Our Magic Millions and New Zealand Bloodstock yearlings have started their sales preparation and our yearling team are working hard as they continue the education of our class of 2025.

Our faith in Hello Youmzain was repaid in spades during his racing days and the good times keep rolling for our shuttle sire in the second phase of his career.

He was successful in the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup before we purchased the son of Kodiac with our great friends at Haras d’Etreham and we subsequently celebrated his victory in the G1 Royal Ascot Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

Hello Youmzain has made an outstanding start to his Northern Hemisphere stallion career with 18 individual winners, including the G3 Prix des Chenes victor and G1 Prix de Jean-Luc Lagardere placegetter Misunderstood and Electrolyte, triumphant in the G3 Prix Eclipse.

And now, he has made a fast start in the Southern Hemisphere with his son Hello Romeo following up a debut second over 1000 metres at Bendigo by going one better over the course and distance for trainers Ben, Willand JD Hayes.

“He had the advantage of having a run at the track and running well. On that day he hit the front and star-gazed a little bit and was just a bit green and raw still,” Ben Hayes said. 

“He had trained on nicely and did everything right at home. 

“It’s nice to get the first winner for Hello Youmzain and we really loved this horse at the Karaka sale.”

Hello Romeo was a shade slow before mustering pace along the fence to make the running and lengthened stride comfortably for rider Koby Jennings to coast home by a length and three-quarters.

“He won impressively and there are a lot of options for him, but we’ll see how he pulls up first and then make a decision whether we press on or put him aside for the autumn,” Hayes said.

The colt was bred by Jomara Bloodstock and purchased by Lindsay Park for $150,000 out of Halmark Stud’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.

He is the first foal of the Shooting To Win mare Julieta, who had another son of Hello Youmzain last season and is due to foal to him again.

Julieta is a half-sister to Humidor, the three-time Group 1winner of the Australian Cup, Makybe Diva Stakes and the Memsie Stakes.

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El Castello crowned his unbeaten start to his three-year-old season with a sublime victory in the G1 Spring Champion Stakes.The Cambridge Stud-bred three-year-old posted a resuming maiden success last month before a midway win and then stepped up to black type company to land top honours in the G3 Gloaming Stakes.The son of Castelvecchio had no trouble bridging the gap to the highest level in the 2000 metre age group feature at Randwick in the hands of regular rider Josh Parr.“He’s just a very good horse and the preparation went perfectly, everything worked out and I still think he improves again,” trainer Anthony Cummings said.El Castello was quickly into stride to lope along near the pace and held a strong gallop to the post after striking the front 250 metres from home.“He switched off in the middle stages and he’s always up for the challenge,” said Cummings, who is now considering a tilt at the G1 VRC Derby.“We’ve got to get him home and make sure that he’s okay and tick a fair few boxes before we do that, but that is the plan.” The Randwick horseman purchased El Castello out of our draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for A$220,000 with his dam the Fastnet Rock mare Word Games.She is a half-sister to Fiveandahalfstar, who Cummings prepared to claim top-flight titles in the BMW Stakes and the VRC Derby and also trained his sire Hotel Grand to win the Spring Champion and the G1 Randwick Guineas.Word Games produced a half-sister by Almanzor to El Castello last season and recently produced another filly by our son of Wootton Bassett before visiting Chaldean.