pedigree supplied by www.arion.co.nz
SHAMROCK'S IMPENDING FILLY
Kosta Karanikolos from Shamrock Racing selected this filly out of the Inglis Premier Sale at Oaklands Junction that's by dual Group One winner Impending out of the Street Cry mare Backstreet Lover, a winner of two races in Melbourne with another four placings from a 16-race start career.
Impending is by champion racehorse & sire in Lonhro, one of Australia’s most popular gallopers that won 11-races at the highest level, out of another in Mnemosyne (by Encosta de Lago). That mare was crowned joint top filly on the 2005-06 Australasian 3YO Classifications after recording six wins two at the highest level in the Melbourne Racing Club’s Thousand Guineas & STC Queen of the Turf Stakes.
Impending raced 18-times recording five wins, and eight placings amassing more than $2.4million in earnings for Godolphin. Among those wins were the BRC’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap, held at Doomben over 1350 m. during the colt’s classic season, training on to win that club’s Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup over the same distance the following season.
Darley retired the young five-year-old horse to covering duties in 2018, without an injury, the son of Lonhro’s oldest progeny are now two-years-old (this 2021/22 season) and from just 20 runners (as of early March) Impending has a first metropolitan winner Sir Bailey (ex Jameka) at Sandown, February 16th, plus a stakes placing by Moko (ex Zubbaya) in the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes (1000 m.) at Caulfield in November 2021.
The young horses’ yearlings sold well at the Inglis Premier sale another indicator of the stock's acceptance is from breeders who have given the horse a vote of confidence sending more than 100 mares to be covered at Darley’s Northwood Park property last spring for a fee of $22,000 (inc. GST).
Not enough? Backstreet Lover hails from a family that features plenty of black type results in Germany, France, and England. A chestnut the mare is by Street Cry a horse well known in Australia being the sire of champion mare Winx (ex Vegas Showgirl). By Machiavellian & crowned Horse of the Year in the United Arab Emirates in 2002 & named Champion Middle Distance horse as a winner of the Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba (now Meydan). In addition to being Champion Australian sire of the 2015-16 season the horses’ progeny have now won more than 130 stakes winners worldwide with earnings well over $200million.
Street Cry’s daughters are producing top gallopers with 107 stakes winners including two Group 1 MRC Blue Diamond winners in Lyre and Daumier, a Golden Slipper winner (Farnan) as well as the VRC Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner, September Run.
Since retiring to the breeding barn Backstreet Lover has produced five live foals, two of them are named a three-year-old gelding by Free Eagle (Voyage De Bungers) a two-year-old filly by Sir Prancealot (Shezalot) and following through is this yearling filly & a weanling colt by Territories. 
Saab Hasan is proof of the extraordinary path he’s navigated to become a trainer, a career that started in his early childhood in Cyprus with his grandfather saying he wanted to become a horse trainer, despite not having any experience with horses.
The Hasan family relocated to Australia just in time for Saab to see Van Der Hum win the 1976 Melbourne Cup in torrential rain. It was that first "Cup" that inspired Saab’s passion for racing when his younger self, 15 years-old, knocked on every stable door at Flemington before Mick Cerchi gave him his first job in racing.
Saab learned many facets of training from Cerchi and from the “late master trainer Bart Cummings”, David Hayes, and John Sadler, before branching out on his own.
His first winner was Flash Command (Fraar – Flash Poppi) came along in 2005 at Werribee, when the bay gelding won a Class Two (2) Handicap over 1100 m., kicking off his new career.
Saab’s drive has matched his passion, owning a moto “the horses always come first”. His level of expertise & determination has begun to shine regardless of a young thoroughbred that required nurturing or rejuvenating a tried horse they have established his pathway.
Saab's expanded his infrastructure mid 2020 developing a pre-training establishment at Crown Valley Lodge, Tabilk to support the stable as it grows along with the Stables at ‘Chiquita Lodge’ at Flemington which stimulate the thoroughbreds as they ready for race day.
His hands-on approach has helped with his successes including Shoreham (Reset – Teneales) winner of the Melbourne Racing Club’s Group 3 Easter Cup (2000 m.) March 31st, 2018, Shoreham retired in 2019 owing a record of 68-starts, five (5) wins and 18-placings earning connections with more than $780,000 in prizemoney and lives out his retirement at Tabilk.
More recent stable achievements include Sirius Suspect (Wanted – Sirius Miss) the aged galloper ran a super race in the Listed March Stakes at Flemington over 1400 m. before collecting the trophy for his connections in the VRC’s Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200 m.), a race held down the famous straight course in 2021. Now seven-year-old’s the gelding is back in work at Tabilk as Hasan hopes to increase the horses’ earnings further over the $500,000 mark that’s been banked from 32-race starts compromising of eight wins and nine placings.
Shamrock Racing Pty Limited’s Constantinos (Kosta) Karanikolos is incredibly happy to support Saab Hasan giving him this filly to develop & train.