The unbeaten Aveenu Malcainu, a grandson of Drakenstein Stud’s champion sire Trippi, will bid for G1 success when he lines up in the prestigious Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park this Saturday. Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, Aveenu Malcainu won first time out by three parts of a length before landing the Funny Cide Stakes at his only other racetrack appearance.

A son of Into Mischief, Aveenu Malcainu is out of the high-class Trippi mare Island Time, whose seven wins included the Desert Vixen Stakes.

Among the colt’s rivals is Honorable Treasure, whose dam is a half-sister to successful local sire Windrush, and G3 Sanford Stakes winner Firenze Fire.

One of North America’s premier contests for 2yos, the Champagne Stakes, run over 1600m, has been won by such turf legends as Alydar, Count Fleet, Seattle Slew, and top sires Uncle Mo, Scat Daddy and Forty Niner (himself the grandsire of Trippi).

Trippi, whose Selangor Cup winning son Gold Standard is favoured to win Saturday’s G3 Matchem Stakes, is enjoying increasing success as a broodmare sire –and is responsible in this capacity for promising 2yo and recent three length Listed Armed Forces Stakes hero Renaisance Frolic.

He has two daughters on offer at Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock Sale including G1 Oak Leaf Stakes runner up Candrea (who sells in foal to top sire Medaglia D’Oro).