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Colt becomes first northern hemisphere bred to win a Classic.
Danny O’Brien’s ambitious plan to aim northern hemisphere bred colt Russian Camelot (3 c ex Lady Babooshka by Cape Cross) at Group 1 three-year-old races in Australia came to fruition on Saturday, as the son of Camelot (Montjeu) created history when he became the first northern hemisphere bred to win a Derby when he took out the South Australian Classic (Gr 1, 2400m) at Morphettville.
In winning the Group 1 the colt also became the 27th stakes winner and fourth Group 1 winner for Coolmore Stud-based former shuttler Camelot joining Irish Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) winner Latrobe, Belmont Oaks (Gr 1, 10f) scorer Athena and Wonderment, while this was his first Group 1 winner in Australia.
The three-year-old colt broke his maiden in October, before finishing second in the TCL TV Stakes (Listed, 1800m) at Flemington during the Spring Carnival.
He came into Saturday’s contest off the back of an ultra impressive seven length win at Pakenham and despite being stuck out wide for much of the contest the colt breezed to the front to post a length and a quarter victory over Group 2 winner Dalasan (Dalakhani). VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Warning (Declaration Of War) was another three quarters of a length away in third.
Russian Camelot - who technically turns four on January 1 2021, but will be deemed a four-year-old in Australia on August 1 - shot to the head of betting for the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) in November after Saturday’s victory, but O’Brien was unwilling to say whether the Flemington showpiece was the definite plan for the colt this year.
"He's obviously an exciting horse for us and we had to do something that hasn't been done before," O'Brien told Racing.com. "We were always confident the motor was there and that was really enjoyable.
"It's rare in Australia for a horse to jump up in trip in the Derby but Camelot won the Epsom Derby off one prep run. He had the one run at a mile in the 2,000 Guineas.
"There's certainly no issue doing it in the UK and in France, where they often run in the Derby on their second start. We brought the horse across from England and brought the training manual too."
Russian Camelot was foaled in March 2018 - making him around six months younger than his rivals on Saturday. He was purchased by Jeremy Brummitt for 120,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2018 from the Camas Park Stud draft before being sent to Australia.
The colt is out of unraced Cape Cross (Green Desert) mare Lady Babooshka, making him a half-brother to one other winner.
Lady Babooshka herself is out of Listed-winning Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) mare Balalaika, making her three-quarter sister to Group 2 winner Alkaadhem (Green Desert) and the dam of Listed scorer Zanetto (Medicean).
The colt’s third dam is Bella Colora (Bellypha) - the dam of Group 2 winner Stagecraft (Sadler’s Wells), Group 3 winner Mullins Bay (Machiavellian) and Hyabella (Shirley Heights), with the latter the dam of Group 3 winner Poet (Pivotal), while she is also the grandam of Group 3 winner and Group 1 placed France (Desert Prince), Listed-winning duo Media Hype (Tiger Hill) and Hippy Hippy Shake (Danehill Dancer).
Meanwhile, Bella Colora also produced unraced Bella Cantata (Singspiel) - the dam of Group / Grade 2-winning pair Caspar Netscher (Dutch Art) and Bella Sonata (Silvano).
While this is the first stakes winner produced on the Camelot / Cape Cross nick, the Coolmore stallion has proved to work with Cape Cross’ sire Green Desert (Danzig), producing aforementioned Group 1 winner Athena and Group 3 winner Goddess.
Camelot announced himself as a high-class racehorse when winning the Racing Post Trophy (Gr 1, 1m) as a juvenile - before going on to land the 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m), Derby (Gr 1, 1m4f) and Ireland’s equivalent in his Classic year. However, he is perhaps most famous for his failed attempt to become the first winner of the British Triple Crown since Nijinsky (Northern Dancer) in 1970 after he was agonisingly denied victory in the last leg - the St Leger Stakes (Gr 1, 1m6.5f) at Doncaster - when beaten by the Godolphin-raced Encke (Kingmambo).
The son of Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells) shuttled to Australia for one season in 2014, where he covered 104 mares at a fee of $22,000 (inc GST).