The Goffs Orby Sale has been rebranded as the Goffs Million Sale. The auction company will offer a €2.4 million (A$4m) incentive scheme for the main yearling sale on September 26-28. Sale graduates will be eligible for a 7-furlong €1.6 million (A$2.7m) race at the Curragh in September, with €1 million (A$1.7m) going to the winner.

The Dubai Duty Free Stakes winner now has his own website. You can logon at the following URL.

For those of you interested in following racing developments in Asia, Kristen Manning has penned an interesting article in today's Stallions Daily Bulletin that looks at VIETNAM.

"A rejuvenated horse racing industry is taking off in Vietnam – the sport attracting growing crowds since the first meeting in nearly two decades was conducted two months ago.

"The official ban on racing was lifted 16 years ago but it took the vision of two men – Nguyen Ngoi My and Yap Kim San along with Vietnam’s Ministry Of Sport to get it going again..."

Queensland's Oaklands Stud is in the news again today courtesy of their stallion IGLESIA whose colt from the L'Irresponsible mare Quotidienne topped the Magic Millions National Stud Farm Sale in Malaysia when knocked down for M$310,000 (more than AUD$100,000) this afternoon.

The colt was purchased as a yearling from the Oaklands Stud draft at the Magic Millions Premier Yearling Sale in March for just $32,500.

The thoroughbred industry may well owe more than a few quiet words of thanks to its royal patrons of years past. Perhaps as a result of its esteemed history, "The Sport of Kings" has managed (so far at least) to protect itself from all number of so-termed 'evils' that other racing breeds increasingly take for granted - artificial insemination probably the best known example, but there are others such as remote controlled robotic jockeys (admittedly used for camel not horse racing!), as well as the latest in a long line of things to make our racing forefathers turn in their graves - cloned horses.

TheHorse.com reports today that the foal in question (called PARIS TEXAS) is doing just fine and has just turned 6 weeks old. You can view a photo of him if you click here.

Personally I'm not pro-cloning - but in the interests of it being Friday I will leave the morals debate for another day!

Sponsorship HQ has all the details:

Rights Holder: Australian Jockey Club

Sponsorship Event: 2004/05 Racing Carnivals

Location: Royal Randwick Race Course, Sydney

Investment: From $250,000

Demographics:
Marketing Primary Target Market: Women 25-39 years
Marketing Secondary Target Market: Men 25-55 years
AJC Membership numbers: 14,427
Members age breakdown: 19-37 years 17%, 38-57 years 42%, 58-77 years 34%, 78 years +7%

Outline:
With the huge success of the 2004 Autumn Racing Carnival, the AJC is offering sponsorship packages for organisations wishing to brand themselves during the exciting Spring Carnival, as well as throughout all 12 months of the year.

Each year over 700,000 people attend AJC race meetings with peak attendance times during the spring and autumn carnivals. More than 130,000 people visited Royal Randwick over the four days of the 2004 Autumn Racing Carnival.

With attractions such as the lawn parties, premium entertainment, the Doncaster Club, corporate hospitality and a range of special events, AJC sponsorship offers a unique way to promote your product while accessing a wide range of demographics.

An AJC partnership package gives sponsors significant levels of exposure throughout a 12 month period. As well as being recognised as an official partner of the AJC, the sponsor receives naming rights to many races.

Benefits:
- Sponsorship and naming rights to race Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, listed and standard races
- Recognition as a major partner of the AJC with company logo on AJC advertisements and promotions
- Extensive media exposure across television
- Signage on course, including on the track straight and at 1000m site for a 12 month period
- General admission and members tickets on race day and ten (10) annual Doncaster Club memberships.

Other Information: This is a 12 month sponsorship.

Key Dates:
- Racing runs the full 12 months of the year.
- Easter Carnival (Autumn) from mid March to mid April.
- Spring Carnival from mid September to mid November.

See Moore Sports or Sponsorship HQ for further information.

Clear Mountain Stud in Queensland will stand freshman sire Tycoon Ruler in 2005.

Tycoon Ruler was a dual Stakes winner, as well as being placed at Group 1, 2 and 3 level. In total, he won five races and earned over $450,000 in prizemoney.

Tycoon Ruler won two races in Melbourne over 1000m as a two year old. As a 3yo he ran second to Delago Brom in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas over 1600m, beating a star-studded field including Thorn Park, Titanic Jack and Natural Blitz. Tycoon Ruler also ran second in the Group 2 Alistair Clarke behind Titanic Jack and was beaten by one of Australia’s best sprinters in Yell in the C S Hayes Stakes over 1200m.

Tycoon Ruler trained on as an older horse winning the Bill Adams Stakes over 1200m and the Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1400m both at Listed level.

Clear Mountain Stud Master, Bob Frappell said, “He has the looks, family, the ability to win as a two year old, beat most of Australia’s best at three, and then train on to win black type again at four. There aren’t many around that do that.”

Tycoon Ruler is by Last Tycoon, sire of successful sires in Marju, O’Reilly, the ill fated Just Awesome and Queensland’s leading first season sire this year in Iglesia.

Tycoon Ruler is from the Group winning Rancho Ruler mare in Sweet Delight, making him a half brother to the stakes winning Lago Delight. A son of Encosta De Lago, Lago Delight stood his first season at stud in 2004 in Victoria.

“With breeder’s realising the value of our local stallions, Tycoon Ruler has something for everyone in his pedigree. I think that he will produce his fair share of good two year olds, and there is plenty there to indicate that they will train on as older horses just like he did,” Mr Frappell said. “Tycoon Ruler seems like the ideal horse for Queensland and should produce the right type for QRIS racing.”

Tycoon Ruler’s fee has been set at $4,400 including GST for this season.

Further enquiries can be made by contacting Bob Frappell of Clear Mountain Stud on 07.4666 1663

Source: Clear Mountain Stud media release

Today's press release from Magic Millions revealed that my earlier Keeneland analogy wasn't too far off the mark: The catalogue of 1,871 lots for the forthcoming Magic Millions National Sale (offering a selection of yearlings, weanlings, race fillies, broodmares, stallions, nominations and shares) is the largest ever thoroughbred catalogue in the Southern Hemispere; the biggest in Australian history.

I appear to be developing the rather unfortunate reputation as an animadvert (pronounced as "an-uh-mad-VURT") [new word I picked up that means "To comment critically (upon) or to express criticism" (of)] ...in this case, other journalists!

So, true to form (!) here are a few more 'Media Watch' examples for you:

The first was sent to me from a Victorian reader who said:

"I know you love bloopers and here's a beauty. Tony Arrold wrote a wonderful piece in Monday's Australian (not available on-line) which discussed how Ian Smith, the proprietor of Edinburgh Stud who bred Silent Witness, would love to stand him at stud when he finishes racing.

"He thought Silent Witness had a couple of year's racing still in him which I suppose gives plenty of time for his testicles to grow back!"

(That really is an appalling blunder on behalf of Arrold by the way!!)

Meanwhile another mistake was pointed out by another reader; their comment "A Groundhog Day problem for Mr Irvine?!"

The article "New Format for Melbourne's Spring Ready to Run Sale" appeared in Tuesday's Virtual Form Guide:

"The Melbourne Spring Carnival Ready to Run Sale will operate in a different format this year. The William Inglis & Son team have decided to scrap the sale process and breeze ups being held on the same day and also elected to move the selling component of the auction to their Oaklands complex.

Last year the sale was held for the first time with the breeze up gallops and sale being held at the Moonee Valley racecourse.

This year however the sale and breeze up sections of the auction will be split.

The breeze ups will be held at the Moonee Valley track on Sunday, October 30, before the two-year-olds are then offered for sale at the Oaklands complex on Monday, October 30."

