With a pair of juvenile events programmed for the Gold Coast card, Jet Spur claimed the first of these with the Liam Birchley trained filly Shamrock Slipper.

Shamrock Slipper was bred by Ron & Debbie Gilbert of Highgrove Stud on the Darling Downs from the Tale of the Cat mare Scattered. It was a double success for Highgrove, as well as breeding Scattered who is a ½ sister to the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap winner and Sire Wanted, they also bred and sold Jet Spur.

Shamrock Slipper was having her first run back from a spell after showing very good early season form which had her as an emergency for the Magic Millions 2Yr Classic in January 2012. Jumping well from the barriers the chestnut filly took up a position just outside the leader and was held together in the run to the line with the result never in doubt.

Jet Spur’s rush of winners on Saturday follows hot on the heels of a number of other impressive victories over the last few days, including the Mark Kavanagh trained Any Destination in South Australia, also bred by Highgrove out of Scattered, giving the mare 2 winners from her first 2 foals.

Possessing a huge pedigree and although only a plain mare, she consistently leaves outstanding foals as evidenced by the sale prices they have achieved – $375,000, $1,100,000 and $420,000 for her Encosta De Lago colt at the recent 2012 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.

Her 2011 High Chaparral colt is another example of the quality foals she produces.
CLICK HERE to view a video of her 2011 foal.

This High Chaparral Sequin 2011 weanling colt is another example of the quality foals produced by one of Highgrove’s top matrons, Sequin.

Gilbert, who has built up a superb collection of broodmares at this Highgrove Stud west of Toowoomba, bred Shrapnel who was sired by Charge Forward from the Snippets mare Fragmentation.

Gilbert and his wife Debbie kept a share in Shrapnel when he was sold as a yearling for $450,000. Trained by Mark Kavanagh, Shrapnel won three races including the Group 2 Yallambee Classic and Group 3 Breeders’ Stakes in Adelaide and was Group 1 placed when third in the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington.

When Shrapnel was sold to historic Kooringal Stud recently Gilbert insisted on retaining two breeding rights to the stallion. He said he intended to send “a couple of Redoute’s Choice mares to him”, which is a glowing endorsement of the potential he sees in the stallion.

“As a sire his breeding will do well with any mares, but I believe he will do particularly well with mares by Redoute’s Choice and Canny Lad”, Gilbert said.

Shrapnel is a year younger half-brother to Wanted (by Fastnet Rock), winner of the Group 1 VRC Newmarket – and Gilbert sold a yearling half-brother by Street Cry at the recent Sydney Easter sale for $460,000 as well as a Charge Forward colt from a sister to Fragmentation for $260,000 and a Sebring filly from Fragmentation’s daughter Scattered for $145,000 to Sam Kavanagh from Adelaide.

An original oil painting by Brian Malt of Antelliere with her Flying Spur filly at foot.

The painting was commissioned by Ron Gilbert after Porto Roca won the Group 1 Coolmore Classic making Antelliere the dam of 2 Group 1 winners, the other being Bluebird The Word who won the Group 1 Waikato International Stakes.

Antelliere is now the Grand Dam of the Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso

She is from a family that Sam knows well, being out of the Tale Of The Cat mare Scattered, who in turn is a half-sister to Shrapnel, a colt who won the Group 2 Yallambee Classic out of the Adelaide stable Sam looked after for his father Mark. Black type is a common theme in this pedigree, with Scattered also being a half-sister to Group 1 Newmarket Handicap winner Wanted, being from the stakes winning Snippets mare Fragmentation and a family that includes In The Mist, De Lago Mist and this season’s promising three-year-old, the dual stakes winning Instinction.

“She looks a real running filly and one which I would expect will be an early comer,” Sam said. “Sebring’s first crop have been keenly sought after this year and it’s fantastic to have secured this nice filly by him, especially from the draft of Ronny Gilbert’s Highgrove Stud, who have such a wonderful record.”

Darling Downs based Highgrove Stud has one of the best strike rates in the country in terms of producing stakes performers. Incredibly, more than 40% of horses produced at Highgrove are stakes performers. Additionally, the fam was also in the news recently with Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso, who is out of Porto Roca, a mare Gilbert bred in partnership with Peter Moran.