Veteran Sunlago sprang an upset in the Albury Gold Cup on Friday to become the 78th stakes winner for Hard Spun.
It is the 13th win from 56 starts for the eight-year-old Spunlago, whose granddam Couverture (Octagonal) is a half-sister to Breyani (Commanch Run), the dam of the 1998 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Tarascon (Tirol).
Grade 1 winner of the King’s Bishop Stakes (7 fur) at Saratoga, Hard Spun (Danzig) shuttled to Australia for six seasons from 2008 through 2013 and left 2013 foals in Australia where his best performers are Group 1 winners Le Romain and Gatting, both horses with Night Shift (Northern Dancer) as their maternal grandsire.
The Australian-conceived Ertijaal went to South Africa where he won the Grade 1 Cape Derby.
From his northern hemisphere offspring Hard Spun is responsible for 10 Grade 1 winners including champion 3yo filly Questing Questing.
Hard Spun was advertised at $40,000 at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Kentucky in 2019.