So the Italian Derby is the latest important race to have its distance shortened, from 2400m to 2200m.
It's the latest in a line of time-honoured races to be shortened. The French Derby came back to 2100m. The once ultra-prestigious Jockey Club Gold Cup in New York came back from two miles to one-and-a-quarter miles. The 3200 Brisbane Cup has basically been scrapped and replaced with a 2400m event.
These are just three I can think of between courses at an Auckland restaurant. Elsewhere in this blog - in reply to a comment I think - I said the Melbourne Cup will one day be 1600m. It won't be in our lifetimes but if racing lasts long enough (and by any measure it's a sunset industry) then get a bet on with the Bookie In The Sky.
Racing reflects society in general. We're in a cycle of instant gratification - email, fax, SMS, download, you name it - and increasingly that's the sort of horse we want, too. Certainly the Australian breeding industry has no interest in the Melbourne Cup so sooner or later they will get fed up with dishing out the dollars to overseas connections and tamper with the race (and others of similar ilk) to put a stop to it. Just because it has 'Cup' in the name doesn't mean to say it must be a long race - what about the July Cup!
Browsing through Breeding& Racing Digest today, I saw this article:
California Owners Call For Auction Reform
The Thoroughbred Owners Of California "would like to see national auction reform efforts taken to another level" & released recommendations that call for "a ban on anabolic steroids in all sale horses, full disclosure of ownership & medical records, plus the licensing of bloodstock consignors & agents" reported bloodhorse.com. The recommendations "suggest taking existing efforts around the country much further: The TOC said self-regulation policies adopted by the national Sales Integrity Task Force don't go far enough & has sent letters expressing its views to sale companies & the task force". (Jan 22)
There's a chance we'll get dragged into the 20th century soon.
The Definition Of Optimism
I've discovered the true meaning of optimism while reading this week's New Zealand Best Bets, the A5-sized form guide of which I was editor from 1969 to 1975 (and nothing much has changed since).
Optimism is summed up in the name Invasion Of Privacy, a trotting mare racing this week at Winton in the South Island. She is 13 years old. She has raced the grand total of 147 times. She has won once. She has been second twice and third twice. And she has won $10,313.
At her last two starts she has been beaten 32 lengths and 56 lengths respectively. Without having her full record at my disposal I suspect those margins may not be unusual for her. What I do find astonishing is that at her second last start, when beaten 32 lengths, there were actually four other horses in the race on which less money was invested.
She proves the theory that only the good ones go fast enough to hurt themselves.
You have to be made of special stuff to look forward to training one like her every morning, let alone never tire of the thrill of raceday.
Optimism is summed up in the name Invasion Of Privacy, a trotting mare racing this week at Winton in the South Island. She is 13 years old. She has raced the grand total of 147 times. She has won once. She has been second twice and third twice. And she has won $10,313.
At her last two starts she has been beaten 32 lengths and 56 lengths respectively. Without having her full record at my disposal I suspect those margins may not be unusual for her. What I do find astonishing is that at her second last start, when beaten 32 lengths, there were actually four other horses in the race on which less money was invested.
She proves the theory that only the good ones go fast enough to hurt themselves.
You have to be made of special stuff to look forward to training one like her every morning, let alone never tire of the thrill of raceday.
Talk About Suckers!
The Hussonet filly Chilean Miss, six lengths winner on debut at Mornington on Friday, was one of the classiest objects at last year's Magic Millions Yearling Sale. She was firmly in my sights but got away because of an in-the-ring announcement which came as a bombshell.
I recommended her strongly to an absentee client who decided to give me up to $350,000 for her. She was in the ring and I was ready to bid when it was announced "she has been seen to windsuck".
I had inspected the filly four times, including in the final minutes when she was about to be walked to the ring, and had had her fully vetted. My lust for her was obvious to Blind Freddie but no one mentioned she had this tag. In truth, she had been seen to grab her feed bowl only a couple of times by the consignor's manager and even the yearling staff were oblivious.
She's walking round the ring and I'm fiddling with my cellphone trying to raise my client, who was holidaying with his family. I'm bidding anyway, "just in case" when finally my client answers. With my bidding already at $260,000, I suddenly have to yell down the phone "she's a windsucker". Being an owner with a penchant for detail, and not a horse expert, my client is trying to come to grips with what this means when, of course, the filly gets knocked down to Clinton McDonald a couple of bids later.
This is a good illustration of the working difficulties sometimes encountered when buying for an absentee client. If I'd been told beforehand about her 'vice', I would have had time to calmly talk my client through the ramifications; however, I couldn't buy the filly without him knowing only to drop it on him later: "Oh, by the way, she's a windsucker".
I bet she hasn't grabbed anything since, other than yesterday's first prizemoney. My luck, she'll win the Blue Diamond.
She's bred on the Hussonet/Nijinsky pattern which seemed to work wonders when the sire stood in Chile.
My client didn't go horseless. Thirty lots later we landed a nice staying-bred colt which is in the Freedman stable.
I recommended her strongly to an absentee client who decided to give me up to $350,000 for her. She was in the ring and I was ready to bid when it was announced "she has been seen to windsuck".
I had inspected the filly four times, including in the final minutes when she was about to be walked to the ring, and had had her fully vetted. My lust for her was obvious to Blind Freddie but no one mentioned she had this tag. In truth, she had been seen to grab her feed bowl only a couple of times by the consignor's manager and even the yearling staff were oblivious.
She's walking round the ring and I'm fiddling with my cellphone trying to raise my client, who was holidaying with his family. I'm bidding anyway, "just in case" when finally my client answers. With my bidding already at $260,000, I suddenly have to yell down the phone "she's a windsucker". Being an owner with a penchant for detail, and not a horse expert, my client is trying to come to grips with what this means when, of course, the filly gets knocked down to Clinton McDonald a couple of bids later.
This is a good illustration of the working difficulties sometimes encountered when buying for an absentee client. If I'd been told beforehand about her 'vice', I would have had time to calmly talk my client through the ramifications; however, I couldn't buy the filly without him knowing only to drop it on him later: "Oh, by the way, she's a windsucker".
I bet she hasn't grabbed anything since, other than yesterday's first prizemoney. My luck, she'll win the Blue Diamond.
She's bred on the Hussonet/Nijinsky pattern which seemed to work wonders when the sire stood in Chile.
My client didn't go horseless. Thirty lots later we landed a nice staying-bred colt which is in the Freedman stable.
Of Lonhro And Other Greats
The power of the blog .... received an interesting email from Kyle Pratt who, through the wonders of the internet, latched on to this blog in London. He read a passing reference to Lonhro in one of my stallion pieces and was moved to write. Kyle knows his horses, and writes well too, and kindly agreed that I could reproduce his email, to which I've added my reply and his subsequent reply to that.
Kyle wrote:
"I am an Australian on a working holiday in London. I came across your blog when I was on my daily perusal of that champion little website ‘Racenet’. I must say I do enjoy reading your articles and am also a fan of your writing style.
"It is fair to say I am horse mad. I love racing, love going to the sales, and love talking horses……..with anybody. I used to work for trainer Danny Bougoure in the good old days when he had Falvelon, Scenic Peak, and my favourite little horse Nauders, who ran the most unlucky of thirds in Prized Gem’s Brisbane Cup.
"I am writing to express my thoughts on a horse called Lonhro. My opinion seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum with those who are willing to broach the subject with me.
"When we speak of ‘out and out champions’ of the turf from the last 10 years in Australian racing the names Might and Power, Sunline, Northerly, Makybe Diva and Lonhro are thrown forward immediately. I personally do not have a place for Lonhro along side the other four I have identified.
"These champions, with the exception of Lonhro, have all have done something extraordinary on the track. Might and Power’s Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. Sunline’s Cox Plates and Doncasters. Northerly’s Cox Plates and Caulfield Cup. Makybe Diva we need not discuss.
"I don’t believe Lonhro ever produced a racetrack performance to rival the deeds of these four. If I had to choose a race in which Lonhro achieved something truly amazing I would propose his Australian Cup win. Watching the race gave me goose bumps at the time. Watching him win in the last bound after a chequered path down the straight was something to see, and I am happy I did manage to watch it live. If only the horses he beat were top notch gallopers in their prime, they were not. Second place was Delzao who proved himself to be a horse of Group 2 standard. In third place was Elvstroem as an autumn 3yo in what turned out to be the worst preparation of his stellar career.
"His deeds as a 3yo were tremendous, undefeated and claiming his first Group 1, the Caulfield Guineas.
"Lonhro failed to win any of his grand finals in four preparations as a four and five year old. As a spring 4yo his mission was the Cox Plate. As an autumn 4yo his mission was the Doncaster. As a spring 5yo his mission was once again the Cox Plate. As an autumn 5yo his mission was to be his racing swansong, the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes. (I could be a little biased here as the Australian Cup was also a race of interest for connections.) Many excuses were made for these failures. I simply believe he was not good enough.
"Lonhro’s ‘thing’ was racing in small WFA fields where his acceleration was explosive enough to run over the top of the leaders and win. He was certainly good enough to do this as his record suggests.
"For any horse to win 26 races and 11 Group 1’s is a brilliant achievement. Few horses achieve this feat. This being the case, why is it that Lonhro managed to bank only just shy of $5.8 million? This is because he never won any ‘big’ races for a horse held in his esteem. Races like the Mackinnon Stakes are qualified as ‘big’ races if the horse you own is Oliver Twist. Races like the Caulfield Stakes are big races if the horse you own is Maldivian.
"Is it possible that Lonhro’s reputation has a silver lining because he was from the first crop of his champion father Octagonal?
"I am not saying Lonhro was ordinary, he was a great horse with an exceptional record, just not quite as good as others mentioned in the same breath. I dearly hope the horse succeeds at stud; it would be a shame if he didn’t.
"I would be interested in your thoughts on this matter."
I replied to Kyle, as follows:
Kyle
Thanks for the kind words.
Lonhro an out-and-out-champion? He probably doesn't belong in the pantheon of the supernatural and your critique sums him up quite objectively in my opinion - you do give credit where credit is due, no muggins wins 26/11 G1s of any description.
He is such an atypical Octagonal. I always thought he looked like a dark brown Straight Strike (God forbid he looks like a First Consul!). But he had great brilliance, power and killer instinct and he had a trainer who prepared and placed him flawlessly. As you point out, there was the odd day he didn't scale the heights. Grand Armee had two famous victories over him; in the Doncaster Grand Armee was at the top of his game and was aided by the fast lane, while we were pretty confident we'd roll Lonhro in his Queen Elizabeth swansong - irrespective of what's been said of Beadman's ride, I am sure Lonhro was not at his best that day and Grand Armee sure was.
What can be said with certainty is that few of the horses that beat Lonhro are going to have an opportunity to perpetuate the breed. Only three colts ever finished ahead of him in his career - Dash For Cash who was second in the Doncaster with Lonhro fourth, Spectatorial who was third in the Blue Diamond with Lonhro fourth (and hurt during running), and Grandera who was third in the 2002 Cox Plate with Lonhro sixth. I think that is the great significance of Lonhro in terms of the opportunity he has to influence the breed in years to come.
