Weekend Hussling

You have to hand it to John Messara. If he were to fall down the proverbial, you’d bet he’d come up with a pearl. Not because he would be lucky, but because he'd have foreseen the possibility.

His Arrowfield operation owned yesterday’s Blue Diamond day at Caulfield, not only by dint of its sponsorship but through the Group 1 double achieved by the sons of Arrowfield’s Hussonet (USA). John didn’t hand over all that money to showcase a Darley stallion, thank you very much.

John has been staunch in his belief in Hussonet from day one. Often in the face of doubters who think Chilean form is akin to New Caledonia's. OK, it’s a stallion owner’s job to be staunch and, to be fair, John was probably just as bullish about those unmitigated disasters Fuji Kiseki (whose best Australian progeny, Sun Classique, won a stakes in Dubai over the weekend), Unbridled’s Song and End Sweep. But Hussonet’s figures in eight stud seasons in Chile were freakish.

John mentioned to me last year that in hindsight he didn’t secure enough ‘speed’ mares for Hussonet in his first season in Australia, explaining the steady if unspectacular start the sire made in 2006-2007. But he’s making up for lost time! What an excitement machine Weekend Hussler is – thank God he’s a gelding, we might get to see a bit more of him!

I’m chuffed to see Hussonet coming through as I bought a Group 1 winning daughter of his, La Chiflota, at last November’s Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale for an Australian breeder. Due to foal a filly by Breeder’s Cup winner Silver Train, now six-year-old La Chiflota was champion 2YO filly of her year in Chile then won a stakes in New York when sent north. A beautiful type, she will be landed back in Australia later this year for under $300,000, minus whatever her filly foal is worth – somehow I don’t think we’ll be able to buy any type of G1 winning daughter of Hussonet for that sort of money down here!

You know where to find me if you’d like a similar scoop this year!

Hussonet is yet another example of a top class stallion who wasn’t a G1 winner on the track – he wasn’t even a stakeswinner. It’s a wonder he didn’t find his way to New Zealand when sold out of the USA originally in 1994, he has a similar profile to many stallions which have gone there – by a champion sire out of a champion mare but not quite a top class performer. Stallions were hard enough to come by in New Zealand in the mid-90s; if he was quoted, perhaps it was Hussonet’s lack of turf form which was a negative.

Ironically, his Red Ransom half-brother Ekraar, a considerably more proven racehorse than Hussonet and a turf exponent, is standing in New Zealand, largely unheralded. He has had some decent yearlings and produced a black-type 2YO at the weekend. In these days of triple-digit mare books, he has struggled to attract patronage which probably means he's going to be OK!

Hussonet’s service fee for 2008 will be the subject of conjecture between now and Easter (or presumably late-April, post Sydney sales). Hussonet is now 17 years old. John will go for the jugular for sure.
There was loose talk of Darley’s Exceed And Excel moving up to $200,000 but after Saturday’s eclipse nothing will be set in stone yet I’m picking.

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Rock Of Gibraltar has been a bit slow to go with his colts but I note he had at least three male winners over the weekend; perhaps the tide is beginning to turn. It usually does when there’s a perceived early sex bias.

Two of these colts, Domain (ex One Under) and Rockwood (ex Foxwood) were outstanding yearlings sold at Inglis Easter. Their dams were also top class racemares in New Zealand.

When asked by a client to nominate the one horse above all I would like to take home from the 2006 Sydney Easter Yearling Sale, the colt who is now known as Domain was my choice. I thought he was faultless. He was in the Kia Ora Stud draft and went to Lloyd Williams for $300,000. To prove me right he’s got to do a helluva lot more than win a provincial maiden – I’m watching him.

Gai bought Rockwood, who was also in my top five colts of the sale. He made $325,000 but would have made more had his dam Foxwood produced a decent horse before him. She had had a couple of spectacular failures by Danehill so this one, being by a son of Danehill, might not have appealed to everyone. But Rock Of Gibraltar isn’t Danehill and it’s far too simplistic to apply the male line test in cases like these.

