All the big guns entered for inaugural Showdown

The prospect of winning the inaugural $1 million Showdown with a VOBIS Sires horse at Caulfield in April next year has helped drive an increased number of nominations to VOBIS Gold this year.

1214 foals born in 2016 were nominated to VOBIS Gold…and, of those, 840 are VOBIS Sires eligible and thus now have an entry in The Showdown (as well as the $500,000 VOBIS Sires 3YO race in April 2020).

All of these horses are also eligible for each season’s VOBIS Gold Premier Race Series which this year is worth $4.45 million across 18 races.

The lucrative prize from The Showdown has lured in a large number of interstate-owned and trained horses including trainers such as Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller, Team Snowden and John O’Shea.

Prominent interstate owners such as Winx’s part-owner Debbie Kepitis, China Horse Club, Star Thoroughbreds, Francis & Christine Cook, James Harron Bloodstock and Triple Crown Syndications have also got entries.

“The interstate involvement in the VOBIS program through VOBIS Sires is fantastic. It demonstrates that interstate high profile trainers and owners have been buying Victorian sired and bred horses,” Patrick Clancy, Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria’s Executive Officer said.

“When TBV put forward the idea of VOBIS Sires and The Showdown to Racing Victoria back in 2015, it was exactly this sort of interstate interest in Victorian stallions and our breeding industry that we were seeking.”

But they will be up against the best Victorian trainers can offer. VOBIS earning record holder Darren Weir has 31 VOBIS Sires horses under his own name (with many more likely in his stable nominated by owners).

Flemington and Angaston trainer Tony McEvoy is also prolific with 26 nomination including multiple horses by popular sires Brazen Beau, Written Tycoon, Fighting Sun and Zoustar.

Progeny of 46 individual Victorian sires are among the 839 entrants for the Showdown.

Woodside Park’s multiple Champion Written Tycoon has 80 entrants, Swettenham first crop sire Toronado has 53 entrants while the likes of Fighting Sun, Magnus, Reward for Effort, Street Boss and Brazen Beau all have 30 or more nominated 2YOs.

Three Victorian sires Primus, Rock Face and Warrior’s Reward each have a single entrant. Interestingly, the single 2YO for Primus is a colt out of She’s A Knockout, making him a brother to VOBIS pin-up boy Burning Front.

Below are the number of VOBIS Gold/VOBIS SIres nominations for all VOBIS SIres nominated stallions from 2015:

* Please note some stallions have moved studs, been retired or died since 2015.