There But For The Grace Of ....
Did you see the Four Corners programme on the art auction world on ABC TV on Monday night? Heck, for a moment there I thought they were talking about the thoroughbred sales business.
Remember When A New Zealand Team Could Win Something?
In between watching the rugby and the Tour de France at the weekend, I managed some recreational reading and was impressed with a quarterly publication coming out of Melbourne called “The Thoroughbred”.
Regarding the rugby, Robbie Deans has once again proved the wisdom of the old adage that a Kiwi exported to Australia raises the IQ of both countries. I was a notable example of that a decade ago. The All Blacks, who look blacker than ever these days, seem to have lost the killer instinct.
But back to the magazine. I found it a good read and nicely illustrated, plenty of fresh angles, well-researched and not just a bunch of sycophantic advertorial which is the usual diet served up these days. Because of the instant news delivery of the internet and TV, unless a magazine can find ways of saying something different it won’t have a long life. The Thoroughbred is put out by Geoff Slattery and features quality writers like Danny Power, Stephen Moran, Adrian Dunn, Matthew Stewart, Stephen Howell, Ben Collins, Peter Ryan and Rhett Kirkwood. They are all Melbourne based and the magazine at this stage has a strong Victorian bent but as it grows it intends to widen its horizons. They have a website, check it out.
One article of interest in the Winter edition traversed the progress of women in racing, focusing mostly on the progress/plight of female jockeys. I recall when I left New Zealand to come to Sydney, in 1997, the Auckland Apprentice Jockey School, of which I was the Director, had more female attendees than male. If New Zealand is slipping back in rugby one thing it can always claim to have been ahead in is equal opportunity for females in racing.
Those bastions of freedom, New Zealand and South Australia, lay claim to being the first places in the world to give women the vote, in 1893 and 1894 respectively. Around the time I came to Australia, the New Zealand Prime Minister, Leader Of The Opposition, Governor General, Chief Justice and Attorney General were all female.
I was around when there was the infamous yellow line at Trentham, the line the women didn’t step over, including the women trainers of the time. There was a hell of a stink one year when I recall a youthful Maureen Madsen had one of the fancied runners in the Wellington Cup and couldn’t watch the race in the same area as the other owners and trainers. Maureen was a good looker, a photographic model. I couldn’t imagine any bloke not wanting her to be in the same area. But there weren’t many blokes amongst the Wellington Racing Club officials back then, they were actually dinosaurs.
I came from the north. Auckland v Wellington is like Sydney v Melbourne. Crass and fast v The Old Money, and a touch more liberal. Being a racing journalist meant you turned up at the races, worked for maybe a total of a couple of hours during the day and spent the rest of the time eating and grogging, entertaining your mates who were eternally grateful if they were invited into the holy sanctum of the press room.
At Trentham there was this quaint convention in the press room that you weren’t allowed to open up the grog until “after the first leg of the TAB double” – usually about race five! Unaware of this local custom on my first visit to a Wellington Cup meeting, I copped a decent bollocking from the late John Golder, chairman of the press room, when I innocently began pouring a gin for a distraught visiting owner whose fancied runner, Wiremu, had had to be scratched on the morning of the race.
The main topic of serious conversation in press rooms was usually the quality of catering provided for the privileged hacks whose workplace it was. Complaints were made if it fell much below cordon bleu standard. Journos felt the clubs owed them a living because, after all, “they were giving racing space in the paper”.
The climax of the day was the draw to see who took home the unconsumed liquor after the last race. Liquor was very important. Many senior journalists seemed to attend racemeetings for no other reason but to drink. When I first met them, one or two almost-preserved individuals had been at it so long their hand-to-mouth coordination left a lot to be desired. It appeared to me, basically a non-drinker (so THAT’S why I was unpopular?!) that they spilt as much on the way up to their mouths as what went down their throats. Many clubs supplied copious amounts: half a dozen bottles of gin and whisky, beer by the cartons; you asked for it and most likely you got it. There wasn’t a hope in Hades we could consume it all without ending up paralytic. After the last race we put our names into a hat and did a draw, the winners cramming the unopened and partially full bottles into their briefcases, bags and under their coats so as not to be seen as they crept away from the track with their booty. The dried-up pies still sitting in the warmer went the same way. When I first began working in the press room, in 1968, it became apparent to me that if one remained there too long chances are one ended up dead, divorced or desperately drunk. I got out intact in 1976, though one of the d’s got me eventually whilst another awaits.
But enough of this diversion, back to female jockeys. It was the year after I got out of journalism that women were given their rights, finally, and allowed to ride against the men. As a precursor to open competition, the females had been riding against each other in specially designated non-betting races, euphemistically known as “Powder Puff Derbies”. Several of the pioneers didn’t make it all through to the professional ranks for one reason or another. I remember a few of them, such as Lyall Baird, Cheski Tibbetts, Linda Jones, of course, Debbie Stockwell/Healey and the trail-blazing Canadian jockey Joan Phipps who had been the leading jockey in Saskatchewan in 1972 and 1973. She was the first female to win against the males in New Zealand, on Daphalee in 1 November 1977, and Sue Day was the first professional New Zealand female jockey to win a race, exactly 30 years ago this week.
The Thoroughbred’s article doesn’t purport to be a history of the women’s movement but in passing it mentions the likes of Julie Krone in the USA who retired in 2004 after an 18 year career encompassing more than 3,500 wins, amongst them a Belmont Stakes and a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Ms Krone became the first female jockey inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall Of Fame.
Lesser known and not referred to in the article is possibly the first superior female open competition rider anywhere, the Argentinian Marina Lezcano. Originally barred from apprentice school because of her gender, Lezcano is regarded as one of the greatest female athletes produced in Argentina and was at her zenith through the late‘70s and early ‘80s during a 15 year career. Many Grade 1s fell her way but she became most celebrated through her association with the 1978 champion Telescopico (Table Play-Filipina, by Fomento) who won all four legs of Argentina’s Triple Crown equivalent – the Cuadruple Corona - and the Gran Premio Carlos Pellgrini by 18 lengths. Such were her feats that People Magazine (USA) ran a big feature story on her in March 1979.
No female jockey anywhere had previously won a Grade 1. If memory serves me correctly, Marina Lezcano rode Telescopico when he took on the 1979 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Telescopico features as the broodmare sire of Genereux (Arg), a Grade 1 winner which is standing his first season at stud in Queensland this year. Other important winners ridden by Lezcano which might be known here were the champion mare Bayakoa and the later fairly successful sire Fitzcarraldo. Lezcano, whose father was half South American Indian and whose mother was Irish, retired to have a family and is still a public figure. As recently as February this year a raceday in her honour was held in Argentina.
The first Group 1 race in Australia won by a female jockey was the Fourex Cup at Doomben in July 1982, the good New Zealand jockey Dianne Moseley partnering the New Zealand stayer Double You Em, carrying all of 49 kgs.
Those were the days when a New Zealand team could come here and win something!
Regarding the rugby, Robbie Deans has once again proved the wisdom of the old adage that a Kiwi exported to Australia raises the IQ of both countries. I was a notable example of that a decade ago. The All Blacks, who look blacker than ever these days, seem to have lost the killer instinct.
But back to the magazine. I found it a good read and nicely illustrated, plenty of fresh angles, well-researched and not just a bunch of sycophantic advertorial which is the usual diet served up these days. Because of the instant news delivery of the internet and TV, unless a magazine can find ways of saying something different it won’t have a long life. The Thoroughbred is put out by Geoff Slattery and features quality writers like Danny Power, Stephen Moran, Adrian Dunn, Matthew Stewart, Stephen Howell, Ben Collins, Peter Ryan and Rhett Kirkwood. They are all Melbourne based and the magazine at this stage has a strong Victorian bent but as it grows it intends to widen its horizons. They have a website, check it out.
One article of interest in the Winter edition traversed the progress of women in racing, focusing mostly on the progress/plight of female jockeys. I recall when I left New Zealand to come to Sydney, in 1997, the Auckland Apprentice Jockey School, of which I was the Director, had more female attendees than male. If New Zealand is slipping back in rugby one thing it can always claim to have been ahead in is equal opportunity for females in racing.
Those bastions of freedom, New Zealand and South Australia, lay claim to being the first places in the world to give women the vote, in 1893 and 1894 respectively. Around the time I came to Australia, the New Zealand Prime Minister, Leader Of The Opposition, Governor General, Chief Justice and Attorney General were all female.
I was around when there was the infamous yellow line at Trentham, the line the women didn’t step over, including the women trainers of the time. There was a hell of a stink one year when I recall a youthful Maureen Madsen had one of the fancied runners in the Wellington Cup and couldn’t watch the race in the same area as the other owners and trainers. Maureen was a good looker, a photographic model. I couldn’t imagine any bloke not wanting her to be in the same area. But there weren’t many blokes amongst the Wellington Racing Club officials back then, they were actually dinosaurs.
I came from the north. Auckland v Wellington is like Sydney v Melbourne. Crass and fast v The Old Money, and a touch more liberal. Being a racing journalist meant you turned up at the races, worked for maybe a total of a couple of hours during the day and spent the rest of the time eating and grogging, entertaining your mates who were eternally grateful if they were invited into the holy sanctum of the press room.
At Trentham there was this quaint convention in the press room that you weren’t allowed to open up the grog until “after the first leg of the TAB double” – usually about race five! Unaware of this local custom on my first visit to a Wellington Cup meeting, I copped a decent bollocking from the late John Golder, chairman of the press room, when I innocently began pouring a gin for a distraught visiting owner whose fancied runner, Wiremu, had had to be scratched on the morning of the race.
The main topic of serious conversation in press rooms was usually the quality of catering provided for the privileged hacks whose workplace it was. Complaints were made if it fell much below cordon bleu standard. Journos felt the clubs owed them a living because, after all, “they were giving racing space in the paper”.
