Spendthrift Australia will stand four stallions at their Victorian base this spring and among them is Jimmy Creed (USA), who sired his first stakes-winner in the US on Saturday with exciting filly Spectator landing the Group II Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar.
Spectator looked good when winning on debut at Santa Anita in June and made it look easy in this tougher assignment when drawing clear to win the six and a half furlong contest by more than five lengths.
"After she broke her maiden the way she did, we just kind of let her grow up these past few weeks," said winning trainer Phil D'Amato.
"This race has been on the radar from the get-go and we just let her mature and she sure did. She's still trying to figure it out in some ways. She's just a bunch of raw talent and she's getting better and better."
Winning jockey Jamie Theriot added, "She was a runner all the way. She broke sharp and she went on with it. Phil said, 'Ride it as it comes up.' That's what I did. I think she'll run on, too."
Spectator is the first stakes-winner for Jimmy Creed and is one of seven first crop winners for the Group I winning son of Distorted Humor.
He stands at a fee of $7,700 this spring and his oldest Australian progeny are yearlings.
(Jimmy Creed by Distorted Humor)