Juddmonte Farms homebred Redwood made it a weekend to remember for High Chaparral with a G1 victory in the Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine on Sunday.

Redwood (4c High Chaparral – Arum Lily by Woodman) arrived from England in superb form and was dispatched a warm favourite in the Canadian feature.  He saved ground along the rails and defeated front-runner Fifty Proof (Whiskey Wisdom) by a half-length.

Coolmore sire High Chaparral started the weekend with a winning double in Australia on Saturday.  Champion colt So You Think won the G1 Underwood Stakes at Caulfield and Descarado was an all-the-way winner of the G2 Hill Stakes at Rosehill.

Redwood had been in career-best form before flying to Canada last week.  He was runner-up to Melbourne Cup candidate Sans Frontieres (Galileo) in the G2 Princess of Wales’ Stakes at Newmarket and then won the G2 Glorious Stakes at Goodwood.

Defending Northern Dancer champion Marsh Side (Gone West) engaged Fifty Proof but came up empty before the home turn.  Fifty Proof repelled several would-be challengers in the straight until Redwood appeared with a winning move.

“When I got to the rail, it was lovely,” jockey Michael Hills said. “I took the inside run. The English horses like it and we got a perfect passage.”

Bred in Great Britain, Redwood is from a winning daughter of 1992 French Oaks winner Jolypha (Lyphard).  The second-dam is a sister to all-time great Dancing Brave who was a G1 winner of the Arc de Triomphe, English 2000 Guineas, Eclipse Stakes and the King George.

Redwood could return to Woodbine for the G1 Canadian International on October 16.  

High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) has sired 155 winners world-wide at a 48% strike-rate.  His black-type winners to winners strike-rate is an impressive 14%.