Lonhro has a challenge ahead of him in terms of perpetuating a sire line which has given us so much: Lonhro-Octagonal-Zabeel-Sir Tristram. Usually it doesn't survive beyond three generations. Star Kingdom did, though possibly Show A Heart is the last gasp for him (5th generation tail-male descendant).
Though he was a gelding and though he didn't win a Cox Plate or a Melbourne Cup (a highly questionable ride), Tie The Knot, to my way of thinking, is an oft-forgotten equine hero. He was wonderful to look at, both when he was standing still and in motion - I don't know if I've seen a horse with a better action or more determination. He personified the thoroughbred.
Interesting to read that you were associated with Falvelon. I saw him when he was out for a pick of grass at Randwick one afternoon and it looked like you could hop over him, he was that small. But I saw Lyphard and Blushing Groom in the flesh, too, and they were ponies. Despite his 'unfashionable' pedigree, I thought Falvelon had an interesting make-up which gave him a decent chance at stud. His early figures are better than some of his more vaunted contemporaries and he is a value horse in my opinion. But those horses standing in Queensland seem to have a devil of a job making national impact.
PS: Chillidapper (part of Kyle's email address) is an interesting email address. He was honest, but no Lonhro.
And Kyle has followed up with:
"I am also happy that you touched on Tie The Knot being a tremendous racehorse which is often forgotten.
"In the 90's there were no horses winning multiple Cox Plates or Melbourne Cups. Since about 2000 we have been blessed with those I have mentioned in my last email. All those horses went on to win $9 million plus with the exception of Might and Power who had his career cut short with injury.
"I can only assume that if we had not seen these recent champions then we would probably hold Tie The Knot in the same ilk as a Super Impose for example. The one accolade which Tie The Knot looked certain to grab was the number one position on the all time money earners list. Then along came Sunline, then Northerly, then Makybe Diva.
"Tie The Knot won 13 Group 1's and also had a Ranvet Stakes taken off him on protest by, if my memory serves me correctly, Darazari. Sunline also won 13 Group 1's and was involved in a Cox Plate protest involving Northerly and Viscount. As much as I love Sunline I believe the Stewards got it right on this occasion, I am not so confident about Tie The Knot's Ranvet Stakes decision.
"I personally was not a Tie The Knot fan early on in his career. It took me a little time to forgive him for beating my all time favourite galloper, Doriemus, in a Sydney Cup. First and foremost I am a lover of racing, therefore, it was only natural for me to change my opinion on the handsome chestnut. I could not have been happier when he won his fourth Chipping Norton Stakes as a 7yo. Any horse that wins Group 1's in 5 seasons deserves the highest of praise.
"In conclusion, I am suggesting that if he equalled Kingston Town’s record of 14 Group 1's, or held the all time money record for a period of time, we might possibly hold him higher in the 'pantheon of the supernatural'. Regardless, he was an oustanding horse.
"Chillidapper - Any horse which wins the last race on Grafton Cup day three years running is alright by me."
..............................................................................................................................................................................
As I say in the heading to this blog, A Horse Race Is Just A Difference Of Opinion!
Kyle wrote:
"I am an Australian on a working holiday in London. I came across your blog when I was on my daily perusal of that champion little website ‘Racenet’. I must say I do enjoy reading your articles and am also a fan of your writing style.
"It is fair to say I am horse mad. I love racing, love going to the sales, and love talking horses……..with anybody. I used to work for trainer Danny Bougoure in the good old days when he had Falvelon, Scenic Peak, and my favourite little horse Nauders, who ran the most unlucky of thirds in Prized Gem’s Brisbane Cup.
"I am writing to express my thoughts on a horse called Lonhro. My opinion seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum with those who are willing to broach the subject with me.
"When we speak of ‘out and out champions’ of the turf from the last 10 years in Australian racing the names Might and Power, Sunline, Northerly, Makybe Diva and Lonhro are thrown forward immediately. I personally do not have a place for Lonhro along side the other four I have identified.
"These champions, with the exception of Lonhro, have all have done something extraordinary on the track. Might and Power’s Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. Sunline’s Cox Plates and Doncasters. Northerly’s Cox Plates and Caulfield Cup. Makybe Diva we need not discuss.
"I don’t believe Lonhro ever produced a racetrack performance to rival the deeds of these four. If I had to choose a race in which Lonhro achieved something truly amazing I would propose his Australian Cup win. Watching the race gave me goose bumps at the time. Watching him win in the last bound after a chequered path down the straight was something to see, and I am happy I did manage to watch it live. If only the horses he beat were top notch gallopers in their prime, they were not. Second place was Delzao who proved himself to be a horse of Group 2 standard. In third place was Elvstroem as an autumn 3yo in what turned out to be the worst preparation of his stellar career.
"His deeds as a 3yo were tremendous, undefeated and claiming his first Group 1, the Caulfield Guineas.
"Lonhro failed to win any of his grand finals in four preparations as a four and five year old. As a spring 4yo his mission was the Cox Plate. As an autumn 4yo his mission was the Doncaster. As a spring 5yo his mission was once again the Cox Plate. As an autumn 5yo his mission was to be his racing swansong, the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes. (I could be a little biased here as the Australian Cup was also a race of interest for connections.) Many excuses were made for these failures. I simply believe he was not good enough.
"Lonhro’s ‘thing’ was racing in small WFA fields where his acceleration was explosive enough to run over the top of the leaders and win. He was certainly good enough to do this as his record suggests.
"For any horse to win 26 races and 11 Group 1’s is a brilliant achievement. Few horses achieve this feat. This being the case, why is it that Lonhro managed to bank only just shy of $5.8 million? This is because he never won any ‘big’ races for a horse held in his esteem. Races like the Mackinnon Stakes are qualified as ‘big’ races if the horse you own is Oliver Twist. Races like the Caulfield Stakes are big races if the horse you own is Maldivian.
"Is it possible that Lonhro’s reputation has a silver lining because he was from the first crop of his champion father Octagonal?
"I am not saying Lonhro was ordinary, he was a great horse with an exceptional record, just not quite as good as others mentioned in the same breath. I dearly hope the horse succeeds at stud; it would be a shame if he didn’t.
"I would be interested in your thoughts on this matter."
I replied to Kyle, as follows:
Kyle
Thanks for the kind words.
Lonhro an out-and-out-champion? He probably doesn't belong in the pantheon of the supernatural and your critique sums him up quite objectively in my opinion - you do give credit where credit is due, no muggins wins 26/11 G1s of any description.
He is such an atypical Octagonal. I always thought he looked like a dark brown Straight Strike (God forbid he looks like a First Consul!). But he had great brilliance, power and killer instinct and he had a trainer who prepared and placed him flawlessly. As you point out, there was the odd day he didn't scale the heights. Grand Armee had two famous victories over him; in the Doncaster Grand Armee was at the top of his game and was aided by the fast lane, while we were pretty confident we'd roll Lonhro in his Queen Elizabeth swansong - irrespective of what's been said of Beadman's ride, I am sure Lonhro was not at his best that day and Grand Armee sure was.
What can be said with certainty is that few of the horses that beat Lonhro are going to have an opportunity to perpetuate the breed. Only three colts ever finished ahead of him in his career - Dash For Cash who was second in the Doncaster with Lonhro fourth, Spectatorial who was third in the Blue Diamond with Lonhro fourth (and hurt during running), and Grandera who was third in the 2002 Cox Plate with Lonhro sixth. I think that is the great significance of Lonhro in terms of the opportunity he has to influence the breed in years to come.
Lonhro has a challenge ahead of him in terms of perpetuating a sire line which has given us so much: Lonhro-Octagonal-Zabeel-Sir Tristram. Usually it doesn't survive beyond three generations. Star Kingdom did, though possibly Show A Heart is the last gasp for him (5th generation tail-male descendant).
Though he was a gelding and though he didn't win a Cox Plate or a Melbourne Cup (a highly questionable ride), Tie The Knot, to my way of thinking, is an oft-forgotten equine hero. He was wonderful to look at, both when he was standing still and in motion - I don't know if I've seen a horse with a better action or more determination. He personified the thoroughbred.
Interesting to read that you were associated with Falvelon. I saw him when he was out for a pick of grass at Randwick one afternoon and it looked like you could hop over him, he was that small. But I saw Lyphard and Blushing Groom in the flesh, too, and they were ponies. Despite his 'unfashionable' pedigree, I thought Falvelon had an interesting make-up which gave him a decent chance at stud. His early figures are better than some of his more vaunted contemporaries and he is a value horse in my opinion. But those horses standing in Queensland seem to have a devil of a job making national impact.
PS: Chillidapper (part of Kyle's email address) is an interesting email address. He was honest, but no Lonhro.
And Kyle has followed up with:
"I am also happy that you touched on Tie The Knot being a tremendous racehorse which is often forgotten.
"In the 90's there were no horses winning multiple Cox Plates or Melbourne Cups. Since about 2000 we have been blessed with those I have mentioned in my last email. All those horses went on to win $9 million plus with the exception of Might and Power who had his career cut short with injury.
"I can only assume that if we had not seen these recent champions then we would probably hold Tie The Knot in the same ilk as a Super Impose for example. The one accolade which Tie The Knot looked certain to grab was the number one position on the all time money earners list. Then along came Sunline, then Northerly, then Makybe Diva.
"Tie The Knot won 13 Group 1's and also had a Ranvet Stakes taken off him on protest by, if my memory serves me correctly, Darazari. Sunline also won 13 Group 1's and was involved in a Cox Plate protest involving Northerly and Viscount. As much as I love Sunline I believe the Stewards got it right on this occasion, I am not so confident about Tie The Knot's Ranvet Stakes decision.
"I personally was not a Tie The Knot fan early on in his career. It took me a little time to forgive him for beating my all time favourite galloper, Doriemus, in a Sydney Cup. First and foremost I am a lover of racing, therefore, it was only natural for me to change my opinion on the handsome chestnut. I could not have been happier when he won his fourth Chipping Norton Stakes as a 7yo. Any horse that wins Group 1's in 5 seasons deserves the highest of praise.
"In conclusion, I am suggesting that if he equalled Kingston Town’s record of 14 Group 1's, or held the all time money record for a period of time, we might possibly hold him higher in the 'pantheon of the supernatural'. Regardless, he was an oustanding horse.
"Chillidapper - Any horse which wins the last race on Grafton Cup day three years running is alright by me."
..............................................................................................................................................................................
As I say in the heading to this blog, A Horse Race Is Just A Difference Of Opinion!
Unreservedly Unreserved
It's been a fortnight since my blog Transparency? I Can't See It was posted and it elicited plenty of reaction.
It was picked up by a couple of media outlets which had the effect of rapidly increasing the hit-rate on this site - Google might pay me for running those ads at the foot of the page - and I've even had an approach from a non-racing TV channel which is intending to spotlight the industry on a regular basis.
Several bloggers added their comments to my piece which you can see under the original post, and I thank them for entering into the debate.
There are a range of views: not-to-be-wondered-at voices of discontent, balanced by others who think people should spend their money elsewhere if they're not happy with the marketplace.
I've also had a number of responses directly to my personal email. One, from a person holding a prominent position in the industry, felt that until purchasers were willing to disclose to vendors who they were buying for then there was no case for vendor transparency. This seems slightly at odds with how the commercial world normally operates, summed up by one blogger who wrote that the golden rule is "he who has the gold makes the rules", which I loosely interpret as 'I want to know where my money is going'.
