Vinery champion More Than Ready sired three new stakes winners in December and he’s turned the corner with more black-type imminent in the New Year.

Kiwi filly Spring Heat ran out a convincing winner of the Bonecrusher Stakes Gr.3 at Ellerslie to become his 178th stakes-winner on December 9.

USA-based filly Ready to Confess followed up with a two-length victory in the $100,000 She’s All In Stakes LR at Remington Park on December 17.  A homebred for Kentucky’s Pin Oak Stud, she is from Frizette Stakes Gr.1 winner Confessional (Holy Bull).

Ready to Confess is the 179th stakes winner by More Than Ready and she sent him one clear of Mr Prospector into the Top 5 behind Danehill, Sadler’s Wells, Galileo & Danzig.

The Vinery champion signed off 2017 with Montauk a deserved winner of the Summer Cup Gr.3 at Randwick on December 26.  The Chris Waller-trained gelding had been stakes-placed four times last year before the breakthrough on Boxing Day.

“It’s good to get a Group win – he’s a tough performer,” stable manager Charlie Duckworth said.  “He’s rock-hard fit but will go for a spell now.”

Montauk is No.180 on the roll-call of stakes winners by More Than Ready.  He led home a Vinery First 4 in the Summer Cup from Red Excitement (Excites), Testashadow (Testa Rossa) and Mighty Lucky (Casino Prince).

A $190,000 graduate from Vinery’s consignment to the 2014 Inglis Easter yearling sale, he has an I Am Invincible half-brother catalogued as Lot 660 for next week’s Gold Coast Magic Millions on behalf of breeder Greg Perry.

Vinery has entered 7 of the 42 More Than Ready yearlings for the Magic Millions starting with Lot 268, a sister to stakes winning stallion Better Than Ready.

More Than Ready has Dothraki (Magic Millions Snippets) and Cellargirl (Magic Millions Guineas) primed for the $10 million Gold Coast Raceday on Saturday week, January 13.

Perth trainer Dan Morton has also announced his unbeaten More Than Ready filly Nocelle is being set for the $250,000 Magic Millions WA 2YO Classic RL at Pinjarra on February 10.

And Kris Lees is tuning More Than Ready’s classic-winning stallion Prized Icon for an autumn carnival campaign.  He was given an easy hit-out in a Newcastle trial on Friday.

Prized Icon won the 2016 Champagne Stakes Gr.1 and Victorian Derby Gr.1 for James Cummings before switching stables last year.  Lees is also Gold Coast-bound next week with Sasso Corbaro (All Too Hard) for the Magic Millions Guineas.

More Than Ready sister to Better Than Ready at the Magic Millions