Gerald Ryan travelled to the United States a few years ago to attend the sales in Saratoga and while there, he also took the opportunity to sample the local racing product.
One of the horses he saw compete was triple Group 1 winner Frosted and it left an indelible mark.
“I did see Frosted win a Group One in Saratoga,” Ryan said.
“We were there for the sales and we were going to the track every week, so we saw him at the track and we saw him at the stables and I just fell in love with him.”
Fast forward to 2023 and Ryan’s US excursion is proving serendipitous.
As a fan of Frosted, a relatively unfashionable sire in Australia, he didn’t hesitate to buy one of the stallion’s daughters at last year’s Inglis Premier Sale in Melbourne.
“She was athletic, well balanced, moved well, she was just a really nice filly,” he said.
Out of Galileo mare Fartoo Flashy, Ryan secured the filly for $185,000 and now racing as Arctic Glamour, she is a dominant $2.25 favourite with betting sites for the $1 million Callander-Presnell (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
A last start winner of the Listed Reginald Allen Stakes (1400m), Ryan said the three-year-old had come through the race in top order and he was keen to see whether she could extend her brilliance to a mile.
She will get that chance in the Callander-Presnell (1600m) with the feature also a litmus test for next month’s Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield.
“She pulled up terrific. She copped her last run really well,” Ryan said.
“She will go to the Callander-Presnell. It’s a Group Two, we find out if she runs 1600 metres and it gives us three weeks to the Thousand Guineas, so the turnaround is good if we want to go down that path.”
Arctic Glamour is one of three fillies in the 12-horse Callander-Presnell field along with Group 1 placegetter Pier Pressure and Queen Of Dragons.