Hastings Observations

I got to Hawkes Bay for the last day.

I couldn't have backed Tridane in a month of Sundays but his win does show how certain horses can come right at the same time each year.

Four years ago almost to the day the Danelove gelding ran in the Guineas and while ninth of 13 to Alamosa he was beaten less than four lengths and beat home Run Like Al and Go Danny. They ran 1.20.86 that day so Tridane has run around 1.22 and nothing that he met Saturday fortnight ago would get within three lengths of him if he ran to that form.

A few horses who I thought looked well but could improve with another run under their belts were Manonamission, Platinum Princess and Cellarmaster.

Interestingly the first two are both in the Lisa Latta stable and in general all her horses looked well. She invariably does well at Christchurch and I'm picking she'll have another good carnival.

Manonamission has always struck me as a miler on type and race pattern, but most of his runs since been stepped up in distance last season have been full of merit, including his latest effort at the Bay. He holds a nom for the NZ Cup and at $10 is worth considering.

The first six home in the Guineas with luck should all win a good race. More unsettled (ask Andre Neil) than on the second day, Maradona is still a big kid. He looked like he would drop out once they turned for home but picked himself up like a good horse. I suspect Christchurch maybe just a tad soon for him but the Telegraph could be more his go given his speed, especially from the gates.

Cellarmaster is my pick to win the 2000 Guineas. He looked a shade pretty and ran to them at the 200m like he d win at Hastings but peaked on his effort. I couldn't get over the way he had developed in six months. While a natural enough athlete to be competitive at two, he was on the light side with a slight baby like face but now he s much more mature, in fact he s quite imposing, with an exceptional girth.

The Starcraft filly did well for such an inexperienced type and as a long and almost rangy type she should be a stunning individual come the autumn.

I dropped into Taupo on the way home. A few reputations were dented, not the least Maccavity and Rockandready. Maybe Maccavity's an autumn horse for she didn't look the same filly I saw back in April. If the Bakers get Rockandready to Riccarton next month, they are even better trainers than I give them credit for. She s a very leggy type and doesn't carry much condition yet.

Finally, while he s no So You Think, Wall Street is a seriously good galloper. He showed at Hastings how he can still be competitive racing to another pattern, and given his distance versatility - the Telegraph finish would have been interesting if he d stayed on his feet - and an affinity for most track conditions, he s arguably the most complete male WFA horse we ve had for a few seasons. He's actually developed into a very attractive horse now too, in fact I'd almost argue he s more athletic than the other good Montjeu's I've seen.

Written Tycoon: Auspicious Start

About this time last year at Little Avondale Stud in Masterton a couple of friends and I watched half a dozen yearlings career around a large paddock. One yearling stood out; while the Written Tycoon filly was often slow to get underway, it didn't take her long to get into her long floating stride and run past her paddock mates with deceptive ease.

The first two-year-old trials of the new season in Australia were held this week and the
stallion on every ones lips is Written Tycoon with trial winners at Randwick and Cranbourne on Monday and another at Newcastle on Wednesday. Buoyed by this and with three of his progeny breezing up under the 11 second mark at the Gold Coast earlier this week in readiness for the upcoming Ready To Run Sale, Magic Millions took the unusual step for a stallion without a runner to the races, in naming Written Tycoon as their Stallion of the Week.

Written Tycoon is a rare thoroughbred. He ran up to his looks. As attractive a horse as you could wish to see, he moved like an athlete, effortlessly, with a lovely fluid action.

Described by trainer John O Shea as the fastest horse he had trained to that point, the highlights of Written Tycoon's career came in his first preparation culminating in victory in the Group Two Todman Slipper Trial with Domesday (now a promising sire) second. Interestingly the Slipper Trial is proving to be a very good pointer to stallion potential with it's winners including Luskin Star, Maruding, Octagonal, General Nediym and Exceed and Excel.

While not possessing a "fashionable" pedigree, Written Tycoon's bloodlines are proven in Australian conditions: by a successful homebred speed stallion (Iglesia) from the prolific Last Tycoon sireline, from a daughter of leading broodmare stallion Kenmare and containing male and female lines of Star Kingdom and Vain respectively. And with only one line of Northern Dancer (through Last Tycoon), he offers options for owners of Northern Dancer/Danehill mares.

