Darley stallion Too Darn Hot supplied his 31st global stakes winner and 14th in Australia when Jenni The Fox produced a stylish performance to win Black Pearl Stakes Jan. 3 at Geelong.
Trained by Lucy Yeomans, who was sending out her first stakes winner since branching out on her own, the 4-year-old mare defeated Hearcomesthestar just under 2 lengths with Naifah filling the final spot on the podium, a further neck away.
Jenni The Fox was bought by her owner Tony Ottobre’s Cape Schanck Stud for AU$380,000 from Segenhoe Stud’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft in 2023 and the operation will offer the mare’s sister at the Gold Coast sale later this month. She is cataloged as Lot 553 and is one of 20 yearlings by the stallion set to come under the hammer at the Queensland sale that begins Jan. 13.
Out of the three-time winning Fastnet Rock mare Miss Foxwood, who is also the dam of the stakes-placed winner Rubicon Crossing, Jenni The Fox’s second dam is Foxwood, whose two elite-level wins in New Zealand included the 1997 One Thousand Guineas (G1).
Yeomans admitted the win was the result of meticulous preparation and a little self-imposed pressure.
“I've been riding all my own track work, and I've been absolutely cooking myself overthinking everything, but I galloped this horse on Tuesday and she absolutely flew," Yeomans said.
The mare’s victory opens the door to a possible trip to the Gold Coast for the lucrative Magic Millions Fillies and Mares Classic Jan. 17.
