Bold Bastille is still clearly an on-track talent with broodmare potential

Cover image courtesy of Inglis Digital

Fans of Bold Bastille (Brazen Beau) don’t give up on the talented filly just yet – her Lindsay Park trainers have some innovative ways of getting her back to her brilliant best.

She was the most precocious 2-year-old of her generation, winning the Listed Furphy Trophy, Listed Redoute's Choice S. and the lucrative VOBIS Gold Rush in succession.

But that was the now 3-year-old’s last victory, coming at Bendigo on April 13, since then going four starts without saluting.

However, after buying her via a boutique Inglis Digital Sale on Tuesday, Yulong Chief Operating Officer, Sam Fairgray, said he was confident she could retire to the farm sometime next year as a winner once again.

He added her trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes were the ideal conditioners to get her confidence back up before likely becoming a broodmare.

“We’ve seen what they’ve done over the past couple of years. They’re a fantastic training organisation, and they have a facility that they can mix it up and do different things, and come up with different ideas,” Fairgray told The Thoroughbred Report.

“They’re great with innovations and what they’ve done with their horses in the past. We’ve had a good relationship with them, and we look forward to hopefully continuing that with Bold Bastille.”

Fairgray said he was looking forward to seeing what Bold Bastille could do as a broodmare and believes the $810,000 purchase under the Walnut Farm name was a shrewd one.

“We’ve got a couple of ideas with what we might do with her, which we’ll talk about in the next couple of days,” he said.

“Longer term she’s got great residual value and she’ll be easy to mate with any of our stallions. The likelihood is that next year she’ll retire and go to stud, and we know those fillies with their precocity as 2-year-olds pass it on to their progeny.

“So, we’re looking forward to getting her to stud.”

Precocious with great pedigree

Bold Bastille is by the Darley-owned Brazen Beau, a winner of the stallion-making Coolmore Stud S. and Newmarket H. in 2014 and 2015, both at Group 1 level. He has sired 27 winners at stakes level, including Group 1 victors Another Prophet, On The Bubbles and Zapateo.

Bold Bastille’s dam is the Listed-winning Exceed And Excel mare Chloe In Paris, who has produced four winners, with Bold Bastille her first at stakes level.

“Yes (Bold Bastille has good pedigree), and we own her half-sister already, Rue Vivienne, who is a Lonhro. She had an Alabama Express foal this year,” Fairgray said.

“So it’s a family that we like, and her pedigree is going to work well with a couple of our stallions.

“That was one of the ideas of getting her. Eventually she’ll end up in the breeding barn, and we can breed her to one of our stallions.”

Fairgray said there was a possibility Bold Bastille could start in the $3 million Magic Millions Sunlight slot race for 3-year-olds over 1100 metres at Gold Coast Turf Club on January 4 next year.

“She probably tapered off a little bit with her form. But the key now is being able to target the right races with her, and there are a couple of opportunities for us,” he said.

“She’s a Magic Millions graduate, so there’s an opportunity with the slot race that she could possibly venture to.

“Also in the spring there are some options. Quite often you see horses in the spring, they don’t come up, but in the autumn, they come up.

“Especially with these fillies who can bounce back to their best and perform in the autumn.”