Scenic Lodge resident Universal Ruler sired Ginnivan to win Saturday’s $100,000 Jolly Beggar Stakes (1000m) at Belmont before celebrating with his first serve of the season on Sunday morning.
And it wasn’t just any cover on Father’s Day. It was Australian-bred Galileo (Ire) mare Out Spoken Lady who had visited Universal Ruler in 2014 to produce Group 3 winning filly Lady Cosmology for Amelia Park owner Peter Walsh.
Out Spoken Lady was later sold to Gold Front Thoroughbreds owners Alan and Sue Olive and they deserve a change of luck after an unlucky record with the mare. She foaled Outspoken Lad first-up to Gold Front stallion Awesome Rock and he won three city races as well as finishing fourth in the 2022 WATC Derby for Pearce Racing.
Unfortunately, there’s been just the one live foal in the last six seasons and that’s an Awesome Rock 2yo colt bought by Simon Miller for $180,000 at this year’s Magic Millions.
Universal Ruler will also cover Ginnivan’s dam Taken High this season. She’s a daughter of High Chaparral (Ire) who, like Galileo, was by Sadler’s Wells.
Ginnivan (Photo / Western Racepix) is a homebred for trainer Jim Taylor and his wife Tina and the Jolly Beggar result sent his earnings through $500,000 including Westspeed bonuses of $195,800. Taylor was nursing a knee injury after being kicked by a horse earlier in the week but was at pains to point out the winner’s toughness.
“That was his toughest effort yet and he’s done a great job over the winter,” Taylor said. “He’s not a big horse so carrying just 54kg on a Soft 5 made a hell of a difference today. We will give him a break now and hopefully he can also go on a good track next time in.”
Ginnivan will come back for the LR R S Crawford Stakes (1000m) on October 19 and a long-term goal is the LR Summer Scorcher (1000m) on New Year’s Day.
The first foal of the season at Scenic Lodge is a Universal Ruler filly from Adore Me (Choisir). The dam was a Pinjarra 3yo maiden winner for Adam Durrant and she hails from the profilic-winning family of Group 1 sprinter Barakey (Key Business).
Universal Ruler (Scenic) was runner-up to Playing God for the WA Sires’ Premiership in 2023-24 and he will cover a limited book at Scenic Lodge this season.