Iglesia was a significant loss to the Queensland breeding industry when he died prematurely in 2006 after just five seasons at stud. The one time Australian record holder for 1200m still became a prolific sire of winners whose stock are re known for their speed and durability. Nova Star who won the Group One Winter Stakes in Brisbane has been his best performer to date.

Last Tycoon's influence down-under needs little extrapolation. While in these parts it s been as a broodmare sire that his impact has been most pro nounced, his male-line influence, despite the premature deaths of Iglesia and Just Awesome, looks set to prosper for some considerable time thanks to O'Reilly and to a lesser degree Towkay.

The filly described in the introduction to this piece was eventually sold at this years Karaka Select Yearling sale to Timothy Kemp Bloodstock for $56,000 - the highest price Written Tycoon filly yet sold at auction. A decent sized filly with a fair bit of leg she is currently spelling after being broken in by Joe Yorke. Ironically there is still a small share available in the filly - Tim can be contacted on 021 243 3045.

While about the only thing that can be read into this start is that Written Tycoon's progeny have an early aptitude and natural speed, it s still a promising beginning by a stallion, many of whose progeny showed enough physical scope at the sales to suggest they would be far from just early season flashes in the pan. Time will tell.

Zennista: Oaks Fit

I'm finding that the fillies and mares events are providing more and more of our best racing. With so many of our better colts and geldings exported now and the well bred colts that stay home more sparingly raced with stud careers in mind, it s a man drought - at least in the quality department.

Take a look at the recent record of four-year-old mares in the Hawkes Bay Triple Crown. Five years ago the young girls weren't getting a look in - how times have changed.

The three-year-old Filly of the Year events are the nursery for this change, full of mouth watering pedigrees and physiques to match. A front-row birdcage posse is essential viewing.

Despite the freakish late winter and spring weather hindering so many preparations, a quality field lined up in yesterdays Gold Trail Stakes at Hastings.

While all honours were with the winner - the seasoned Rememba Howe - the runner-up Zennista struck me as a filly to follow.

From the first NZ crop of former Japan Cup winner Zenno Rob Roy (ZRR), the Lisa Latta trained charge is a gorgeous moving type who relaxes well in her races, factors that will stand her in good stead when stepped up over more ground.

It s very early days for ZRR in NZ but he's made an encouraging start to his stallion career in Japan siring first and third in the Japanese Oaks back in May. With the stallions Sir Tristram and Touching Wood featuring in Zennista's female pedigree she has the staying bloodlines to support a racing style which suggest a race like the New Zealand Oaks in March would suit.

Lisa Latta has been steadily compiling a good record from her Awapuni base and one feature race she s shown an uncanny knack in targeting with success has been the NZ Oaks. From six starters she's had the 2004 winner Wharite Princess: the 2009 runner-up Can't Keeperdown; a third with Lady Annaliesse in 2003; the fourth place-getter Princess Annaliese and the desperately unlucky Fiaba - sixth in 2002 and still looking for a gap.

Zennista still has to prove herself on-top of the ground but if she can, she looks an ideal type to give Lisa Latta her second NZ Oaks.

Paydirt for Breeder

Hawkes Bay's Alan Jackson fashioned a successful business career from backing his hunches, so when he went on last year's Manawatu Stallion Parade and liked what he saw in a stable box at John O'Brien's Newmarket Lodge property, he didn't muck around.

Jackson had taken an instant fancy to a weanling colt by Mr Nancho from the Anziyan mare Cashcade. A keen follower of the races again since selling up his business interests about 12 months previous, he had been impressed with the potential of the filly Ekstreme whose resume at that stage included a win the Group Three Lowland Stakes win and a group two placing from a just concluded Brisbane winter campaign.

Recognising that Cashcade was the dam of Ekstreme, and after establishing that Newmarket Lodge in fact owned Cashcade, Jackson negotiated a package to acquire the mare and her weanling colt. Once Jackson had the seal of approval on confirmation from his bloodstock advisor Cambridge agent Michael Wallace, the deal was done and the fun started.

