Impressive filly Honeycreeper stamped her claims for the G1 Australian Oaks and gave her sire Teofilo another feature-race success with a brilliant win in the G3 Adrian Knox Stakes over 2,000m at Royal Randwick on Saturday, 2 April.
Fresh from finishing third in the Listed Tasmanian Oaks at Launceston on 20 February, Honeycreeper settled beautifully for champion jockey Hugh Bowman near the rear of the field before sprinting between runners in the home straight to easily beat Charity Spirit by a widening 3.25 lengths.
The winner’s stablemate, Mamounia, ran on well for third.
Out of the Australian mare Painted Firetail, who visited Exceed And Excel last December, Honeycreeper took her race record to three wins and six placings from just 11 starts for prize money earnings of $221,490.
The way she handled the extremely heavy track and finished off the race was a big Oaks (2,400m) positive for Godolphin Australia's Head Trainer James Cummings.
A few races later, the Cummings-trained Alegron (Teofilo) finished a close third in the G1 Australian Derby.
Bowman rode the Teofilo three-year-old perfectly but he was just outstayed by Hitotsu and Benaud.
Teofilo was unbeaten during a brief racing career in Ireland and England and has sired 22 G1 winners.
His quality stock includes Melbourne Cup winners Cross Counter and Twilight Payment, Exultant, Happy Clapper, Humidor, Kermadec, Valentino and the exceptional Ascot Gold Cup winner Subjectivist.
Teofilo stands at Kildangan Stud at a fee of €30,000, Oct 1, SLF.