Last year we saw a rare white chestnut filly foal born in Australia (by Legal Opinion ex Theresa's Delight); the first foal of the mare and reportedly one of only ten thoroughbreds with the same colouring worldwide.

Well how about a (not quite as rare but equally unusual) gold coloured (buckskin) colt as a promotional tool for your thoroughbred stud?

One of my favorite blogs in terms of writing style is the one penned by the owner of Perfect Peace Farm in Virginia (USA). The Farm has just released the first photograph of a rare gold chestnut colt that they bred.

If marketing is all about effective differentiators then rare coloured thoroughbreds are certainly in that category!

Anzac Day Stakes winner - Cianara - would appear to have a broodmare sire that isn't that familiar to your average breeder. Breeding & Racing's Daily News lists her as a juvenile filly by Tailings ex Carry The Green, by Carry The Clown ...

There's been some fascinating email debate going on about match races since I posted on the topic last weekend.

A reader from Dubai queried my comment that there had been no match races beween champions since Ruffian was destroyed.

John Baxter from Sydney- waded into the fray with the following response:

"There was a match race of sorts between Better Loosen Up and Let's Elope. However, it wasn't really a match race as we understand them, in that it wasn't put on as a result of public demand to see the 2 top horses in the land face each other.

Melbourne suffered a very wet Spring that year (1992), and Bart Cummings had been forced to scratch Let's Elope a number of times because of her dislike of wet tracks. He was therefore having trouble getting her fit for the Cox Plate. She had only run once that Spring, on a wet track, over an unsuitable trip of 1200m.

Better Loosen Up was past his best, in that he was on the comeback trail after bowing a tendon. He was nowhere near the horse he had been, as evidenced by the fact that he started at 50/1 in the Cox Plate, the start after the "Super Challenge", which is what the match race was called. David Hayes was also having trouble getting Better Loosen Up fit (he too was aiming at the Cox Plate, but had only had 2 starts back that prep, due to the wet tracks in melbourne at the time).

From memory, the pair were originally going to have an exhibition gallop on the Wednesday of the Caulfield Carnival (to make up for some of the missed races), until Bart Cummings raised the question of the VATC or the TAB putting up some money (on Channel 7's Sunday sports show I think). He conned them into doing so, and I think the TAB put up the $75,000 (thus the name - the TAB Challenge).

The time they ran - about 8 seconds outside the track record -indicates that it was in fact more of an exhibition gallop for money than a "match race".

Neither Let's Elope nor Better Loosen Up was anywhere near fully fit and neither was the best horse in Australia at the time of the match race (aren't match races supposed to pit the best horses against each other at their peaks?). Naturalism was almost untouchable that Spring - after running unplaced in a sprint race first up, he was then unbeaten until he fell as a raging hot favourite in the Cox Plate. He went to Japan for the Cup that November and nearly won it despite suffering from a nasty quarter crack."

Meanwhile our friend in Dubai did some research of his own and responsed as follows:

"The answer is surely that Let's Elope and Better Loosen Up missed the Caulfield Stakes due to a wet track so a race was organised to get them fit for the Cox Plate. They ran it on the Wednesday however it could be classed as a match race as it was Cummings who approached organisers and both sets of owners put up AUD50,000 each."

So - a literal interpretation of the term 'match race' (there you go - that will appeal to all you lawyers who read this!) would suggest that Australia HAS indeed had a race that would classify as such.

On an assessment of whether it was a 'race' or a 'workout' ... I will leave that up to you to decide!

... would a racehorse upstage the inauguration of a pope on the front page of the paper. A copy of today's South China Morning Post for you:

Brisbane Bloodstock might wish to keep a closer eye on their sales listings in future. If one looks at Ref 0018 in the 'Horses for sale' section on their website, one could be forgiven for recommending geography lessons for the author ...

Conquistar Amor (El Moxie USA - Luvscay) NB: same sire as "Sunday Silence" Hong Kong champion

(I assume they're referring to Silent Witness?!)

Loads of photos from today's racing at Shatin for you - Silent Witness crossing the line in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400m and making history with his 17th straight victory; photos of Archie Da Silva, Tony Cruz and the thousands of jubilant fans; the Australian entrants for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup - Grand Armee and Elvstroem; start and finishing photos of the Cup; Gai Waterhouse, David Hayes plus photos of Vengeance of Rain, Grey's Inn and Russian Pearl.

The photos are on the main Athlone website and can be found by clicking here. It is the 5th album in the collection.

It was an extraordinary day; Silent Witness' effortless win something I will remember for many years to come and then, one race later, Derby victor Vengeance of Rain defeated an international field in the QEII Cup which was not only a brilliant result for Hong Kong - but also for New Zealand's champion sire Zabeel who sired the quinella (Grey's Inn running second).


The moment history was made - Silent Witness wins 17 straight
(photo (c) Athlone & Associates Ltd)

I had Members tickets (and a box to entertain a lovely group of guests) for today's meeting at Shatin but nothing came close to beating the view I managed to land myself with for the QEII Cup courtesy of a press pass and an all important yellow photographer's jacket! It was one of those 'once in a lifetime' type opportunities ... and the look on the surrounding male photographer's faces (given I was the only female - and was well dressed as well) was priceless!

On the 21st April I published a post titled "Queensland realign Queensland strategy". The story was as follows:

Queensland's Raheen Stud has adopted an interesting strategy in past years by 'adopting' stallions (usually with a Woodlands or Invermein connection) who didn't quite cut it on the Hunter Valley circuit yet sired a decent enough swag of winners to guarantee breeder support; the fertility-plagued Shovhog their most recent example.

A new addition to the 2005 Raheen roster sees a familiar NSW name hoping to leverage from the Raheen brand. Arrowfield tried (unsuccessfully I have to say - it was almost as if Queensland breeders made a point of refusing to patronise the stallions Messara sent to Plaintree Farm - Count Albrecht and Sunday Knight [whose stud figures for 2003/4 are appalling] - breeders perhaps mildly incensed that Queensland was being treated as a breeding backwater or, as some were heard to mutter darkly, a dumping ground for sub-par stallions).

Nevertheless the Hunter Valley name is again wading into Northern waters in 2005, this time using Raheen to stand their 3YO stallion Stromberg Carlson (Redoute's Choice-Bo Dapper, by Sir Dapper). Stromberg Carlson's track career was restricted to 8 starts for a win in class record time over 1100 metre at Rosehill Gardens & 2 placings (including the Listed Doomben Slipper) plus 4th in the Gr1 QTC T.J.Smith Stakes. On the pedigree page the young stallion has 2 advantages - he is by boom sire Redoute's Choice and he is also a half-brother to Yallambee Stud's champion Australasian sprinter & prominent current 1st season sire Testa Rossa. Stromberg Carlson will stand his 1st season for a fee of $5,500.

I have since been contacted by someone close to the deal who said that Stromberg Carlson has actually been sold to Raheen with a "right to match clause" should the stallion ever be sold again. My comment that Arrowfield is standing another stallion in Queensland (using Raheen as the base) is therefore incorrect.

Neville & Susan Duncan of Oakland Park Stud in Western Australia may well be wondering if they've missed something if they read today's article penned by Nathan Exelby - editor of The Australasian Turf Monthly (who is also a feature writer with AAP).

Exelby would appear to be privy to some insider information that the Duncans aren't.

You see, Xaar is supposedly moving to Oakland Park for the 2005 season (from his current base at Darley in the Hunter Valley). Reading Exelby's article however you could be forgiven for thinking that all that Western Australian marketing had been in vain.

In the AAP article titled "Clock Has Ticked Over For Xaar", Exelby writes:

"It's ironic how often a stallion will produce a feature race winner after being banished by the market place. The Zafonic stallion Xaar will not be part of Darley Australia's 16 strong roster in 2005, despite being a regular here for the past few seasons.

[...]

