselves.” - Sheamus Mills
Charm Stone wasn’t the most expensive of Mills’ fillies by I Am Invincible. He had gone to $1.95 million at the 2021 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for a daughter of Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}). That filly is now called Humming and she is unraced for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.
“When you’re paying that level of money, you need a good backup plan, and you need to treat it like a business and that’s what we’re doing,” Mills said. “We firmly believe that over the next five to 10 years, we’ll have a program in place that makes all these things make sense.”
With a back-to-back double at Flemington on Thursday, Mills suddenly had a Group- and feature race-winning pair of broodmares. While Charm Stone was a prolific purchase for the bloodstock agent, Roots in the Inglis Bracelet was the other end of the spectrum.
Charm Stone as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The 4-year-old mare is a daughter of the Big Brown (USA) producer Arctic Success, from the Gerry Harvey family of Golden Slipper winner Polar Success, and she was a $50,000 purchase for Yugengaisha Murakami Kinya Bokujo from Vinery Stud at the 2020 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in 2020.
“It’s been one of the better days at the office, that’s for sure,” Mills said, chatting with TDN AusNZ on Thursday. “I took my little fellow to the races with me and I thought then I’d go home, have a couple of beers and watch a couple of replays.”
For Mills, both Roots and Charm Stone are now a question of what’s next. Each of the horses is owned in partnership with others, so the long-term decisions about breeding careers will be on the table at some point.
Roots as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We’ve obviously got a partner in Roots, and then a couple of other people came in on Charm Stone, so we’ll just have to play these out as to what we do,” Mills said. “We bought them to run in our colours, intending that they’d be broodmares and we hope that the other owners will think likewise.”
Charm Stone is still very young at two years old, but she’s significantly more valuable than Roots at this point. Paying $1.55 million for her isn’t something Mills will forget in a hurry.
“When you pay that much, you never think they’re going to necessarily return it straight away,” he said. “You have to be in it for the long haul, and that’s where we were with her. I never go to the yearling sales trying to buy a broodmare, but if they’ve got all the attributes you look for in a racehorse, and they’ve also got a pedigree to be valuable mares win, lose or draw, they generally don’t come cheap.”
“I never go to the yearling sales trying to buy a broodmare, but if they’ve got all the attributes you look for in a racehorse, and they’ve also got a pedigree to be valuable mares win, lose or draw, they generally don’t come cheap.” - Sheamus Mills
Mills has a number of good families already. He’s got the Hips Don’t Lie filly and Charm Stone now, and also Bonham (Per Incanto {USA}) is at stud for him and the G1 Thousand Guineas winner Odeum (Written Tycoon).
“We’re trying to procure a broodmare band that’s going to give us a chance to recoup the investment over a period of time,” he said. “When you pay a lot of money for them, you’ve really got to like them. Some of the yearlings we’ve stretched to buy, like Charm Stone, you’ve got to be really circumspect with yourself.
“When you're convinced they’re the best yearling in the sale, you’ve got to be lucky to get them and I’ve been really fortunate to have the support to be able to do that on a few occasions now.”
Sheamus Mills | Image courtesy of Darren Tindale
Keeps going, keeps growing
The $1.55 million paid for Charm Stone was both expected and unexpected for Carlson and the Emirates Park team.
“I thought she deserved to make a million-plus at the sale, but to get to $1.55 million was a great result,” he said on Thursday. “She was a very lovely filly and, as I said, it’s hard to part with those ones but we had Najmaty and Najoom is at home. It was just economics at the end of the day.”
“I thought she (Charm Stone) deserved to make a million-plus at the sale, but to get to $1.55 million was a great result. She was a very lovely filly and, as I said, it’s hard to part with those ones... It was just economics at the end of the day.” - Bryan Carlson
Najoom herself was a very good buy for Emirates Park in 2013.
The Northern Meteor mare was bought from Willow Park Stud for $225,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. She was a daughter of Charlety Star (Arena) and, in 2015, a winner of the G3 Hawkesbury Guineas and G3 BTC Classic.
Najoom went to stud in 2016, losing a colt by I Am Invincible in 2016 and thereafter she’s had only fillies, which has been a unique situation for Emirates Park each year.
“She’s had five fillies now, which is good for us from a breeding point of view,” Carlson said. “Regardless, it’s very good that these top mares can keep producing well. That’s what we’re here for and this is a pedigree that Hussain (Lootah) is very fond of and always wanted to get.
Najoom when purchased by Emirates Park as a yearling in 2013 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We bought Najoom at a sale and from memory she was Northern Meteor’s first crop, and she was favourite for a Group 1 as a first emergency and didn’t get a start, so she had a lot of ability. This is a family that just keeps going, and it’s very exciting that it keeps growing.”
At Emirates Park, Najoom is joined by her now-breeding daughter Najmah (Snitzel), while Najmaty will eventually have a place alongside them. Charm Stone was born in 2020, and in 2021 Najoom had a Tassort filly. Just recently, she had a Capitalist filly and her stallion choice this spring is yet to be made at Emirates Park.
“The Tassort is a quality filly and we’ll retain her to support that stallion,” Carlson said. “The mare keeps producing quality fillies, so we’ll keep that one to race and she’ll go to the breakers early next year.”
“The mare (Najoom) keeps producing quality fillies, so we’ll keep that one (Tassort x Najoom) to race and she’ll go to the breakers early next year.” - Bryan Carlson
As far as families go, Emirates Park has plenty of good ones to choose from, but this one from Najoom ranks among its best.
“With Hussain getting and primarily buying fillies, we’ve got a lot of new blood and new families coming through, and Najoom was one of them,” Carlson said. “But we’ve also got a lot of old Emirates families that are being refreshed, so we’ve got a good mix and hopefully families like this one will keep coming through.”
