Academus takes Western Australian Guineas

Champion sire Lonhro capped off a great day on 24 November, recording his second Stakes winner when his three-year-old-son Academus broke through for a well-deserved Stakes win, capturing the G2 Western Australian Guineas over 1600m at Ascot.

Given the perfect ride by jockey Kerrin McEvoy, Academus appeared to relish the drop in weight, holding on to defeat the fast finishing Dubawi filly Bippo No Bungus by a short-half-head. In the process, the victory of the Peter Snowden-trained runner provided his sire with his sixth individual southern hemisphere Stakes winner of the current racing season.

Bred by Darley, Academus is out of the Dehere mare Youth Presence, now the dam of three Stakes winners including the G1 South Australian Derby winner Kidnapped and the Listed winner Deledio. Youth Presence has a two-year-old colt by Street Cry named Youth, a Reset yearling colt and foaled a filly by Bernardini in late October.

Having never finished further back that fourth in seven career starts to date, Academus had already been placed at G2 level as well as at G1 level behind Sizzling in the T.J. Smith Stakes in Brisbane of his juvenile year.

With the yearling sale series set to commence in January, Lonhro will be represented by no fewer than 17 yearlings at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast where his progeny are sure to attract plenty of attention from astute buyers.

With his two-year-old daughter Bounding winning the Listed Murdoch Newell Stakes earlier in the day, the victory of Academus took Lonhro’s Stakes tally to 36, which includes the G1 victories of Mental and his two Darley Stud stallion residents Denman and Benifca, who stand alongside their sire at Darley Kelvinside.

The Champion sire of the 2010/11 racing season, Lonhro is standing the current season at $110,000 (inc. GST), while his G1-winning sons Denman and Benfica are standing at $33,000 (inc. GST) and $11,000 (inc. GST) respectively.