The climax of the day was the draw to see who took home the unconsumed liquor after the last race. Liquor was very important. Many senior journalists seemed to attend racemeetings for no other reason but to drink. When I first met them, one or two almost-preserved individuals had been at it so long their hand-to-mouth coordination left a lot to be desired. It appeared to me, basically a non-drinker (so THAT’S why I was unpopular?!) that they spilt as much on the way up to their mouths as what went down their throats. Many clubs supplied copious amounts: half a dozen bottles of gin and whisky, beer by the cartons; you asked for it and most likely you got it. There wasn’t a hope in Hades we could consume it all without ending up paralytic. After the last race we put our names into a hat and did a draw, the winners cramming the unopened and partially full bottles into their briefcases, bags and under their coats so as not to be seen as they crept away from the track with their booty. The dried-up pies still sitting in the warmer went the same way. When I first began working in the press room, in 1968, it became apparent to me that if one remained there too long chances are one ended up dead, divorced or desperately drunk. I got out intact in 1976, though one of the d’s got me eventually whilst another awaits.
But enough of this diversion, back to female jockeys. It was the year after I got out of journalism that women were given their rights, finally, and allowed to ride against the men. As a precursor to open competition, the females had been riding against each other in specially designated non-betting races, euphemistically known as “Powder Puff Derbies”. Several of the pioneers didn’t make it all through to the professional ranks for one reason or another. I remember a few of them, such as Lyall Baird, Cheski Tibbetts, Linda Jones, of course, Debbie Stockwell/Healey and the trail-blazing Canadian jockey Joan Phipps who had been the leading jockey in Saskatchewan in 1972 and 1973. She was the first female to win against the males in New Zealand, on Daphalee in 1 November 1977, and Sue Day was the first professional New Zealand female jockey to win a race, exactly 30 years ago this week.
The Thoroughbred’s article doesn’t purport to be a history of the women’s movement but in passing it mentions the likes of Julie Krone in the USA who retired in 2004 after an 18 year career encompassing more than 3,500 wins, amongst them a Belmont Stakes and a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Ms Krone became the first female jockey inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall Of Fame.
Lesser known and not referred to in the article is possibly the first superior female open competition rider anywhere, the Argentinian Marina Lezcano. Originally barred from apprentice school because of her gender, Lezcano is regarded as one of the greatest female athletes produced in Argentina and was at her zenith through the late‘70s and early ‘80s during a 15 year career. Many Grade 1s fell her way but she became most celebrated through her association with the 1978 champion Telescopico (Table Play-Filipina, by Fomento) who won all four legs of Argentina’s Triple Crown equivalent – the Cuadruple Corona - and the Gran Premio Carlos Pellgrini by 18 lengths. Such were her feats that People Magazine (USA) ran a big feature story on her in March 1979.
No female jockey anywhere had previously won a Grade 1. If memory serves me correctly, Marina Lezcano rode Telescopico when he took on the 1979 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Telescopico features as the broodmare sire of Genereux (Arg), a Grade 1 winner which is standing his first season at stud in Queensland this year. Other important winners ridden by Lezcano which might be known here were the champion mare Bayakoa and the later fairly successful sire Fitzcarraldo. Lezcano, whose father was half South American Indian and whose mother was Irish, retired to have a family and is still a public figure. As recently as February this year a raceday in her honour was held in Argentina.
The first Group 1 race in Australia won by a female jockey was the Fourex Cup at Doomben in July 1982, the good New Zealand jockey Dianne Moseley partnering the New Zealand stayer Double You Em, carrying all of 49 kgs.
Those were the days when a New Zealand team could come here and win something!
Keep The Old Girls At Home
Thinking back over the round of broodmare sales we had this autumn, I’m moved to make a plea to the auction houses – Inglis and Magic Millions – to bar entry to their sales of mares 20 years of age and older.
It’s not a big problem as such, but I just don't think it's a good look. Out of the many hundreds of broodmares which went through the ring this year, at major sales, there were only four 20+ mares. They made $6,500, $1,400, $500 and no bid with a $3,000 reserve. Convert This Price!Gerry Harvey nearly got in on the act, he accepted $5,000 for Donna Iris but she was only a juvenile 19. But what is it with the owners of these mares that they need money so desperately? As with humans in enlightened societies, we should take responsibility to care for our aged and infirm. (I hope my sons are reading this – I’m nearly 60). I feel we should have some minimum standards.
Give these old girls a decent home until the end of their days, or find a less publicly ignominious method of moving them on (the ignominy applies to the vendor, not the mare). Don’t reward them for their lifetime of effort with the stress and strain of going to market for what is usually just a pittance, playing Russian roulette with the dogger.
Ironically, the sales companies rip commission off the sale of these mares but not off Milanova and Divine Madonna! Go figure.
As the gap between commercially useful mares and ‘the others’ widens, the dogger is again becoming a fixture at sales.
At least 143 thoroughbreds sold at auction for $300 or less during the autumn/winter this year. I’m not suggesting all of them went to the dogger, they didn’t. But if you use $1,000 as a cut-off, the number not exceeding that price point is prodigious.
Several breeders were most upset to witness about 15 hapless mares being unceremoniously herded onto the back of a cattle truck and driven away, right in the middle of the Magic Millions complex, at the June sale. Doubtless the same might happen at Inglis, but we are spared the spectacle as their loading ramps are a little more discreetly situated.
In other news from the broodmare sales, I hear Arrowfield, Coolmore, Darley, Oaklands, Widden and Vinery – and even Bridgeview – have registered a whole bunch of variously named shelf companies to avoid being shunted off Day 1 at Magic Millions in future. They will pick a company name to sell under depending what the all-important starting letter is. Stunt Consultants Pty Ltd will have some opposition.
It’s not a big problem as such, but I just don't think it's a good look. Out of the many hundreds of broodmares which went through the ring this year, at major sales, there were only four 20+ mares. They made $6,500, $1,400, $500 and no bid with a $3,000 reserve. Convert This Price!Gerry Harvey nearly got in on the act, he accepted $5,000 for Donna Iris but she was only a juvenile 19. But what is it with the owners of these mares that they need money so desperately? As with humans in enlightened societies, we should take responsibility to care for our aged and infirm. (I hope my sons are reading this – I’m nearly 60). I feel we should have some minimum standards.
Give these old girls a decent home until the end of their days, or find a less publicly ignominious method of moving them on (the ignominy applies to the vendor, not the mare). Don’t reward them for their lifetime of effort with the stress and strain of going to market for what is usually just a pittance, playing Russian roulette with the dogger.
Ironically, the sales companies rip commission off the sale of these mares but not off Milanova and Divine Madonna! Go figure.
As the gap between commercially useful mares and ‘the others’ widens, the dogger is again becoming a fixture at sales.
At least 143 thoroughbreds sold at auction for $300 or less during the autumn/winter this year. I’m not suggesting all of them went to the dogger, they didn’t. But if you use $1,000 as a cut-off, the number not exceeding that price point is prodigious.
Several breeders were most upset to witness about 15 hapless mares being unceremoniously herded onto the back of a cattle truck and driven away, right in the middle of the Magic Millions complex, at the June sale. Doubtless the same might happen at Inglis, but we are spared the spectacle as their loading ramps are a little more discreetly situated.
In other news from the broodmare sales, I hear Arrowfield, Coolmore, Darley, Oaklands, Widden and Vinery – and even Bridgeview – have registered a whole bunch of variously named shelf companies to avoid being shunted off Day 1 at Magic Millions in future. They will pick a company name to sell under depending what the all-important starting letter is. Stunt Consultants Pty Ltd will have some opposition.
Size This One Up
How far-fetched does this sound?
All-conquering John Size to train for Patinack Farm at the splendidly-developed Shipton Lodge complex (owned by his buddy Bob Ruttley) near Cobbitty, south west of Sydney.
My source is not an idle rumour-mongerer (unlike me) so I listen intently.
All-conquering John Size to train for Patinack Farm at the splendidly-developed Shipton Lodge complex (owned by his buddy Bob Ruttley) near Cobbitty, south west of Sydney.
My source is not an idle rumour-mongerer (unlike me) so I listen intently.
Conspiracy Theories Are Generally Just That
Not being an Australian citizen and therefore not a voter, I haven’t had to concern myself too much with politics in this country.
The derisory attitudes many Australians have towards New Zealanders, just as prevalent, I have to say, amongst Australians in breeding as anywhere else, acts as a disincentive to becoming Australian. It’s a bit like the Germans and the war – never being allowed to forget they lost it, contribution to everything else overlooked.
Why Australians have this attitude towards their poor, little defenceless cousins across the ditch, possessors of someone else’s land just like them, I can only wonder. I’ll read some Freud and perhaps find the answer.
(As for the sheep jokes, there are far more sheep in Australia than in New Zealand. The reason that's not widely appreciated is because the Australian sheep are camouflaged - they are the same colour as Australian grass).
I might be on the first plane back ‘home’ (I wasn’t born there, either) if it wasn’t for the hapless political system in New Zealand. Can you take seriously a country of 4 million people with 120 representatives in Parliament, 60 of whom aren’t even elected and seem to turn up just whenever they please?
I like the robustness of Australian politics and its characters even if, in this media-driven age, so much of it is reduced to image, spin, perception and superficiality.
Something I’ve kept a distance from, because I’m only a fringe dweller, is racing politics in NSW. How hard it must be to make progress in organizations that are inherently factional and sectional-interest driven.
So I look on from the sidelines at the latest attempt at reform of racing’s management in this state. The Board of RacingNSW will be an all-powerful body. There’s nothing it won’t control or influence the direction of, from money to programming and all points in between. In this climate, conspiracy theories grow like mushrooms. Even a mug punter like me is entitled to have one. But I'll get in before anyone else, I may not have a good grasp of the fine print so welcome anyone taking the opportunity here to set the record straight and paint the correct picture.
