Geisel Park owner Eddie Rigg was on Cloud 9 after he filled out the G3 Champion Fillies Stakes quinella at Ascot on Saturday.
Rigg races the winner Fuddle Dee Duddle (Red Ransom) and runner-up Bippo No Bungus (Dubawi) in partnerships with Yarradale Stud owner Ron Sayers, Ian Loxton, Ken Hunter and West Coast Eagles footballer Dean Cox. He named both fillies after characters in the Dr. Seuss children’s books.
“We set Fuddle Dee Duddle for the Champion Fillies back in her two year-old days,” Rigg said. “We also targeted it as the race to add blinkers. It’s just a sensational result.”
Rigg will confer with his part-owners and trainer Lindsey Smith before deciding whether to run Fuddle Dee Duddle in the G1 Kingston Town Classic (1800m) on December 8.
Fuddle Dee Duddle (3f Red Ransom – Bella Inez by Beautiful Crown) sold for $240,000 at the 2011 Inglis Melbourne Premier yearling sale. She is a younger half-sister to Group 1 mare Hallowell Belle (Starcraft).
Rigg and Sayers also race Bliss Street (Flying Spur) who won the G3 MRC Thousand Guineas Prelude at Caulfield in September 2011. The previous year, they combined to sign former Darley sire Musket for Yarradale Stud. He is a Redoute’s Choice three quarter brother to Makybe Diva.
Yarradale’s Scandal Keeper fillies Secret Scandal and Keeper Quiet finished midfield in the Champion Fillies after troubled runs.
Rigg, 45, co-founded Perth-based stockbroking and financial services house Argonaut and he operates Geisel Park in the south-west at Myalup. Geisel (pronounced “guy-sel”) honours Dr Seuss whose real name is Theodor Seuss Geisel.
Fuddle Dee Duddle is the latest stakes winning filly to graduate from Red Ransom’s penultimate southern crop. The Mick Price trained Malasun opened the batting with a Listed victory in the Blue Diamond Preview in January and his South African export Rumya grabbed a Group 1 in the Greyville Golden Slipper in July.
Melbourne based fillies Kazanluk (G2 Moonee Valley Fillies Classic) and Love For Ransom have also made an impact this season. The latter produced a breathtaking first-up performance to win at Moonee Valley in September.
Red Ransom (Roberto) was foundation sire at Vinery Australia and stood at its Hunter Valley base for a decade before his death in November 2009.
Horse of the Year Typhoon Tracy heads the list of Red Ransom’s Australian bred fillies and there are upwards of a dozen sire sons here including Onemorenomore (Vinery), All American & Charge Forward (Arrowfield), Arlington (Lincoln Farm), Domesday (Darley), Red Dazzler (Eureka Stud) and Red Arrow (Blue Gum).
– Karl Patterson