(As an aside, a virus destroyed my email at the weekend so I'm strategies49@hotmail.com until further notice!).
Someone made mention that sales would be tidier if they were conducted on an unreserved basis. This is something I have long favoured.
Anyone who has been to the US, in particular Kentucky, where every horse is knocked down to a buyer, be it a vendor's bid or a purchaser's, appreciates it's a better system. Better than the charades we're constantly exposed to out here where we are asked/expected to accept that the name on the result sheet represents an arms-length transaction. I can't understand why some well-respected 'buyers' allow themselves to be humiliated in this way.
Make no mistake, collusion between vendors and buyers can and would occur just as readily in an unreserved environment. If people feel a need to create illusions at auction, for whatever reason, then there's nothing to stop them. But whoever owns the horse pays commission on the last bid and this may, over time, encourage a more frank approach.
In the US, I don't sense there's such a stigma attached to seeing RNA (reserve not attained) on the result sheet as there is passed in out here. Using RNA encourages sales after the fall of the hammer. If the last bidder was the vendor or his agent, they tick the box for a buy-back and it's then shown as an RNA. In our part of the world, once a vendor's dummy bidder signs the purchase docket but the horse goes back home, it's pretty difficult to drum up interest when the sheet says sold when in fact it wasn't.
They make no bones about it in Kentucky. Before the auction, they announce that the vendor may bid, that agents for the vendor may bid and even the auctioneers may bid on behalf of the vendor. So you know where you stand. Treat every auction as alive. Work out what you think the horse is worth and bid up because you will have no idea if the bidding has passed the reserve and the hammer is definitely going to fall - invariably without warning.
Another positive spin-off from the unreserved approach is that it does away with the auctioneer calling for ridiculously high opening bids (based usually on the vendor's inflated idea of his horse's worth) then laboriously and embarrassingly dropping down the scale until someone is brave enough - often the auctioneer himself - to stick up their hand.
Auctioneering is different in the US, both in style and in procedure. An 'announcer' introduces the horse with a succinct wrap-up of its selling points, plus any announcements required under the conditions of sale. With barely time to draw your breath, the auctioneer then takes over. It's his job simply to take and advance bids, not to wax about the quality of the object. He won't waste time. Because he knows the reserve, the auctioneer just kicks it off at a sane level and gets the ball rolling - the implication is, bid up or miss out. Vendors or consignors in an unreserved sale have no business to be anywhere near the auctioneer. They are out the back protecting their horse in the bidding, if they must. Compared with our long, drawn out, often personalised auctioneering encounters where the auctioneer thinks he's the star of the show, it's refreshing and businesslike. And I believe they get every last bid in the house.
They figured out the best way and they got it right.
The conditions of sale are not read out prior to the start of the auction. Keeneland's conditions run to 23 printed pages, for God's sake. As a preamble, they pointedly draw your attention to the rules, mention some important points and describe how the auction will be conducted.
I'm sick of people telling me it's a legal requirement here. If it is, it's yet another case of the law being an ass. No one is gathered around listening, it's just some pimply-faced intern trying to untwist his tongue in front of an empty auditorium. For those who have had a bit of practice at it, they rip through it so quickly you can't understand what they're saying even if you wanted to, making an even bigger mockery of the process.
Why don't we ditch this ridiculous practice!
It was picked up by a couple of media outlets which had the effect of rapidly increasing the hit-rate on this site - Google might pay me for running those ads at the foot of the page - and I've even had an approach from a non-racing TV channel which is intending to spotlight the industry on a regular basis.
Several bloggers added their comments to my piece which you can see under the original post, and I thank them for entering into the debate.
There are a range of views: not-to-be-wondered-at voices of discontent, balanced by others who think people should spend their money elsewhere if they're not happy with the marketplace.
I've also had a number of responses directly to my personal email. One, from a person holding a prominent position in the industry, felt that until purchasers were willing to disclose to vendors who they were buying for then there was no case for vendor transparency. This seems slightly at odds with how the commercial world normally operates, summed up by one blogger who wrote that the golden rule is "he who has the gold makes the rules", which I loosely interpret as 'I want to know where my money is going'.
(As an aside, a virus destroyed my email at the weekend so I'm strategies49@hotmail.com until further notice!).
Someone made mention that sales would be tidier if they were conducted on an unreserved basis. This is something I have long favoured.
Anyone who has been to the US, in particular Kentucky, where every horse is knocked down to a buyer, be it a vendor's bid or a purchaser's, appreciates it's a better system. Better than the charades we're constantly exposed to out here where we are asked/expected to accept that the name on the result sheet represents an arms-length transaction. I can't understand why some well-respected 'buyers' allow themselves to be humiliated in this way.
Make no mistake, collusion between vendors and buyers can and would occur just as readily in an unreserved environment. If people feel a need to create illusions at auction, for whatever reason, then there's nothing to stop them. But whoever owns the horse pays commission on the last bid and this may, over time, encourage a more frank approach.
In the US, I don't sense there's such a stigma attached to seeing RNA (reserve not attained) on the result sheet as there is passed in out here. Using RNA encourages sales after the fall of the hammer. If the last bidder was the vendor or his agent, they tick the box for a buy-back and it's then shown as an RNA. In our part of the world, once a vendor's dummy bidder signs the purchase docket but the horse goes back home, it's pretty difficult to drum up interest when the sheet says sold when in fact it wasn't.
They make no bones about it in Kentucky. Before the auction, they announce that the vendor may bid, that agents for the vendor may bid and even the auctioneers may bid on behalf of the vendor. So you know where you stand. Treat every auction as alive. Work out what you think the horse is worth and bid up because you will have no idea if the bidding has passed the reserve and the hammer is definitely going to fall - invariably without warning.
Another positive spin-off from the unreserved approach is that it does away with the auctioneer calling for ridiculously high opening bids (based usually on the vendor's inflated idea of his horse's worth) then laboriously and embarrassingly dropping down the scale until someone is brave enough - often the auctioneer himself - to stick up their hand.
Auctioneering is different in the US, both in style and in procedure. An 'announcer' introduces the horse with a succinct wrap-up of its selling points, plus any announcements required under the conditions of sale. With barely time to draw your breath, the auctioneer then takes over. It's his job simply to take and advance bids, not to wax about the quality of the object. He won't waste time. Because he knows the reserve, the auctioneer just kicks it off at a sane level and gets the ball rolling - the implication is, bid up or miss out. Vendors or consignors in an unreserved sale have no business to be anywhere near the auctioneer. They are out the back protecting their horse in the bidding, if they must. Compared with our long, drawn out, often personalised auctioneering encounters where the auctioneer thinks he's the star of the show, it's refreshing and businesslike. And I believe they get every last bid in the house.
They figured out the best way and they got it right.
The conditions of sale are not read out prior to the start of the auction. Keeneland's conditions run to 23 printed pages, for God's sake. As a preamble, they pointedly draw your attention to the rules, mention some important points and describe how the auction will be conducted.
I'm sick of people telling me it's a legal requirement here. If it is, it's yet another case of the law being an ass. No one is gathered around listening, it's just some pimply-faced intern trying to untwist his tongue in front of an empty auditorium. For those who have had a bit of practice at it, they rip through it so quickly you can't understand what they're saying even if you wanted to, making an even bigger mockery of the process.
Why don't we ditch this ridiculous practice!
TVN Wins Poll, Camera Not Needed
Been on holiday folks and get back to Sydney on Monday night. Melbourne sure knows how to turn on a hot day when it wants to. Went to Sandown Wednesday, shoot a cannon, hit no one, and Seymour Saturday, shoot a cannon, hit even fewer. Will try and catch up with all the recent comments before I leave for NZ on Friday. You'll have noticed the result of the poll that has been running on the blog - 88% of the 51 who voted nominated TVN coverage as preferred to Sky Channel's, so absolutely no race. This is a true secret ballot but I sincerely hope Richard and Caroline didn't vote 25 times each.
Going West Not Always A Good Idea
Mention of Palace Music makes me wonder how many stallions which started their careers in New Zealand did equally as well when relocated to Australia.
The rationale behind these relocations, usually involving a sale or part-sale of the stallion in question, has been that if they’re proven good in poor cousin New Zealand – and why else would an Australian stud want them? - they can’t help but be as good or better in Australia.
I don't think so.
Palace Music did achieve a reasonable level of success in Australia. He had had only four seasons sucked out of him before he got here.
Success Express had a season in Australia then did a stint in New Zealand during which he did very well, especially given his lower fertility. We raised two G1 winners by him at Haunui. Of the stallions I can think of, off the top of my head – I’m on holiday and don’t have the library with me – he is one of the few who has brought his proper game to Australia. He was bought by Peter Moran at the end of the Holmes a’Court days at Trelawney.
From about the 1960s onwards, there have been plenty of sires to have crossed the ditch in a westerly direction. A few others I can recall include Agricola, Amyntor, Bigstone, Cape Cross, Carnegie, Centro, Citidancer, Desert Sun, Kenfair, Otehi Bay, Pag-Asa, Rhythm, Ruling, Sea Anchor, Sky Chase and Zephyr Bay. Cape Cross still has it ahead of him but few if any of the others materially improved their place in history. Some fell flat on their faces.
Are there any I’ve missed from recent decades who have had a siring career of distinction in Australia after getting off the mark in New Zealand, or is it generally expecting too much from a horse who has had the first five or six seasons taken out him?
The rationale behind these relocations, usually involving a sale or part-sale of the stallion in question, has been that if they’re proven good in poor cousin New Zealand – and why else would an Australian stud want them? - they can’t help but be as good or better in Australia.
I don't think so.
Palace Music did achieve a reasonable level of success in Australia. He had had only four seasons sucked out of him before he got here.
Success Express had a season in Australia then did a stint in New Zealand during which he did very well, especially given his lower fertility. We raised two G1 winners by him at Haunui. Of the stallions I can think of, off the top of my head – I’m on holiday and don’t have the library with me – he is one of the few who has brought his proper game to Australia. He was bought by Peter Moran at the end of the Holmes a’Court days at Trelawney.
From about the 1960s onwards, there have been plenty of sires to have crossed the ditch in a westerly direction. A few others I can recall include Agricola, Amyntor, Bigstone, Cape Cross, Carnegie, Centro, Citidancer, Desert Sun, Kenfair, Otehi Bay, Pag-Asa, Rhythm, Ruling, Sea Anchor, Sky Chase and Zephyr Bay. Cape Cross still has it ahead of him but few if any of the others materially improved their place in history. Some fell flat on their faces.
Are there any I’ve missed from recent decades who have had a siring career of distinction in Australia after getting off the mark in New Zealand, or is it generally expecting too much from a horse who has had the first five or six seasons taken out him?
Palace Music Revisited
Reporting on the death this week of Palace Music, the ANZ Bloodstock News made an innocent mistake when stating that the horse first shuttled to New Zealand in 1991. It was 1987 (Naturalism and Ready To Explode were both foaled in 1988). Palace Music shuttled to Australia from 1991.
