Excitement – hitting around nine on the Richter scale – struck Flemington racecourse on Emirates Stakes Day 2004.

Its epicentre, somewhat fittingly, was the aptly named "Yallambee Stud, home of Testa Rossa" marquee, where every man, woman and child was affected by the blast.

‘Cyclone’ Jiang proved all powerful in the VRC Maribyrnong Plate-G2, breezing at first, but quickly building to a crescendo a couple of furlongs from home. When Danny Nikolic unleashed, Jiang went whoosho and another slice of history was recorded at headquarters.

OK, so we’ve mixed some metaphors. For my part, you can put it down to ecstasy (natural, not artificial).

It was pure adrenalin too for John Cappellin, who raced Jiang’s sire, Testa Rossa with his wife Jill.

This is a man who looks on all of Testa’s progeny as ‘grandkids’ and left no-one in any doubt that he was as thrilled with Jiang’s victory as any of dad’s previous highlights.

A big call given Testa Rossa won 6 Group Ones for him!

After calming down – slightly – big John wondered aloud whether any other Maribyrnong Plate winner had produced a Maribryrnong Plate winner in his first crop. We’re still checking Miller’s Guide for that one, but one thing we can be abundantly clear on is that Testa Rossa stands alone when it comes to dinky di champs commencing their stud career in such illustrious fashion (at least for a very, VERY long time).

With only 6 runners to his name, Testa Rossa has now produced a Maribyrnong Plate-G2 winner (Jiang), a Maribyrnong Trial Stakes-LR winner (Rossa Glory), a Debutante Stakes-LR second (Tevella), along with Sportivo (3rd at Ascot) and Rosamia (3rd at Toowoomba).

And, if you care to listen to a few of the leading trainers, these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Which augurs well for the coming yearling sales series where a number of Testa Rossa youngsters will highlight major auctions throughout Australia.

One who is looking to summer with a great deal of confidence is Christie Woodard, who prepared and sold Yallambee Stud’s first Testa Rossa yearlings for a near 100k average at the Gold Coast in January.

"The Testa Rossas are terrific to deal with," Christie enthused. "Not only are they great athletes, they’re extremely intelligent and adaptable. Best of all, his second crop of yearlings are shaping up every bit as good as the first!"

At this stage, a number of Testas are heading for a tilt at the $1 million Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast on 8 January 2005, while Jiang – sold to the highly successful Slade Bloodstock for $75,000 at this year’s Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale – is being aimed at the $1 million Inglis Premier at Flemington in February (at least he knows his way around!).