"Xaar scored his most important win as a sire in Australia when Overclock finished strongly to take the Group 3 Lakewood Stud Stakes at Cheltenham yesterday... She becomes just the second stakes winner for her sire in Australia, following the earlier success of Western Australian filly No Questions. Three-year-old filly Written By Xaar has also been stakes placed this season.

"Xaar ... has been a disappointment at stud, with only two stakes winners in the Northern Hemisphere to go with his duo down here.

"He is unlikely to be seen in Australia again, although in Overclock, he may have produced a filly to give him his best chance at a Group 1 win here."

For the record - Stallions indicates that XAAR will indeed stand at Oakland Park Stud Marybrook WA for a fee of $8,800 inc GST Payment on live foal (Conditions apply).

The last match race of its kind - the duel between Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure and what many considered to be the greatest thoroughbred filly of all time -Ruffian - at Belmont Park on Long Island (New York) on July 6, 1975 saw the horrifying result of Ruffian breaking down shortly after the start (and having to be humanely destroyed the following day). Whether as a result of the nationwide response to the tragedy - or the public relations minefield that is inevitable when an accident of this magnitude occurs - there have been no further match races that have involved champions.

Almost 30 years on, that may all be about to change (the renewed interest perhaps courtesy of the movie Seabiscuit which featured another famous match race between the rags-to-riches colt, and the regally bred and performed War Admiral; or the potential PR [and financial] mileage for the respective countries/owners).

The South China Morning Post ("SCMP") reported late this week that Hong Kong's world champion sprinter Silent Witness may in fact meet Ghostzapper - a horse currently ranked the best in the world courtesy of his 3-length victory in the 2004 Breeders Cup Classic (which also secured the track and stakes record) when he completed the 1 ¼-mile event in 1:59.02 to break Skip Away’s previous stakes-record time of 1:59.16 set in 1997.

The match race, to be held in Santa Anita, would be worth a reported $US3 million ($A3.87 million) to the winner.

It was surprising news, not least because of the way this horse has been managed by owner Archie Da Silva and the kid gloves that attend this horse's every move. Even David Raphael, the English commentator who calls Silent Witness' races in Hong Kong, has unconsciously fallen into the same trap of late - typically starting his calls with "and Silent Witness is safely away".

Da Silva has certainly mooted the possibility of considering an international campaign for his local legend once the Australian-bred gelding has faced the challenge of securing the world record for consecutive victories (a win in tomorrow's Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400m would crown Silent Witness with that title) but the SCMP's comment that the owner "is considering the proposition [of a match race" was astonishing to say the least.

One also wonders at what distance the horses would meet given Silent Witness is only stepping out over 1400m for the first time tomorrow and GhostZapper is best known for success between 1600-2000m.

It may have been an unfortunate (admittedly traumatic) accident, but nevertheless, when litigation attaches itself to a famous name (in this case trainer Gai Waterhouse who, along with the AJC, is being sued for negligence after Waterhouse's [then] 18-year-old strapper Melissa Dennett failed to control a horse that broke away from her and went on to cause a resultant collision between a car and its occupants) the media will always follow.

Reported yesterday in Breeding & Racing (Australia)'s Daily News:

Sydney woman Natalie Petrovic & her mother Ruzica Petrovic are suing leading trainer Gai Waterhouse & the Australian Jockey Club for negligence following an accident when a runaway horse collided violently with their car on Alison Road outside Randwick Racecourse in 2001, reported The Sydney Morning Herald. The NSW Supreme court heard yesterday how the horse (trained by Waterhouse) was startled by a car inside the racecourse, fled from its handler, caused a stampede involving 5 other horses, with 4 then bolting through the track’s gate & out onto the adjacent roadway, where Waterhouse’s horse crashed into the Petrovic’s car, landing on top of the roof & bonnet & “crushing the roof & trapping the women inside”. The panic-stricken horse’s legs then smashed through the windscreen, repeatedly kicking both the terrified women. The horse was later euthanased. Natalie told the court she has subsequently suffered headaches, as well as shoulder, neck & back pain, plus depression, post traumatic stress, anxiety & “has been suicidal”.

The horse, a gelding by Zeditave ex Outing (by Boucher (USA)) was known as Honour and Strength. He had won at his only start prior to his death - a 2yo Handicap at Kembla Grange.

Julian Sexton SC is acting for Gai Waterhouse Racing and co-defendant the Australian Jockey Club. Peter Semmler, QC, is representing the Petrovics.

To give you some idea how the media can blow these things out of all proportion, take a look at the emotive language adopted in today's Daily Telegraph:

"As a gregarious 18-year-old, Natalie Petrovic was on the way to fulfilling her dream of becoming a primary school teacher. Then the "unimaginable" happened – her car was trampled by a race horse trained by racing identity Gai Waterhouse while she and her mother Ruzica were inside."

The media have a lot to answer for at times...

A fear that tourists will not specifically visit Hong Kong to view the 2008 Olympic equestrian events - and a concern that affected competitors will also miss being an integral part of the 'Olympic city' (given they will be 2,000 kms South - rather then 34 kms West) has meant a decision about the venue for the 2008 equestrian events has stalled.

Whilst the International Equestrian Federation continue to argue their case with the IOC it would appear that Beijing also has some explaining to do given it specifically stated in its original submission to host the 2008 Olympics that it could handle the quarantine issue and host every sport...

A recent survey that asked people whether they liked to get their magazine content either digitally or on paper revealed that of those choosing digital, the number one reason was archival purposes - saving and forwarding stories. Next on the list was delivery convenience and then search abilities.

People who preferred print liked the look and feel of paper. They also cited print's superiority in convenience for reading while traveling.

Of those who visited a website to see a digital version of a magazine, just under three quarters found themselves also visiting an advertiser's website. About a third forwarded advertiser information to a colleague.

Source: Marketing Vox

Blogs are the No. 1 Technology trend, according to Fortune magazine. What's a 'blog'? Well, you're reading one! A weblog (or "blog" for short) is a simplified Web site focusing on a specific professional topic, news or series of events. They are easy to set up and use, and are updated frequently by a group or individual.

Many companies have adopted a 'blog' as a form of enforced discipline to stay up to date on their area of expertise (having said that - it is no mean feat adopting the discipline of posting every day; illustrating that - of 12,700 blogs nominated for a major marketing award last year only 27 made it past the hurdle of being able to demonstrate daily updates for a period of five months or more!).

Blogging has many advantages for the person writing it as it requires the individual to efficiently gather news and information and then digest the information and communicate it effectively according to the readers' needs - which effectively allows the author as well as the reader to become more knowledgeable. Blogs are great knowledge management tools. They are also great for raising a company's "value" on search engines and attracting clients due to constantly updated web pages.

Whilst blogs are catching on rapidly with a number of companies the commercial thoroughbred industry doesn't boast many. Athlone is the only thoroughbred-related marketing blog anywhere in the world (!) - but there are a few stud farms in Australia and America who run a blog as an easy way to update clients. There are also a few dedicated racing related blogs in the US (including Alison Doyle's Thoroughbred Visions blog [Horse Racing Views and News]; Jessica Chapel's RAILBIRD [a web site devoted to horseracing news and gossip, written by a racing enthusiast who is also the books editor of Flak Magazine]; there is also Thoroughbred Connection's podcasting [i.e. audio] blog in the US).

With 31.6 million blogs currently in operation (researchers predicting 53.4 million blogs worldwide by year's end) and the increasing use of RSS as a means of circumventing spam, weblogs seem a trend destined to continue.

For all those who are interested in the technology we will be looking at "blogging" in greater depth over the coming weeks.

From today's Stallions Daily Bulletin:

"An extensive tour of leading studs in England and Ireland is being planned by South Australian Thoroughbred Breeders. The tour, flying Malaysia Airlines, will leave Adelaide on August 13 for London.