I had started the negotiating process for shuttling both Palace Music and Dahar when I resigned from Waikato Stud in 1987. Those were the Wild West days of the Troy Corporation, a wooden horse for sure, Australasian Breeding Stables and a sad group of individuals, on both sides of the Tasman, whose egos and dubious business practices led to major investor losses and for giving the industry a bad name at the time. I’ve always thought the story of the removal of Zephyr Bay from Waikato should have been made into a movie. It was a little bit like Shergar except in Zephyr Bay’s case they still had the body! Some of the players from those days were never brought to account properly.
In 1987, Palace Music was installed at the then Troy Corporation controlled Trelawney Stud, fee NZ$40,000, and Dahar, fee NZ$50,000, at Waikato Stud. Considering that’s 20 years ago, those were hefty fees at the time for first-season sires but both were top class racehorses representing fashionable extensions of the Northern Dancer male line. Dahar, I feel sure, had only one testicle, the other having been removed whilst racing, which convinced me of the truth of the old adage, ‘one’s a necessity, two’s a luxury’.
In the early years of their stud careers, these stallions only covered half the number of mares their equivalents do today. Both were 'spotty', as the Americans say, meaning they were inconsistent sires of top class progeny. Dahar, who was by Lyphard out of Dahlia, ought to have been a better broodmare sire but Excellerator and Bocelli were the only outstanding horses produced by his daughters who, admittedly, were not great in numbers.
When I bought Emancipation for New Zealand clients when she was 15 years old she was carrying to Palace Music, then at the old Segenhoe (now Vinery). The resultant foal became the dam of Railings.
I had started the negotiating process for shuttling both Palace Music and Dahar when I resigned from Waikato Stud in 1987. Those were the Wild West days of the Troy Corporation, a wooden horse for sure, Australasian Breeding Stables and a sad group of individuals, on both sides of the Tasman, whose egos and dubious business practices led to major investor losses and for giving the industry a bad name at the time. I’ve always thought the story of the removal of Zephyr Bay from Waikato should have been made into a movie. It was a little bit like Shergar except in Zephyr Bay’s case they still had the body! Some of the players from those days were never brought to account properly.
In 1987, Palace Music was installed at the then Troy Corporation controlled Trelawney Stud, fee NZ$40,000, and Dahar, fee NZ$50,000, at Waikato Stud. Considering that’s 20 years ago, those were hefty fees at the time for first-season sires but both were top class racehorses representing fashionable extensions of the Northern Dancer male line. Dahar, I feel sure, had only one testicle, the other having been removed whilst racing, which convinced me of the truth of the old adage, ‘one’s a necessity, two’s a luxury’.
In the early years of their stud careers, these stallions only covered half the number of mares their equivalents do today. Both were 'spotty', as the Americans say, meaning they were inconsistent sires of top class progeny. Dahar, who was by Lyphard out of Dahlia, ought to have been a better broodmare sire but Excellerator and Bocelli were the only outstanding horses produced by his daughters who, admittedly, were not great in numbers.
When I bought Emancipation for New Zealand clients when she was 15 years old she was carrying to Palace Music, then at the old Segenhoe (now Vinery). The resultant foal became the dam of Railings.
Rock N Roll Kid Still Prevailing
Congratulations to John Richardson, and wife Chris, on the 10th black-type triumph at the weekend in Macau by Rock N Roll Kid, a gelding they bred by a stallion I have to take the rap for, Justice Prevails.
John was one of the earliest contributors to my blog when he responded to my piece on the late Jack Glengarry, Rooted In The Past But Ahead Of His Time.
John and Chris were founding shareholders in Justice Prevails when he was installed at Haunui Farm in 1994 and bred at least two very good horses by him at their Waikato property. Rock N Roll Kid is a great advertisement because he has endured racing in New Zealand, Macau, Hong Kong and Dubai and is still going strong at eight years with 15 wins to his credit. John and Chris’s other good result by Justice Prevails is the dual Listed winning mare Besty Coup.
Coming out of the recession of the late 80s/early 90s, New Zealand was desperately short of new stallion options. I went looking for something with sharp form in Australia which might be buyable and which would be well-received by talent-starved New Zealand breeders. I settled on two colts which were still in training, Kenny’s Best Pal and Justice Prevails, with a preference for the former because he had been a significant winner at three and had easily the more marketable pedigree. I quickly found the negotiation path to Kenny’s Best Pal, trained by Rick Hore-Lacy, strewn with too many obstacles. I then inspected Justice Prevails, trained by John Hawkes but not Ingham-owned, at Belmont Park just outside Sydney. He was a mid-season three-year-old at the time and, if memory serves me right, was recovering from a colic operation. A neat near-black, a bit narrow in front and bodgie-bred (by Proud Knight out of a Water Mill mare) he still ticked more of my boxes than not. With a willing seller-willing buyer scenario, Justice Prevails was secured without delay for a price about 0.5% of the reputed value of Haradasun.
Justice Prevails had been a first-rate two-year-old and perhaps the unluckiest Golden Slipper runner-up ever. His race was won in record time by the on-pace Bint Marscay. Justice Prevails, ridden by M Evans, was last to the 300m and I doubt I’ve seen a two-year-old finish faster in a top grade race, so wide on the track he was out of camera shot until the last 50 metres.
The syndication of the colt was completed in a day. He was just what a section of the struggling New Zealand market was waiting for at the time, a cheap-as-chips young colt with high class Aussie form. He proved a worthwhile horse in financial terms for the stud and his shareholders. He sired only a handful of good performers - 7 stakeswinners, which is two more than his sire - including the smart filly Pay My Bail which Phillip Esplin bought for Twin Palms at last year’s Starcraft promo at Magic Millions. But in the end I guess Justice Prevails’s pedigree won out and he was cast adrift from the commercial mainstream after six seasons in which he covered on average 75 mares per year, joining the 80-90% of all stallions which fail to consistenly pass on their own ability. So at least he’s in damn good company.
John was one of the earliest contributors to my blog when he responded to my piece on the late Jack Glengarry, Rooted In The Past But Ahead Of His Time.
John and Chris were founding shareholders in Justice Prevails when he was installed at Haunui Farm in 1994 and bred at least two very good horses by him at their Waikato property. Rock N Roll Kid is a great advertisement because he has endured racing in New Zealand, Macau, Hong Kong and Dubai and is still going strong at eight years with 15 wins to his credit. John and Chris’s other good result by Justice Prevails is the dual Listed winning mare Besty Coup.
Coming out of the recession of the late 80s/early 90s, New Zealand was desperately short of new stallion options. I went looking for something with sharp form in Australia which might be buyable and which would be well-received by talent-starved New Zealand breeders. I settled on two colts which were still in training, Kenny’s Best Pal and Justice Prevails, with a preference for the former because he had been a significant winner at three and had easily the more marketable pedigree. I quickly found the negotiation path to Kenny’s Best Pal, trained by Rick Hore-Lacy, strewn with too many obstacles. I then inspected Justice Prevails, trained by John Hawkes but not Ingham-owned, at Belmont Park just outside Sydney. He was a mid-season three-year-old at the time and, if memory serves me right, was recovering from a colic operation. A neat near-black, a bit narrow in front and bodgie-bred (by Proud Knight out of a Water Mill mare) he still ticked more of my boxes than not. With a willing seller-willing buyer scenario, Justice Prevails was secured without delay for a price about 0.5% of the reputed value of Haradasun.
Justice Prevails had been a first-rate two-year-old and perhaps the unluckiest Golden Slipper runner-up ever. His race was won in record time by the on-pace Bint Marscay. Justice Prevails, ridden by M Evans, was last to the 300m and I doubt I’ve seen a two-year-old finish faster in a top grade race, so wide on the track he was out of camera shot until the last 50 metres.
The syndication of the colt was completed in a day. He was just what a section of the struggling New Zealand market was waiting for at the time, a cheap-as-chips young colt with high class Aussie form. He proved a worthwhile horse in financial terms for the stud and his shareholders. He sired only a handful of good performers - 7 stakeswinners, which is two more than his sire - including the smart filly Pay My Bail which Phillip Esplin bought for Twin Palms at last year’s Starcraft promo at Magic Millions. But in the end I guess Justice Prevails’s pedigree won out and he was cast adrift from the commercial mainstream after six seasons in which he covered on average 75 mares per year, joining the 80-90% of all stallions which fail to consistenly pass on their own ability. So at least he’s in damn good company.
Records At Dederang
Traditions like the Dederang picnic races should never be allowed to die.
They define grass roots racing and have much importance in the social life of the country communities around them. They are quintessential Australia.
Attendance at a picnic race meeting should have been a compulsory element in John Howard’s immigrant orientation. It gives a better insight into Australianness than knowing who the Queen’s representative is. Every red-blooded Aussie should go at least once in their lifetime. Our own version of the Hajj.
About 4,000 braved the near 40-degree heat to enjoy a festive day at Dederang on Saturday where the club was established in 1865. It was touch and go whether this year’s meeting would go ahead, what with the EI scare and everything. Bio-security measures (some orange tapes and barricades) were in place. Security personnel who looked like local yokels with fancy vests on were there to make sure people didn’t go where they weren’t supposed to. Someone must have told them I was coming from over the border.
Half the crowd probably never saw a race – there aren’t too many good vantage points – but that’s not important. It’s a big day out for family and friends. A handful of businesses, service organisations and local identities entertained their guests in a clutch of marquees down by the caravan park. Most people desperately sought relief from the sun under trees and shade tents while the concessions flogged their ice creams, baked potatoes, booze and local foodstuffs to a constant stream of customers.
Fashions On The Field, which took place up behind the old tennis court, was keenly contested. The winner, whose name and telephone number I did not obtain, wore a simple purple dress and hat and displayed plenty of sunblocked cleavage and shoulder. However I reckon it was definitely her leopard-skin shoes and matching handbag, bought no doubt on a shopping expedition to Wodonga, that won the day for her.
Young ladies were everywhere in their skin tight outfits or in ensembles cobbled together from whatever was clean in their wardrobes that morning. Halfway houses between fashion statements and fancy dress. They teetered over the gravel and grass in their high heels, risking broken ankles, and were attended by lots of boozy young blokes in t-shirts, baggies, sunnies, carefully messed up hair and with stubbies in hand. One guy turned up in full Derby Day regalia and he must have been sweating like a pig.
Nobody cared that amongst the six races, two had only three starters. Nobody cared than in the first race, a three horse affair, the 3-to1-on favourite bucked for the first 50 yards and had no hope thereafter.
There are 28 men and women on the club’s committee. Everyone rolls up their sleeves in Dederang. Amongst the officials there is a Scratching Board Steward. It wasn’t easy to find the Scratching Board. There’s no photo finish camera at Dederang and no stewards’ towers. The TAB was hooked up to the three phase and the bookies’ ring was crammed all day. I’m told you can get set for a lot of money at the picnics, not like in Sydney where you’re lucky to get $200 on if you fancy one at Kembla. One bookie brought along his fancy new digital screen of the likes you see in the ring at Randwick, others displayed hand-written boards, twiddled their knobs and pencilled the ticket as in days of old. You could bet from Mudgee to Perth and apart from the occasional TV outage caused by the whole place over-heating, you could see and hear all the action.
