Three-quarter sister to The Autumn Sun impresses on debut.
The regally bred Archanna (3 f Snitzel - Azmiyna by Galileo) lived up to high expectations as she made a brilliant debut over 1300 metres at Warwick Farm on Monday.
The Chris Waller-trained three-year-old was fractious in the stalls before the race and had to be reloaded, but that seemed to show no ill-effects and she was able to pull away from her rivals in the final 100 metres to beat Duenna (Sepoy) and Stolen Jade (So You Think), who dead-heated for second, by three and three quarter lengths.
"She's got a really good action. You can see it even just by her walking around," said winning jockey James McDonald.
"She really stretches and extends but I think she's a filly that will progress over a bit further than what she stepped out over today. It was a really good starting point."
The filly was purchased by Guy Mulcaster and Chris Waller for $1.3 million at the 2018 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale from the Arrowfield Stud draft before her three-quarter brother The Autumn Sun (Redoute's Choice), who was also trained by Waller, had lined up for his first start. The colt would go on to score five times at Group 1 level and secure himself a spot on the Arrowfield Stud roster.
The filly is out of the unraced Galileo (Sadler's Wells) mare Azmiyna who is herself a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner and top-class sire Azamour (Night Shift), who died in 2014. While she also counts Group 2 winner Arazan (Anabaa) as among her half-siblings.
The filly's third dam is Anaza (Darshaan), who produced Group 1 winner Astrabad (Alleged) and the dams of Group 3 winner Azano (Oasis Dream) and Listed-scoring trio Arya Tara (Dylan Thomas), Cummiskey (Orpen) and Anzari (Nicolette).
Aquis Farm purchased the filly's Not A Single Doubt (Redoute's Choice) three-quarter sister at the 2019 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for $900,000 - who is now named Foscolo and trained by Waller. Azmiyna foaled a brother to Archanna in 2018 and he was entered in this year's edition of the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, but was withdrawn after John Messara opted to sell his draft privately when the sale was forced to take place online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Azmiyna was exported to Japan last year and was covered by the late Shadai Stallion Station-based sire Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), just before his untimely death.
Snitzel was responsible for the most expensive yearling sold at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier in the week when Tom Magnier went to $1.8 million for a colt by the stallion out of Group 1-winning Fastnet Rock (Danehill) mare First Seal.
