Amarylis fresh from Tatts Sale in December 2016 striking a pose Amarylis by Rip Van Winkle out of a Diesis mare (Madame Cerito 1999) is an inveterate poser for the camera and if there was such a thing as a horse "catwalk" she would be on it for sure! Unfortunately the catwalk for horses isn't here yet so just as well she became a broodmare because she needed another career after failing to impress on her one and only outing on the flat where she came home last in an 8f contest in France. To be fair she showed up quite well for 6f and then faded out of it but it wasn't enough to convince previous owners Ballygallon Stud that she would do much on the race track and they sent her to new stallion Ivawoodin 2016 to get her into foal. Subsequently she was purchased by James Ortega Bloodstock at the Tattersalls December Sales where the auctioneer, in the middle of his full sales pitch, drew attention to her being close to the ground as one of her major virtues! In other words, she isn't big but we know that that doesn't necessarily stop her from producing talented offspring. She foaled a smart looking colt in January 2017 and was covered by Havana Gold, who we think will be a good match for her physically. She foaled a filly in February 2018 and has produced a filly foal to Helmet in 2019. Her Ivawood colt, who is now two, was sold to Richard Brierley in Ireland in the autumn of 2018.
Whatever, she may be small but she is perfectly formed and comes from a promising family that has one or two excellent performers closely related to her. First there is Spieth (2012 Thorn Park x Stella Livia) who raced in Australia for Bryce Heys and improved rapidly in 2016 to attain a rating of 118 and get touched off in the Group 1 Darley Classic over 6f in November. He repeated the short head Group 1 second in the Lightning Stakes early in 2017. He was unfortunate not to win on both occasions although he subsequently did not finish the year well and he has now become a stallion on the back of these outstanding group 1 efforts. His dam Stella Livia (Titus Livius x Sombreffe 2004), who is half sister to the dam of Amarylis, won a couple of races in New Zealand and has produced another couple of winners on the track
Amarylis's "cousin" Spieth, very close to being a dual Group 1 winner.
Another half sister, Uliana (Darshaan x Sombreffe 1998 mare), has produced seven winners from ten runners including four year old colt Intern who, like Amarylis, is by Rip Van Winkle. He who won black type when placed on his second run having won on debut and then moved to Ralph Beckett'sstable for the 2017 season. He ran a head second to Cunco in the Group 3 classic trial at Sandown over 10f reaching a rating high of 103 before moving on to David Simcock late in the year and later sold on to race in Australia. One of Uliana's offspring is Festival Princess (Barathea x Uliana 2005 mare) who was Group 3 placed, rated 102 and is now a broodmare in the Antipodes with a couple of winners to date.
Somoushe (Black Minalouche x Sombreffe 2003 mare) has produced a couple of black type performers in Archers Road and One Word More but has had a terrible time of it the last four years with four foals lost through being slipped or aborted. She was covered by Make Believe in 2016 and had a filly foal and, after having such a torrid time recently, connections sent her back to the same sire in 2017 and she has produced a colt in 2018. Then she has been sent to 2,000 Guineas winner Churchill.
Sommorell, a 2012 Fast Company half sister has had a very exciting first foal in Excelebration colt Inverleigh who won a race and then was listed placed at two years old. It will be interesting to see how he progresses at three as well as how her two year old filly by Anjaal performs. She also has a Foostepsinthesand filly foal and is due to Cotai Glory in 2019.
Amarylis's dam Madame Cerito won in both Ireland and the USA and gained black type when listed placed over a mile. She has a Pour Moi five year old mare called Lyceum Opera who never saw the track and was covered by Imperial Monarch in 2018. Madame Cerito's last foal is Madame Delavanti by Zoffany who has been moderate in six runs in Ireland with a rating of 69 and there are two other daughters who are broodmares. The eldest is Ramora (Monsun x Madame Cerito 2006) whose first foal Rajkumar (by Lope De Vega 2013 colt) is a 97 rated double winner in France. She also has a four year old filly by Kendargent called Roksaneh with Andre Fabre who finished placed four times in ten runs with a rating of 86, a three year old colt by Lope De Vega called Rajah who has been placed once in three outings and a two year old colt by Siyouni before being covered by New Bay in 2018. Ramora sold as a foal for $475,000. The other broodmare is Labyrinthine (by Pivotal 2010 mare) who has a moderate four year old filly by Havana Gold called Blue Havana who top rated at 56, a three year old filly by Clodovil called Paris Duvet who stepped up markedly to be a close second in her 2nd race in Ireland, a two year old colt by Camacho and was sent to Coulsty for a 2017 cover and Bungle Inthejungle for a 2018 cover.
All in all plenty going on for this family and hope that Amarylis has found her true vocation as a broodmare. We decided to sell her as part of a downsizing programme and she has moved on to Mary Bacon to whom we wish all the best going forward with this very good-natured mare.