"The breeders will then travel to Newmarket to visit studs and racing stables in the area before flying to Dublin. After enjoying a bus trip along the east coast of Ireland the tourists will visit Coolmore, the Irish National, Ballylinch, Ballyhane, Rathasker, Kildagen, Gilltown and Derrington studs as well as taking in a race meeting at The Curragh.

"The group will then leave for Kuala Lumpur on August 25 and, after a stopover, will arrive back in Adelaide three days later. The cost of $6,500 (twin share) includes air fares, taxes and insurance, accommodation and breakfast as well as all bus travel in England and Ireland, which features a full day sight seeing tour of London.
Further information can be obtained from Elaine at the S.A.Thoroughbred Breeders office (08) 8297 0733."

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch told the American Society of Newpaper Editors in Washington yesterday that the exodus of readers and advertisers from print to the internet has caught the newspaper industry off guard, and urged editors to adapt to the new reality. Full story on Marketing Vox.

Public relations, PR, communications, marketing communications. No matter what term you use, it always comes down to one thing: content.

In the latest edition of Web Pro News Jeremy Pepper takes a look at the value of content.

- You can have the perfect story, but if the pitch does not work, no one will bite. The pitch is your content.

- You can have the greatest product in the world, but if you cannot articulate why it's great, no one will care. That articulation is content development.

- You can have the prettiest blog in the world, but if the content is lackluster, no one will read it.

- You can be the greatest corporation, but if your press room does not have the right content, reporters and analysts will go away with no pertinent information.

A useful source for PR people - the full article can be read by clicking here

If you were wondering what the technical marketing term is for the 'wrapping' around this month's Australian Bloodhorse Review - it's generally known as an onsert.

They're expensive (in relative terms) but also very effective (in advertising terms). Most magazines/newspapers etc offer onserts as part of their advertising packages.

Racing in the US on Saturday saw the G1 Blue Grass Stakes ($750,000) for 3 yo over 1 1/8M. The winner - by a margin of 6 lengths (a further 3 lengths to third) was a colt - BANDINI - sired by Coolmore's heavily marketed star (as he has to be at a stud fee in the US of $150,000) Fusaichi Pegasus. The winning time for the race: 1:50.

The Coolmore press machine went, naturally enough, into overdrive. Today's Coolmore Bulletin states:

"Bingo! The signs were there. He had the numbers — first-crop winners, stakes winners and group winners. And stakes horses aplenty, in both hemispheres. All we’ve been waiting for is that last number — the big one, the Group One hero that would frank him as the ‘real thing’.

"Fusaichi Pegasus now has that G1 winner. And what a way to get it! On Saturday at Keeneland, son Bandini won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. And didn’t just win it. He absolutely paralysed his rivals, storming down the stretch to a 6-length victory that surely now places him among the favourites for the May 7th G1 Kentucky Derby."

Of note another Fusaichi Pegasus colt - Andromeda's Hero - ran third in the Arkansas Derby (G2) on the same day. The Coolmore Bulletin mentions this of course: For on the same day that Bandini triumphed, another son, Andromeda’s Hero, ran 3rd in the US$1 million Arkansas Derby-G2. And if not for setbacks to FuPeg’s first two ‘talking horses’, dual G2 winner Roman Ruler and hugely impressive debut winner Fusaichi Samurai, ‘Superman’ might very well have had as many as four first-crop 3yos in this year’s G1 Kentucky Derby."

What the Coolmore Bulletin DOESN'T mention is that Andromeda's Hero (remembering that the Arkansas Derby was run over the same distance - 1 1/8M, same age group - 3yo's, indeed, same day [may have been different weather so feel free to send me an abusive email if that was the case]) ran third to a colt - AFLEET ALEX - whose sire Northern Afleet stands at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky (alongside Forestry, Our Emblem, Real Quiet and Unbridled's Song) for a service fee of just US$12,500. The winning margin in that race was 8 lengths (a further 3/4 to third) and - take note -the time was 1:48 4/5 (ft).

Perception vs reality. It's an interesting debate.

Journalists not reading your press releases? Company not getting enough attention?

Well, there's at least one local PR consultant working the phones for a few Australian clients of late!

In recent months I have been approached to cover the same-old tried-and-tested approaches of race clubs promoting a race by parading past equine heroes or sporting legends (of the human variety); I've seen famous names at stud farm open days; and syndicators who are more famous than their horses.

It all starts to lack the necessary differentiator really.

... but hang on, what's this? A bold PR specialist (who shall - for their own sake - remain nameless) rang our office the other day offering an interview "with a relative newcomer to the Industry. Everyone is going to want to meet them though as [person x who owns company y] is 'utterly gorgeous'".

A moment's silence as I waited for them to supply something that we could actually work with ... (Needless to say, said PR specialist was shortly thereafter referred to Sydney Morning Herald's personals section as they appear to have lost their way somewhat).

I do have to give them some credit however - whilst their approach may have failed on this occasion it was certainly something from left field and if there had been a bit more 'news' caught up with the physical assessment well, we just may have been able to use it!

News this week that the Hong Kong Jockey Club has bid for the rights to host the equestrian events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Beijing has 17 equine diseases that pose quarantine issues and the risk of providing a 'disease-free zone' mean that alternative venues need to be considered.

Australia had a similar problem in 1956 when it hosted the Olympics - quarantine issues forcing equestrian events to be held in Sweden.

Shatin racecourse, the infield Penfold Park, and the Sports Institute would all be used in Hong Kong as would the Jockey Club's Beas River property (the latter for the cross country events) if the HKJC's bid is successful.

The benefits to the Jockey Club are numerous and include upgraded and enhanced facilities for horse racing post-Games and the additional exposure for Hong Kong (and the Jockey Club who will supply the venues).

It may have been breaking a prize money drought for the 4yo gelding by Lil's Boy ex Alisco and local owners Mr & Mrs Hui Yip Wing but today's win in the Class 3 Porto Handicap (1650 Metres) on the all weather track at Shatin also gave Australian jockey Corey Brown (who won the Sydney jockeys' premiership in 2002-03), who is in Hong Kong on a three-month contract following the Sydney Autumn carnival, his first taste of victory this season in Hong Kong.

A gelding prone to over racing, Sing Fay Fay was suited by barrier 2 and the pace of today's race, and ridden hard in the straight by Brown, managed to work past Fortune Boy by 3/4 of a length with Magic Temple 2 and 1/2 lengths back in third.

It was Brown's 37th ride of the season.

Brown is no stranger to Hong Kong. In 2000 he rode about 20 winners, and last year he attended Hong Kong's international race meeting in December.

One can only wonder if the UK/US/Dubai bidding duals we have witnessed in previous years are about to add a new player - Japan. We've seen a few very high profile Japanese buyers in previous years (the best representative probably Japanese investor Fusao Sekiguchi who purchased the record US$8 million Storm Cat ex Welcome Surprise [half-sister to classic winners A.P.Indy & Summer Squall] colt at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale) but the younger generation also appear to be making their mark in the auction arena.

A case in point was today's news that Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum (son of Sheikh Mohammed) out-bid Shunsuke Yoshida (son of Northern Farm's Katsumi Yoshida who was reportedly making his first visit to a European breeze-up sale) & paid top price of 240,000 guineas (A$624,000) for a filly by Swain (ex Conquistador Cielo mare Robust) during the opening session at the 2-day UK Tattersalls 2YO Breeze-Up Sale.

Stay tuned for the May edition of Australian Breeding & Racing magazine. It features our latest article on a new commercial stud making a name for itself in Victoria - Paringa Park.

Paringa Park will offer the services of young Encosta de Lago entire Delzao to breeders later in the year. Paringa Park secured a 25% share in Delzao after his run in the Australian Cup last year and the remaining 75% share in the stallion was purchased just last month by a syndicate headed by stud manager Tim Breadmore and his client Richard Pietrykowski.