About the time Ekstreme returned to the racetrack for her new season campaign, Jackson was getting wind that Opaki trainer Andrew Campbell had quite an opinion of unraced two-year-old colt in his stable. The link for Jackson was that the colt happened to be Cashcade's second foal, by Mr Nancho and a full brother to the younger brother he had acquired a few months earlier.

By this stage Jackson was keen to track down the whereabouts of Cashcade's second foal - an unraced year younger full sister to Ekstreme - and his hunt resulted in a call to Matamata trainer Paul Jenkins who had the Ekraar filly and a pretty fair opinion of her too. Lining up for her racecourse debut in mid November last year at Rotorua, the well backed filly, by then named De Colletage, unfortunately injured herself in the running and wasn't a factor in the race, however Jackson's disappointment was quickly tempered when just a few weeks later Ekstreme confirmed the potential he had seen in her all along and then some, by taking the Group One Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham.

Boarding his mares at Masterton's Little Avondale Stud, Jackson gets down regularly to see his flock so started making a point of stopping in at the Opaki track to keep up with the progress of the Andrew Campbell charge. After a number of growing pains the colt -by then named Maradona - finally debuted in a two-year-old race at Foxton in July this year and despite the wet track, which he detested according to jockey Jonathan Riddell, battled on very gamely for second.

The three-year-old open event on the first day of this years Hawkes Bay Spring Carnival was Maradona's next start and despite another wet track, connections persevered with a start knowing that any chance of making the Hawkes Bay Guineas rested on a good performance. Producing one of the better efforts of the day, from a wide draw Maradona had to do a fair bit of work to get a position on the outer, challenged the leader wide on the home turn before surrendering second late in the race.

Meanwhile De Colletage was back in training after her long injury induced layoff and a trials win at Cambridge in July preceded a very much under wraps second place finish at the Te Teko trials on 12 August. De Colletage is down to make her second career start at Counties this Sunday in a maiden 1300m and while she doesn't have the same wet track inclination as her full sister her class should still have her in the finish.

So what s happened to Maradona's full brother that Jackson bought in the package deal? Recently turned two and still unnamed, he s just about to commence a second preparation with Hastings trainer Patrick Campbell and has done everything asked of him to date although it s too early to say if he s inherited the family genes.

Two weeks ago the jewel in the crown Cashcade delivered her owner the Pentire filly shown in the top photo of this blog and the mare is currently at Darley Stud in Victoria where she ll be served by Domesday anyday. With her genes the Pentire filly is one very valuable girl but one imagines her insurable value and that of her mum, can only get bigger and it may start that climb as soon as this weekend.

Taupo: Talent Unearthed

It maybe not quite Tattenham Corner but the home-turn at Taupo has bought many an inexperienced horse undone; it falls away into quite a dip on the point of the turn before an abrupt rise, leaving only about 150m for a horse to get balanced and find the line.

Therefore there was a lot to like about the wins on debut of He's Remarkable (Pentire-Axiom)and Rockandready (More Than Ready-Bumps) at the lakeside circuit last week, coming as they both did from well off the pace and wide on the home-turn.

It seems almost impossible to fathom now but only four or five years ago John Thompson was seriously considering not continuing to bring Pentire down on his southern hemisphere shuttle so significant a shun was he receiving from local breeders. Serving less than 100 mares between the seasons 2002-2004 and leaving only 44 live foals, the former high-class European stayer was being heavily penalised for a slow start to his breeding career.

Pentire's standing with local breeders changed significantly after the 2004/2005 racing season during which the career of the near champion Xcellent commenced with group one victories in the NZ Derby and Zabeel Classic and his Australian trained daughter Recurring took the Group One Railway Handicap after earlier placing second in the Group One Sallinger Stakes at Flemington. The floodgates had suddenly opened for Pentire - he had gone from a stallion acknowledged by breeders as capable of leaving slower maturing middle distance-staying types to one who could throw serious WFA and sprinting horses.

