Matthew Smith had a feeling Supido would leave a mark on Australian racing and he is hoping his faith in the bloodline will be rewarded as soon as this Saturday.
The Warwick Farm trainer prepares untapped colt Buenos Noches, who runs in the $1 million Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington.
Buenos Noches is a son of Supido, who was trained by Mick Kent, but only after the Cranbourne horseman outlasted Smith to secure the Gilgai Farm-bred son of Sebring for $190,000 at the 2013 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Smith looked on enviously as Supido won seven of his 18 starts and $563,000 in stakes, which was enough to secure a place on the Widden Stud roster.
His deeds only strengthened Smith’s resolve to get involved when Supido’s progeny became available and he did so at the first opportunity, the 2021 Classic sale, where he bought Buenos Noches for $40,000 out of the Highway Session.
“I went to the Classic Sale and I made sure I looked at all the Supidos and I thought, ‘I’ll find one in amongst them’,” Smith said.
“I was underbidder on Supido and I felt that if I could find the best one at Classic I’d have a crack at it and I thought he was the best one on type in the sale.
“I didn’t really pay much attention to the pedigree, he was just a really good type of horse, a good-looking horse by new season stallion that no one knew much about.
“He was just a bit bigger (than Supido), but he had a bit more scope.”
Buenos Noches is the second to race from the Northern Meteor mare Koi, whose only other foal to race is the Stratum mare Yee Hing Princess, whose only win from 14 starts came in a Tumut maiden.
Buenos Noches, which means ‘good night’ in Spanish, got to the races early than Supido, winning his maiden at Canterbury three days into his three-year-old season before finishing midfield in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1100m).
Since then he has campaigned exclusively on the Flemington straight, winning the Listed Poseidon Stakes (1100m) on protest before going down a nose to Giga Kick in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) and then finishing third in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m).
The Lightning is therefore an obvious kick-off point for the campaign ahead and he will dwarf his purchase price if he can upstage world champion sprinter Nature Strip and Group 1 performers including Roch ‘N’ Horse, Coolangatta and Marabi in the race that has proven itself a launchpad to stud success for many colts.
Home Affairs outlasted Nature Strip to win last year’s Lightning and was a roaring success in his first season at Coolmore Stud, where he stood for $110,000.
Home Affairs was the first colt to win the Lightning since Fastnet Rock in 2005, but in the 20 years before that Choisir, Testa Rossa, General Nediym and Zeditave all won the Lightning as three-year-olds before going on to decorated careers at stud.
“It’d be something special if he could win a race like that,” Smith said.
A potential stud career was not part of the selling point when Smith was trying to move shares in Buenos Noches, but he is happy he has shown a liking for Melbourne given a large portion of his ownership group is based south of the Murray river.
“I sold a share to a friend in Melbourne and he rallied the troops, so while there’s a few Sydney based-owners, a lot of them are Melbourne-based owners.
“It’s amazing how it goes. You just never when you buy a horse where you will end up.”
Smith, however, understands the task confronting Buenos Noches on Saturday and merely wants to see him run up to previous efforts at Flemington, knowing that the $1.5 million Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) three weeks later is an even better option.
“My expectation is he’ll run well, but it’s probably a bit short for him. It’s just the right lead-up into the Newmarket which, realistically, is the right race for him,” Smith said.
Buenos Noches will be ridden by Craig Williams in the Lightning, in which they will jump from the outside barrier in the field of 11.