Delzao has raced 27 times (to 6 April 2005) for six wins and eight placings, earning more than a million dollars in stakes money (and making him Encosta de Lago's third highest prize money earner after Alinghi and Titanic Jack). In early April he ran second to Grand Armee in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick. His best win is considered the G2 Feehan Stakes at Moonee Valley in 2004 where he beat home Makybe Diva in a photo finish.

Adding his name to a string of other Australian thoroughbreds in recent weeks, Delzao will pursue the international circuit before retiring to stud later this year; his first challenge the G1 Champions Mile to be contested at Sha Tin on May 14 - a race worth $4.7 million to the winner. All going well he will then travel to Japan.

Delzao will stand for a fee of $7,700 (including gst) when he retires to Paringa Park.

In a major marketing initiative, stallions.com.au and sirecam.com have joined forces to provide additional services for both breeders and stallion promoters.

Commencing 1 May 2005, stallions.com.au will host all Sirecam stallion and yearling online video footage to compliment its existing pedigree and statistical information offering.

Stallions.com.au reportedly attracts website hits in excess of 3 million per month.

Sirecam specializes in the online promotion of stallions and yearlings through the use of quality digital video footage. Stallions and yearlings are filmed whilst parading to give potential clients insight into the horse's balance, walking motion and physical attributes.

The union between stallions.com.au and sirecam.com will certainly assist stallion owners wishing to optimize their stallion promotion whilst also ensuring yearling vendors can maximize the exposure of their yearlings at sale time.

Source: SireCam media release

On 12 April the Australian Stud Book farewelled its Deputy Keeper, Melanie Hill. Melanie was the ASB's first female Deputy Keeper in its 127 year history and she made significant improvements, both internally and externally. During her twelve months with the ASB, Melanie re-branded the ASB's image, redeveloped the website, implemented online programs and modernised the ASB's core operations. According to the ASB, Jacqueline Stewart, who has been employed with the ASB since 1999, has been appointed Assistant Manager and will be taking over many of Melanie's roles.

The HK$14m (US$1.8m) Gr1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (2000m) (also the first leg of the 2005 World Series Racing Championship) will be jostling for outright public popularity alongside Silent Witness' first tilt at 1400m at Sha Tin next weekend.

Even with today's news that the US-trained Pellegrino (formerly a top class performer in Argentina prior to winning the US Gr1 Hollywood Turf Cup over 12 furlongs in California last December) has been a late withdrawal from the QEII due to a raised body temperature, the fact remains that the field is nothing short of outstanding. Adding a string to the HKJC's marketing bow, news today that Grand Armee, Elvstroem and Touch of Land (all confirmed contenders for the April 24 event) made it into the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings Top 50.

Hong Kong also has the fifth best horse in the world according to the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings - Silent Witness (who has maintained his international ranking of 123 in his three wins since January). Multiple G1 winner Bullish Luck - another HK resident - also made it into the top 50th - taking equal 24th position with a rating of 118.

For the dedicated QEII page on the HKJC website click here.

Good advice for those currently debating brochure design in an article titled "Color Code Your Print Materials" by marketer Kevin Nunley.

People often ask me what colors sell best. There are no hard and fast rules about colors in marketing, but here are some things that seem to work again and again.

Yellow gets attention, but is hard on the eyes. Use some yellow in your marketing or on your package, but don't make the whole thing yellow.

Red makes your document seem urgent or aggressive.

Many feel green makes prospects think about money. A green border with a graphic of a stack of dollars works well for business opportunities.

Blue has a long history among Europe's royalty. Today blue still works well to portray power, authority, or prestige.

Pastels are popular for light for feature stories. If you want your message to seem fun, use a pastel color. Make sure your copy shows up well on the paper.

Many people LOVE purple. For some reason it is a favorite among children and many of us never get over it.

Fastnet Rock will retire to Coolmore this Spring and breeders will need to fork out $55k for their mare to visit the well bred and dual Group 1 winning sprinter.

Coolmore marketing manager James Bester stated today: “What’s more, Danehill sons are going to be harder and harder to come by".

Whilst Bester's comments are certainly true in the literal sense (given there aren't any more Danehill progeny being born) - in terms of Danehill sons AT STUD you're hardly lacking for choice given that there are currently 74 on offer in Australia alone and of those a number have won 2 or more G1's:

Rock of Gibraltar (7 time G1 winner)
Danewin (5 time G1 winner)
Redoute's Choice (4 time G1 winner)
Flying Spur (3 time G1 winner)
Danehill Dancer
Arena
Exceed & Excel
Lucky Owners
Nothin' Leica Dane

and the following have won one G1:

Blackfriars
Catbird
Danzero
Platinum Scissors (who has since been declared infertile)
Special Dane

... so whilst yes, the next 74 will no doubt be a lot harder to get hold of than the first 74 ... one does wonder exactly how many more we actually NEED given the saturation effect ?!

Well, there's at least another well bred one for 2005 anyway!

Interesting perhaps that Coolmore set the freshman's fee at the same level as arch rival Darley who stand Exceed and Excel ...

The forthcoming June National Sale has attracted record entries - forcing the sale to eight days.

At last count there were 68 stakes winners and 60 stakes placegetters among the mares entered including eight Group One winners - including present day star Regimental Gal - and the recently retired Inaflury and La Bella Dama. The other Group One winners are Electrique, Episode, In Joyment, Not Related and Pace Invader.

Episode and In Joyment were both served last spring by Redoute's Choice (17 mares in the catalogue have been served by the sire and with a 2005 service fee at $220,000 there will no doubt be a few investors looking for a fast return on last year's $44,000).

Other Group winners catalogued (with serving sire in brackets if applicable) include Conquistar (Elusive Quality), Demographic (Choisir), Hec of a Party, Joy of Flight, La Rieuse (Dehere), Legible (Exceed and Excel), Lolita Star (Falbrav), Patterns, Raspberry Ripple (Fusaichi Pegasus), Rock Review (Redoute's Choice), Speedy Kids (Elusive Quality) and Staging (Red Ransom).

There are also the accomplished stakes winners Bridie Jo (Redoute's Choice), Class Eulogy (Giant's Causeway), Forum Floozie, Golden Pedigree, Jade Diva, Millie (Giant's Causeway), Ossie Cossie (Johannesburg) and Verdict Declared (Redoute's Choice).

Catalogues will be released in May.

The world's most famous steeplechase has had more than animal rights activists interfere with timetabling over the years. In 1993 the Grand National was called a no-race after a false start. In 1997, the race was postponed an extra 2 days due to a bomb scare. In 2001, the bog-like going ensured only two horses - Red Marauder and Smarty - completed without remounting. Not to be outdone, this year it was a funeral of the highest order (that of Pope John Paul II) and the need to shift a royal wedding to the following day that played havoc with TV scheduling. The Big Race was delayed 25 minutes on Saturday afternoon to allow the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles to share the necessary "I do's", and finally the race was run and won. An Irish horse took the honours - the 7-1 favourite Hedgehunter trained by Willie Mullins- who had fallen at the final fence just 12 months ago. Royal Auclair ran second, with Simply Gifted third and It Takes Time fourth.

This time last year (as part of a series I was researching on expatriate Australian race callers) I interviewed UK-based commentator Jim McGrath. Jim's name will be familiar to you if you listened to his call of the 2003 G2 King's Stand and the G1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Ascot. Those were the races that collared Choisir international fame, and courtesy of Jim - an association with the immortal Phar Lap.

When I caught up with Jim he had just returned from calling his 12th Grand National; his 7th as senior commentator.

