How, you might wonder, is it possible that a 3YO filly with no wins in 2023-24 is not only the leading 3YO of the season but also the earner of the fourth highest Black Type Premiership points at this stage? The answer is consistency-plus.
By way of contrast, imagine a future yearling catalogue page where the young dam is a Group 1 winner, but with no other Black Type in her race record.
As impressive as a Group 1 win is, now consider the same page where from nine starts and never once missing a place, the winning mare’s record includes four runner-up finishes – in the Gr1 Darley Flight Stakes, Gr1 Thousand Guineas, Gr2 Darley Furious Stakes and Gr2 Darley Tea Rose Stakes. For good measure, add placings in each of the Darley Silver Shadow Stakes and Listed Howden Desirable Stakes and another two placings.
The very epitome of how the Black Type premiership rewards consistency as much as brilliance, Kimochi, from the first crop of 6-time Australian Group 1 performer Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom) has built an arsenal of 46 points. That leaves her just three points adrift of third-placed Imperatriz, winner of a Group 1 sprint treble this spring.
Standing for $33,000 at Yarraman Park Stud, Brave Smash is represented by a dozen yearlings at the Gold Coast in January and another five at Inglis Classic in February.