What guarantee is there that the composition of the soon-to-be appointed five person membership of the independent Board of Racing NSW is not already a fait accompli?
As I read it, under the recently passed Thoroughbred Racing Amendment Bill, the Appointments Panel consisting of nine industry representatives appointed by the NSW Minister for Racing, decides who the five Board members will be, “on skills based criteria”.
The Panel’s composition is subject to Ministerial approval but their nominations for Board membership appear not to be. Is that correct?
The Panel is “assisted” in finding potential members of the Board by an external recruitment agency which has already called for nominations.
This could be shadow boxing. It is not incumbent on the Panel to act on the advice of the external recruitment agency.
Votes of six of the nine Panel appointees are required to approve the nomination of a Board member. I believe originally seven votes were required, but the number has been cut back.
How do we know that there hasn’t already been, or will not be, horse-trading to secure votes between some proposed applicants who might come from strong vested interest backgrounds determined to spread their influence, and some Panel members?
The new Board’s existence depends on the continued approval of its performance by the Appointments Panel. If those natives get restless, it will take a 75% vote for the Minister to dismiss the Board.
Is there any step in this process which assures all industry stakeholders, big and small, that personal merit and that alone will be the criterion on which Board nominees are assessed?
It seems to me that the Board may be “independent” only in the sense that it has been given unfettered power to act on almost all issues affecting the welfare of racing on NSW, but that is not the same as having an “independent” membership. It is quite possible that persons may get on this Board who are there to do the bidding of the Panel voting blocks which put them there.
I don’t regard this as particularly transparent. What are the checks and balances on the conduct of the Appointments Panel? If there are none, there are presumably no checks and balances on the nominations to the Board.
Someone also explain to me why the Appointments Panel is composed of nine industry representatives, appointed by the Minister, while the Racing Industry Consultation Group, set up under the Bill to consult at least on a monthly basis with RacingNSW, has the same composition but different personnel? Is this to make it look like the members of the Appointments Panel would have no influence on the Board once they’d made their appointments? Really?
Grass roots racing people fear breeder domination of the policy-making instrument in racing. Will our racing become less multi-dimensional and just a vehicle for the sale of stallion noms and promotion of the commercial end of the breeding sector as if nothing else in the sport is important?
And without any doubt whatsoever, racing does not need a dictator, neither here in NSW nor anywhere else. Are there any examples of dictatorships which have been benign, enlightened and for the good of all? It’s a dreadful form of government which millions have given their lives to topple.
The derisory attitudes many Australians have towards New Zealanders, just as prevalent, I have to say, amongst Australians in breeding as anywhere else, acts as a disincentive to becoming Australian. It’s a bit like the Germans and the war – never being allowed to forget they lost it, contribution to everything else overlooked.
Why Australians have this attitude towards their poor, little defenceless cousins across the ditch, possessors of someone else’s land just like them, I can only wonder. I’ll read some Freud and perhaps find the answer.
(As for the sheep jokes, there are far more sheep in Australia than in New Zealand. The reason that's not widely appreciated is because the Australian sheep are camouflaged - they are the same colour as Australian grass).
I might be on the first plane back ‘home’ (I wasn’t born there, either) if it wasn’t for the hapless political system in New Zealand. Can you take seriously a country of 4 million people with 120 representatives in Parliament, 60 of whom aren’t even elected and seem to turn up just whenever they please?
I like the robustness of Australian politics and its characters even if, in this media-driven age, so much of it is reduced to image, spin, perception and superficiality.
Something I’ve kept a distance from, because I’m only a fringe dweller, is racing politics in NSW. How hard it must be to make progress in organizations that are inherently factional and sectional-interest driven.
So I look on from the sidelines at the latest attempt at reform of racing’s management in this state. The Board of RacingNSW will be an all-powerful body. There’s nothing it won’t control or influence the direction of, from money to programming and all points in between. In this climate, conspiracy theories grow like mushrooms. Even a mug punter like me is entitled to have one. But I'll get in before anyone else, I may not have a good grasp of the fine print so welcome anyone taking the opportunity here to set the record straight and paint the correct picture.
What guarantee is there that the composition of the soon-to-be appointed five person membership of the independent Board of Racing NSW is not already a fait accompli?
As I read it, under the recently passed Thoroughbred Racing Amendment Bill, the Appointments Panel consisting of nine industry representatives appointed by the NSW Minister for Racing, decides who the five Board members will be, “on skills based criteria”.
The Panel’s composition is subject to Ministerial approval but their nominations for Board membership appear not to be. Is that correct?
The Panel is “assisted” in finding potential members of the Board by an external recruitment agency which has already called for nominations.
This could be shadow boxing. It is not incumbent on the Panel to act on the advice of the external recruitment agency.
Votes of six of the nine Panel appointees are required to approve the nomination of a Board member. I believe originally seven votes were required, but the number has been cut back.
How do we know that there hasn’t already been, or will not be, horse-trading to secure votes between some proposed applicants who might come from strong vested interest backgrounds determined to spread their influence, and some Panel members?
The new Board’s existence depends on the continued approval of its performance by the Appointments Panel. If those natives get restless, it will take a 75% vote for the Minister to dismiss the Board.
Is there any step in this process which assures all industry stakeholders, big and small, that personal merit and that alone will be the criterion on which Board nominees are assessed?
It seems to me that the Board may be “independent” only in the sense that it has been given unfettered power to act on almost all issues affecting the welfare of racing on NSW, but that is not the same as having an “independent” membership. It is quite possible that persons may get on this Board who are there to do the bidding of the Panel voting blocks which put them there.
I don’t regard this as particularly transparent. What are the checks and balances on the conduct of the Appointments Panel? If there are none, there are presumably no checks and balances on the nominations to the Board.
Someone also explain to me why the Appointments Panel is composed of nine industry representatives, appointed by the Minister, while the Racing Industry Consultation Group, set up under the Bill to consult at least on a monthly basis with RacingNSW, has the same composition but different personnel? Is this to make it look like the members of the Appointments Panel would have no influence on the Board once they’d made their appointments? Really?
Grass roots racing people fear breeder domination of the policy-making instrument in racing. Will our racing become less multi-dimensional and just a vehicle for the sale of stallion noms and promotion of the commercial end of the breeding sector as if nothing else in the sport is important?
And without any doubt whatsoever, racing does not need a dictator, neither here in NSW nor anywhere else. Are there any examples of dictatorships which have been benign, enlightened and for the good of all? It’s a dreadful form of government which millions have given their lives to topple.
Those Nasty Rumours!
Heard downwind from the Hunter chattering classes ... a high level defection from the Patinack team? Possibly over disagreement with purchasing decisions and things like areas of responsibility. Not necessarily related, a suggestion one well known yearling buyer has received a substantial 'gift' from a well known breeder, too large to fit in a mailbox? One hears these suggestions all the time! I need a bigger mailbox.
I understand Patinack were guests of Shadai at the Japanese sale. There are some strong, tough bloodlines up there, good to see them get amongst it. Talk is that the hitherto impregnable wall around racing ownership in Japan is soon to be breached.
I notice one of the mid-range buyers at the Japanese sale goes under the name "Carrot Club". Mind boggles.
I understand Patinack were guests of Shadai at the Japanese sale. There are some strong, tough bloodlines up there, good to see them get amongst it. Talk is that the hitherto impregnable wall around racing ownership in Japan is soon to be breached.
I notice one of the mid-range buyers at the Japanese sale goes under the name "Carrot Club". Mind boggles.
Archipenko Is Doubly Special
Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum – yellow with the blue yoke – has had mixed fortunes since he began making heavy investments in Australian bloodstock about six years ago.
He has spent squillions aiming for the big time here without really hitting the jackpot. Murtajill was a colt with high ability but through bad luck mostly appears to have missed the bus, Perfectly Ready got a soft G1 after he bought into him and he bred but sold Von Costa de Hero as a yearling. It’s now owned by his cuz. There has been the odd success at a reasonable level but they pale into insignificance compared with what he’s spent. A big day in the sun still awaits him.
Overseas, he seems to have fared rather better, sourcing tried horses from all ends of the globe which have subsequently raced well for him at Group level, including Asiatic Boy.
One of the most recent is Archipenko which won the G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong in April and added the G2 Summer Mile at Ascot in England this morning.
Archipenko who, as a three-year-old ran last in the English Derby, is these days trained by South African Mike de Kock who knows no borders in his pursuit of racing’s big prizes: he has to be one of the universe’s great organizers, this bloke.
Named for a celebrated Ukrainian sculptor of the cubist school, Archipenko is a four-year-old with one of the most exalted pedigrees imaginable – by Kingmambo out of Bound, by Nijinsky out of Special. That’s so exciting it could cause incontinence.
Surely one day Kingmambo is going to leave a superior sire son? It’ll be a tragedy if he doesn’t. He is a great sire and it should be noted that he has achieved that greatness, albeit with the help of many fine mares, but with foals crops which have exceeded 80 in number only once.
I first saw the horse in 1996 when I went to Lexington, Kentucky, with Peter Keating to finalise the shuttling of another G1 winning son of Mr Prospector by the name of Miner’s Mark who was just retiring to Lane’s End.
We took one look at Miner’s Mark and knew he wasn’t the horse for us. He was as big and as ugly as Kingmambo was neat and attractive. Only half-jokingly we suggested Lane’s End might like to consider shuttling Kingmambo, then only in his third season. The answer we got reminded me that even Americans think we are just a bunch of colonials, except when it comes to fighting their wars.
Miner’s Mark turned out to be worse than bad. Later, he had a brother named Traditionally who shuttled to NZ but he has been a rank failure in both hemispheres, though his two-year-old colt Firth Of Fifth scored an upset win in the G2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.