Dederang (population too few to count) is picture book stuff, God’s country. The racecourse nestles on the floor of the gorgeous Kiewa Valley at the head of which lie some of the best ski fields in the Victorian alps. The track is about 1600m, narrow, with a savage uphill run from the foot of the home straight, past the winning post to the start of the back straight. Must be a 20 or 30 metres incline. You can’t see much action in the back straight, too many trees block the view.
The setting and atmosphere reek of Banjo Paterson. There’s a dilapidated golf course in and around the track plus a smattering of other recreational amenities. The 1650m start point is adjacent to the 1st and 10th tee, a par 4 of 280 metres. It’s $10 to get in, $3 the racebook, everything else half city prices and double the quantities. My admission ticket appeared to have a date stamped on it ‘1985’. City clubs should note the lack of waste.
My host for the weekend, David, farms in the neighbouring locality of Gundowring (population too few to count) on an historic property, ‘Springbank’, bought a few years ago from Mel Gibson. Go to the top of the hills at ‘Springbank’ and you can see right to Falls Creek and beyond, a breathtaking vista. David and wife Chris built a magnificent one-level homestead last year. They run black cattle and a few horses, and never get fed up with the to-die-for views.
David’s horse won the Dederang Cup last year and would have been the third back-to-back winner in the last 20 years but missed on Saturday by three-quarters of a length. He had a modest 71.5 kgs aboard and gave the winner, who came up all the way from Kilmore, 9.5kgs. Got too far back off a moderate pace and the leader had too much gas in the tank when they started the uphill climb to the post. Revenge will be sought in the Balnarring Cup on Australia Day.
One of David’s multiple G1 winning racehorses, now retired to his farm in the valley, led the Cup field onto the track. He looked good enough to win but god knows what weight he would have got! He took one look at the barrier stalls and propped. You could read his mind: oh no, buddy, after 60 starts you’re not getting me near that contraption again.
A young lady rider named Courtney Pace won four of the six races including both features. She sits nicely on a horse. One of her male rivals told me later a couple of her mounts had been ‘specials’. I think it pays to be in the know at these meetings. Global Harmony had not run a place in 21 starts but still started in the red and romped in. Grimhuntamug, a spritely 11-year-old, confounded the experts when beating two youthful seven-year-olds in the other three horse race. There was no judicial enquiry, even though ex VRC Chief Steward Pat Lalor was on track. He’s a picnics fan and has had a bit to do with the Healesville club in the Yarra Valley in his retirement.
The 1050m track record was broken twice. I was privileged to see what might be a world record. The Lanz, a pretty good sprinter on his day (winner of $222,800) was much too good in the open 1050m. The nine-year-old was fresh up since April. His time of 56.2 seconds, the new track record, must be a case of stopwatch heatstroke, or they shifted the barrier. The timekeeper is shown in the racebook as someone called R.V.L. That's collective responsibility for you. Not only did The Lanz have to run uphill for the last 200m but he also carried 76 kgs, or 12 stone in the old money. On his time, he would have beaten my old mate Zephyr Bay by 50 metres at Randwick. Mind you, the pair have something in common – Biscay is the sire of Zephyr Bay and the great-grandsire of The Lanz.
When the horse sports finished the other sports began. There was the Madmen’s Mile. Insane people of all ages ran a lap of the track in tortuous heat just for honour and glory. Some took the short way and cut through the middle. There was a tug of war, blokes v. sheilas or was it Dederang v. the rest? Everyone competing in the Madman’s Mile and the tug-of-war had to first sign a declaration absolving the club of liability in case they hurt themselves or keeled over with a heart attack.
Then there was the dog jumping competition staged in the mounting yard in front of the club house.
Dog jumping is taken seriously around here. These athletes really know what’s expected of them. A few little fellas, a Jack Russell and the likes, went first. As they cleared each height successfully – they were allowed three attempts at each - another plank of wood was added to the obstacle until they could clear it no more.
The outright winner, and the only larger dog amongst a disappointingly low entry, was By Crikey. A kelpie, she finally scrambled over a 6’3 ½” wall, whatever that is in metrics, to land safely on the hay bales on the other side. As long as she can get her front claws onto that wood, she can scramble over anything but I bet her belly is sore today. They ran out of planks and couldn’t make the obstacle any higher, so she retired undefeated. Like The Lanz in the uphill 1050m, I suspect that is a world record for kelpie jumping. Her proud owner was overwhelmed: By Crikey, who in past years had revealed jumping talent, had come ‘straight out of the paddock’ and had no special practice going into this competition. Unbelievable! Every time By Crikey got over safely, cheered on by the very knowledgeable crowd, the little dogs who were knocked out at one metre mark also wildly barked their approval, I kid you not.
I must say I saw no signs of drunken or disorderly behaviour, no mean feat given the day’s testing conditions. The one local policeman, who knows everyone by their first name, and a buddy seconded from another locality, positioned their cars outside the front gate to test the roadworthiness of departing drivers. Their flashing coloured lights got plenty of exercise but as I had slipped out a conveniently available side gate I don’t know if they made many bookings. Safely through that hazard, most people made a beeline for the Dederang Hotel a kilometer up the road, just to have one to lay the dust. One guy said to me on Sunday he didn’t know a pub could hold so much beer. And they did 140 meals at the pub on Saturday night which may also be a Dederang record.
My host David had a crowd of 70 coming for a barbecue and shindig the day after the races. Everyone will get drunk on the magnificent views and on the fine Gundowringla reds – 2002 cab sav, 2004 shiraz viognier – made by young vintner Mark Adams. Willie Nelson was making a guest appearance at the party (David swears it’s Willie Nelson and nothing would surprise me) and the band will be playing into the wee smalls.
They define grass roots racing and have much importance in the social life of the country communities around them. They are quintessential Australia.
Attendance at a picnic race meeting should have been a compulsory element in John Howard’s immigrant orientation. It gives a better insight into Australianness than knowing who the Queen’s representative is. Every red-blooded Aussie should go at least once in their lifetime. Our own version of the Hajj.
About 4,000 braved the near 40-degree heat to enjoy a festive day at Dederang on Saturday where the club was established in 1865. It was touch and go whether this year’s meeting would go ahead, what with the EI scare and everything. Bio-security measures (some orange tapes and barricades) were in place. Security personnel who looked like local yokels with fancy vests on were there to make sure people didn’t go where they weren’t supposed to. Someone must have told them I was coming from over the border.
Half the crowd probably never saw a race – there aren’t too many good vantage points – but that’s not important. It’s a big day out for family and friends. A handful of businesses, service organisations and local identities entertained their guests in a clutch of marquees down by the caravan park. Most people desperately sought relief from the sun under trees and shade tents while the concessions flogged their ice creams, baked potatoes, booze and local foodstuffs to a constant stream of customers.
Fashions On The Field, which took place up behind the old tennis court, was keenly contested. The winner, whose name and telephone number I did not obtain, wore a simple purple dress and hat and displayed plenty of sunblocked cleavage and shoulder. However I reckon it was definitely her leopard-skin shoes and matching handbag, bought no doubt on a shopping expedition to Wodonga, that won the day for her.
Young ladies were everywhere in their skin tight outfits or in ensembles cobbled together from whatever was clean in their wardrobes that morning. Halfway houses between fashion statements and fancy dress. They teetered over the gravel and grass in their high heels, risking broken ankles, and were attended by lots of boozy young blokes in t-shirts, baggies, sunnies, carefully messed up hair and with stubbies in hand. One guy turned up in full Derby Day regalia and he must have been sweating like a pig.
Nobody cared that amongst the six races, two had only three starters. Nobody cared than in the first race, a three horse affair, the 3-to1-on favourite bucked for the first 50 yards and had no hope thereafter.
There are 28 men and women on the club’s committee. Everyone rolls up their sleeves in Dederang. Amongst the officials there is a Scratching Board Steward. It wasn’t easy to find the Scratching Board. There’s no photo finish camera at Dederang and no stewards’ towers. The TAB was hooked up to the three phase and the bookies’ ring was crammed all day. I’m told you can get set for a lot of money at the picnics, not like in Sydney where you’re lucky to get $200 on if you fancy one at Kembla. One bookie brought along his fancy new digital screen of the likes you see in the ring at Randwick, others displayed hand-written boards, twiddled their knobs and pencilled the ticket as in days of old. You could bet from Mudgee to Perth and apart from the occasional TV outage caused by the whole place over-heating, you could see and hear all the action.
Dederang (population too few to count) is picture book stuff, God’s country. The racecourse nestles on the floor of the gorgeous Kiewa Valley at the head of which lie some of the best ski fields in the Victorian alps. The track is about 1600m, narrow, with a savage uphill run from the foot of the home straight, past the winning post to the start of the back straight. Must be a 20 or 30 metres incline. You can’t see much action in the back straight, too many trees block the view.
The setting and atmosphere reek of Banjo Paterson. There’s a dilapidated golf course in and around the track plus a smattering of other recreational amenities. The 1650m start point is adjacent to the 1st and 10th tee, a par 4 of 280 metres. It’s $10 to get in, $3 the racebook, everything else half city prices and double the quantities. My admission ticket appeared to have a date stamped on it ‘1985’. City clubs should note the lack of waste.
My host for the weekend, David, farms in the neighbouring locality of Gundowring (population too few to count) on an historic property, ‘Springbank’, bought a few years ago from Mel Gibson. Go to the top of the hills at ‘Springbank’ and you can see right to Falls Creek and beyond, a breathtaking vista. David and wife Chris built a magnificent one-level homestead last year. They run black cattle and a few horses, and never get fed up with the to-die-for views.
David’s horse won the Dederang Cup last year and would have been the third back-to-back winner in the last 20 years but missed on Saturday by three-quarters of a length. He had a modest 71.5 kgs aboard and gave the winner, who came up all the way from Kilmore, 9.5kgs. Got too far back off a moderate pace and the leader had too much gas in the tank when they started the uphill climb to the post. Revenge will be sought in the Balnarring Cup on Australia Day.
One of David’s multiple G1 winning racehorses, now retired to his farm in the valley, led the Cup field onto the track. He looked good enough to win but god knows what weight he would have got! He took one look at the barrier stalls and propped. You could read his mind: oh no, buddy, after 60 starts you’re not getting me near that contraption again.
A young lady rider named Courtney Pace won four of the six races including both features. She sits nicely on a horse. One of her male rivals told me later a couple of her mounts had been ‘specials’. I think it pays to be in the know at these meetings. Global Harmony had not run a place in 21 starts but still started in the red and romped in. Grimhuntamug, a spritely 11-year-old, confounded the experts when beating two youthful seven-year-olds in the other three horse race. There was no judicial enquiry, even though ex VRC Chief Steward Pat Lalor was on track. He’s a picnics fan and has had a bit to do with the Healesville club in the Yarra Valley in his retirement.
The 1050m track record was broken twice. I was privileged to see what might be a world record. The Lanz, a pretty good sprinter on his day (winner of $222,800) was much too good in the open 1050m. The nine-year-old was fresh up since April. His time of 56.2 seconds, the new track record, must be a case of stopwatch heatstroke, or they shifted the barrier. The timekeeper is shown in the racebook as someone called R.V.L. That's collective responsibility for you. Not only did The Lanz have to run uphill for the last 200m but he also carried 76 kgs, or 12 stone in the old money. On his time, he would have beaten my old mate Zephyr Bay by 50 metres at Randwick. Mind you, the pair have something in common – Biscay is the sire of Zephyr Bay and the great-grandsire of The Lanz.
