Diss Is Dramatic flying the family flag
Diss Is Dramatic is establishing a strong base for her future broodmare career, adding the Gr.2 Japan Trophy (1600m) to her burgeoning record at Tauranga on Saturday.
The four-year-old daughter of Dissident now boasts a record of six wins, including four at stakes level, from 21 starts and nearly $350,000 in earnings.
Her three other stakes victories include the Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m), Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1600m), and Listed Champagne Stakes (1200m), while she has also placed in the Gr.3 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m).
Bred by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Diss Is Dramatic was offered through their 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft where she was purchased by Go Racing for $60,000, with the syndicator entrusting her to Awapuni trainer Lisa Latta.
“She is a fantastic mare, you would love to own one like her. She has done it every season, she was a stakes winner at two and here she is winning a Group Two (at four),” Cambridge Stud’s head of sales and nominations Scott Calder said.
“She is a really tough performer and keeps coming back every prep. Go Racing bought her for $60,000 and with the pedigree she has got to back her up she is a very valuable commodity, and one I am sure they will have more fun with yet.”
Cambridge Stud bought her dam, Our Drahma Queen, out of Widden Stud’s 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare sale in-foal to Diss Is Dramatic for $85,000, and it has proven to be an astute buy.
“We purchased the mare at Magic Millions carrying Diss Is Dramatic and we took her (Diss Is Dramatic) up to Karaka and she was a beautiful type,” Calder said. “At the time Dissident probably hadn’t made the grade as a stallion and people wrongly overlooked her for that because she was as good a filly as we had that year on type. Credit to Go Racing as they saw the potential in her and they have been the winners at the end of the day.
“We have still got her mother, who has left another stakes performer (Cap Estel) in Australia. Diss Is Dramatic has got a lot of pedigree to carry her through.”
But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing with Our Drahma Queen.
“We have had a bit of bad luck with the mare, we lost her Almanzor foal this year at birth, which was a tough one to take,” Calder said. “The mare is still relatively young so we will hopefully get her back on track this season and get more foals out of her. It is a family we would like to build on and perhaps keep a filly for ourselves in the future.
“She has also got an Almanzor two-year-old over with John Thompson, and I believe he has a nice opinion of them, so hopefully that horse can go on and do a bit more for the family as well.”
Cambridge Stud were also pleased to see fellow farm graduate Ceolwulf finish runner-up in the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) on Saturday behind Riff Rocket.
“Ceolwulf is another graduate off the farm, as well as Immediacy, who ran fifth. They are two horses we are looking forward to seeing in the AJC Derby (Gr.1, 2400m),” Calder said.
Meanwhile, the Cambridge farm are looking forward to homebred Red Sea carrying the silks of farm principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Trentham on Saturday week.
It is the first eligible bonus race for next year’s inaugural $3.5 million NZB Kiwi (1500m), for which Cambridge Stud are slot holders.
“Every horse that wins from now on we will be thinking whether they are suitable for the slot and we can keep dreaming about that,” Calder said.
“Right now, you would say Red Sea is at the top of the pecking order. He is a horse Andrew Forsman (trainer) has had a lot of time for and had some pretty good form around him as an early two-year-old.
“For him to put it all together at Matamata (winning maiden last start) was exactly what we wanted. He is going to have to step up as there will be a lot of good horses in the Sires’ but he has earned that opportunity and hopefully he can go well.
“It will be great if he can put his hand up as a genuine contender for the NZB Kiwi in time.”