Secret Admirer's first foal – a colt – is Lot 334 (pic: Steve Hart)

Only 20 minutes from Bowral in the picturesque Southern Highlands, Milburn Creek is storybook pretty and so conducive to yearling development with its rich alluvial soil profile and easy access to water.

It also happens to house one of the finest broodmare bands in the country. 

A recent addition to this list is dual Gr1 winner Secret Admirer. Winner of both the Gr1 Epsom Handicap and Gr1 Flight Stakes, and runner-up in the Gr1 Coolmore Classic, her first foal is certainly going to be one of the talking points at this year’s Easter Sale. He is Lot 334 and is by Champion Australian Sire Exceed and Excel. It’s a lovely pedigree, featuring double crosses of both Northern Dancer and Seeking the Gold and also includes Gr1 winner Donegal Mist.

The draft also includes three fillies by one of the sires of the moment and dominant juvenile speed influence in I Am Invincible. Lot 8 is the first and is from stakes winning Hussonet mare Walk With Attitude. This a black-type laden family which includes talented stakes winner Hillfa as second dam. Only 3 lots later (Lot 11) is the second I Am Invincible filly. She’s by O’Reilly mare Well Credentialled. And that she is, being a half-sister to NZ’s Top Filly of 2006-2007 in Crossyourheart (dam of Gr3 winner Swear) and also Gotta Have Heart, a winner twice at Gr3 level in Melbourne. The final I Am Invincible is the last lot in the Milburn Creek draft (Lot 385). She’s from Lonhro mare Tahnee Topaz. This page features recent luminaries and all Gr1 winners, Shogun Lodge, Singing The Blues and Referral. 

On of a number of standouts in this draft is Lot 162, the Snitzel colt from Champion sprinter Starspangledbanner’s half-sister Gold Chant (by El Moxie). From only 4 to race this valuable young mare has already produced 3 winners, including Gr1 Thousand Guineas winner Amicus and stakes placed Il Cavalo. Plus third dam National Song adds further pedigree depth being a half-sister to Circles of Gold, dam of both Elvstroem and Haradasun.

Lot 255 is another exciting offering from this family. She’s the Sebring filly from Rock of Gibraltar mare National Anthem, another half-sister to Starspangledbanner with serious upside. 

Continuing the thread of Starspangledbanner, Lot 2, the first in the Milburn Creek draft is his filly from the immortal Makybe Diva’s half-sister Valkyrie Diva (by Jade Robbery). And she’s a mare that has runs on the board, having already produced stakes winners C’Est Beau La Vie and Wales. 

A dynamic colt by triple Australian Champion Sire Redoute’s Choice is offered as Lot 187. From the Mossman mare Jeter, herself a half-sister to Gr3 winner and sire Fast ‘N’ Famous, this pedigree also features Gr1 winner Alynda as third dam, producer of black-type winners Alinsky, Capestad and Altrista.

Lot 51 is sure to have many inspections. She’s another Sebring filly from Bernardini mare Belladini, a half-sister to Gr3 SAJC Breeders’ Stakes runner-up Mrs Kipling. She’s a young mare with a very strong heritage. All the action is at the third dam. She is Gr2 Edward Manifold Stakes winner, Twiglet (dam of dual Hong Kong Horse of the Year, Fairy King Prawn, as well as Gr1 Salinger Stakes winner Easy Rocking and Listed winner Crevette (dam of Gr1 Canterbury Stakes winner Cosmic Endeavour. This filly is sure to have serious 2YO speed and serious residual appeal.  

The penultimate lot in this draft is Lot 122. He’s a typically grey colt by triple US/Can Champion Sire Tapit, from stakes winning Harlan’s Holiday mare Euphrosyne. It’s a black-type rich family that includes Gr2 winning colt Private Horse and his stakes winning half-sister Three Graces close up.

The final lot is by Gr1 Golden Slipper winner Capitalist’s sire Written Tycoon. And he’s also chestnut. He also looks to have some inbuilt speed, being from an Elusive Quality sister to precocious Gr3 winning filly Ottoman. Interestingly, his dam Shabtis is also a half-sister to five-time Gr1 winner Mummify, suggesting the possibility that this colt may also be able to extend to at least a middle distance at 3 and beyond.