When the horse sports finished the other sports began. There was the Madmen’s Mile. Insane people of all ages ran a lap of the track in tortuous heat just for honour and glory. Some took the short way and cut through the middle. There was a tug of war, blokes v. sheilas or was it Dederang v. the rest? Everyone competing in the Madman’s Mile and the tug-of-war had to first sign a declaration absolving the club of liability in case they hurt themselves or keeled over with a heart attack.
Then there was the dog jumping competition staged in the mounting yard in front of the club house.
Dog jumping is taken seriously around here. These athletes really know what’s expected of them. A few little fellas, a Jack Russell and the likes, went first. As they cleared each height successfully – they were allowed three attempts at each - another plank of wood was added to the obstacle until they could clear it no more.
The outright winner, and the only larger dog amongst a disappointingly low entry, was By Crikey. A kelpie, she finally scrambled over a 6’3 ½” wall, whatever that is in metrics, to land safely on the hay bales on the other side. As long as she can get her front claws onto that wood, she can scramble over anything but I bet her belly is sore today. They ran out of planks and couldn’t make the obstacle any higher, so she retired undefeated. Like The Lanz in the uphill 1050m, I suspect that is a world record for kelpie jumping. Her proud owner was overwhelmed: By Crikey, who in past years had revealed jumping talent, had come ‘straight out of the paddock’ and had no special practice going into this competition. Unbelievable! Every time By Crikey got over safely, cheered on by the very knowledgeable crowd, the little dogs who were knocked out at one metre mark also wildly barked their approval, I kid you not.
I must say I saw no signs of drunken or disorderly behaviour, no mean feat given the day’s testing conditions. The one local policeman, who knows everyone by their first name, and a buddy seconded from another locality, positioned their cars outside the front gate to test the roadworthiness of departing drivers. Their flashing coloured lights got plenty of exercise but as I had slipped out a conveniently available side gate I don’t know if they made many bookings. Safely through that hazard, most people made a beeline for the Dederang Hotel a kilometer up the road, just to have one to lay the dust. One guy said to me on Sunday he didn’t know a pub could hold so much beer. And they did 140 meals at the pub on Saturday night which may also be a Dederang record.
My host David had a crowd of 70 coming for a barbecue and shindig the day after the races. Everyone will get drunk on the magnificent views and on the fine Gundowringla reds – 2002 cab sav, 2004 shiraz viognier – made by young vintner Mark Adams. Willie Nelson was making a guest appearance at the party (David swears it’s Willie Nelson and nothing would surprise me) and the band will be playing into the wee smalls.
Vincent O'Brien Still In The Winner's Circle
Result from France this week: the Listed Prix Miss Satamixa at Deauville (fillies and mares, 1500m on the all-weather) was won by Grecian Dancer [Dansili-Pizzicato, by Statoblest]. Her owner is Dr M V O'Brien, better known as Vincent O'Brien, now in his 91st year. The winner is trained by his son Charles. A worldwide vote hosted by The Racing Post anointed this legendary trainer as the greatest influence in horse racing history. From 100 hand-picked contenders, he received 28% of the votes. Dr O'Brien married an Australian and his family influence in this country has never been stronger via his son-in-law John Magnier and his grandsons at the helm of Coolmore. When you read a re-cap of this man's career, it is truly astonishing. For a brief pen-portrait, Google his name and click on the Wikipedia option.
Dederang Here I Come
Saturday I head south for a family holiday in Melbourne. Admit it Sydneysiders, if Melbourne had your climate everyone would want to live there. I'm hoping to reach north-east Victoria early Saturday afternoon for the Dederang Picnic Races, 55 kms south east of Albury along the Kiewa Valley Highway, next stop Mt Beauty.
The six race card has attracted only 31 acceptors. They run three distances at Dederang, 1000m, 1350m and 1650m. The 1000m record is shown as 58.4 secs held by Little Barney (General Monash) set in 2006, though the distance that day is recorded as 1050m, but what's 50m amongst friends? The Dederang Cup, 1650m, $2,100, has five acceptors with three closely matched form runners in the shape of Esceegee (topical name with the Test being played at present) carrying 71.5 kgs, Forest Dash 65.5 kgs and Satdies 'n Sundies 63.5 kgs.
Driving around regional Australia is a favourite pastime, the back roads and the wide vistas do it for me. I'll gladly give up a day at Randwick (can't hear the commentaries anyway) or Rosehill for a day at the bush sports. This is a most beautiful part of the country. They make a seriously good drop of cool climate wine in this valley, too. I intend doing a refresher course on Saturday night and if it's still as good as the last tasting I'll let you into the secret.
The six race card has attracted only 31 acceptors. They run three distances at Dederang, 1000m, 1350m and 1650m. The 1000m record is shown as 58.4 secs held by Little Barney (General Monash) set in 2006, though the distance that day is recorded as 1050m, but what's 50m amongst friends? The Dederang Cup, 1650m, $2,100, has five acceptors with three closely matched form runners in the shape of Esceegee (topical name with the Test being played at present) carrying 71.5 kgs, Forest Dash 65.5 kgs and Satdies 'n Sundies 63.5 kgs.
Driving around regional Australia is a favourite pastime, the back roads and the wide vistas do it for me. I'll gladly give up a day at Randwick (can't hear the commentaries anyway) or Rosehill for a day at the bush sports. This is a most beautiful part of the country. They make a seriously good drop of cool climate wine in this valley, too. I intend doing a refresher course on Saturday night and if it's still as good as the last tasting I'll let you into the secret.
More On Zemindar
Belmont Bloodstock's Damon Gabbedy filled in the gap in my memory by reminding me that Tony Elwood was and is the name of the Man True To His Word who bought and raced Zemindar (see earlier post). The colt was trained by Sue Cornwell, described by Damon as a 'very talented private boutique trainer' who also trained the high class sprinter Storaia.
Damon bought Iman, the dam of Imananabaa, as a yearling for $30,000 in 1993, "a magnificent black with a touch of grey. She showed us heaps of ability but was injured and retired to stud unraced." Damon named Iman (Zemindar-Born Rich) after the rather good-looking wife of David Bowie, whence comes the name Ms Bowie, the Group-placed older full sister to Imananabaa.
I trust when Imanana-b-a-a becomes a producer none of her progeny, given most likely they will be bred in New Zealand, will be named after sheep.
Damon bought Iman, the dam of Imananabaa, as a yearling for $30,000 in 1993, "a magnificent black with a touch of grey. She showed us heaps of ability but was injured and retired to stud unraced." Damon named Iman (Zemindar-Born Rich) after the rather good-looking wife of David Bowie, whence comes the name Ms Bowie, the Group-placed older full sister to Imananabaa.
I trust when Imanana-b-a-a becomes a producer none of her progeny, given most likely they will be bred in New Zealand, will be named after sheep.
Show Gate Belongs With The Best
As a great many men have found out, and an equal number of women agree, the only damn thing you’re any good at at my age is reminiscing.
The year 2012 is going to be notable, not for the London Olympics but for being the centenary of the birth in New Zealand of Desert Gold, perhaps the best 3YO filly ever to race south of the line (Wakeful never raced as a three-year-old).
Her name came up in conversation with Paul Carrazzo whose passion for pedigree even overshadows his lust for the tax commissioner’s blood. Her 36 wins, 30 of them regarded as stakes races, 19 straight, is a breathtaking record. There’s barely anyone alive who can remember her – not even me. Because time erodes everything we should treasure the deeds of her modern day equivalents, mares like Sunline, Makybe Diva, Surround and Wenona Girl while they are fresh in our memories. Fart around with semantics as much as you like but these horses were c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n-s.
New Zealanders often mention another mare of their ilk, not at all well known in Australia. Show Gate. She had 30 wins – 15 of them stakes races – and 9 placings from 51 starts. Most of us believe that had she lived in the North Island of New Zealand instead of the deep south and perhaps had a top professional trainer she would have won 30 stakes races. She was a freak.
Her owner-trainer Gordon Thomson was a chicken sexer. He was a good man with a horse; no fool ever trained a horse to win 30 races and Show Gate wasn’t the only smart one he trained. He also stood a stallion or two including her semi-fertile sire Gate Keeper (by Alcide).
His set-up at Mosgiel, outside Dunedin, wasn’t Crown Lodge. Unlike the Ingham empire, there wasn’t much difference between Gordon’s chicken coops and his horse boxes.
Show Gate raced in the halcyon days of New Zealand racing. She won the 1974 G1 Telegraph Hcp 1200m at Trentham with 56 kgs, Melbourne Cup winning jockey Bruce Marsh swinging on her.
She won the Stewards Handicap 1200m-Canterbury Gold Cup 2000m-Churchill Stakes 1600m treble Saturday-to-Saturday. She almost did this three times. On her third attempt in the Stewards, as a 7YO, she was beaten a half-head by Grey Way. She carried 63 kgs. Grey Way won 50 races. Ask Bob Skelton about Grey Way.
Show Gate did not race as a six-year-old as she broke down.
She had one race in Australia, in the Theo Marks Quality at Rosehill as a spring seven-year-old. Ease The Squeeze won it, she flopped; both she and her trainer were fretting so badly for the chickens they went straight home.
I saw her three months later in the North Island, after she'd travelled 1,000 miles by road and ferry during the week from Mosgiel, absolutely donkey-lick a WFA field over 1600m with Bob Skelton on board, a field stronger than this year's Cox Plate ... Jan's Beau, Tudor Light, Battle Eve and a cavalcade of stars all in their prime. Battle Eve was bred and raced by Ancroft Stud’s Brown family and it was at Ancroft where Show Gate rested up after her marathon journey to prepare for the race – eating grass for two days. The same Brown family bred this year’s Cox Plate winner El Segundo.
Show Gate’s next start was the 2200m G1 Avondale Cup, in those days New Zealand’s Caulfield Cup equivalent. I watched her; she stood in the tie up stalls unattended for at least two hours, had the saddle put on and without so much as a warm up went out there and was a good thing beaten by Paul de Brett, a smart son of Pretendre trained by D J O'Sullivan which had no weight.
She travelled another 1,000 miles back to Dunedin and after winning the Gold Cup there with 60.5 kgs did the float-and-ferry thing back to Trentham. On the track where she had won the G1 Telegraph 1200m, she was beaten under a length, second, in the G1 Wellington Cup 3200m with 57 kgs (on a lower minimum than Makybe Diva had to worry about). Her jockey had conveniently dropped his whip at the 1400m. The horse who beat her carrying kilos less was Good Lord who came to Sydney and thrashed a Sydney Cup field (as My Good Man) with 60kgs on his back! He went on to win G1 in the United States.
Show Gate backed up the next week and smashed the Trentham course record for 2400m, breaking down midway through the race and having to be walked back to the enclosure. Win number 30, and she never raced again. Ask Bob Skelton about her.
Her bloodline hangs by a thread. G1 winner Showella is a grand-daughter. There won't be the likes of her at the Canterbury races tonight.
The year 2012 is going to be notable, not for the London Olympics but for being the centenary of the birth in New Zealand of Desert Gold, perhaps the best 3YO filly ever to race south of the line (Wakeful never raced as a three-year-old).
