The 2019 Solario Stakes (Group 3) – won in recent years by Too Darn Hot, Masar and Kingman – went the way of POSITIVE (Dutch Art) for trainer Clive Cox and owner Alan Spence. The Cheveley Park Stud homebred accelerated smartly to hit the front over a furlong out and battled tenaciously to repel challengers on both sides up the Sandown hill. Positive is the first foal out of OSIPOVA (Makfi), a dual 12 furlong winner and a granddaughter of four-time Group 1 winner RUSSIAN RHYTHM (Kingmambo). Descendants of Russian Rhythm have hit a rich vein of form in 2019, with other smart prospects including MELNIKOVA (Frankel), DAVYDENKO (Intello), VASILIEV (Dutch Art) and NINA BAILARINA (Lope de Vega).
A close relation to Group 3 winner ZONDERLAND (Dutch Art), Positive was offered as part of Cheveley Park Stud’s yearling draft at Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale, fetching 55,000gns from Clive Cox Racing. In victory at Sandown, Positive became DUTCH ART’s 36th Stakes winner. As his granddam, BARYNYA, is by PIVOTAL, this victory also represented further success for the Dutch Art/Pivotal cross that has been advertised to good effect in 2019 by the Stakes winners MABS CROSS, PERFECTION and EXHORT. Osipova has a yearling full-sister to Positive, a Ulysses foal and is back in foal to Ulysses.
Ulysses filly foal out of Osipova (pic: Amy Lanigan Photography)