Another Champ From WA

Outstanding West Australian mare Miss Andretti wrote a new chapter in her remarkable career when leaving her eight talented rivals for dead in the Group One VRC Lightning Stakes, the first Australian Group One event of 2007.The Lee Freedman trained five year-old was simply breathtaking over the last 100 metres of the race when she idled up to the leaders and then accelerated in lethal fashion to put the issue beyond doubt, eventually winning by a length and a half in track record time of 57.22.

A track specialist, Miss Andretti now holds the course record at Moonee Valley for 1200 and 1000 metres and became racing’s newest millionaire on Saturday, the $300,000 purse for first prize boosting her earnings to $1.2 million, amassed from 14 wins and five placings over 22 starts.

In breeding terms, Miss Andretti is somewhat of an anomaly, a world class sprinting mare that has emerged from a non Black Type family and her sire Ihtiram (IRE) pretty much unheard of until her emergence.

Born and bred in Western Australia where she did her early racing, Miss Andretti was sent to Lee Freedman after Ultra Tune boss Sean Buckley purchased a controlling share with her original owner/trainer David Mueller also retaining an interest. She is the first foal of unraced Peggie’s Bid, a daughter of Sydney Cup winner and highly successful WA based sire Marooned (GB), notable as the broodmare sire of champion three year-old filly of a few seasons back in Special Harmony, also trained by Lee Freedman.

Her sire Ihtiram (IRE) is a blue-blooded son of Royal Academy who won a Listed race over ten furlongs in England and was sent to Australia by Shadwell for a possible Cups campaign with Peter Hayes. The only Cup he ended up winning was the Benalla Cup and he was duly retired to Western Australia to stand at Ray Cochrane’s Wayandah Stud where he covered just 15 mares in his first book after suffering from severe travel sickness.

In subsequent seasons Ihtiram (IRE) has fared marginally better and then in 2005 following the arrival of Miss Andretti he covered 83 mares and did 93 last year which is his biggest book to date. Despite his modest race performance Ihtiram (IRE) is the real deal in terms of pedigree, a half-brother to four other stakes-winners including Group One winner Second Empire (IRE) who is a pretty handy sire himself. His stakes-placed dam Welsh Love is a half-sister to legendary producer Flame of Tara, a European version of our own Eight Carat (GB).The success of Miss Andretti gives hope to all smaller breeders aspiring to produce a champion without the assistance of top dollar service fees and commercially accepted mares.

- Peter Morley