Bright start for Battle Paint
Bright start for Battle Paint
Young stallion Battle Paint (Tale of the Cat) has made a promising start to his stud career, with a plethora of trial winners and two black-type performers to date from his first crop, which recently turned three.
Runner up in the Gr.1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (1400m), Battle Paint is a son of Tale Of The Cat and was retired to the Campin family's Chequers Stud in 2010.
“We’re very proud of him," said Chequers Stud's Mark-Fraser Campin. "He’s had 13 runners at the trials for 11 winners. He had two trialers at Te Teko (on Tuesday) for a first and second."
Leading the way for Battle Paint has been Singapore-based juvenile Affleck (NZ), who won the Sgp-3 Juvenile Championship (1200m) for trainer Laurie Laxon last month, while the Anne Herbert prepared Jet Trac (NZ) finished third in the Listed Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie in April.
“Everyone knows about Affleck whose gone to Singapore. We won two trials with him here at Cambridge and Te Aroha and he’s gone up there and won three from four and will get champion two-year-old up in Singapore," Fraser-Campin said.
“It's good to be going into mid-august and having a stallion that’s hot like him.
“Normally at this time of year we struggle a little with bookings, and this year we’ve picked up quite well particularly in the last 10 days.”
Battle Paint is proving a good money-spinner for breeders, standing for a very reasonable $4,000+GST.
“They’re being sold pretty quickly, so it’s good for the people that have put money in and getting good returns," Fraser-Campin said.
“Unfortunately you won’t see many of them racing in New Zealand. Two fillies that trialed last month have both been sold to Singapore. A lot of them are going up there but while they want them, we’ll sell them.” - NZ Racing Desk