The stallion we ended up shuttling from that trip was the great sprinter Housebuster (by Mt Livermore) who was received with mild enthusiasm in NZ, shuttling twice and leaving just over 100 live foals. The one thing Housebuster forgot to do in NZ was leave his own speed; his best winners liked a middle distance. On bald figures he didn’t do a bad job with nearly 66% winners-to-runners and five stakeswinners, 7.5% of his starters. He is the sire of the dam of this season’s highest earning NZ juvenile, Vincent Mangano but I go on too much, I am only trying to justify the decision!
Back to Archipenko. He is the 11th and final foal of Bound who was 20 when she foaled him. Bound is out of the very special Special from whom descend nearly three dozen of the best-known stakeswinners of recent decades. She is the dam of Number and of Nureyev and the grandam of Sadler’s Wells and Fairy King.
Kingmambo is out of the peerless miler Miesque who is by Nureyev. Nureyev and Bound are three-quarter siblings. Rasmussen Factor to die for (more about Rasmussen some other time). Nine of Bound’s 11 foals were either by Mr Prospector or a variety of his sons and until Archipenko came along none of them was a stakeswinner. Persistence is hard to beat, if you can afford it.
He has spent squillions aiming for the big time here without really hitting the jackpot. Murtajill was a colt with high ability but through bad luck mostly appears to have missed the bus, Perfectly Ready got a soft G1 after he bought into him and he bred but sold Von Costa de Hero as a yearling. It’s now owned by his cuz. There has been the odd success at a reasonable level but they pale into insignificance compared with what he’s spent. A big day in the sun still awaits him.
Overseas, he seems to have fared rather better, sourcing tried horses from all ends of the globe which have subsequently raced well for him at Group level, including Asiatic Boy.
One of the most recent is Archipenko which won the G1 Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong in April and added the G2 Summer Mile at Ascot in England this morning.
Archipenko who, as a three-year-old ran last in the English Derby, is these days trained by South African Mike de Kock who knows no borders in his pursuit of racing’s big prizes: he has to be one of the universe’s great organizers, this bloke.
Named for a celebrated Ukrainian sculptor of the cubist school, Archipenko is a four-year-old with one of the most exalted pedigrees imaginable – by Kingmambo out of Bound, by Nijinsky out of Special. That’s so exciting it could cause incontinence.
Surely one day Kingmambo is going to leave a superior sire son? It’ll be a tragedy if he doesn’t. He is a great sire and it should be noted that he has achieved that greatness, albeit with the help of many fine mares, but with foals crops which have exceeded 80 in number only once.
I first saw the horse in 1996 when I went to Lexington, Kentucky, with Peter Keating to finalise the shuttling of another G1 winning son of Mr Prospector by the name of Miner’s Mark who was just retiring to Lane’s End.
We took one look at Miner’s Mark and knew he wasn’t the horse for us. He was as big and as ugly as Kingmambo was neat and attractive. Only half-jokingly we suggested Lane’s End might like to consider shuttling Kingmambo, then only in his third season. The answer we got reminded me that even Americans think we are just a bunch of colonials, except when it comes to fighting their wars.
Miner’s Mark turned out to be worse than bad. Later, he had a brother named Traditionally who shuttled to NZ but he has been a rank failure in both hemispheres, though his two-year-old colt Firth Of Fifth scored an upset win in the G2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket on Friday.
The stallion we ended up shuttling from that trip was the great sprinter Housebuster (by Mt Livermore) who was received with mild enthusiasm in NZ, shuttling twice and leaving just over 100 live foals. The one thing Housebuster forgot to do in NZ was leave his own speed; his best winners liked a middle distance. On bald figures he didn’t do a bad job with nearly 66% winners-to-runners and five stakeswinners, 7.5% of his starters. He is the sire of the dam of this season’s highest earning NZ juvenile, Vincent Mangano but I go on too much, I am only trying to justify the decision!
Back to Archipenko. He is the 11th and final foal of Bound who was 20 when she foaled him. Bound is out of the very special Special from whom descend nearly three dozen of the best-known stakeswinners of recent decades. She is the dam of Number and of Nureyev and the grandam of Sadler’s Wells and Fairy King.
Kingmambo is out of the peerless miler Miesque who is by Nureyev. Nureyev and Bound are three-quarter siblings. Rasmussen Factor to die for (more about Rasmussen some other time). Nine of Bound’s 11 foals were either by Mr Prospector or a variety of his sons and until Archipenko came along none of them was a stakeswinner. Persistence is hard to beat, if you can afford it.
July Cup Winner Inbred To Kenmare
Australian-bred War Artist (Orpen-Royal Solitaire, by Royal Academy), a favourite of mine from the 2005 Magic Million Yearling Sale, made a fine attempt to lead throughout this morning’s G1 July Cup at Newmarket only to be collared by a head and half a length.
The July Cup has a history of unearthing stallions of future influence. Winner Marchand d’Or and War Artist certainly won’t be amongst the sires of the future as both are geldings. The future prospect this year might be second placed US Ranger, a son of Danzig out of a Red Ransom mare from the family of Dynaformer, not forgetting that another son of Danzig, Danehill, once finished third in this race. (US Ranger’s grandam is by His Majesty, also broodmare sire of Danehill, which opens up some interesting breeding scenarios!).
Winning favourite, the French-bred and trained Marchand d’Or, has an intriguing pedigree for a horse who is clearly one of Europe's elite sprinters. The July Cup was the five-year-old’s sixth win from 1000m to 1400m in 10 career starts. He finished fourth in the July Cup last year and his victories include the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, twice, and the G3 Prix de la Porte Maillot at Longchamp, twice.
His 18-year-old sire Marchand de Sable won only three of 18 races, the G1 Criterium de St-Cloud over 2000m as a two-year-old being his only stakes success. His other wins came as a five-year-old over 2400m and 4000m at Nantes. At stud he has produced just one other G1 winner, the filly Commercante, who won Canada’s E.P. Taylor Stakes.
Marchand de Sable is an American-bred by Theatrical out of a French Listed winner Mercantile who won from 1800m to 2400m. He has a three-quarter sister at stud in Australia, Magicienne (by Nureyev) who is yet to leave a winner from four foals of racing age. She has been through the sale ring a couple of times here, most recently as a supplementary entry at the Magic Millions Gold Coast last month. In foal to Holy Roman Emperor, she was passed in well short of the $80,000 reserve placed on her by the Wadham Park/Woodside Park outfit which owns her. Mercantile was a half-sister to Exceptionnel (Ire), ironically a Listed winner at Nantes and third in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, almost mirroring his later relative Marchand de Sable. Exceptionnel stood in relative obscurity at a small stud near Matamata, New Zealand, entering service in 1977 and leaving four stakeswinners amongst his 195 foals. The most notable of these was Kotare Chief who scored a spectacular win in the G1 Auckland Cup, 3200m, and also placed second in another renewal of that race. Exceptionnel was by the stayer Exbury, briefly fashionable around that time when his son Zamazaan (Fr) emerged as one of New Zealand’s best sires, but the male line didn't survive down here.
Marchand de Sable’s dam Mercantile is by Kenmare (Fr) and the interesting aspect of Marchand d’Or’s pedigree is that he is 3f x 3m to that horse whose grey coat colour he carries. Kenmare was a prestigious early shuttler being an already successful sire in France when he first began visiting Arrowfield on a seasonal basis in 1988. I always found him somewhat enigmatic in Australia though he wasn't unsuccessful, siring 18 stakeswinners. It was their lighter-boned, lighter-framed type I had difficulty coming to grips with. His six highest earners were Lahar, Brave Prince, Kenbelle, Baryshnikov, Keltrice and Silver Flyer. His performance as a broodmare sire is similar: 19 stakeswinners to date out his daughters include the likes of Pillaging, Virage de Fortune, No Questions, Here de Angels, Faith Hill (dam of Black Minx), Palia, Just Awesome and Written Tycoon.
The double-up to Kenmare comes through Marchand d’Or’s dam Fedora, a daughter of Kendor (Fr) who also stood in Australia, just one season, 1990. He attracted 62 mares who produced 45 live foals. One of them was a Listed winner, Twitter, the grandam of this season’s G1 winning three-year-old filly Serious Speed.
Kenmare won from 900m to 1600m and Kendor from 1200m to 1600m, so it’s reasonable to postulate this pair have much to do with producing the speed possessed by Marchand d’Or as his own sire’s progeny have a winning distance index of 2155m.
Marchand d’Or’s immediate family is fairly undistinguished, though his third dam Kesar Queen was a smart European filly of the mid-seventies. He has a distant Australian relative, this season’s modest two-year-old Listed winner Gold In Dubai (by Desert Sun) whose third dam Meadow Saffron is Marchand d’Or’s fourth dam.
With the likes of Dr Green (out of Palia), Markane (out of Palia’s dam Kew Gardens), Casino Prince (grandson of Kew Gardens), Purrealist (grandam by Kenmare), and Written Tycoon at stud, owners of Kenmare-line mares in Australia can play around with inbreeding to Kenmare if they fancy their chances of breeding themselves a Marchand d’Or.
The July Cup has a history of unearthing stallions of future influence. Winner Marchand d’Or and War Artist certainly won’t be amongst the sires of the future as both are geldings. The future prospect this year might be second placed US Ranger, a son of Danzig out of a Red Ransom mare from the family of Dynaformer, not forgetting that another son of Danzig, Danehill, once finished third in this race. (US Ranger’s grandam is by His Majesty, also broodmare sire of Danehill, which opens up some interesting breeding scenarios!).
Winning favourite, the French-bred and trained Marchand d’Or, has an intriguing pedigree for a horse who is clearly one of Europe's elite sprinters. The July Cup was the five-year-old’s sixth win from 1000m to 1400m in 10 career starts. He finished fourth in the July Cup last year and his victories include the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, twice, and the G3 Prix de la Porte Maillot at Longchamp, twice.
