Sledmere Stud enjoyed an interstate Easter Group race winning double on one of the biggest Saturday afternoons of racing staged each season when graduates Profoundly and Hughes scored clear-cut victories at Randwick and Caulfield respectively.
On Day 1 of this year’s The Championship in Sydney, the Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) witnessed Profoundly outclass her opposition and race right into calculations for the Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at the same venue this coming Saturday.
Trained by Michael Freedman on behalf of his Hall of Fame brother Lee amongst others, the first-crop daughter of Farnan scored by over two lengths when recording her third career win at start No. 10, prompting betting organisations to make the progressive filly a $4.50 second favourite for the coveted 3-year-old Classic.
Later in the same afternoon, Hughes proved to be an impressive winner of the Group 3 Victoria Handicap (1400m) in Melbourne, crossing the finishing line a length-and-a-half clear of his nearest rival.
Backing up from a recent Echuca Cup (1400m) success, Hughes took his earnings to $583,750 from 25 career starts which now include nine wins and seven placings in the colours of a Roll The Dice Racing ownership group.
Both Profoundly and Hughes are graduates of past Inglis sale drafts consigned by Sledmere Stud, the former having been offered and sold at the 2024 Sydney Classic Yearling Sale and the latter at the 2021 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
The Easter long weekend of racing in Australia also witnessed further success for prominent Sledmere Stud yearling sale graduates Rue de Royale (NZ) and Wymark (NZ).
Rue de Royale (NZ) also saluted on the same Caulfield program as Hughes and took his earnings through the $1 million mark — to $1,070,950 to be precise. Sunday’s programs then saw Wymark win the Stawell Cup (2000m) in the colours of OTI Racing, having landed the Yarra Valley Cup (1950m) at his previous outing.