A last start third in the G1 Goodwood Handicap in Adelaide, five-year-old Lonhro gelding Pinwheel headed to Brisbane to win the G3 W.J. Healy Stakes in sensational fashion.
Finishing second in the race last year behind G1-winning sprinter Hay List, Pinwheel’s victory has further enhanced the chances Lonhro being crowned the Champion sire of the 2010/2011 racing season.
Jumping from barrier 8, the Peter Snowden-trained runner settled in 8th position on the outside of the field. With a very good pace being set up front, jockey Damian Browne was forced to search for a gap as the field rounded the home turn. Looking as though he would be unluckily beaten, Pinwheel surged through a gap to chase down Metallurgical to score by three-quarters-of-a-length.
Bred by Woodlands Stud, Pinwheel is the first Stakes winner for the Danehill mare Quilt and comes from the family of G1 performers Charming City, West Point, Kenvain, Antique and Imperial Baron. Quilt currently has a yearling by Elusive Quality, the dam of G1 Golden Slipper winner Sepoy and a weanling full-brother to Pinwheel.
Later in the day G1-winning Lonhro mare Beaded produced an excellent effort to finish second in the G1 Tattersall’s Tiara. Having contested G1 races at her last five starts, the star mare has not finished further back than third in those five races.
The sire of 25 individual Stakes winners to date, Lonhro is the sire of G1 winners Beaded, Denman and Benfica, G2 winners Parables, O’Lonhro and Obsequious as well as G3 winners Trim, Deer Valley and Demerit. Standing the forthcoming breeding season at Darley Kelvinside at a fee of $77,000 (inc GST), the Champion sire elect is sure to once again prove extremely popular.
