Pellizotti will be the first son of Stratum to stand at stud this spring.  The Lee Freedman trained stakes winner will be based at Tony Morahan’s Parwanvale Stud in Victoria.

Pellizotti (3c Stratum – Red Labelle by Blevic) is an aristocratic looking colt and he caught everyone’s eye at the Widden barn before the 2009 Inglis Easter yearling sale.  Freedman bid $425,000 which made him the highest priced yearling from Stratum’s first crop.

Named after Italy’s champion road bicycle racer, Pellizotti was third in the LR Maribyrnong Trial on debut at Flemington in October 2009 and returned after a 16 week spell for another black-type placing in the 2010 Blue Diamond Preview on Australia Day.

Pellizotti was all set to play a hand in the G1 Blue Diamond when an injury forced him out of training at Rye.  “It was a shame we had to back off,” jockey Dwayne Dunn recalled.  “I really thought he was going to give me a fifth Blue Diamond.”

Stratum’s reputation went through the roof a few months later when Crystal Lily won the G1 Golden Slipper and Pellizotti became his second stakes winner when Freedman took him to Queensland for the winter carnival.

He won first-up as an odds-on favourite in the Ambassador Travel Hcp and returned to Doomben a fortnight later to score a brilliant victory in the LR Dalrello Plate over 1200m.

Dunn settled the colt midfield off a fast tempo up front and was poised to strike in the straight..  He accelerated through a gap and quickly put a length on the field.  “He had the race sewn up in a couple of strides,” Dunn explained.  “The margin was only a neck but he was always holding the chasers.”

Pellizotti clocked 1.10.42s for 1200m which shattered Doomben’s 2YO track record previously held by Shellscrape!

“Lee brought him to Queensland hoping the trip would help teach him a bit,” Dunn said after bringing the winner back to scale on the Queen’s Birthday meeting.

“He’s getting better all the time and is heading in the right direction.  Hopefully, he can measure up to the Caulfield Guineas.”

Brought back as a three year-old, Pellizotti finished fourth first-up at Caulfield but a combination of slow tracks and knee-related issues curtailed his career to just two more starts at the spring carnival.

Morahan was looking for a stallion that will sire precocious stock and Pellizotti appears an ideal type to get early-comers.  

He represents the pre-eminent sireline in Australia for getting stakes winning two year-olds through Danehill, Redoute’s Choice and Stratum.

Pellizotti is a half-brother to Flemington stakes-winner Strawberry Field (Encosta de Lago).  They are the only foals to race from VRC Red Roses winner Red Labelle.

Pellizotti replaces Danehill sire Stanford at Parwanvale and will stand his first season at a $4,400 service fee.  Morahan will put 25 of his own mares to him this year and intends to sell a half-dozen of them in foal next year.