His 18-year-old sire Marchand de Sable won only three of 18 races, the G1 Criterium de St-Cloud over 2000m as a two-year-old being his only stakes success. His other wins came as a five-year-old over 2400m and 4000m at Nantes. At stud he has produced just one other G1 winner, the filly Commercante, who won Canada’s E.P. Taylor Stakes.
Marchand de Sable is an American-bred by Theatrical out of a French Listed winner Mercantile who won from 1800m to 2400m. He has a three-quarter sister at stud in Australia, Magicienne (by Nureyev) who is yet to leave a winner from four foals of racing age. She has been through the sale ring a couple of times here, most recently as a supplementary entry at the Magic Millions Gold Coast last month. In foal to Holy Roman Emperor, she was passed in well short of the $80,000 reserve placed on her by the Wadham Park/Woodside Park outfit which owns her. Mercantile was a half-sister to Exceptionnel (Ire), ironically a Listed winner at Nantes and third in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, almost mirroring his later relative Marchand de Sable. Exceptionnel stood in relative obscurity at a small stud near Matamata, New Zealand, entering service in 1977 and leaving four stakeswinners amongst his 195 foals. The most notable of these was Kotare Chief who scored a spectacular win in the G1 Auckland Cup, 3200m, and also placed second in another renewal of that race. Exceptionnel was by the stayer Exbury, briefly fashionable around that time when his son Zamazaan (Fr) emerged as one of New Zealand’s best sires, but the male line didn't survive down here.
Marchand de Sable’s dam Mercantile is by Kenmare (Fr) and the interesting aspect of Marchand d’Or’s pedigree is that he is 3f x 3m to that horse whose grey coat colour he carries. Kenmare was a prestigious early shuttler being an already successful sire in France when he first began visiting Arrowfield on a seasonal basis in 1988. I always found him somewhat enigmatic in Australia though he wasn't unsuccessful, siring 18 stakeswinners. It was their lighter-boned, lighter-framed type I had difficulty coming to grips with. His six highest earners were Lahar, Brave Prince, Kenbelle, Baryshnikov, Keltrice and Silver Flyer. His performance as a broodmare sire is similar: 19 stakeswinners to date out his daughters include the likes of Pillaging, Virage de Fortune, No Questions, Here de Angels, Faith Hill (dam of Black Minx), Palia, Just Awesome and Written Tycoon.
The double-up to Kenmare comes through Marchand d’Or’s dam Fedora, a daughter of Kendor (Fr) who also stood in Australia, just one season, 1990. He attracted 62 mares who produced 45 live foals. One of them was a Listed winner, Twitter, the grandam of this season’s G1 winning three-year-old filly Serious Speed.
Kenmare won from 900m to 1600m and Kendor from 1200m to 1600m, so it’s reasonable to postulate this pair have much to do with producing the speed possessed by Marchand d’Or as his own sire’s progeny have a winning distance index of 2155m.
Marchand d’Or’s immediate family is fairly undistinguished, though his third dam Kesar Queen was a smart European filly of the mid-seventies. He has a distant Australian relative, this season’s modest two-year-old Listed winner Gold In Dubai (by Desert Sun) whose third dam Meadow Saffron is Marchand d’Or’s fourth dam.
With the likes of Dr Green (out of Palia), Markane (out of Palia’s dam Kew Gardens), Casino Prince (grandson of Kew Gardens), Purrealist (grandam by Kenmare), and Written Tycoon at stud, owners of Kenmare-line mares in Australia can play around with inbreeding to Kenmare if they fancy their chances of breeding themselves a Marchand d’Or.
Dream Teams
Barack and Hillary. Kevin and Julia. John and Belinda. Blake and Nash. The Diva and Glen. Aidan and Johnnie. Robbie and Gai. Morris and Michael. Richard and Caroline.
What about the dude giving the TV comments from the Haydock Park UK races last night - a fine imitation of Mel Blanc's Bugs Bunny on speed - paired with the commentateurrrrr from Greyville racetrack in Durban? No wonder people are leaving South Africa in droves. How would you like that pair doing coverage for you every day!
We have our own doozies in Australia - a nasal one in Victoria and a shrill one in NSW in particlar.
A great invention, the mute button.
What about the dude giving the TV comments from the Haydock Park UK races last night - a fine imitation of Mel Blanc's Bugs Bunny on speed - paired with the commentateurrrrr from Greyville racetrack in Durban? No wonder people are leaving South Africa in droves. How would you like that pair doing coverage for you every day!
We have our own doozies in Australia - a nasal one in Victoria and a shrill one in NSW in particlar.
A great invention, the mute button.
This Will Help You Pick A Winner - Oh Sure!
Having glanced over the Australian black-type races from the beginning of the Melbourne autumn carnival (1 February) to the end of the Queensland winter carnival (about 270 winners), I have a few observations based on this sample.
(The first half of the 2007-08 season will always be an aberration because EI suspended racing in NSW and Queensland. But things were back to normal by February, so that’s the start of my sample).
=If you think you own a potential stakeswinner, it’s most likely to be one of the first four foals of its dam.
=If the mare produced the foal after an ‘empty’ year, then it’s not likely to give you an edge.
=If the mare’s had a few foals and none of the earlier ones has been a stakeswinner or stakes-placed, don’t worry too much – only one-third of the dams of stakeswinners have had any previous black-type record.
=Your horse has nearly twice as good a chance of being a stakeswinner if its dam won a race.
=If you bought your horse at auction, it has a better chance of being a stakeswinner than if you didn’t.
=If you did buy it at auction, the more you paid the better your horse is likely to be.
Looking at these sweeping generalisations in order:
If you think you own a potential stakeswinner, it’s most likely to be one of the first four foals of its dam.
The average foal number of Group 1 winners was 3.31, dropping down to Listed winners at 4.08. Narrowing it even further, just over half of all black-type winners was a first-three-foal, with a marked 65.5% in Group 1. This fits with a study I did a couple of years ago which suggested to me that the higher the foal number out of the mare, the lower the status of race the progeny are likely to win, on average. (I'm aware Fields Of Omagh was a 12th foal, Secretariat etc, the exceptions which prove the rule). I guess that’s why we cull mares when they get older!
In the period I’ve looked at, the most ‘senior’ Group 1 winning foal was Shadoways (Encosta de Lago-Be My Pride) who is the 9th foal of his dam and won the G1 SAJC Goodwood Handicap, hardly the most exalted race on the calendar. It was his only black-type success in 10 starts this term and his only previous stakes success was at Listed level. As yet unbeaten three-year-old Light Fantastic (Danehill Dancer-Leica Or Not) did his ageing mother proud as he is her 8th foal. Right behind him is the G1 leviathan Apache Cat (Lion Cavern-Tennessee Blaze) and leading filly Zarita (Pentire-Gin Player) who are both 7th foals. Six (21%) of the 29 G1 winners were first foals. This is a higher figure than for the other divisions and seems to support my belief that when you get a good first foal it can be outstanding.
There was also only one 9th foal amongst the 39 G2 winners, Serious Speed (Royal Academy-Twitter), also a G1 winner earlier during the restricted Melbourne spring. Light Fantastic and Zarita also won at G2 level and there were three other successful 7th foals: Gallant Tess (Galileo-Dragoncello), El Cambio (Commands-Chaparra) and Portillo (Red Ransom-Snowdrift). There were only four (10%) G2 winning first foals.
The 58 Group 3 winners also had a fairly youthful profile, with a lower average foal number than Group 2. The ‘oldest’ foal was an 8th, Lucky Diva (Perugino-Lucky Witch). She is a rising seven-year-old, a sterling winner of 11 races, but apart from a Listed win as a two-year-old in Adelaide (no offence) this is her only other black-type victory. Apart from El Cambio, also a winner at G2 level, above, there were three G2 winning 7th foals: Musidora (Rock Of Gibraltar-Nice Dancing), recently sold for $1 million; Hoystar (Danzero-Professionelle) and Rezone (Electronic Zone-Lochrene), an honest horse but no threat to Rising Fast. Seven first foals (12%) were G3 winners.
The old-age pensioners figured better at Listed level, a much bigger sample with 135 individual winners. Taking the Gold Medal for longevity is the American-bred mare Waterford Fair whose 14th foal is Single Rose (by Irgun) who reeled off 1200m in 1:08.76 to win at Eagle Farm in March. It is the rising six-year-old’s only piece of black type and none of the previous 13 foals out of her dam has any. In hot pursuit with their Zimmer frames are two mares successful with their 13th foals: Verte Moss (by Twig Moss, dam of Sir Sensible, by Intergaze), and On The Rise (by Crested Wave, dam of Ready To Lift, by More Than Ready). On The Rise, whose career I was involved in during my Haunui Farm days, has bred four black-type horses but Verte Moss is distinguished only by Sir Sensible, winner of the Toowoomba Cup no less. The only other double-digit producer at Listed level was Hot Spice who churned out the good Perth gelding Yuro (by Fusaichi Pegasus) as her 10th effort, and her 4th black-type result. First foals really didn’t do much better at Listed level with just 12.6% (17) of the winning individuals.
If the mare produced the foal after an ‘empty’ year, then it’s not likely to give you an edge.
This seems to fly in the face of a widely held view (probably supported by a wider study than mine) that foals produced the year after a mare has been rested or barren are often superior. In the sample I’ve looked at, there’s a sliding scale, from just one G1 winner so produced (4.3%), to 26 Listed winners (22%). [Obviously, I have deducted all the first foalers from the sample]. Stud Book figures for the last five years show the percentage of registered mares not covered each season in the 20 – 23% range, so even allowing for some non-commercial distortions in the figures, do the results this year suggest this may be an over-rated theory?
