Flying Artie, Australian’s Champion Three Year Colt
Star sprinter and boom stallion prospect, Flying Artie, has been crowned Australia’s Champion Three-Year-Old Colt or Gelding at a glittery night at the Australian Horse of the Year Awards. The distinction comes on a weekend that also saw the China Horse Club co-owned colt Yoshida annex the USD500,000 G3 Hill Prince Stakes in the United States.
Flying Artie was singled out from a crack pool of nominees that included the China Horse Club’s co-owned Extreme Choice and Russian Revolution. The recognition comes after a season that also saw the strapping colt recognized as the world’s best three-year-old sprinter on the Longines IFHA World Horse Rankings.
Flying Artie’s accolade comes two years after Dissident swept the awards as the Australian Horse of the Year and Australian Sprinter of the Year. Flying Artie, the 2016 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner, is currently standing his first season at stud at Newgate Farm alongside fellow China Horse Club stallion interests including the above-mentioned Dissident and Extreme Choice as well as Deep Field, Wandjina, Super One and Winning Rupert.
Winx, after winning 2017 China Horse Club George Ryder Stakes
The 2017 Australian Horse of the Year title was won for a second time by Winx whose greatness was exemplified at racecourses across Australia and most notably in her victory in the G1 China Horse Club George Ryder Stakes earlier this year. China Horse Club colour bearer, Invader, was among the nominees for the Australian Two-Year-Old of the Year Award.
In the United States, Yoshida showed great grit and fight to force his way through a tight opening and hold off a series of challengers to win the lucrative contest. In the process the Bill Mott trained runner lifted his career record to three wins and three seconds from seven starts with prize money of USD549,000.
Hall of Fame trainer Mott was complementary of the performance of his charge: “I thought the two that were in front (Secretary At War, No. 1, and Frostmourne, No. 4) would be in front of us, and I was hoping we might be laying third and we were. We got the benefit of saving the ground today and that didn’t hurt him,” the trainer said in the Paulick Report.
“The horse and rider both showed good courage. The rider showed good patience and when he asked him he had enough horse to get in there. It looks like Bricks and Mortar went for the same hole and we were able to get there first. Actually, it looked like Frostmourne came over a little bit and crowded both of us.”
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