"Calling the Grand National is very different to any other race," he said. "It’s the ultimate test of a commentator - 40 runners over four and a half miles and all sorts of things going on. You have to know your colours, know your horses, your jockeys and of course the course and apply the hope that your memory is up to it.

“There is no doubt that you have to prepare for it a lot more [than calling on the flat]. There are a lot more components and you are also very conscious that it’s the widest racing audience that you will ever get.

"On Saturday [2004] we had 10.3 million viewers – domestically that was 69% of the viewing audience at that time of the day which is quite staggering – and worldwide we had about 600 million estimated so it is quite a big responsibility to get it right and you are very conscious of the fact that most of the people watching are not racing people – they are once a year punters or viewers and you have to all the time just be conscious of the fact that you can't speak in technical racing terms, you are going to have to be far more general in your descriptions. At the same time it’s the ultimate challenge for a commentator and you obviously want to have a crack at it and you want to achieve a good call”.

He also mentioned that 'no race' in 1993 which, coincidentally, was also the first year he was involved in calling the National.

“They basically had to abandon it as there was a mix-up at the start – they signaled a false start and the jockeys kept on going – half the field didn’t realize it was a false start and they completed almost one full circuit of the track jumping 16 fences then there was another group of about 6-8 others who went on the second circuit. It was a complete farce and it was declared a no race.

"At the same time we of course commentated as if it was a race realizing the drama that was there, uncertain of whether there was a rule that could be invoked to sort of re-run the race later. It was a complete sense of uncertainty - but all 3 of us –Peter O’Sullevan , John Hanmer and myself – we all commentated our leg of it and it was a very, very disappointing day – a very sad day in the history of the Grand National. But at the same time it was a pretty amazing introduction –and it was very, very good on the first day to realize there is no script, it is completely unpredictable – as they say you just have to expect the unexpected at the Grand National.”

Fortunately there were no such troubles in 2005.

From a marketing perspective the Racing Post's coverage and, in particular, their online video library deserves a special mention. The dedicated Grand National sub-section included a video library canvassing: Horse-by-horse video form guide, tipster forum, interviews with connections, replay of last year's race and the top 10 Grand Nationals.

A fabulous quote from Lindsey Smith - the trainer of Plastered (who won today's G1 $300,000 WATC Derby (2400m) at Belmont Park by more than 6 lengths; adding to last year's win in the Victoria Derby):

"The first week I had him I thought he was a goof, so it just shows you I'm not that good a judge," Smith said. "But you've got to try them all and sometimes they surprise you."

... Indeed!

Meanwhile, the WA Turf Club website is worth a glance if you haven't browsed it recently. In particular check out Tentland which is quite a novel marketing concept.

"One acre of lush paddock transformed into a party-zone. 14,000 of Perth's social scene. A cocktail of glamour, sex, style and beat. Check your resolutions at the entrance - you won't need them here. The party of the year"

Facts And Figures From the Randwick Autumn Carnival

A healthy stable of interesting facts – and some blatantly useless ones – emerged from the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival. Here’s a selection from the Australian Jockey Club’s showcase event . . .

COMEBACK kings provided plenty of feel-good stories over the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival. David Jones AJC Australian Derby victor Eremein almost died from a bout of colic, AJC Doncaster Handicap champion Patezza broke a cannon bone as a yearling and Mahtoum, winner of the Schweppes Sydney, had been spelled for 18 months after suffering a broken pelvis and tendon injuries.

THREE rainy days out of four conspired in the AJC’s bid to improve on last year’s modern-day record crowd figure of 129,017 that ushered in the revised carnival format. Still, 109,741 made their way through the turnstiles over the four days in 2005, including a healthy crowd of 46,251 on what proved a wet and wild Easter Saturday. The Derby Day Lawn Party sold out 10 days before the event.

GUY Walter’s historic trifecta in the AJC Doncaster Handicap certainly took a few people by surprise, least of all the man himself, who thought Patezza might struggle to run the distance. No trainer in the race’s 139-year history had ever filled all three places . . . so you would think the trifecta might have paid more than $1,310.10.

ATTENDING the Tooheys New Easter Carnival builds a healthy appetite. Over four days the crowds consumed 20,000 pies, three ton each of beef and ham, 600 dozen oysters, 600kg of prawns and 700kg of cheese. And great food needs to be washed down. About 2,800 casual catering staff served the masses 345,000 bottles and 400 kegs of beer, along with more than 1,000 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne.

HORSES trained at Randwick won 22 of the 53 Group or Listed races over the STC and AJC carnivals, for a strike rate of 41.5 per cent. Next came Warwick Farm-based horses (22.6 per cent), Rosehill and Victoria (each with 9.4), NSW provincial (7.5) and NSW country and New Zealand (each with 3.7). Complete race-by-race analysis is available upon request.

EMIRATES Fashions on the Field this year became the world's richest racing fashion event, with more than $260,000 in prizes given away including eight return business class airfares to Europe. Vintage was the fashion theme of the carnival, with tweed, gloves, brooches and lace detail prominent among winners. The event attracted a record 1,082 entrants over the four days.

THE fashion judges thought Royal Randwick was living up to its regal name on Derby Day, with many doing a double take as Princess Mary look-a-like Lenia Rockwell won Best Dressed Lady. Persistence paid off for Telisha Nelson on Schweppes Sydney Cup Day. She had entered the competition the previous three days with meticulously organised ensembles, before winning Best Dressed Lady in a dress bought on impulse the previous evening.

GRAND Armee’s commanding victory in The Daily Telegraph All Aged Stakes signalled Gai Waterhouse’s most successful season when it comes to the “majors”. Australian racing’s first lady racked up her 11th Group One victory of the season when Danny Beasley guided home the celebrated gelding on the final day of the carnival. Her season prizemoney tally now stands at $5,102,115.

TAB betting turnover for the carnival was $45.1 million, up six per cent on last year’s total of $42 .4 million. On-course bookmaker and telephone betting was down slightly to $29.5 million, compared to $30.2 million in 2004.

THE Schweppes Sydney Cup provided a couple of prominent firsts. It was Rosehill-based trainer Kim Moore’s first Group One victory – just a week out from her marriage to former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh. The race also marked champion jockey Darren Beadman’s first Sydney Cup win.

LITTLE wonder trainer John O’Shea and managing owner Peter Horwitz were elated by Charge Forward’s victory in the David Jones Galaxy. The colt broke through for its first group One win in its 11th and most likely final start, ensuring its sale price to Arrowfield Stud – negotiated earlier in the year with performance clauses included – increased significantly.

THE Napoleon/Goldwell Princess Pampering Marquee was a popular spot for those keeping up appearances amid trying weather. It is estimated almost 3,000 people took advantage of the free gift packs, make-up artists and hair technicians based on the Fig Tree Lawn.

DANNY Nikolic was the odd man out in winning the AJC Doncaster Handicap aboard Patezza. Not only was he the lone interstate jockey to claim a Group One race during the carnival, he was the only jockey not sporting a surname starting with “B”. Darren Beadman, Corey Brown and Danny Beasley shared the other nine Group One races between them.

JUST 25 words have Isaac Ferris on a plane to Paris. He won a $32,000 trip to the Arc' de Triomphe race, courtesy of Emirates and the AJC by submitting this little ditty to The Daily Telegraph: Away on wings, soar the sky; to Paris with Emirates I fly; Le Arc at last I see; the world's best race, waiting for me.

Source: Australian Jockey Club

You may find Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers of interest if you're looking for a web-based catalogue of short reviews of the top Internet Marketing tools and companies in 40 marketing categories including: Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Online Media Buying, Copywriting, Online Brand Marketing, Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM), Public Relations, Sales Lead Generation, and Best of Free SEO Tools.

Someone's doing someone else a favour or news is a bit light this morning but I couldn't help but wonder if Stallions Daily Bulletin should have added a large 'advertorial' sign to today's p1 (first column nonetheless) story.