Gai bought the colt on spec and some time later I was asked for my opinion about the colt by a group of owners to whom he had been prospected. I gave him a strong recommendation and they went ahead and purchased the majority, so I was delighted with his first-up win on Saturday which, after seeing him trial the week before, I was confident he would achieve. The key to him has been time - the cheapest, most valuable and most under-estimated commodity in racing – thank you, EI - as his family is not precocious. Given firm tracks and patient riding from now on he should extend his record and his distance capabilities.

One of Rockwood’s owners is the client for whom I purchased the above-mentioned La Chiflota at Keeneland. He also has an interest in a two-year-old I bought at last year’s Magic Millions, named Geared Up, by Testa Rossa-Certain, by Rory’s Jester. This colt cost $100,000 and is down to make his debut this week. His barrier trial suggested to me he can gallop, too.

Geared Up is a chestnut with a flaxen – almost white – mane and tail and I was fearful when my principal client looked at him at Magic Millions that he would be aghast at the colour scheme. This client seldom ever buys a chestnut let alone a virtual palomino. However, he could see what I liked about the horse and gave me the go ahead to buy him. We’ve got our fingers crossed. I was relieved to see Light Fantastic is bleached in the mane and tail department!

I doubly hope Geared Up makes a racehorse because we were all set to try and buy All American at the same sale until an adverse vet report deflected us. All American was a cracking type with a mouth-watering pedigree yet made only $220,000.

Stop Press: Rock Of Gibraltar's Australian-bred colt Seventh Rock continued his winning ways in South Africa at the weekend, adding a further G3 to his record. He's clearly a good one.

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Good to see Victory Chant starting to fulfil his early promise with a Listed win in Adelaide Saturday. The three-year-old by General Nediym was, predictably when you saw him, the top priced yearling at the 2006 Adelaide Magic Millions. That sale is on the back foot being sandwiched between Melbourne Premier and (this year) the Gold Coast Magic Millions, so it’s a boost that they can proclaim a successful recent sale-topper. More than can be said for some of the headliners which have ‘topped’ other sales of recent times. If you believe all those prices are an indication of true market value then you’ve got a bit to learn. I might do a piece on that subject in a later blog.

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Zarita was a yearling I bid on at the 2006 Karaka Premier Sale but my buyer came up well short of the $190,000 it took to buy her. She was a first class individual. Though he’s not everyone’s cup of tea – because they don’t win the Golden Slipper! – what a good sire Pentire is. His figures are impressive. Buyers are starting to cotton on, however, as they were in strong demand in New Zealand this year. I was underbidder there on one of his colts, out of Palace Lady, losing out to Rob McAnulty. Rob offered the horse to my buyer and I straight afterwards but by the time we had made up our minds to say yes, he had changed his!

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Top New Zealand three-year-old Alamosa (by O’Reilly) won a G1 WFA 1600m against older horses on Friday, clocking 1:32.69 at the Otaki track, his third G1 victory. That’s scooting. Last winter I bought a maiden three-quarter sister to his dam for next to nothing and sent her over to O’Reilly. She looked at him and got in foal. Years ago, I was responsible for the naming of Alamosa's grandam, Logical Miss (by Sound Reason), a useful mare who was raced on lease from Te Parae Stud by some close friends of mine. Their imagination for dreaming up names was, unbelievably, more barren than mine.

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I’ve arrived in Melbourne in readiness for tackling the Premier Sale and hope to start inspecting on Tuesday. On past form it might be a bit much expecting all the Victorian horses to be there that early! I’ve got a couple of orders, let’s see how we go. I think it will be an exceedingly healthy sale.

Question: which world-famous buyer signed for $9,555,000 worth of yearlings in ANZ between 1997 and 2004 (the youngest are now five so they're all fully exposed) for a total return on the racetrack of $830,000? He has signed for a further $11 million worth since then but as they’re four-year-olds and younger we must wait a few years for the outcome.