Arkansaw Kid won the G2 Bobbie Lewis Quality down the straight 1,200m course at Flemington on Saturday, 13 September in a further boost his sire Harry Angel’s impressive stud tally.
Two hours later, Watchme Win returned from a spell to win the Listed W.H. Wylie Handicap (1,100m) at Morphettville to extend the Darley’s stallion’s record.
Ridden hard by premiership-winning rider Blake Shinn along the inside rail, Arkansaw Kid fought off Star Patrol to win by a half-length in a slick 1 minute 8.93 seconds, with Media World three-quarters of a length away in third place.
It was the five-year-old gelding’s second successive win in the race and lifted his record to five wins and 10 placings from 25 starts for prize-money earnings of $1,853,450.
Arkansaw Kid has now won four Black-Type races, including the Listed Gothic Stakes (1,400m) in 2023 and the Listed Regal Roller Stakes (1,200m) last year.
Bred by Philippa Duncan Bloodstock P/L and sold by Sledmere Stud (Scone) at the 2022 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, Arkansaw Kid sold to Lindsay Park Bloodstock for $190,000 and is now co-trained at Flemington by brothers Ben, Will and JD Hayes.
Out of the Exceed And Excel mare Florabella, Arkansaw Kid has a two-year-old sister by Too Darn Hot, a yearling full-sister and his dam revisited Harry Angel last November.
Watchme Win raced three-wide under Jason Holder for the journey but still managed to hold off Fancify by a three-quarters of a length, with Aviatress just under a length away in third spot.
It was the five-year-old’s sixth win, with placings from 13 starts for Morphettville trainer Andrew Gluyas.
The victory was his second at Black-Type level after the gelding’s win in the G3 John Hawkes Stakes (1,100m) at Morphettville in April.
Watchme Win was bred by the Toorak Thoroughbred Breeding Trust and offered by Noorilim Park, Arcadia at the 2022 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale where Macdonald & Gluyas Racing outlaid $160,000.
Out of the Australian mare Watchmespin, Watchme Win is a half-brother to Point And Shoot (by Blue Point), has a yearling full-sister and a weanling half-sister by Street Boss.
Harry Angel was world champion sprinter at three and has already sired 32 winners of 546 races, including 20 individual Stakes winners of 37 events.
His impressive sons Private Harry (out of Happy Pilgrim), War Machine (Caserta) and Angel Capital (Bahamas) have won feature Stakes races in Australia in recent months.
Harry Angel stands at Darley’s Kelvinside farm in the NSW Hunter Valley for a service fee of $66,000, including GST.