Using the expression career defining to describe the next couple of seasons for Pentire's progeny would be putting unwarranted expectations on a stallion who has already reached heights most studmasters can only dream about, but it will be fascinating to monitor their progress, coming as they do from far and away his biggest and best books of mares.

Unraced due to an eye injury, Axiom is a Zabeel daughter of the dual Australian group two winning Centaine mare Arletty, a leading three-year-old filly of her year in NZ before transferring to become an inaugural member of the O'Sullivan stables short-lived Sydney operation from where she tasted further group race success as a four and five-year-old. Arletty's best performer to date from her nine foals is the three win Zabeel gelding Maythehorsebemagic.

Arletty is a half sister to the 2007 NZ Broodmare Of The Year winner River Century the dam of group one winners Legs and Guyno while she's a three-quarter sister to group one winner Sixty Seconds and group three winner Spottswoode. Adding further credence to a most prolific family is Arlettys full sister Rivertaine, the dam of three individual winners in Hong Kong including multiple group placed performer Regency Horse and the five times winning O'Reilly Rally.

Axiom's first foal is the promising Melbourne trained mare Fashion Black, a winner twice including a city victory, and two placings from just five starts. Her next foal was the $360,000 Karaka Premier Yearling Sale graduate He's Remarkable, followed by a full brother who sold to Fashion Black's trainer Danny O'Brien for $160,000 at this years Karaka Sale. She is due to foal again to Pentire this spring after failing to get back in foal to him the previous season.

Another stallion on an ever increasing upward surge in popularity over recent seasons has been the Australian based More Than Ready who just a matter of days after his daughters Taupo success registered his 73rd stakeswinner worldwide when a two-year-old son won a group three event in North America. Like Pentire, most of More Than Ready's sire success has been generated off his down-under shuttle service where he demands a service fee of $121,000 Aus (down from last years pre recession $148,500), a jump from $40,000 in 2007 largely courtesy of consecutive Champion Australian Two-Year -Old Premierships in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, and a significantly higher fee than the $30,000 US he currently commands Stateside.

Rockandready is bred on a very similar cross to More Than Ready's second Golden Slipper winner Phelan Ready whose dam is a daughter of the Scenic stallion Blevic.

Bumps an unraced daughter of Scenic from the Christmas Tree mare Final Claus has fashioned a most respectable record at stud with Rockandready her sixth individual winner from the eight of her nine foals to make it to the racetrack. Two of her earlier progeny - both by Rory's Jester - were stakesplaced while her 2006 son by Fastnet Rock named Therock already has a fourth to his credit in a listed event after only 6 lifetime starts.

Final Claus's hails from an imported family which has crossed successfully with Australian speed influences. Her dam the imported Northfields mare Life At Last left a VRC St Leger winner in Full At Last and a daughter Imposing Life is the grand dam of Group One Blue Diamond Stakes winner Reward For Effort while Betty Box, a full sister to Life At Last, is the dam of Aynda who in turn is the grand dam of Waikato Stud stallion Fast N Famous.

Rockandready was sold as a yearling at the 2009 Karaka Premier Sale to Grant Searle for $190,000 before being re sold in the yearling section of the 2009 National Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Sale for $75,000 and again in the two-year-old section of the same sale this year for what could well turn out to be a bargain price of $90,000. While the financial plight of her co-breeders is likely to have had something to do with the unusual ownership changes the filly doesn't seem to have taken the passing around personally judging by her Taupo win.

Conclusions:

He's Remarkable - from a stable not reknown for having their charges wound up to win first time out, the colt looks just the type to make up in a Derby horse in the autumn and further enhance the reputation of his sire for leaving middle-distance Classic performers.

Rockandready - big long legged type who never looked suited to debut venue at any stage but overcame that with raw natural ability to win easily and while the 1000 Guineas may come around a little too soon for her, she may just be good enough to give the race a huge shake.

Waikato Stallion Parade 28 & 29 August

I was well overdue a Waikato Stallion Parade. After our long winters you do yearn for some quality live racing and Mudgway Day has won out in recent times. Not this year; with the number of new stallions a weekend getting reacquainted with the picturesque farms of our breeding heartland won out.

