Former Equus Champion Delago Deluxe (Encosta De Lago) and his relatives have been making news in Australia just recently.
Currently standing at Newhaven Park in New South Wales, Delago Deluxe was represented by his first winner last week when Delago Thunder made a winning debut at Kembla Grange last Saturday.
The filly ran on smartly to score by a head first time out 1000m, and made a most favourable impression on winning jockey Mitchell Bell.

Bell said after the win, “She's got plenty of scope and will be winning more races.”

Delago Thunder’s sire currently ranks as the ninth leading first crop sire in Australia.

The impeccably bred Delago Deluxe (one of more than 20 Gr1 winners for his champion sire out of a half-sister to 2 Gr1 winners) gained another boost to his pedigree page just days later when his half-brother Eshtiraak (by Street Cry) made it two wins from just three outings when victorious at Sandown on Wednesday.

Trained by Charles Laird, Delago Deluxe was South Africa’s Equus Champion 2YO Colt of 2010-2011, when unbeaten in four outings. Delago Deluxe’s 2yo wins included the Gr1 Gold Medallion (by 2.25 lengths over Tennessee Strategy), Gr2 SA Nursery and Gr3 Protea Stakes.

He trained on to land the Gr1 Golden Horse Casino Sprint at three, and also ran second to multiple Equus Champion What A Winter (Western Winter) in the 2012 Gr1 Mercury Sprint. Delago Deluxe retired to stud having won seven of 12 outings and banked over R1.4 million.

The sire, whose first timer son Rikers Island competed in the Kuda Sprint on Sun Met day, stood for a fee of AUS$11 000 in 2016.