Her name came up in conversation with Paul Carrazzo whose passion for pedigree even overshadows his lust for the tax commissioner’s blood. Her 36 wins, 30 of them regarded as stakes races, 19 straight, is a breathtaking record. There’s barely anyone alive who can remember her – not even me. Because time erodes everything we should treasure the deeds of her modern day equivalents, mares like Sunline, Makybe Diva, Surround and Wenona Girl while they are fresh in our memories. Fart around with semantics as much as you like but these horses were c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n-s.
New Zealanders often mention another mare of their ilk, not at all well known in Australia. Show Gate. She had 30 wins – 15 of them stakes races – and 9 placings from 51 starts. Most of us believe that had she lived in the North Island of New Zealand instead of the deep south and perhaps had a top professional trainer she would have won 30 stakes races. She was a freak.
Her owner-trainer Gordon Thomson was a chicken sexer. He was a good man with a horse; no fool ever trained a horse to win 30 races and Show Gate wasn’t the only smart one he trained. He also stood a stallion or two including her semi-fertile sire Gate Keeper (by Alcide).
His set-up at Mosgiel, outside Dunedin, wasn’t Crown Lodge. Unlike the Ingham empire, there wasn’t much difference between Gordon’s chicken coops and his horse boxes.
Show Gate raced in the halcyon days of New Zealand racing. She won the 1974 G1 Telegraph Hcp 1200m at Trentham with 56 kgs, Melbourne Cup winning jockey Bruce Marsh swinging on her.
She won the Stewards Handicap 1200m-Canterbury Gold Cup 2000m-Churchill Stakes 1600m treble Saturday-to-Saturday. She almost did this three times. On her third attempt in the Stewards, as a 7YO, she was beaten a half-head by Grey Way. She carried 63 kgs. Grey Way won 50 races. Ask Bob Skelton about Grey Way.
Show Gate did not race as a six-year-old as she broke down.
She had one race in Australia, in the Theo Marks Quality at Rosehill as a spring seven-year-old. Ease The Squeeze won it, she flopped; both she and her trainer were fretting so badly for the chickens they went straight home.
I saw her three months later in the North Island, after she'd travelled 1,000 miles by road and ferry during the week from Mosgiel, absolutely donkey-lick a WFA field over 1600m with Bob Skelton on board, a field stronger than this year's Cox Plate ... Jan's Beau, Tudor Light, Battle Eve and a cavalcade of stars all in their prime. Battle Eve was bred and raced by Ancroft Stud’s Brown family and it was at Ancroft where Show Gate rested up after her marathon journey to prepare for the race – eating grass for two days. The same Brown family bred this year’s Cox Plate winner El Segundo.
Show Gate’s next start was the 2200m G1 Avondale Cup, in those days New Zealand’s Caulfield Cup equivalent. I watched her; she stood in the tie up stalls unattended for at least two hours, had the saddle put on and without so much as a warm up went out there and was a good thing beaten by Paul de Brett, a smart son of Pretendre trained by D J O'Sullivan which had no weight.
She travelled another 1,000 miles back to Dunedin and after winning the Gold Cup there with 60.5 kgs did the float-and-ferry thing back to Trentham. On the track where she had won the G1 Telegraph 1200m, she was beaten under a length, second, in the G1 Wellington Cup 3200m with 57 kgs (on a lower minimum than Makybe Diva had to worry about). Her jockey had conveniently dropped his whip at the 1400m. The horse who beat her carrying kilos less was Good Lord who came to Sydney and thrashed a Sydney Cup field (as My Good Man) with 60kgs on his back! He went on to win G1 in the United States.
Show Gate backed up the next week and smashed the Trentham course record for 2400m, breaking down midway through the race and having to be walked back to the enclosure. Win number 30, and she never raced again. Ask Bob Skelton about her.
Her bloodline hangs by a thread. G1 winner Showella is a grand-daughter. There won't be the likes of her at the Canterbury races tonight.
Irish Jokes Will Never Die
It's reported this week that the riders of an entire field of 14 steeplechasers mistook the rounds in a race at Tramore and went for home one lap early, encouraged by a similarly misguided race caller.
There is an ex-New Zealand jockey who has been riding in Australia who did the same thing in NZ in a 3200m flat event. He was banished to Australia soon after, thereby raising the IQ of both countries.
There is an ex-New Zealand jockey who has been riding in Australia who did the same thing in NZ in a 3200m flat event. He was banished to Australia soon after, thereby raising the IQ of both countries.
Facts Live Here
In Australia and New Zealand commentators and the media tiptoe around making sure they don't offend anyone when writing about how sires are performing. It's like saying something bad about The Queen, not done in proper society. Do yourself a favour and go to http://www.thoroughbredreview.com/StallionWatch.htm, the website for an American agency. Love their stuff because they do their research and their opinions are backed up by hard numbers. Can you imagine anyone having the testicles to write that stuff here? Never get invited to a marquee again. Except perhaps.....
Mr McGinty To You
Browsing through the Perth Magic Millions Yearling catalogue, I saw something I hadn't seen before - a horse in-bred to McGinty. Lot 650, yearling by McFlirt-Macular, 3f x 3f McGinty.
Obviously I haven't been paying attention as this mare has had two previous full siblings to this filly, and for all I know McFlirt might have served others with McGinty in the pedigree.
I was involved in managing McGinty's stud career for 10 years. He was a charismatic individual, brainier than most of us who worked on the place. I have only two portraits of horses hanging in my apartment, McGinty is one of them, such is the respect I have for him. He wasn't as small as people wanted him to be, about 15.3, and his handsome features were almost Arab-like. McGinty won six G1s, in two of which he set records - though he was fine-boned and turned out in front he adored hard tracks. These G1 wins were all after fracturing his leg as a two-year-old in Sydney the week before the Golden Slipper. In my capacity as representative of the International Racing Bureau, I sent McGinty to Japan to contest the third-ever Japan Cup (1983) when that race was a big deal on the world scene. The 2400m distance was beyond his best but he still ran fifth, Bob Vance in the saddle, beaten only 1.1 lengths.
McGinty did an OK job as a sire, 4.6% of his foals became stakeswinners which is respectable, but he's been a weak broodmare sire with just 1.6% stakeswinners-to-foals from his daughters.
One thing he was really good at was leaving his own type - almost prepotent. I don't intend going to Perth but if anyone sees Lot 650 I'd be interested to know what a horse in-bred to him looks like.
Obviously I haven't been paying attention as this mare has had two previous full siblings to this filly, and for all I know McFlirt might have served others with McGinty in the pedigree.
I was involved in managing McGinty's stud career for 10 years. He was a charismatic individual, brainier than most of us who worked on the place. I have only two portraits of horses hanging in my apartment, McGinty is one of them, such is the respect I have for him. He wasn't as small as people wanted him to be, about 15.3, and his handsome features were almost Arab-like. McGinty won six G1s, in two of which he set records - though he was fine-boned and turned out in front he adored hard tracks. These G1 wins were all after fracturing his leg as a two-year-old in Sydney the week before the Golden Slipper. In my capacity as representative of the International Racing Bureau, I sent McGinty to Japan to contest the third-ever Japan Cup (1983) when that race was a big deal on the world scene. The 2400m distance was beyond his best but he still ran fifth, Bob Vance in the saddle, beaten only 1.1 lengths.
McGinty did an OK job as a sire, 4.6% of his foals became stakeswinners which is respectable, but he's been a weak broodmare sire with just 1.6% stakeswinners-to-foals from his daughters.
One thing he was really good at was leaving his own type - almost prepotent. I don't intend going to Perth but if anyone sees Lot 650 I'd be interested to know what a horse in-bred to him looks like.
Some Examples Please
The winning run of Redondo Beach came to an end in the Bagot Handicap at Flemington on New Year’s Day but this young stayer has had only nine races and hopefully there’s more to come.
He’s a half-brother, of course, to the brilliant middle distance exponent El Segundo, winner of this season’s G1-R W S Cox Plate.
If performance ultimately makes up pedigree, then El Segundo, as a horse of international class, has a rare background.
Without delving too far back into history, I note that:
# His first dam’s sire Oak Ridge never ran a place.
# His second dam’s sire Otehi Bay was a moderate welter sprinter in Sydney and was never so much as stakes-placed.
# His third dam’s sire Battle-Waggon won one race.
# His fourth dam’s sire Red Mars was a war baby and won just 3 races from 11 starts.
I don’t need anyone to tell me what beautifully bred stallions these were blah blah blah, or what genetic nicety is responsible for this horse’s ability, but I would be interested if anyone can find a similar example of a multiple G1 winner of international standard generated on the distaff side by a succession of sires so undistinguished as racehorses?
The four dams in question themselves were all useful performers.
El Segundo, from the first crop of Pins, was a fabulous yearling, he looked a racehorse. He was at the top of my ‘most wanted’ list at Karaka in 2003 (for the sceptics, I still have my ratings sheets) but it didn’t happen, as it often doesn't at sales much to one's later regret. We bought two others by Pins instead, stakeswinner Tivoli Dancer and Dress Suit (8 wins, $232,150). Not a bad effort, but together they cost about the same as the future El Segundo (12 wins, $3,791,875 and counting).
He’s a half-brother, of course, to the brilliant middle distance exponent El Segundo, winner of this season’s G1-R W S Cox Plate.
If performance ultimately makes up pedigree, then El Segundo, as a horse of international class, has a rare background.
Without delving too far back into history, I note that:
# His first dam’s sire Oak Ridge never ran a place.
# His second dam’s sire Otehi Bay was a moderate welter sprinter in Sydney and was never so much as stakes-placed.
# His third dam’s sire Battle-Waggon won one race.
# His fourth dam’s sire Red Mars was a war baby and won just 3 races from 11 starts.
I don’t need anyone to tell me what beautifully bred stallions these were blah blah blah, or what genetic nicety is responsible for this horse’s ability, but I would be interested if anyone can find a similar example of a multiple G1 winner of international standard generated on the distaff side by a succession of sires so undistinguished as racehorses?
The four dams in question themselves were all useful performers.
El Segundo, from the first crop of Pins, was a fabulous yearling, he looked a racehorse. He was at the top of my ‘most wanted’ list at Karaka in 2003 (for the sceptics, I still have my ratings sheets) but it didn’t happen, as it often doesn't at sales much to one's later regret. We bought two others by Pins instead, stakeswinner Tivoli Dancer and Dress Suit (8 wins, $232,150). Not a bad effort, but together they cost about the same as the future El Segundo (12 wins, $3,791,875 and counting).
Only In Aussie
It's a very unfortunate situation when a horse named Super Shag (Shagny-Lovinming) is ridden by a female jockey. Seymour, race 3, Wednesday 2 January. By the look of his form he is a Legless Shag.
Rumour Mill
Another stud farm between Aberdeen and Scone has been sold for a price too good to refuse, to the coal man-cum-horse collector. I believe the sellers will stay on for a while and manage while they organise their future. That makes two in the same road to the one buyer.
Jim's Secrets
The Australian journalist and bloodstock agent Jim Shannon, long since departed, was a great mentor to me in my younger days. Amongst other things, he was world racing manager for Nelson Bunker Hunt in the '70s and '80s. I remember him telling me, at least 25 years ago, that there were a couple of young turks in Australia to watch out for - Lloyd Williams and the late Jim Fleming. He wasn't wrong: Lloyd Williams is renowned as one of the best judges and strategists in racing, and Jim Fleming collected G1 mares like I collect CDs.
