To produce one Group I winner for any mare is an amazing achievement , but to produce two and another Group III winner puts you in the class of a blue hen, which is why Damien Kirwan and his team at Peppertree Farm were devastated last week to lose St Therese, but take heart from the fact her final foal is a filly.
The 22 year-old daughter of Dehere (USA) died as the result of post-foaling complications leaving behind this lovely filly by young Redoute's Choice stallion Panzer Division, who stands at the farm.
Panzer Division filly from St Therese, this little princess has big shoes to fill!
A blue-blooded stunning son of champion sire Redoute's Choice, Panzer Division started his career at Arrowfield Stud before transferring to Peppertree and with him came a small group of older mares that were gifted by Arrowfield to Peppertree Farm to support the stallion and have a good home in which to end their days.
Among those mares was stakes-winner St Therese, a half-sister to multiple Group I winner Planet Ruler, who racked up many Group placings to go with her two stakes wins in an accomplished racing career that saw her win over $234,000 in prizemoney.
St Therese proved a reliable producer for Arrowfield leaving Group III winner Mirrasolo (by Redoute's Choice) as her third foal in 2006, while two of her other early daughters in Little Flower and Precious Moments have both delivered stakes-winners in Hussy by Choice and Precious Memories.
It is fact that most star broodmares make their mark early in life, but with St Therese, she was saving the best for last.
In 2015, she produced a filly by Smart Missile and in 2016, a colt by Dundeel, and those two youngsters emerged last season as Group I winners Maid of Heaven (ATC Spring Champion Stakes) and Castelvecchio (ATC Champagne Stakes).
St Therese has the overall record of 11 named foals, eight of which have raced and five have won.
Her record may improve further with a 2017 colt by Panzer Division that is now a two year-old and this lovely filly to follow.
St Therese may just be the gift that keeps on giving for Peppertree Farm.
Article | Tara Madgwick BREEDNET