If the mare’s had a few foals and none of the earlier ones has been a stakeswinner or stakes-placed, don’t worry too much – only one-third of the dams of stakeswinners have had any previous black-type record.
Looked at another way, a mare which has already left a stakes-placegetter or stakeswinner is a reasonably good chance to provide further stakes production. In arriving at the above generalisation, the figures are skewed by the large numbers of mares in the sample which have only had one or two prior foals before the stakeswinner itself, so she hasn't had a big opportunity by that stage. It might be better to say, for example, that if you’re looking at a 4th foal or later, and if the mare has already had a black-type performer, there’s an increased chance she will have another – you might be looking at it!
Your horse has nearly twice as good a chance of being a stakeswinner if its dam won a race.
64% of all the black type races were won by horses whose dams had won a race of some description. 36% of the race winners had non-winning dams. 12% of G1 winners had Group winning dams, the highest percentage of Group winning dams in any category. Some notable G1 winners had unraced dams, e.g. Weekend Hussler, Sarerra, Zarita, Samantha Miss.
If you bought your horse at auction, it has a better chance of being a Group winner than if you didn’t.
That’s the evidence so far this year. I expect gift vouchers from Magic Millions and Inglis for pointing this out. The highest proportion is in G1 – 21 of the 29 winners (72%) are in the official records as sold at auction. In G2 and G3 it’s 61.5% and 62% respectively, then it drops to 56.3% amongst the Listed winners. What does this mean? I interpret it as suggesting most of the best horses have been going through the auction system. Comforting. What of the future?
If you did buy it at auction, the more you paid the more likely your horse will be a Group winner.
I found this one interesting. Again I expect to receive a couple of paid luxury holidays from the auction houses, for encouraging future trade! David and Mark, my address is ….
But back to reality – the average prices paid for this year’s G1, G2 and G3 winners were $218,523, $258,395 and $220,520 respectively. But the Listed winners cost only $104,720 on average. The medians were $130,000, $150,000, $80,000 and $60,000. Plenty of scope for buyers at all levels but, by and large, you get what you pay for. Price is usually determined by strong catalogue page and good physical type which in turn seem to have a direct link to future performance.
The most expensive G1 winner this year has been Samantha Miss (Redoute’s Choice-Milliyet) at $1.5 million, followed by Forensics (Flying Spur-Prove It) at $900,000 and Shinzig (Danehill-Shindig) at $400,000. At the other end of the scale were Grand Journey (Good Journey-Grand Prospect) costing just $6,500, Heavenly Glow (Spinning World-Starsphere) $10,000 and Eskimo Queen (Shinko King-Cold Type) who went, remarkably, three times through an auction ring: for $2,500 as a weanling, $10,000 as a yearling and $25,000 as a two-year-old. What did I tell you? He who paid the most got the most!
Von Costa de Hero (Encosta de Lago-Piavonic) was the most valued G2 winner at $1.2 million, followed by Forensics then Portillo (Red Ransom-Snowdrift) $850,000 and Fravashi (Falbrav-Angelic Smile) at $550,000. Note three of those were found by the former Woodlands team - well, I should say found by several but afforded by only one. Geniuses were those who paid $2,000 for Acey Ducey (Xaar-Deduce), Swiss Ace (Secret Savings-Rapid Serve) $8,500 and Belong To Many (Belong To Me-Foil) at $20,000, but the gold standard is Racing to Win at $40,000 ($3,350,335 and counting).
In G3, Viennese (Redoute’s Choice-Snippets’ Lass) set them back $1.4 million and for those with long memories Offenbach (Danehill-Push A Venture) was knocked down for a cool mill. The next highest-priced G3 winner this year has been Wilander (Exceed And Excel-Scandinavia) at $625,000. At considerably less cost but achieving the same status have been the likes of Action Pak (Star Pak-Mixed Affair) $5,750, Translate (Love A Dane-Secret’s Out) $6,000 and Coniston Gem (Greig-No Telling) $9,000.
Tops of the Listed winners’ table are the aforementioned Portillo $850,000 and Hoystar $400,000 who also won at a higher grade, followed by Delta Girl (General Nediym-Etoile Centieme) at $380,000 and Victory Chant (General Nediym-Classic Status) at an Adelaide sale record-setting $340,000. The el-cheapos included Racer’s Run (Racer’s Edge-Jolimont) for $4,500, Pentacity (Pentire-Insistant) for $5,000 and Devil Inside (Langfuhr-Pink Moccasion) for $8,000.
Too Much Sun
There’s never been a sales year like 2008. So much compressed into so little time. I’m knackered.
Let’s have a bit of fun and start compiling a glossary of sales terms. You know, the sort of things you hear coming from the auctioneers’ rostrum or even out of the mouths of vendors. Your contributions are welcome as long as they are wholesome. Let’s start with a few of my favourites:
“a discerning buyer” - someone running amok with another man’s chequebook.
‘‘just close your catalogues buyers and look at the horse in the ring” – there’s nothing on the bloody page anyway.
“you’ve got one of the bargains of the sale” – it’s the biggest crock. You’re the only mug who doesn’t know.
"just take him home and feed him up and he'll grow into money" - he looks like he's got terminal cancer.
“there’s no better time to be investing in bloodstock” – I need to eat.
“a great judge is on it” – you wouldn’t know faeces from clay but the other guy does, so have another bid.
“a great judge is on it” – someone with a reckless disregard for his client's money
“a likeable horse” – has four legs, a head and a tail.
“I can tell you, the xrays are clean” – you look too miserable to spend $250 checking them anyway.
“he’s my favourite horse in the whole draft” – one bid and he’s yours.
"this is the nicest horse we've ever brought to the sale" - the one you bought last year was crap.
“I thought he’d make his $80 - $100,000” – this vendor needs certifying.
“they averaged $200,000 at the yearling sales, buyers” – one made $380,000, the other $20,000.
“I thought this was one of the colts of the offering” – never actually seen it, but the vendor’s my brother-in-law.
“one of the finest-looking yearlings we’ve had through today” – bid up you mugs, I own it.
“I look forward to re-selling that one for you at the yearling sales next year” – the moment it walks out of the ring I will give you no guarantee whatsoever it will get in.
“they’ve gone to all the best stables” – be a miracle if they can win a race.
“the mare’s got a cracking good foal at home” – in the pit, it died in January.
“she got in foal on one cover” – after 10 irrigations and $5,000 on drugs.
“he’s got some great foals in his first crop” – another deluded optimist.
“thank you Mr Hyundaiflatscreen, she’ll be a great asset up in Korea” – chop suey
“they bring a great draft every year” – but never sell a winner.
“it’s beautifully presented, buyers” – amazing what a downpour of rain can do on the way to the ring.
"Out the gate!" - welcome to Camden.
“it’s great to see you here, sir” – bloody hell, we paid his airfare, put him up at the hotel, and supplied an escort.
"look at the power in the hindquarters on that colt” – so what if the xrays are unreadable?
“it’s your client, Satomi” – I just love saying your name.
“the reserve is $100,000. Take him now before he goes out the ring” – I’m a ventriloquist’s dummy.
"we can't take that, the vendor thinks a lot more of him" - the vendor is on drugs.
"we're not far away but I'm going to have to pass him by I'm sorry" - thanks, I've just spent five minutes practising.
"stick with me, I'll buy you a horse" - stick with me, I'll sell you a horse.
“thank you for your competition, underbidder” – otherwise known as Casper The Ghost.
“no, that’s not your bid in front, the bid’s way out back” – I’ll run you up if it’s the last thing I do.
“they sold so well at the yearling sales” – not true, but you’re all too drunk to remember anyway.
“we’ll deal with you privately on that one” – was that a bat in the rafters bidding on that horse?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who is the champion gum-chewer at the horse sales?
Doing the sales must be a very stressful pastime.
John O’Shea is probably the trainers’ champion. He chews a mean gum.
There are several contenders amongst the sales groupies.
Angus Gold has the most finely developed bilateral superficial Masseter muscles on the grounds. Almost looks like John McCain.
Grant Pritchard-Gordon can give the chicle a hammering, too.
But I reckon the winner is a young chap whose name I don’t know who was working as an Inglis intern around yearling sale time. A blond Fabio-lookalike. He had the distinction of non-stop chewing but with his mouth open.
Let’s have a bit of fun and start compiling a glossary of sales terms. You know, the sort of things you hear coming from the auctioneers’ rostrum or even out of the mouths of vendors. Your contributions are welcome as long as they are wholesome. Let’s start with a few of my favourites:
“a discerning buyer” - someone running amok with another man’s chequebook.
‘‘just close your catalogues buyers and look at the horse in the ring” – there’s nothing on the bloody page anyway.
“you’ve got one of the bargains of the sale” – it’s the biggest crock. You’re the only mug who doesn’t know.
"just take him home and feed him up and he'll grow into money" - he looks like he's got terminal cancer.
“there’s no better time to be investing in bloodstock” – I need to eat.
“a great judge is on it” – you wouldn’t know faeces from clay but the other guy does, so have another bid.
“a great judge is on it” – someone with a reckless disregard for his client's money
“a likeable horse” – has four legs, a head and a tail.
“I can tell you, the xrays are clean” – you look too miserable to spend $250 checking them anyway.
“he’s my favourite horse in the whole draft” – one bid and he’s yours.
"this is the nicest horse we've ever brought to the sale" - the one you bought last year was crap.
“I thought he’d make his $80 - $100,000” – this vendor needs certifying.
“they averaged $200,000 at the yearling sales, buyers” – one made $380,000, the other $20,000.
“I thought this was one of the colts of the offering” – never actually seen it, but the vendor’s my brother-in-law.
“one of the finest-looking yearlings we’ve had through today” – bid up you mugs, I own it.
“I look forward to re-selling that one for you at the yearling sales next year” – the moment it walks out of the ring I will give you no guarantee whatsoever it will get in.
