PRIME DISPATCH

Reneged winning the Grafton Guineas Rider Tye Angland

He has a very long stride and gave nothing else a chance with 61kg on his back

It is great when a plan comes off with the Grafton Guineas being a long term target for our progressive three year old Reneged.  He did a grand job after being allocated 61kg which really rated him up to his best.  The horse came off two very good runs in Group Company and relished the drop back in class.  He has been beautifully handled by John Thompson and you couldn’t fault Tye Angland’s ride.  He was simply far too classy for his opposition.  Reneged is in the spelling paddock and he will be set for a summer campaign with the $1 million Magic Millions Stayers Cup his main aim.

On Saturday when Ankara Lass broke her maiden at Kembla Grange for John Thompson she became out 10th individual winner from our 12 three year olds to have raced.  This figure combined with our four and five year old teams see 36 winners from 39 to have raced.  In total there were 41 horses in these three crops.  The 40th, Okina Yume barrier trialled on Monday and will head to the races after another trial.  Only one of the 41 won’t race which is an exceptional effort.  It takes a lot of work to buy these yearlings and it is very satisfying to be able to boast figures such as these.  Thank you to all involved from the spelling farms, the breakers, trainers and their staffs and all associated suppliers.

These wins by Reneged and Ankara Lass highlight the great job John Thompson has done for us with all four yearlings I purchased him to race having won.  These horses Makeadane, Reneged, More Than A Rose and Ankara Lass are all still in our team and should win plenty more races in the next couple of years.   

STABLE VISITS PATRICK PAYNE AND TONY GOLLAN

We have a visit to Patrick Paynes’s stable at Plumpton on 14 August 2016 at 10am.  On this day we will parade Husson Eagle, Atalanta Miss, Invincible Al, Hussy’s Glow, Honolulu Lass, Watego’s Beach and the Delago Deluxe filly.  These are certainly a nice team of horses and I’m certain our owners are looking forward to seeing them.  Light refreshments will be provided.

On Saturday morning 6 August 2016 we will be having a visit to Tony Gollan’s Eagle Farm Stable where you can meet Tony and inspect the horses in work.  At this stage Annaman, Husson Boots and Montana Pines will be at the stable.  We will have a sausage sizzle and it will be good to catch up with those of you that can make it.  As is the case with all our stable visits they are open to all our clients who wish to attend and you are welcome to bring your family along.

We also have visits to Darren Weir, Kris Lees and John Thompson’s Stables in the next couple of months.

Ankara Lass coming back after her impressive win at Kembla Grange on Saturday

Darren Weir – Commonwealth Record

Congratulations to Darren Weir on breaking the Commonwealth Record with 335 winners.  He is an outstanding horseman and places his horses to perfection.  Darren runs a tight ship and has surrounded himself with a team of perfectionists.  I’m thrilled to have horses with him and I am looking forward to racetrack success.

It is a great thing for Australian Racing to have this ‘knock about larrikin’ from Berriwillock, a town most of us have never heard of who only gained a full trainer’s licence in 1997 topple a record held by John Hawkes who had the ‘Ingham Empire’ behind him.

I hate to think what Darren will achieve now he has better bred horses at his disposal.  Good luck to him, he deserves every success that comes his way.  

I have been very impressed with his modesty and approach since I sent him a horse that had beaten just five horses home from 45 starters in his last four starts with his previous trainer.  Darren got him going and won two of his eight starts with three placings before recommending the horse be moved on as he felt he had reached his level.

YEARLINGS ON OFFER

This week I will highlight the Snitzel filly out of Signoret and the Hinchinbrook filly out of Kiss ‘N Chase.  Enquiry rates continue to be strong. I am expecting to have all our current syndications complete by the end of July which would be the earliest we have achieved this in the past decade.

Snitzel / Signoret filly 2014 - Darren Weir to train

10 shares @ $12,000

The filly

This is a very athletic filly and she reminded me a lot of our high class mare Hidden Wonder when I inspected her at the sale.  This filly is a great walker and has a lovely stride.

She has a very attractive head and a great hindquarter.  She also has a deep girth and vetted out without any issues.

I was thrilled to get her as I expected she may have fetched quite a bit more at the sale.  A big bonus is that she was paid up for Super VOBIS which wasn’t advertised.  This was a big mistake by the vendors but a big help to the people who eventually race this filly.

She wouldn’t have been out of place in a much higher profile sale.

Snitzel

Snitzel is one of our very best sires and is currently 9th on the Australian General Sire’s List.  There are about 700 sires standing in Australia.  Snitzel was a high class racehorse winning four races as a two year old and highlighting his career winning the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate.  

I was keen on Snitzel as a yearling.  He was out of the high class mare Snippet’s Lass trained by Bill Mitchell.  She has gone on to be one of the very best broodmares in Australia and is also the dam of Australia’s leading first season sire last season in Hinchinbrook.  

You can never underestimate just how important the female line is when assessing a sire’s chances of making it as a stallion.

