Former Darley stallion Nadeem (Redoute’s Choice – Candide, by Sound Reason) now plies his trade at Little Avondale Stud in New Zealand but he might have his first top-class performer after Happy Galaxy (Nadeem – Seven Stars, by King’s Best) won the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) in dynamic fashion.
Nadeem stood for five seasons at Darley after winning the 2006 Blue Diamond Stakes, covering 400 mares, before he moved across the Tasman Sea to commence duties in New Zealand.
Happy Galaxy sold for $120,000 at the 2011 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale before fetching $220,000 when pinhooked at the 2011 Gold Coast Horses In Training Sale. The colt took his earnings to more than $287,000 with his latest dominant display.
Happy Galaxy led all the way to beat a small field in the Listed Zeditave Stakes at Caulfield at his previous outing but jockey Jay Ford was content to settle the three-year-old outside the speed early in the Expressway Stakes.
Ford went for home aboard Happy Galaxy early in the straight. The Darley runner Skytrain (Lonhro – Que Sera Sera, by Luskin Star)briefly threatened to cause a minor upset but the favourite was too strong over the concluding stages with a 3kg weight pull under the weight-for-age conditions of the race.
“He’s come a long way in a short space of time,” Michael Hawkes, who trains Happy Galaxy in partnership with his father John and his brother Wayne, said. “The horse continues to win and that’s all that matters.
“We’ll see how he pulls up. He’s had a few runs in now and he’s come a long way in a short space of time. He may enter the paddock, we’ll just see how he goes.”
Happy Galaxy’s dam Seven Stars (King’s Best – Porto Roca, by Barathea) is a daughter of the Group 1 winner Porto Roca (Barathea – Antelliere, by Salieri), making her a half-sister to the Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso (Dubawi – Porto Roca, by Barathea).