“they’ve gone to all the best stables” – be a miracle if they can win a race.
“the mare’s got a cracking good foal at home” – in the pit, it died in January.
“she got in foal on one cover” – after 10 irrigations and $5,000 on drugs.
“he’s got some great foals in his first crop” – another deluded optimist.
“thank you Mr Hyundaiflatscreen, she’ll be a great asset up in Korea” – chop suey
“they bring a great draft every year” – but never sell a winner.
“it’s beautifully presented, buyers” – amazing what a downpour of rain can do on the way to the ring.
"Out the gate!" - welcome to Camden.
“it’s great to see you here, sir” – bloody hell, we paid his airfare, put him up at the hotel, and supplied an escort.
"look at the power in the hindquarters on that colt” – so what if the xrays are unreadable?
“it’s your client, Satomi” – I just love saying your name.
“the reserve is $100,000. Take him now before he goes out the ring” – I’m a ventriloquist’s dummy.
"we can't take that, the vendor thinks a lot more of him" - the vendor is on drugs.
"we're not far away but I'm going to have to pass him by I'm sorry" - thanks, I've just spent five minutes practising.
"stick with me, I'll buy you a horse" - stick with me, I'll sell you a horse.
“thank you for your competition, underbidder” – otherwise known as Casper The Ghost.
“no, that’s not your bid in front, the bid’s way out back” – I’ll run you up if it’s the last thing I do.
“they sold so well at the yearling sales” – not true, but you’re all too drunk to remember anyway.
“we’ll deal with you privately on that one” – was that a bat in the rafters bidding on that horse?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who is the champion gum-chewer at the horse sales?
Doing the sales must be a very stressful pastime.
John O’Shea is probably the trainers’ champion. He chews a mean gum.
There are several contenders amongst the sales groupies.
Angus Gold has the most finely developed bilateral superficial Masseter muscles on the grounds. Almost looks like John McCain.
Grant Pritchard-Gordon can give the chicle a hammering, too.
But I reckon the winner is a young chap whose name I don’t know who was working as an Inglis intern around yearling sale time. A blond Fabio-lookalike. He had the distinction of non-stop chewing but with his mouth open.
Crimea, 1854
It’s a tough call. Whether to kiss goodbye to jumps racing altogether or do a patch-up job to stem the inevitable tide of public opinion for an indeterminate length of time.
Given the calamitous events of last Saturday’s racing, there couldn’t have been a worse week than last week for steph g’s petititon to be up on my blog, Flemington looked more like the Crimea in 1854 than a racetrack.
Sympathy for racing doesn’t hold much sway amongst the wider public. People like us, within racing, must look at ourselves through the eyes of people on the outside to understand what they think of this activity. Is it unreasonable for outsiders - and there are more of them than there are of us - to interpret racing as a bunch of rich and/or desperate people exploiting horses for gain?
Don’t be seduced into thinking the darling young things on the Champagne Lawn at Randwick represent the force of public opinion. “But”, you counter, “we love our horses”. So why do we whip their asses mercilessly in pursuit of prizemoney, drug them to the eyeballs in some places, breed them with no bone or stamina, run them beyond their endurance and shrug our shoulders at the fatality rate?
“Well, in any sport there’s a drop-out rate.”
Sure, like in cockfighting.
“People die running marathons, mountain-climbing, sky diving, in the surf and in car racing”
Sure, but they have a choice whether to compete or not.
I’ve never ridden a jumper – all I’ve ridden in the last 30 years is the bus and the train. I bred one, once, which the late Queen Mother raced. But I think they’ve stuffed jumps racing in Victoria.
Those yellow toothbrushes are a joke. What respect does a horse show for an obstacle like that? Once it’s been over a couple it thinks it only has to skip through them to land safely on the other side. So horses barely slow down. Toothbrushes don’t encourage proficient jumping. Horses are higher up the intelligence scale than that. Because the obstacles require a minimum of negotiation the races become glorified flat races, with casualties.
I couldn’t care less if they knocked jumping on the head tomorrow if that’s the diet we’re going to be fed. What’s more, I think the public has every right and reason to be up in arms about it.
Jumps races should be geared around stamina, not speed, and place a premium on jumping. The obstacles should require respect. Horses need to be taught to jump, not hop, and they need deep conditioning for the task. The Hunt used to be the basis of good jumps racing. Not every played-out flat horse is a jumps contender. If we can't get it right then we should give it away. Call it progress.
The Ken Brownes and Jock Singers of this world would be turning in their graves.
Given the calamitous events of last Saturday’s racing, there couldn’t have been a worse week than last week for steph g’s petititon to be up on my blog, Flemington looked more like the Crimea in 1854 than a racetrack.
Sympathy for racing doesn’t hold much sway amongst the wider public. People like us, within racing, must look at ourselves through the eyes of people on the outside to understand what they think of this activity. Is it unreasonable for outsiders - and there are more of them than there are of us - to interpret racing as a bunch of rich and/or desperate people exploiting horses for gain?
Don’t be seduced into thinking the darling young things on the Champagne Lawn at Randwick represent the force of public opinion. “But”, you counter, “we love our horses”. So why do we whip their asses mercilessly in pursuit of prizemoney, drug them to the eyeballs in some places, breed them with no bone or stamina, run them beyond their endurance and shrug our shoulders at the fatality rate?
“Well, in any sport there’s a drop-out rate.”
Sure, like in cockfighting.
“People die running marathons, mountain-climbing, sky diving, in the surf and in car racing”
Sure, but they have a choice whether to compete or not.
I’ve never ridden a jumper – all I’ve ridden in the last 30 years is the bus and the train. I bred one, once, which the late Queen Mother raced. But I think they’ve stuffed jumps racing in Victoria.
Those yellow toothbrushes are a joke. What respect does a horse show for an obstacle like that? Once it’s been over a couple it thinks it only has to skip through them to land safely on the other side. So horses barely slow down. Toothbrushes don’t encourage proficient jumping. Horses are higher up the intelligence scale than that. Because the obstacles require a minimum of negotiation the races become glorified flat races, with casualties.
I couldn’t care less if they knocked jumping on the head tomorrow if that’s the diet we’re going to be fed. What’s more, I think the public has every right and reason to be up in arms about it.
Jumps races should be geared around stamina, not speed, and place a premium on jumping. The obstacles should require respect. Horses need to be taught to jump, not hop, and they need deep conditioning for the task. The Hunt used to be the basis of good jumps racing. Not every played-out flat horse is a jumps contender. If we can't get it right then we should give it away. Call it progress.
The Ken Brownes and Jock Singers of this world would be turning in their graves.
The Hard Case Showcase
The concept of the First Season Sire Showcase is worth persevering with but Inglis's inaugural attempt in Sydney last week was a disaster and it needs more than a little tweaking to be made work.
It cannot be a showcase when weanlings 'make' as little as $1,000, $1,500, $3,000 and $4,000, sired by stallions whose fees are as high as $30,000. If I were using this vehicle as a promotion for my stallion I would be doing everything I could to keep these misfits out of public gaze, or persuade my clients to do likewise.
They were a ragtag mob of weanlings. Results as published by Inglis show 35 of the 86 offered were passed in - that's nearly 41%. I estimate 26 sold for prices measurably above the nominal 2007 service fee, seven were right on the mark and 18 didn't make the service fee or even close to it. So that's 53, or 61%, which couldn't find a home or took a hit. That's not a showcase. That's a cull sale.
The problem is 1,200 weanlings had been catalogued and sold at the Gold Coast and Melbourne before this Sydney sale, many of them by first crop sires. So there's no novelty value in a last-cab-off-the-rank weanling sale devoid of physical types and strong pedigrees.
If Inglis are inclined to try this again, then they either have to persuade the owners of better weanlings to bypass those other sales, and/or impose a selection standard so the quality is more even and give buyers something to get their teeth into. Possibly most important of all, a sale like this should come first, ahead of the others, perhaps as a one day appendage to the earlier Easter Broodmare Sale.
It cannot be a showcase when weanlings 'make' as little as $1,000, $1,500, $3,000 and $4,000, sired by stallions whose fees are as high as $30,000. If I were using this vehicle as a promotion for my stallion I would be doing everything I could to keep these misfits out of public gaze, or persuade my clients to do likewise.
They were a ragtag mob of weanlings. Results as published by Inglis show 35 of the 86 offered were passed in - that's nearly 41%. I estimate 26 sold for prices measurably above the nominal 2007 service fee, seven were right on the mark and 18 didn't make the service fee or even close to it. So that's 53, or 61%, which couldn't find a home or took a hit. That's not a showcase. That's a cull sale.
The problem is 1,200 weanlings had been catalogued and sold at the Gold Coast and Melbourne before this Sydney sale, many of them by first crop sires. So there's no novelty value in a last-cab-off-the-rank weanling sale devoid of physical types and strong pedigrees.
If Inglis are inclined to try this again, then they either have to persuade the owners of better weanlings to bypass those other sales, and/or impose a selection standard so the quality is more even and give buyers something to get their teeth into. Possibly most important of all, a sale like this should come first, ahead of the others, perhaps as a one day appendage to the earlier Easter Broodmare Sale.
Trophy Hunting
The $5 million Convert This Price!Milanova sale, plus those others at Inglis’s last weekend, are not a relevant indication of the state of the thoroughbred market.
Milanova and the likes of Lucida, Shindig, Peruzzi, Valourina and Sydney’s Dream, are at the apex of Australian thoroughbred breeding in terms of pedigree, performance and production. The relatively rare opportunity to acquire mares of that calibre via open competition is always going to be seized upon by people fortunate enough to be isolated from the realities of the world the rest of us inhabit.
There is seldom any reasoned critique or debate in the reportage of events by the mainstream media who survive on the PR handout and doctored spin of industry power blocs. One welcome exception to this is Tara Madgwick on Breednet who knows her onions but is going to have to be careful as it’s those power blocs who financially support the website.
