26th December 2005
ARTIST HAS “HAT TRICK”
Strawberry Malt
(Lion Hunter – Royal Malt by Black Zephyr) 3 year old filly.
Strawberry Malt was bred and raised by Australia’s best equine artist, the Toowoomba based Brian Malt. Her third dam is Maltmaid by Malt Denis whose dam Maltgilla was by Malt King, a son of the legendary sire Maltster.
This strapping grey 3YO filly overcame her older rivals to bring up a hat-trick this preparation in winning the listed Just Now Quality 1300m at Eagle Farm Saturday 17/12/05, taking her record to four wins and two seconds from just seven starts.
Strawberry Malt has shown great acceleration to overcome moderate beginnings from wide gates at her last two starts, then finding the line in the style of a real topliner. Her sire, the prematurely deceased Lion Hunter is yet another in the seemingly endless list of successful sire sons of the mighty Danehill. The multiple winner by Black Zephyr, a well performed son of another flying machine Zephyr Bay who still holds the Randwick 1000m course record. Black Zephyr is yet another of those sires who compiled a respectable enough record at stud without really scaling the heights, but who has done considerably better as a broodmare sire with 60% winners to runners and 4.6% stakes horses in the latter role including the dams of Dynamic Love, Bulldog Yeats and Baal Yabba Danehill himself found fame and fortune when mated with the daughters of Star Kingdom line sires, with Biscay’s sons Bletchingly and Marscay providing two of his best nicks.
This mare, who may well emerge as one of the best sired by Danehill’s son Lion Hunter is out of a mare by a grandson of Biscay.
Strawberry Malt is from a wonderful old Queensland thoroughbred family which includes such distinguished runners as Make Mine Magic, Romanino, Tandawanna, Kulali, Vain Prince, Booberanna and Boobereela. Many of these are winners of 12 to 15 races each, so if Strawberry Malt takes after the rest of this tough family, we should hear a lot more of her in 2006.