Titled 'Modern Era' the story concerns the recently erected 'for sale' sign on 4yo Modern Era (Marscay - Olympic Aim by Zamazaan), who is leveraging off close relation Elvstroem's recent fame and fortune in Dubai to get some free press in his own right.

"Open to offers, his owners point out that Modern Era is a full brother to the terrific mare Circles Of Gold - Elvstroem's AJC Oaks-Gr.1 winning dam. Also a half brother to the Blamey Stakes-Gr.2 winner Gold Wells (winner of 6 of his 13 starts and aimed for a Queensland campaign after an eye-catching first up fifth in Listed company at Flemington last month), Modern Era has won 4 of his 19 starts. A stakes placed triple city winner, Modern Era can count amongst his relations the likes of stakes winners Polar Success (Golden Slipper Stakes-Gr.1), Bit Of A Skite (All Aged Stakes-Gr.1, George Adams Handicap-Gr.1), Ain't Seen Nothin', Ariante, Good Show, Beamer and Joan's Best. Modern Era is a son of one of the best representatives of the Star Kingdom sire line in Marscay - the Golden Slipper Stakes winning sire of 68 stakes winners including Triscay, March Hare, Sharscay, Great Command, Miss Margaret, Bint Marscay and Excellerator. As a sire of sires Marscay has fared well, the likes of Jetball, Weasel Clause, Maizcay and Paris Opera siring good class stakes winners. With a pedigree free of Northern Dancer, Modern Era should prove popular with breeders. A consistent racehorse, he found winning form quickly for his Flemington trainer Brian Mayfield-Smith. Successful at only his fourth outing in a Werribee maiden, he quickly progressed to city class with two wins at Flemington and one at Caulfield. Rarely far away at any of his runs, Modern Era is a handsome chestnut built in the mould of his sire. His pedigree is a nice blend of speed and stamina influences and he deserves his chance at stud."

In 2004 I could send a mare to Oakland Stud's Iglesia for $6,000.

In 2005 it would appear that the 440% increase that Arrowfield used with Redoute's Choice is causing others to become equally liberal with their arithmetic. Queensland's Toowoomba-based Oaklands Stud's recent success with Iglesia (Last Tycoon-Yodells, by Marscay) has seen the stallion's fee increased 230% to $20,000 (making him - somewhat bizarrely some might say given his oldest progeny are only 2yo's - Queensland's most expensive stallion).

Iglesia has certainly done well this year having produced 6 individual winners from his 1st crop, including Gr2 Todman Slipper Trial winner Written Tycoon & city winners Enrique, Foolish & Nova Star plus his yearlings have sold for up to $110,000 this year. The stallion also covered a huge book of 180 mares last year; Oaklands principal Neville Stewart stating that the stud will limit Iglesia's book to 150 mares in 2005-06.

Given the overall quality of the Queensland broodmare population however I remain to be convinced that Queensland broodmare owners will be able to sustain service fee increases at this level given the necessary ROI factors come yearling sale time. Overbreeding a mare (considering her value cf to the service fee) is one of the greatest mistakes a breeder can make if they wish to sell the resultant progeny for a profit in a market where there are 149 other mare owners competing for buyers - and their yearlings are equally good types but better bred. What I would like to know (given that last year there were 222 stallions in Qld) is how many of the 5,610 broodmares in the State (19.7% of the Australian total* - and accepting that a few will travel to Qld from interstate as well) are of sufficient quality to justify a $20,000 service fee if one expects to make a profit at the sales? There are also currently 13 other stallions commanding an $11,000+ service fee in Qld so breeders are certainly not limited in their choice at that end of the market.

It will be interesting to whether Vinery hike More than Ready's 2005 service fee to a similar extent. More than Ready, like Iglesia, is also a first season sire. His 2004 service fee was $16,500 (GST incl). He averaged $179,286 for 7 yearlings sold at the recent Easter sale and also celebrated his first Southern Hemisphere G1 winner last weekend when Carry on Cutie won the Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick. This followed wins by Perfectly Ready in the $125,000 G3 Blue Diamond Prelude a month earlier as well as success by city winners including Blizzardly. He's certainly a young sire on the rise; demonstrated no more clearly than his appearance in the 66th position on the leading sire of the season chart (Over being the only other first season sire in the top 100 and his statistics are slightly skewed as his leading prizemoney earner The Jonker ($697,500) has earned the majority of the $718,050 accrued to date).

If Vinery follow Oaklands % increase lead then I guess we can expect to see More than Ready's 2005 fee at the $40,000+ level. If the fee comes in at a lower level then more than a few Queensland broodmare owners with well bred mares may well decide to send their business to other studs this year or try their luck down South for the breeding season rather than grapple with potential commercial disillusionment in 2008 courtesy of percentage increases that some studs are playing with in 2005.

* - Australian Racing Fact Book 2003/4 p30.

So, the question has to be asked: did Sydney-based bloodstock agent Vin Cox purchase Songline (dam of Champion mare Sunline) at the recent Easter broodmare sale on behalf of China-based clients? Vin was instrumental in the purchase of Sunny Song (an unraced half-sister to Sunline) for the Domeland syndicate a number of years ago. Domeland then exported the mare to China on 2 Jul 2003 after the mare had produced 2 three-quarter sisters to Sunline [3yo Sun Song who races in the Vinery colours, and 2yo Droughtline who is owned and raced by the Strawberry Hill Stud Syndicate ie. the Singletons; both fillies by Desert Sun] in Australia. The mare then produced a colt by Northern Drake at Hua Jun Stud, Beijing in 2003 but does not appear to have been served since that date.

It's no secret that Hua Jun Stud are in expansionist mode and it's certainly not in the realm of impossibility that the NZ-bred Songline (Western Symphony-McAngus, by Alvaro) would be a mare that would interest them given their previous attempts to buy into the family via her daughter.

Songline is currently in foal to 1st season sire Reset (by Zabeel).

The eventual destination of the mare will be tracked with interest - by me at least!

Vendors are always anxious to ensure a catalogue pedigree is up-to-date when a horse enters the ring - at the extreme end of the scale it can sometimes mean the difference between one zero ... and an extra one.

It was a buyer rather than a vendor, however, that capitalized on a pedigree page update last week; somewhat fortunately I suspect as surely even very wealthy people feel somewhat anxious after they have spent a million plus dollars on a very shiny but unproven yearling.

On Day 1 of the Inglis Easter sale Belmont Bloodstock's Damon Gabbedy (buying on behalf of clients of trainer Lee Freedman) paid $1.2m for a Royal Academy colt from the South African Group One winner Sydney's Dream, a daughter of Bletchingly. She is a three quarter sister to Marskin and half sister to Settlers Cove - the dam of Kidman's Cove. The colt offered by Tyreel Stud (for Dean Fleming) is a half-brother to Arrowfield Stud's recent multi-million purchase Charge Forward.

Lo and behold Charge Forward came to the party the following day and added the all important 'G1' to the pedigree page when winning The Galaxy (1100m) at Royal Randwick. It was the first G1 success for the 3yo (whose successes to date includes four wins and four minor placings from just 11 starts and stakes earnings of $1,230,525) and he is now likely to be retired to Arrowfield Stud without another run.

... a race result of significant comfort for Lee Freedman's "undisclosed" clients nonetheless. We're left to wonder whether Dean Fleming was quite as pleased at the way fate intervened!

Frank Pollio is having a busy few weeks. The man in charge of Arrowfield's PR must have sore fingers from typing all these press releases - his subjects ranging from weanling purchases from Vinery, Redoute's Choice record service fee, stallion fees for 2005 ... and today it's all to do with a $3 million dollar filly (confirming the rumour started by The Daily Telegraph earlier in the week):

ALINGHI TO CAMPAIGN OVERSEAS IN NEW OWNERSHIP

In a joint statement, Slade Bloodstock and Arrowfield Stud announced today that the champion filly, Alinghi, would change hands for an undisclosed sum. The sale is now subject only to the result of blood tests. The new owner of Alinghi will be a syndicate led by Arrowfield Stud.