For a townie like me those maps in the Stallion register are gold when you re trying to find the likes of Scott Eagleton's property in the hills west of Matamata. After a few roadside stops I managed to find the farm literally as new stallion Tiger Prawn was been led from his box. A medium sized athletic type with a generous barrel and girth he should be popular particularly with those looking to bred to race or trial.

Next stop was Ancroft where we viewed the un-raced full brother to El Segundo in El Hermando. If ever there was a case for seeing a stallion in the flesh rather than in a photo then it's this son of Pins; clearly a more athletic and strongly coloured bay than in his photos, it s not hard to see why he fetched $500,000 as a yearling. Steve Till from Windsor must be acknowledged for showing catching skills worthy of the Black Caps.

It hardly seemed worth moving the car for our next appointment but I'm glad I did; the driveway to the stallion facilities at the old Fieldhouse and Java property next door to Ancroft is a decent stretch. The farm and it's ample facilities are back in good shape and if they are any indication, Stoneybridge Waikato will be around for a while yet.

Ekraar surprised me with his quality - once again he s probably let down by average photography in his promotional material- although I gather not shuttling to the NH this year helped. Not as rangy or coarse as I expected, he s another fine physical example of the emerging Red Ransom sire-line. Mr Nancho is a bull of a horse with some quality in front of the saddle but a little limited behind. Of the rest of the Stoneybridge roster, father time has been kind to Ustinov; the son of Seeking The Gold reminding me why I once rated him one of the more attractive stallions I'd seen.

Waikato Stud around the corner was our next stop and as a farm it s quality never ceases to amaze me - and if it were possible, it just seems to get better. At 1200 acres and with some of the best pasture anywhere in the country, it s value must be enormous.

I was kind of hoping Rios may have suddenly shot up in the height stakes since I last saw him as a three-year-old. Sadly he hadn't, but it still shouldn't deter breeders with the right type of mare; his head and eye and a well developed crop feature in an otherwise excellent physical package.

Across to the other side of town to Rich Hill for the last stop on the day. I covered the Waharoa farms stallion line-up in some detail in a posting this time last year so won't repeat myself. In a nice touch to finish, we were shown half a dozen Any Suggestion yearlings; peas to a pod with nice walks and well developed hindquarters - the pick was a colt from a Pentire full sister to Railway winner Recurring.

In contrast to Saturdays balmy weather, Sunday dawned dark and threatening. Full of saturated fats and tannins from a Saturday night stopover with my mum in Tauranga, I managed to navigate my way down the Kaimai's and across the Matamata plains to Brighthill for the early start.

Eagle Mountain was a pleasant surprise. Taller, with more bone and quality than I had assumed from his racing photos, he s also a nice walking animal. There maybe slightly more Darshan about him than Rock of Gibraltar; something breeders will probably warm to, given that he's the dam sire of High Chaparral.

I hadn't seen Perfectly Ready in the flesh since his third-place finish in the Blue Diamond as a two-year-old. The muscular bodybuilder I saw then has morphed into a less defined individual with the girth and shoulder now of a retired All Black tight forward but he s still a very imposing individual and clearly a superior walker than the other Southern Halo stallion Mr Nancho.

Completing the line-up was Patapan and it wasn't hard to see why Brighthill have had little trouble attracting big books of mares so far to the speedy and durable son of Stravinsky. He s medium sized but stands over a bit of ground for a sprinter. Like his Brighthill barnmates he looks to have a wonderful temperament.

The hallowed manicured surrounds of Cambridge Stud were next. Tavistock paraded first - a very different type to Nom Du Jeu and Guillotine - one can see where he generated his sustained closing speed when you see the elasticity in his walk particularly through the hind legs. I ve seen Zabeel a couple of times in recent years and thought him almost ageless but on Sunday I thought he was looking his 24 years. Hopefully his heated stall and blankets can see him safely through his restricted book of 65 mares this spring.