It may have escaped me but I’ve yet to read who were some of the other participants in the various bidding sprees. It would be just as interesting to know. I wasn't watching, I was out the back by the parade ring, in the sunshine. In the case of Milanova can I speculate that either or both of her part owners, Tyreel interests and Swettenham, could have been in there bidding with their 50 cent dollars? They acquired her for $700,000 as a yearling and, fortuitously, her little brother Holy Roman Emperor breathed new fire into the family five years later.
I don’t have any quibble with the price but breeders will be making a mistake if they use these top-end sales to ratchet up the values of their own, lesser, stock. The market is trending the other way. Milanova has a pedigree which resonates in every thoroughbred nation and with a mare like her economics flies out the window and it becomes a trophy hunt amongst people who have the means to collect trophies.
Of course Milanova’s three-quarter brother, Mount Olympus, famously made $3 million at Easter last year but I for one can’t accept that as a fair market valuation. I remain unconvinced there wasn’t some engineering involved in reaching that bid. On the one subsequent public glimpse we have had of Mount Olympus, at a barrier trial, he looked more like a molehill than a mountain; let’s hope he finds several lengths between two and three. He is a 13th foal and I can’t ever remember Gai being desperate to buy one of those.
Milanova’s More Than Ready weanling filly was also dispersed by Tyreel at last week's sale, the hammer falling at $625,000 with Coolmore also signing the docket. This was a good-bodied filly, incorrect in front leg conformation like her dam, and she had a non-displaced fracture of the off fore sesamoid just to complicate matters.
In the grounds of where I live in Sydney is the gallery of art dealer and racehorse owner Rod Menzies who held an auction of notable artworks the week before the four-legged pieces-de-resistance went to Newmarket.
Star of the show at the art auction was a Picasso. Curiosity got the better of me so I wandered down to look at it. Reportedly, the Picasso sold for $6.8 million, all add-ons included. The philistine in me scoffs at how people ascribe a value like that to some randomly daubed paint blotches lacking in any particular graphic merit. Apparently, the meaning of life is in there somewhere, though it obviously escapes me. But unlike Milanova I guess you don’t have to feed a painting and if it’s well cared for it will not, also unlike the mare, perish. I’m reminded of the story of the king’s new suit of clothes; this painting will probably be trundled out in another art auction in 10 years’ time and the pseudo-intellectual elite will once again convince themselves it’s something the universe can’t live without.
Which also reminds me of the thoroughbred equivalent of the king’s new suit of clothes, that of the one-time Coolmore imported mare Prawn Cocktail, a daughter of the noted sire Artichoke. She and her daughter Marigot Bay between them have produced 16 foals of racing age. Between 1998 and 2007, 12 of them went through Australian auctions as yearlings for a cumulative $8,255,000, an average of $687,916. Not a single one has won more than two races. Only four of them could be classed strictly as city winners. Until the advent of the bank known as Prawn Cocktail, I used to think the winning post counted for something in establishing and maintaining the value of pedigrees.
I thought Tyreel's Valourina was a sweet mare and I wish the best of luck to the purchaser of Asia which has never produced a live foal in six seasons at stud. My understanding of her problem suggests the bloke’s got the job in front of him but there were enough smarties willing to have a go that she made $70,000. The best of Sue Suduk’s mares, which unlike Tyreel’s draft was a dispersal not a strategic reduction, were exquisite. Lucida, empty, bought by Tyreel's Paul Fleming for $2 million, is high quality as is Fiammarosa ($950,000, Coolmore) and the older girls Peruzzi ($1,250,000) and Shindig ($1,600,000) are gems of the Stud Book - both New Zealand-bred I hasten to add. These two were knocked down to Inglis as agent; we mightn’t know publicly for some time but I wonder who was on the end of the phone? Bob Ingham?
Understandably, we all get off on the spectacle of these thoroughbred aristocrats being scrapped over by the super wealthy. But as I said at the outset, that’s not where the real market is.
The name Ingham brings to mind Ruapehu, lot 475 at the same sale. A lovely daughter of Flying Spur, three-years-old, city-placed but a maiden, sold for $10,000.
Two years ago the same filly was in the Easter Yearling Sale though on pedigree page she was damned lucky to be there at all. I discovered her on my inspections. I thought no one would be chasing her amongst all the heavy black-type fillies on offer and I harboured visions of being able to buy her for the average or less. But good types are seldom missed. Woodlands beat off the competition to pay $460,000 for her.
From $460,000 to $10,000, in two years. A Milanova in reverse. We don't read about that in the papers or press releases, do we?
P.S. A prediction - we've seen the end of the commission-free broodmare sales.
Milanova and the likes of Lucida, Shindig, Peruzzi, Valourina and Sydney’s Dream, are at the apex of Australian thoroughbred breeding in terms of pedigree, performance and production. The relatively rare opportunity to acquire mares of that calibre via open competition is always going to be seized upon by people fortunate enough to be isolated from the realities of the world the rest of us inhabit.
There is seldom any reasoned critique or debate in the reportage of events by the mainstream media who survive on the PR handout and doctored spin of industry power blocs. One welcome exception to this is Tara Madgwick on Breednet who knows her onions but is going to have to be careful as it’s those power blocs who financially support the website.
It may have escaped me but I’ve yet to read who were some of the other participants in the various bidding sprees. It would be just as interesting to know. I wasn't watching, I was out the back by the parade ring, in the sunshine. In the case of Milanova can I speculate that either or both of her part owners, Tyreel interests and Swettenham, could have been in there bidding with their 50 cent dollars? They acquired her for $700,000 as a yearling and, fortuitously, her little brother Holy Roman Emperor breathed new fire into the family five years later.
I don’t have any quibble with the price but breeders will be making a mistake if they use these top-end sales to ratchet up the values of their own, lesser, stock. The market is trending the other way. Milanova has a pedigree which resonates in every thoroughbred nation and with a mare like her economics flies out the window and it becomes a trophy hunt amongst people who have the means to collect trophies.
Of course Milanova’s three-quarter brother, Mount Olympus, famously made $3 million at Easter last year but I for one can’t accept that as a fair market valuation. I remain unconvinced there wasn’t some engineering involved in reaching that bid. On the one subsequent public glimpse we have had of Mount Olympus, at a barrier trial, he looked more like a molehill than a mountain; let’s hope he finds several lengths between two and three. He is a 13th foal and I can’t ever remember Gai being desperate to buy one of those.
Milanova’s More Than Ready weanling filly was also dispersed by Tyreel at last week's sale, the hammer falling at $625,000 with Coolmore also signing the docket. This was a good-bodied filly, incorrect in front leg conformation like her dam, and she had a non-displaced fracture of the off fore sesamoid just to complicate matters.
In the grounds of where I live in Sydney is the gallery of art dealer and racehorse owner Rod Menzies who held an auction of notable artworks the week before the four-legged pieces-de-resistance went to Newmarket.
Star of the show at the art auction was a Picasso. Curiosity got the better of me so I wandered down to look at it. Reportedly, the Picasso sold for $6.8 million, all add-ons included. The philistine in me scoffs at how people ascribe a value like that to some randomly daubed paint blotches lacking in any particular graphic merit. Apparently, the meaning of life is in there somewhere, though it obviously escapes me. But unlike Milanova I guess you don’t have to feed a painting and if it’s well cared for it will not, also unlike the mare, perish. I’m reminded of the story of the king’s new suit of clothes; this painting will probably be trundled out in another art auction in 10 years’ time and the pseudo-intellectual elite will once again convince themselves it’s something the universe can’t live without.
Which also reminds me of the thoroughbred equivalent of the king’s new suit of clothes, that of the one-time Coolmore imported mare Prawn Cocktail, a daughter of the noted sire Artichoke. She and her daughter Marigot Bay between them have produced 16 foals of racing age. Between 1998 and 2007, 12 of them went through Australian auctions as yearlings for a cumulative $8,255,000, an average of $687,916. Not a single one has won more than two races. Only four of them could be classed strictly as city winners. Until the advent of the bank known as Prawn Cocktail, I used to think the winning post counted for something in establishing and maintaining the value of pedigrees.
I thought Tyreel's Valourina was a sweet mare and I wish the best of luck to the purchaser of Asia which has never produced a live foal in six seasons at stud. My understanding of her problem suggests the bloke’s got the job in front of him but there were enough smarties willing to have a go that she made $70,000. The best of Sue Suduk’s mares, which unlike Tyreel’s draft was a dispersal not a strategic reduction, were exquisite. Lucida, empty, bought by Tyreel's Paul Fleming for $2 million, is high quality as is Fiammarosa ($950,000, Coolmore) and the older girls Peruzzi ($1,250,000) and Shindig ($1,600,000) are gems of the Stud Book - both New Zealand-bred I hasten to add. These two were knocked down to Inglis as agent; we mightn’t know publicly for some time but I wonder who was on the end of the phone? Bob Ingham?
Understandably, we all get off on the spectacle of these thoroughbred aristocrats being scrapped over by the super wealthy. But as I said at the outset, that’s not where the real market is.
The name Ingham brings to mind Ruapehu, lot 475 at the same sale. A lovely daughter of Flying Spur, three-years-old, city-placed but a maiden, sold for $10,000.
Two years ago the same filly was in the Easter Yearling Sale though on pedigree page she was damned lucky to be there at all. I discovered her on my inspections. I thought no one would be chasing her amongst all the heavy black-type fillies on offer and I harboured visions of being able to buy her for the average or less. But good types are seldom missed. Woodlands beat off the competition to pay $460,000 for her.
From $460,000 to $10,000, in two years. A Milanova in reverse. We don't read about that in the papers or press releases, do we?
P.S. A prediction - we've seen the end of the commission-free broodmare sales.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
