New Sires Fire at Cranbourne

First season sires provided two of the four two year-old winners at the Cranbourne barrier trials in Victoria on Monday morning.

Cranbourne hosted a quartet of two-year-old trials with two each for the colts and fillies and the first went to the Mark Riley trained Starspangledbanner colt Of The Brave.

A $170,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Rosemont Stud draft, Of The Brave is a three-quarter brother to stakes-winning filly Eloping and clocked the fastest time of the four heats when he completed his trial in 47.36 seconds.

Sub-fertile Starspangledbanner has been a sire sensation in Europe this year producing Group I winner The Wow Signal and Group II winner Anthem Alexandra as well as stakes-placed Home of the Brave and Moonraker from his seven winners to date.

As a result there is much anticipation surrounding his first two year -old runners here, although there will be comparatively few of them coming from a foal crop of just 31.

Mark Riley produced Royalic to win the other colts and geldings' trial in 47.95 seconds.

By Written Tycoon from Queenie, Royalic was a $240,000 Magic Million purchase from the Robyn Wise draft and is a brother to Group III winner Trump, who is now racing successfully in Hong Kong.

Royalic defeated the Peter Moody-trained Drill Master, a first crop son of Group I MRC Blue Diamond winner Reward for Effort.

Moody produced the next winner when Encosta de Lago filly Elsedina clocked 48.39 seconds to win the first heat for fillies.

Elsedina was a $190,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Swettenham Stud draft and is from well-related Kapcher, a sister to Group II winner and sire Kaphero from Group I winner Kapchat, the grand-dam of Group II winners Star of Giselle and Solicit.

The Matt Laurie-trained Pearl Star provided her young sire Star Witness with his first trial winner when she recorded a time of 48.74 seconds for the 800m trip.

Laurie secured Pearl Star for $105,000 from the Widden Stud draft at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney and she is the second foal of talented Fastnet Rock mare Pearl of the Sea, who was fourth in the Group I AJC Champagne Stakes and comes from the family of Group I VRC Sires Produce Stakes winner Spectatorial.