Chequers was a trip down memory lane - I recall seeing Vice Regal there as a pimply teenager. He s well down on his hocks now and a bit tucked up but stalwart Deputy Governor still looked in pretty decent shape for 26. New boy Battle Paint would have wooed a few breeders. He s quite a big horse, generously barrelled but pretty athletic with an attractive head; built more in the mould of a Trusting than a Tell A Tale. He strikes you as more a three-year-old type than the Group 1 placed juvenile he was. If he leaves stock like himself they won't be hard to trade as youngsters.

It's hard not to share the enthusiasm The Oaks GM Rick Williams has for their latest arrival Roc De Cambes. Showing remarkable constitution for one fresh from the plane and quarantines in Japan and USA, on Sundays performance the son of Red Ransom deserved to have worked his way into the thoughts of breeders looking for a staying orientated sire. RDC looks every bit his listed 16.2 hands but he balances that nicely with good bone and width in his barrel. He s not overly rangy- I guess you could describe him as built like the modern fast stayer - with a very intelligent head and eye.

If there s pressure on Darci Brahma to be the future of our breeding industry it doesn't affect him. It s hard to reconcile but each time I see him there seems to be more quality about the son of Danehill. My pick of the weekend.

Mastercraftsman maybe fully booked for next season but Windsor will have taken bookings for next season based on his Sunday parade. Rarely do you see a big horse move as well as this guy. During his parade he spotted an opportunity to get his front leg over his lead after his handler momentary relaxed the slack and his leg moved quicker than a blink of your eye. Thewayyouare is also an impressive type, shorter coupled and lighter boned than his fellow shuttler, he s thrown quite a bit to his dam sire Sadlers Wells.

It s good for our industry to have three well credentialed sons of Montjeu at stud and all different types. Grey s can put some breeders looking to the sale-ring off but Guillotine has a lot going for him to overcome such a prejudice. He has good bone but retains plenty of athleticism. There s a fair bit of Defensive Play in his physical make-up which makes it all the more surprising he was so well backed for the Golden Slipper of his year.

Last stop for me before heading back up SH1 was Paxton Park. Shinko King was a smaller type than I d envisaged but nicely in proportion with the pronounced wither and arched neck so typical of the Fairy King line however the lasting impression as I drove off into the threatening northern sky was his honest eye.

The crowd which built to a peak of around 120 at The Oaks should have left with plenty of options for their mares. Some trends I thought the weekend may have highlighted: it s hardly new but a continuing move towards more outcross blood - a swing back towards the Mr Prospector sireline through his grandsons and the sourcing of stallions from racing and breeding markets we are not as familiar with, such as Hong Kong, South Africa and Italy.

Thanks to the Waikato branch of the NZTBA for putting on the weekend and a big bouquet for the timeliness of the schedule and the food options at The Oaks were an inventive touch. It doesn't reflect on the organisation but more farms would benefit from a solid surface to walk their stallions. With the inevitable rain around at this time it s odds on that a stallion won't walk for his handler on grass and seeing a stallion walk is important.

Makaraka: Saved By Old Age

In an ironic twist the aging but character rich racecourse at Makaraka on the outskirts of Gisborne, has been saved by a retirement village.

My inaugural road trip to the Gisborne races was in the late 1990's and since then it's always been one of my most looked forward to racing experiences each season. You don't miss the racecourse; on the flat alluvial plains that stretch from the towns limits to the Urewera's, it's tall main grandstand stands out like an NBA player on the streets of Tokyo.

While it's as far removed from the hospitality suites at Flemington as the Topp Twins are from Heff's mansion, the Poverty Bay Turf Club's home has a charm all of it s own. The exteriors of the two stands and brick totalisator building seem untouched from when they were built some 100 years ago, and the setting is complemented by a copse of old willow trees behind these buildings.

Over the years I recall seeing the debuts of Chieron, Marook and one-time Melbourne Cup favourite Native Jazz at Makaraka. It's easy sometimes to underrate the value of provincial racing carnivals in developing our horses. Gisborne for one is a long way from anywhere and a road trip plus a 3-4 day stay in unfamiliar surroundings can do wonders for the minds of young thoroughbreds.

Hopefully it's still a few years away but I think I might just have to put my name down for this village and in particular the unit at the 400m mark. And who knows, if I take my medication, maybe I'll see Kindergarten come out of the fog on the plough one morning.