It is fair to write that Snitzel is the most prolific sire of two year old winners in Australia with him having sitred 25 individual two year old winners this season.  Compare this with Written Tycoon 8 and Not A Single Doubt 6.

Snitzel’s best filly was the wonderful race mare Sweet Idea.

Signoret

Signoret is by the Champion broodmare sire Anabaa.  Anabaa was a very good sire and was very well managed in Australia where he only served limited books of select mares.  Anabaa is currently 6th on the National Broodmare List.  Again there are hundreds of broodmare sires in Australia.  

As a result his daughters were very well bred and many come from ‘a’ grade families.  When you look at his statistics the big thing that stands out is the small number of runners which have put him in the this elite top 10 position with the likes of Zabeel, Danehill, General Nediym and Encosta de Lago .  Other horses of a comparable age in the top 10 are Encosta de Lago with 575 runners and Flying Spur with 450.  Anabaa only has 190 runners but many are high quality ones including Buffering.

Hinchinbrook filly out of Kiss ‘n Chase 2014

John Thompson to train at Randwick

10 shares @ $7,900 each

The filly

This filly is a strong nicely balanced athlete that gets around well and has a real presence about her.  She is very strong behind and through the hocks which is a characteristic of the progeny of Hinchinbrook.

She vetted out without any issues and was reared at Yarraman Park one of Australia’s most well respected thoroughbred nurseries.

The filly has been broken in and is currently spelling.  She is due back into work in early August.

Hinchinbrook

After I inspected the yearlings by the first season sires in 2013 I made the prediction that Hinchinbrook would be Australia’s leading first season sire.  He didn’t let me down winning the title in a field of over 50 contenders for the title.  This was a wonderful effort considering the horse didn’t serve a big book of mares and stood at a modest fee.  He has continued on and has blitzed his opposition and will be the Champion 2nd Season Sire as well.

A lot of the credit for his success goes to the team at Yarraman Park.  The farm consistently punches above its weight with the yearlings coming off the farm setting the benchmark across our industry.  It should be remembered Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible won the title in the previous season.

In winning the title Hinchinbrook not only got early runners but high class juveniles including the Group 1 winner Press Statement and multiple stakes winner Flippant and stakes winners Samara Dancer and the unbeaten filly Whispering Brook.

The success he enjoyed in his 1st season has continued on with him clearly leading the 2nd Season Sire’s Title with his progeny earning almost double that of his nearest rival.

Hinchinbrook’s conversion rate of winners to stakes winners is exceptional with 12.5% of his winners converting up to stakes winners.  This compares with Fastnet Rock 12.7% and is superior to Snitzel 10.6% and Not A Single Doubt 8.2%.  

Hinchinbrook was a top class juvenile winning the Group III AJC Skyline Stakes and Listed Canonbury Stakes before being the first colt home when fourth to Crystal Lily in the Group I STC Golden Slipper and was then third in the Group I AJC Sires Produce Stakes.

He then trained on at three for Group I placings in the AJC All Aged Stakes, MRC Oakleigh Plate and MVRC William Reid Stakes, before being injured in the UK while preparing for Royal Ascot and retiring with earnings in excess of $590,000.

He is a three-quarter brother to leading young sire Snitzel and Group III winner Viennese by champion sire Fastnet Rock from stakes-winning sprinter Snippets’ Lass.

Snippet’s Lass was the best mare trained by Bill Mitchell while I was with him and had one of the very best pedigrees in Australia.  While she was only small in stature she was big on quality and had a heart as big as herself.

I have been very big supporter of Hinchinbrook and have three two year old fillies at various stages of their development as well as two three year olds and two yearlings.  Hinchinbrook really impresses me and during my visits to the Hunter over the past few months I have left each time with the feeling that he is going to be a great success at stud.  I can’t get enough of them!!!

We have had terrific success with these including Flying Jess which won the Group 3 SAJC Sires Produce Stakes recently.  Shining Brooke has also displayed good ability winning twice.

Kiss ‘n Chase

Kiss ‘n Chase is by Red Ransom whose daughters when crossed with Danehill line sires being very good.  Some of the horses with this cross include Roll Out The Carpet, Red Ruler, Vavasour, Vilanova, Ovidio, Chance By, Secret Agenda, Reparations and Cape Kidnappers.

Kiss ‘n Chase was a good race mare winning four races and running 4th in the Listed AJC HB Carr Stakes.  She is a full sister to Kick ‘n Chase a winner of 4 races with $$252,540 in stakes earnings.  

Kiss ‘n Chase’s first foal is by Northern Meteor and heading to John Size in Hong Kong.  He recently won a trial and the information we are getting is that he has very good ability.  The 2nd also by Northern Meteor is trained by Laurie Mayfield Smith and he reports he is very happy with her.  

The first four dams on this page have had 22 foals race for 19 winners.

I am really looking forward to this filly racing and feel I purchased her well under the odds.