Any Given Saturday sired his first winner on Friday August 12 when his daughter Ittasal made a winning debut on Kempton Park's synthetic surface. Slowly away in the seven-furlong contest, she was last and keen in the first quarter of the race before making stylish progress turning for home and running on well to score by three-quarters-of-a-length.
Bred by Darley, Ittasal is out of the Group-placed juvenile Journalist, herself a half-sister to G2-winning two-year-old Sheer Viking and from the family of 1,000 Guineas winner Las Meninas and top Sprinter Kingsgate Native. Journalist has already produced two Stakes horses in La Presse and Emirates Girl, and also has a yearling filly by Exceed And Excel and a filly foal by Manduro.
An exceptional racehorse, Any Given Saturday won the G1 Haskell at Monmouth when defeating fellow Darley freshman stallion Hard Spun, and a brace of G2's, the Dwyer Stakes and Brooklyn Handicap. A $1.1m yearling himself, he is a son of the outstanding sire Distorted Humor. He will stand this coming season at Northwood Park in Victoria for $13,750 Inc GST.
