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15.
First
Australian Winner For Helissio
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07/10/2002 |
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It’s
a great achievement when a stallion’s first winner comes in a stakes race but
it extra special when that winner is one of the most promising young horses in
the nation.
The Leon Corstens-trained Helenus did plenty wrong in the run but his undoubted
raw ability was enough to see the first crop son of 1996 Prix de l’Arc de
Triomphe hero Helissio (Fairy King) race away from Ain’t Here (Dehere) and
Half Hennessy (Hennessy) in the Group 2 Bill Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley on
Friday night.
HELISSIO
An 80,000 purchase from the Widden Stud consignment by Troy Corstens Newmarc
Thoroughbreds at the 2001 Easter Sale, Helenus is the second foal of his dam,
Worldwide Elsie, a three-times winning daughter of the champion racehorse Java
Gold (Key To The Mint).
Tender Camilla (Prince Tenderfoot), the dam of Worldwide Elsie won 4 races
including the Curragh Railway Stakes (G3), Moyglare Stud Stakes (G3) and Marble
Hill Stakes (LR). She is a half-sister to two other stakes winners out of
Camilla Edge (Alcide) a half-sister to the great New Zealand stallion
Battle-Wagon (Never Say Die) and the useful Queensland-based stallion Call
Report (Raise A Native).
Helissio shuttled from Japan to Widden Stud in 1998 and 1999 where he covered
two relatively small books of mares. On the racetrack Helissio was an
outstanding racehorse among a group of outstanding racehorses. He won five Group
One races and placed in three others, which earned him the titles of Cartier
Horse of the Year, Champion European Three-Year-Old and Champion Middle Distance
Horse Besides his 5-lengths demolition of the high-class Pilsudski in the Arc,
Helissio defeated the grand galloper Swain in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud (G1)
in the first of his two victories in that race and added the Prix Lupin (G1),
Prix Ganay (G1) to his list of achievements.
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