Monday, 9 April 2018: Lonhro’s Golden Slipper Stakes winner Pierro has emerged as a classic sire of some note after Levendi became his second Group One winner with his dramatic victory in the ATC Australian Derby at Randwick.

Pierro won the 2YO Triple Crown of the Golden Slipper (1200m), ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) and Champagne Stakes (1600m) and only once raced further than 1600m when third in the WS Cox Plate over 2040m.
He was always expected to make his mark as a sire and his first two crops have already yielded seven stakes winners.
However the surprise is his two G1 winners to date are both classic winners over 2400m and 2500m with Levendi following the filly Pinot’s success in the VRC Oaks at Flemington last spring.
The stamina influence in Pierro’s pedigree is obvious. His grand sire is Zabeel, the greatest source of southern hemisphere classic winners in the past two decades.

Levendi (right) wins the ATC Derby

Levendi  nosed out Victoria Derby winner Ace High after the pair singled out from the 200m to fight out the finish. A subsequent protest for interference over the last 200m from Ace High’s rider Tye Angland was dismissed.
The Peter Gelagotis-trained Levendi (Pierro x Lipari by Redoute's Choice) was backing up seven days after his G2 win in the Tulloch Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
He joined the Kiwi 3YO Jon Snow as successive winners of the TullochStakes /Derby double with the pair the first winners of the two races since Starcraft in 2004.
Levendi was purchased by Manny Gelagotis for $140,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2016 from the Widden Stud draft. The colt races for a syndicate that includes long time stable supporter Bruno Micalizzi, owner of the Gelagotis-trained dual G1 winner Malaguerra.
Micalizzi explained that Levendi is Greek for “honourable young man”.
“I’m in the colt with the Gelagotis boys along with a couple of other Greek guys,” he said.
Levendi captured his first Group win in the G3 Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington on Derby Day last spring and has now compiled a record of five wins and a second from 10 starts for more than $1.65 million prizemoney.
Levendi is one of two winners from the stakes-placed mare Lipari whose two foals to race are both winners.
Lipari is a daughter of the G1 Australasian Oaks winner Tully Thunder (Thunder Gulch) from the family of stakes winners Sufficient (Zabeel) and Zamzam (Redoute’s Choice).
Widden Stud will offer Levendi’s half-sister by Sebring at this Australian Easter Yearling Sale this week. Lipari produced a More Than Ready filly last spring.