Former shuttler doing Eurell’s stable proud

Written by Paul Vettise

Greg Eurell’s Cranbourne stable has been well-served by the progeny of the former shuttle stallion Canford Cliffs (Ire) and his run with the stock of the six-time top-flight winner looks set to continue.

The Group 1-winning trainer has a trio of progressive mares in his yard by the stallion, who shuttled for a period from Coolmore Ireland to Blue Gum Farm in Victoria, and his daughter Great Duchess is one particularly close to his heart.

Eurell bred the 4-year-old, who is part-owned by his wife Danielle, and her most recent win at Caulfield on Saturday took her stake earnings to nearly $325,000 and put her in line for a crack at black type.

“It’s worked out well for us, we’ve had a good run with the stock of Canford Cliffs. Great Duchess is a super mare and we’ve also got Clarice Cliffs and Canford Lass,” Eurell said.

Trained by Richard Hannon, Canford Cliffs won the G1 Coventry S. as a 2-year-old and the following season added the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, G1 St James’s Palace S. and the G1 Sussex S.

As a 4-year-old, he was successful in the G1 Lockinge S. and the G1 Queen Anne S. before his retirement to Coolmore and is now at Highlands Stud in South Africa. His best Australian representative has been the multiple Group 2 winner Cliff’s Edge.

“I thought Canford Cliffs was a lovely style of a horse. Typical of those stallions that don’t last long here, their stock seem to start producing when they’re not coming back.”

“I thought Canford Cliffs was a lovely style of a horse.” – Greg EurellGreat Duchess has now won four times, as has Clarice Cliffs while Canford Lass is a two-time winner from a handful of outings.

“We’ll press on with Great Duchess and we’ll look for a stakes race for her to bump up her CV and I think she’s capable of doing that,” Eurell said.

She is a daughter of Great Dame (Danerich), who was successful twice for Eurell and fourth in the G3 Vanity S., and while the mare is throwing different types, they do have one trait in common.

“It’s a bit of a breeding program we’ve got, we don’t get too deep into it, and I trained the mother and she’s been doing a good job. She’s got a Wolf Cry colt who has just been broken in and a Trust In A Gust colt coming through,” Eurell said.

“She throws all sorts and it’s quite interesting really. They’re all different, but one thing about them is that they are all very strong trackworkers.

“We have to be very careful what we do with Great Duchess and her half-sister Bossy Dame, who’s by Street Boss, is a nice filly and she goes out and gives 110 per cent as well. The mother was exactly the same and gave it her all and she’s certainly thrown that into her progeny.”

Great Dame is currently in foal to O’Lonhro, who resides at Larneuk Stud alongside Wolf Cry.

“We’ve had a good association with Larneuk Stud and we’ve got a few nice O’Lonhro horses coming through,” Eurell said. “He’s probably a bit under-rated as a stallion, he’s lacked quality mares to highlight the quality of the stallion. He throws a very good style of a horse as well.”

Top winter prospect

Eurell also produced the Hong Kong-owned Victoria Star (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) to finish third at Caulfield off the back of three consecutive wins. The 6-year-old won his first two starts in New Zealand before two unplaced runs in Hong Kong.

“In fairness to the horse, he’s probably better on a softer track. He’s going to pick up a really nice race through the winter and certainly for him the wetter the better,” Eurell said.

“It was a good, solid effort and he’ll take a lot out of that run. We’re looking forward to a good campaign with him.

“It was a good, solid effort and he’ll take a lot out of that run. We’re looking forward to a good campaign with him.” – Greg Eurell

“You’d have to say he just didn’t settle into that Hong Kong environment. He’s a straight-forward horse to train and he’s lightly-raced and the owner has been very patient and didn’t want to give up on him.

“We’ve had an association with Dennis Chan, who manages the owner’s horses, and he rang us and said they wanted to have a go with him.

“If they’re good enough to qualify for Hong Kong, they’ve obviously got something there and I thought he’d be more than a handy horse here and he’s enjoying his racing.”

Meanwhile, Eurell has welcomed Listed Festival S. winner Ilovemyself (Ilovethiscity) back into the stable.

The talented colt was turned out after finishing sixth at his only other start in the G3 Pago Pago S. and his major spring goal will the G1 Caulfield Guineas.

Eurell is awaiting confirmation from Racing Victoria of a possible revamped spring carnival and whether the Guineas is pushed back before he can lock in Ilovemyself’s lead-up program.