With Jim's recent untimely passing, it will be interesting to see what future shape his Tyreel Stud enterprise takes.
Softly-spoken Jim Shannon was of the older school, typewriter and paper always at hand (computers hadn't been invented). I'll never forget having breakfast with him one Easter at the Sebel Townhouse in Sydney, lamentably also gone. It would have been mid-80s. Colin Hayes was also in the restaurant and was paged to take a phone call. Next thing, the office staff brought to Colin a big, bulky cordless phone and plonked it on an ice bucket holder next to his table so he could pick up the call. Jim was mightily impressed with this new technology (the phone was about the size of a wheelie bin!). Not wanting to appear left out of the Impression Stakes, he soon after went out to reception and arranged for them to page him likewise then go through the motions of bringing this phone to him. He had to be up there with the movers and shakers.
Jim's daughter was an architect who was involved in the design of the beautiful Cape Dutch-style buildings which decorated the late Robert Holmes a'Court's ill-starred stud venture at Wallan, near Melbourne, now a subdivision.
Jim was known internationally and was connected with countless good thoroughbreds, many of which he had picked out of a sale ring. I seem to recall he also did some of the early buying for the Inghams. Though often spending time with him and his late wife Nancy, including at their idyllic holiday house at Merimbula (before anyone had heard of the place), I could never prise out of him any of the 'secrets' which made him such a good judge. I was too polite to pester him about it but I wish now I had.
With Jim's recent untimely passing, it will be interesting to see what future shape his Tyreel Stud enterprise takes.
Softly-spoken Jim Shannon was of the older school, typewriter and paper always at hand (computers hadn't been invented). I'll never forget having breakfast with him one Easter at the Sebel Townhouse in Sydney, lamentably also gone. It would have been mid-80s. Colin Hayes was also in the restaurant and was paged to take a phone call. Next thing, the office staff brought to Colin a big, bulky cordless phone and plonked it on an ice bucket holder next to his table so he could pick up the call. Jim was mightily impressed with this new technology (the phone was about the size of a wheelie bin!). Not wanting to appear left out of the Impression Stakes, he soon after went out to reception and arranged for them to page him likewise then go through the motions of bringing this phone to him. He had to be up there with the movers and shakers.
Jim's daughter was an architect who was involved in the design of the beautiful Cape Dutch-style buildings which decorated the late Robert Holmes a'Court's ill-starred stud venture at Wallan, near Melbourne, now a subdivision.
Jim was known internationally and was connected with countless good thoroughbreds, many of which he had picked out of a sale ring. I seem to recall he also did some of the early buying for the Inghams. Though often spending time with him and his late wife Nancy, including at their idyllic holiday house at Merimbula (before anyone had heard of the place), I could never prise out of him any of the 'secrets' which made him such a good judge. I was too polite to pester him about it but I wish now I had.
What You Bloggers Think
The sad nature of my maths skills has been devastatingly exposed earlier in this blog. The readers' poll which has run on the blog for the last week mercifully works out the percentages for me. Of those of you who cast a vote - and it was a small sample so you tell me if it is 'statistically relevant' - 63% said surgery of any kind should be compulsorily notifiable at yearling sales. 23% (or 9 voters) said R.equi should be. EI got 10% of the votes.
At Keeneland, declaration of conformation surgeries is voluntary. However with animals going through the ring two years of age or younger, it's compulsory to lodge a certificate in the repository if the horse has had any invasive joint surgery, surgery to the upper respiratory tract, or any abdominal surgery except to repair a ruptured bladder in a newborn foal. This is over and above warranties/announcements regarding windsuckers, rigs, wobblers, eyes, wind and steroids.
At Keeneland, declaration of conformation surgeries is voluntary. However with animals going through the ring two years of age or younger, it's compulsory to lodge a certificate in the repository if the horse has had any invasive joint surgery, surgery to the upper respiratory tract, or any abdominal surgery except to repair a ruptured bladder in a newborn foal. This is over and above warranties/announcements regarding windsuckers, rigs, wobblers, eyes, wind and steroids.
The Mating Game
The scores are about equal. Yesterday's stakeswinners Imananabaa (G1), Satinka (G2), Lady Alberton (G3) and Galopin (G3) are all products of a 'repeat mating', in each case turning out much better than the first effort. The breeders of Cat's Fun (G2), Fiscal Madness (G2), Pasta Post (G2), Russian Playmate and Scuffs (both LR) hit the jackpot first time; their dams have not returned to their respective sire. Publishing (G3) and Al Be Nimble (LR) are the products of a first mating between their dams and sires but the matings have been subsequently repeated, before it was known whether either of those were any good.
A Man True To His Word
The win of four-year-old Imananabaa in New Year’s day’s G1 Railway Handicap ($200,000, 1200m) at Ellerslie makes her one of the most valuable racemares in New Zealand, not that her trio of owners Sir Patrick Hogan, Peter Walker and Alister Sutherland are likely to be wanting to cash her.
The Australian-foaled but New Zealand-sold (NZ$310,000, Karaka) daughter of Anabaa finished third in the race last year. She belongs to the prodigious Western Australian family descended from Miss Holborn.
It's cute the way the names of her dam, Iman, and sire, Anabaa, have been combined to make a perfectly sensible name, and a lasting advertisement for her sire!
Iman is a Western Australian-bred mare, by a stallion named Zemindar (NZ) which I sold as a yearling at Trentham – where? – in 1985, price NZ$200,000. Yesterday’s win made me recall the circumstances of his sale.
Debbie Evans, in those days running Belmont Bloodstock Agency in Perth, was bringing clients to Trentham and like many others who came was touring through the North Island en route to the sale.
She called me up and arranged for her group to see Waikato Stud's yearlings. They duly arrived in a mini van. I’m embarrassed to say that with the passage of more than 20 years, a case of Eastern Creek Syndrome means I can’t recall the name of her principal client who was later to buy Zemindar. Anyway, he was accompanied by a van load of people including, as I remember, his accountant, lawyer and doctor!
One by one the yearlings were taken out of their boxes and paraded on the lawn. When it was the turn of the Zephyr Bay-Pre Empt colt, and I can still remember the box he came out of, the moment he came out Debbie’s client exclaimed, “I’ll buy that colt”. The hulking chestnut colt was something to behold and blew the socks off most people who saw him. However, I thought it was the combination of a hot day, a liquid lunch and some Aussie bravado talking, and thought no more of it. But true to his word, a couple of weeks later, the West Australian was there bidding away and signing the chit at Trentham.
I remember Gai Waterhouse doing something very similar when she saw a Marscay colt at Magic Millions in 2000. He fell over himself coming out of the box but picked himself up so deftly he struck a chord with Gai who announced she intended to buy him. He was named Excellerator, cost $50,000, earned $2,228,495, and was the unluckiest superior horse during my years at Tulloch Lodge – should have won double.
Zemindar won four of his first five starts in Perth and was touted to be ‘anything’. Instead, he ended up ‘something’, a dual Listed winner of eight races. Stud Book returns were made for 11 seasons with 171 named foals resulting. Only 51 were winners and he never sired a stakeswinner, dying in 2003. Imananabaa is the only stakeswinner to date out of a Zemindar mare.
The year after selling Zemindar as a yearling at Trentham, I sold his equally impressive full-sister Heavenly View, a steel grey. She was a stakeswinner in both New Zealand and Australia and was second in the G1 Gadsden at Flemington, known these days as the Salinger. She was a big loss to breeding when she died without issue.
The Australian-foaled but New Zealand-sold (NZ$310,000, Karaka) daughter of Anabaa finished third in the race last year. She belongs to the prodigious Western Australian family descended from Miss Holborn.
It's cute the way the names of her dam, Iman, and sire, Anabaa, have been combined to make a perfectly sensible name, and a lasting advertisement for her sire!
Iman is a Western Australian-bred mare, by a stallion named Zemindar (NZ) which I sold as a yearling at Trentham – where? – in 1985, price NZ$200,000. Yesterday’s win made me recall the circumstances of his sale.
Debbie Evans, in those days running Belmont Bloodstock Agency in Perth, was bringing clients to Trentham and like many others who came was touring through the North Island en route to the sale.
She called me up and arranged for her group to see Waikato Stud's yearlings. They duly arrived in a mini van. I’m embarrassed to say that with the passage of more than 20 years, a case of Eastern Creek Syndrome means I can’t recall the name of her principal client who was later to buy Zemindar. Anyway, he was accompanied by a van load of people including, as I remember, his accountant, lawyer and doctor!
One by one the yearlings were taken out of their boxes and paraded on the lawn. When it was the turn of the Zephyr Bay-Pre Empt colt, and I can still remember the box he came out of, the moment he came out Debbie’s client exclaimed, “I’ll buy that colt”. The hulking chestnut colt was something to behold and blew the socks off most people who saw him. However, I thought it was the combination of a hot day, a liquid lunch and some Aussie bravado talking, and thought no more of it. But true to his word, a couple of weeks later, the West Australian was there bidding away and signing the chit at Trentham.
I remember Gai Waterhouse doing something very similar when she saw a Marscay colt at Magic Millions in 2000. He fell over himself coming out of the box but picked himself up so deftly he struck a chord with Gai who announced she intended to buy him. He was named Excellerator, cost $50,000, earned $2,228,495, and was the unluckiest superior horse during my years at Tulloch Lodge – should have won double.
Zemindar won four of his first five starts in Perth and was touted to be ‘anything’. Instead, he ended up ‘something’, a dual Listed winner of eight races. Stud Book returns were made for 11 seasons with 171 named foals resulting. Only 51 were winners and he never sired a stakeswinner, dying in 2003. Imananabaa is the only stakeswinner to date out of a Zemindar mare.
The year after selling Zemindar as a yearling at Trentham, I sold his equally impressive full-sister Heavenly View, a steel grey. She was a stakeswinner in both New Zealand and Australia and was second in the G1 Gadsden at Flemington, known these days as the Salinger. She was a big loss to breeding when she died without issue.
Finger Off The Mute Button
Just because it was a brilliant afternoon on New Year's day (not because of the quality or size of the fields) I decided to stroll across to Randwick in shorts and sandals and watch a few races. A question for the powers-that-be: do you think all members of the public interested in inter-track have to be in the betting auditorium? Why can't those of us who are happier to use the grandstand facilities not be provided with audio coverage of meetings like (yesterday) Mornington and Ellerslie, rather than just the mute and often fuzzy Sky Channel coverage? For example, there's that nice little theaterette on the first floor with the big screen but, alas, no sound for anything other than the city meetings. If you think other races aren't worth listening to, don't show them and don't offer betting options. It's probably an old-fashioned idea but a lot of people still go to the races for the races and prefer to sit down occasionally rather than be herded, standing up, into the auditorium to follow their sport. Don't tell me race commentaries are intrusive on a racecourse. I've always thought it should be compulsory for racing club executives and committees for that matter to be frog-marched to a place like Del Mar in Southern California (meeting July/August each year - been there twice) to observe good customer service in action. They'd never want to leave.
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