The diamond mine which was discovered when the Straight Strike mare Shadea visited Octagonal (pictured) in that great stallion’s first season at stud in 1997 – producing the mighty Lonhro – has thrown up another gem, judging by the breath-takingly easy debut win of Eighto at Geelong on Friday.
A good filly herself (she won twice as a two-year-old, including the G3 Sweet Embrace Stakes at Rosehill in 1991) Shadea produced merely two minor winners in her first five years at stud, from three visits to Danehill and one each to Last Tycoon and Chief’s Crown. However, her first covering by Octagonal ensured that she went from underachiever to blue-hen in one fell swoop, with the resultant colt Lonhro numbering 11 G1 races among his 26 victories before retiring to stand alongside dad at Woodlands Stud.
That this was no fluke was confirmed by the fact that her second visit to Octagonal produced the three-time G1 winner Niello, and a similar formula subsequently came up trumps when Miss Trump, the unraced result of Shadea’s 1993 visit to Last Tycoon, produced Diamond Deck, a G3 winner this season in New Zealand, when she in turn visited Octagonal.
And now the latest diamond from this particular mine looks to be Eighto, who lived up to his huge reputation when blowing his rivals away on debut over 1200m at Geelong, coming from behind out of barrier 12 and circumnavigating the field five or six wide before winning by six lengths, with Michael Rodd never having to ask for maximum effort at any stage. His $1.50 dividend was an indication of the promise Eighto had shown in trackwork, and Rodd’s post-race comments indicate the respect in which he is held: “He’s got a lot of scope about him, he’s still learning, but there was plenty of gears there”.
It now looks as if all roads will lead to the Spring Carnival with this tremendously exciting prospect.
