First Australian winner for Santos

Fresh off the announcement that Santos will join Highview Stud’s stallion roster this coming breeding season, the son of I Am Invincible recorded his first Australian win as a sire at Newcastle on Wednesday.

His daughter West Of Dalby was making her debut over 900m for Kembla Grange trainer Benjamin Smith and got her sire off the mark in Australia when downing hot favourite Party Doll by a short margin.

West of Dalby joins classy New Zealand filly Ulanova as victors by her sire, with her Kiwi counterpart winning two of her six starts to date for trainer Stephen Marsh, including the Gr.3 Taranaki 2YO Classic (1200m).

She was also runner-up in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Pukekohe last month and is likely to be promoted to the winner after first past the post Tokyo Tycoon subsequently returned a post-race positive result to meloxicam.

Prepared by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Santos finished third in the Listed Breeders Plate (1000m) on debut before going on to win the Gr.2 Skyline Stakes (1200m).

Retired to stud in 2019, Santos had 83 live foals in his first crop which are now two-year-olds.

A fee for Santos will be released by Highview Stud at a later date.