Russell Lazarus, one time owner of a spelling farm near Sydney for humans, the Kurrajong Health Farm, has had much enjoyment from racing and breeding since he got into these fun outlets as one of the owners of 1987 Melbourne Cup winner Kensei. Since then he has bred on a modest outlay scale many winners, particularly those by sires in whose ownership he has been a leading figure.
One winner which is a big advertisement for Russ’s judgement and rearing technique is Sutton Princess, a winner of her fifth race in14 outings when successful over 1250m at Canterbury last week. The earlier wins of this Luke Griffith, Scone trained 3-year-old filly have been on country tracks, including the feature Wellington Boot at two, but she has also been second at Canterbury and third at Randwick and Gosford.
Raced by Lazarus and his policeman son Michael, Sutton Princess was reared on Russ’s Sutton Farm at Middlebrook, Scone and is bred on a cross of two sires, Olympus and Youthful Legs, owned by syndicates in which he is a principal player. In addition he bred and raced her dam Sutton Miss, a Youthful Legs winner of six races, including one at Warwick Farm.
Sutton Miss’s brother, the Lazarus syndicate raced Sutton Review, also won in Sydney and in addition was successful in the Listed Gainsborough Stakes at Tamworth. They are from Miss Regal Mine, an unraced Canadian bred mare that Russ Lazarus bought in foal in Sydney for $4,500 on the advice of Inglis staff consultant Suni Carnes. All of Miss Regal Mine’s six foals have raced and won.
The breeding of Sutton Princess is a show window for genetic excellence. Danehill, the sire of her sire Olympus, is a close relation to her maternal grandsire Youthful Legs and the pedigree includes a 4x4 of Mr. Prospector. One of the doses is through Mr. Prospector’s daughter Miss Forty Niner, the third dam of this Lazarus winner. Miss Forty Niner was a sister to Straight Strike, the sire of the dam of Lonhro.
Current winner Sutton Princess is one of only nine runners, all 3-year-olds, so far by Olympus, a sire who stands with Youthful Legs at Stephen Miller’s Erin Park who was bought as a yearling in Sydney for $235,000 and raced and owned by a syndicate comprised by Lazarus, Clarry and Mrs Conners, Ross Daisley (bred Choisir), Andrew Bowcock, Wilf Mula, I.G. Cornell and P.W. Callaghan.
Unfortunately Olympus had a restricted racing career owing to health problems, but showed a fine turn of foot at two in winning by four lengths at Rosehill Gardens, finishing third in the Illawarra Classic and fourth at Rosehill in the Skyline Stakes. Before retirement to stud at four, he scored a smart win over1600m at Warwick Farm.
Besides being by Danehill, one of the main reasons his owners bought Olympus was his impressive international maternal pedigree, one which added to his sire value. A brother to the Western Australian based Medal of Honor (Yarradale Stud), the sire of Cobble Lane, winner of an open handicap at Perth last Saturday week, Olympus is from Metal of Honor, a daughter of the Mr Prospector sire Conquistador Cielo. She is nearly a three-quarter sister to world wide influence Gone West and Apache Cat’s sire Lion Cavern.