"Lee Freedman and the Slade Bloodstock team had intended to campaign Alinghi overseas and we are looking at following the same route," said Arrowfield Managing Director John Messara." We are currently exploring all options for this great filly, but for the moment, she will remain in the hands of trainer Lee Freedman who has done a magnificent job with her," added Messara.

Alinghi will ultimately visit stallion sensation Redoute's Choice when she retires from racing.

Rob Slade added, "Alinghi is a champion filly who has given Slade Bloodstock and her owners a wonderful experience over the past two seasons. We always knew her ultimate destiny would be as a valuable broodmare. We are happy that she has been purchased by the highly respected Arrowfield Stud and we are excited by the prospect of her being mated to the magnificent young stallion, Redoute's Choice."

Spotted on p.8 of today's South China Morning Post:

Million-dollar gift horse meets grisly dead end

A racehorse donated to Beijing by the Hong Kong Kockey Club for the 2008 Olympic Games died on Sunday after being hit by a car. Brilliant Palace was originally bought for more than $1M, the Beijing News reports. The horse arrived in Beijing about two weeks ago, but fled a suburban quarantine area when scared by a dog.

A story by Wang Qian in china.org.cn on March 23 provides the requisite background information: the horse was one of 51 racehorses donated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to the Chinese Equestrian Association (CEA). Twenty-four of the thoroughbreds are to be trained for use by competitors from across the world in the modern pentathlon riding event of the 2008 Olympic Games, as unlike other equestrian events horses used for modern pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and cross-country running) are provided by the host country. The remaining 27 horses will be given to the Tibetan Equestrian Team and Dalian police.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club gives racehorses to the CEA every year, but this donation was the largest. Previous horses have been given to equestrian teams in various provinces.

Zhang Bin, vice director of the General Administration of the Sports, said the donated racehorses had been eliminated as unsuitable for speed racing, but will be capable of hurdle jumping after training.

7 cartoons for the email marketers amongst you - courtesy of MarketingSherpa.

"Isn't branding for businesses that make a lot of stuff?"

"Doesn't branding apply only if you want to sell a lot of stuff?"

"Isn't branding pointless for my kind of business?"

Smiling, I fired back, "Yes, yes and... no."

Helping you make your business more brand-worthy is this useful article by Kim Castle that appeared in a recent edition of Brand Channel.

A new Australian search engine - ANSEARCH- joined the big guns in the lucrative 'search' field today.



The site offers the unique differentiator of demographic searching; good on paper but I confess I remain a little sceptical how well such a research tool will distinguish search results relating to the thoroughbred arena at this point in time. Despite the growing number of women in the industry and an increased pitch to the younger generation, marketing the racing industry still remains largely class, age and male specific. No better example of this can be seen than a story from ThoroughbredTimes.com last month. The story was reporting on the US Thoroughbred Racing Associations Of North America conference which looked, inter alia, at initiatives to keep fans at the track. One senior delegate stated that racing "must do a better job catering to its biggest customers. Whales (big bettors) should have their own room. They should have free drinks & a girl in a short skirt bringing them free food. Racing keeps reaching for band-aids by going after slots. They want to cover the wound, but they're not trying to heal it."

... Need I say more?!

Sponsorship HQ have the details:

Rights Holder: Country Racing Victoria

Sponsorship Event: 2005/06 Country Racing Carnival

Category: Sport

Location: Victoria

Investment: From $128,000

Demographics: Primary: M&F 25-45 yrs

Campaigns:
• Spring: Young M&F 18-35 yrs (01 Oct - 17 Nov)
• Christmas: Businesses (26 Nov - 24 Dec)
• Kids: Families with children 4-15 yrs (26 Dec - 31 Jan)
• Food & Wine: M&F 25-45 yrs (26 Feb - 25 April)

Contact
Robyn Creed
Country Racing Victoria
Phone: (03) 9258 4229
Mobile: 0408 960167

Outline
Country Racing in Victoria has emerged boasting increases in raceday packages up 30.36% and strategic event admissions up 57.42%. In 04/05, CRV hopes to entertain well in excess of 600,000 people, with worldwide audiences at some events exceeding 20 million.

With significant increases in corporate hospitality packages, preferred supply partners and new sponsors, CRV is a unique experience for both sponsors and its customers.

As many ‘Cups' are pivotal events in the local community, an opportunity exists for companies who are focused on taking sponsorship to the next level… interacting with its customers!

‘Our sponsorship at CRV has allowed us to grow relationships and loyalty with regional travel agents, as well as increase business revenue. The CRV sponsorship coupled with another country initiative, run in 2004, were by far the better performers of all our marketing campaigns.'
Director of Sales & Marketing ~ Intercontinental Hotels Group

Benefits
Unique experiences & customer interaction. Corp hospitality & customer entertaining (for 40+). Strategic networking, B2B intros, tix, staff & customer incentives plus sponsor experiences i.e. own horse for a day, call a race, judge fashions
Naming rights to high profile and pivotal racing events (8–12) throughout Victoria, in nominated locations

Customer reach & branding exposure
• Local, national and int audiences (No’s vary according to meetings e.g. Warrnambool Carnival worldwide audience = 20m+)
• Prominent on-course signage & presentations, big screen TVC, race book ads, database

Leveraging consumer promotions.
With racegoers staying on-course for 6 hrs +, CRV will help create a leverage plan that is unique, results driven and fun

Recognition as a Major Partner of Country Racing Victoria

Contact prior to the 2005/06 racing season, 01 August 2005.

Visit www.countryracing.com.au for further information.

CRV offers additional sponsorship opportunities of varying sizes and will work with your organisation to develop and tailor a partnership that is fun, rewarding and mutually beneficial.

Hong Kong race fans welcomed their world champion sprinter back to scale at 4.10pm today. The unbeaten Australian-bred gelding, Silent Witness, had just lengthened his winning streak to 16 straight victories (equalling records set by European champion Ribot and North American champions Citation and Cigar) by securing the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize (the third leg of the 2004/2005 Champion Sprint Series). In doing so this freakish horse took his prize money past HK$43 million ... giving his owner a $2M bonus in the same instance for success in each leg of the Sprint Series; adding a final touch Silent Witness also ran a course record equalling time of 1:08.41.

The 5 year old gelding was his usual calm self before the race as he (literally) dragged 2 strappers around the parade ring. Trainer Tony Cruz and jockey Felix Coetzee looked more pensive despite having enjoyed quite a day already, including success in the previous race - the HSBC Premier Cup - with former NZ G1 winner (and Australian stakes placed) gelding Russian Pearl. Owner Archie da Silva (sporting a very pink tie with his suit) wasn't smoking his customary pre-race cigarette; perhaps he was put off by the local media who outnumbered him approximately 70 to 1.

The crowd - many waving black and green flags - chanted for the horse as he walked onto the course proper and, as we have now come to expect, the muscle-bound son of El Moxie certainly didn't disappoint. After overcoming a wide barrier (13), Coetzee maneuvered the superstar into fifth position one horse off the fence. The familiar silks flashed into view on the turn, the roar from the grandstand shifted to deafening, and with his customary turn of foot Silent Witness accelerated clear at the 300 metre mark leaving Tiber and Cape of Good Hope to fight out the minor placings.

I have been watching this horse race in HK since 2003 and each time I see him I can't help but wonder at my good fortune to witness history in the making; he truly is a sensation.


There was no doubting the horse behind the marketing of today's event ... and the large crowd that resulted.


The ticket you wanted ... not worth cashing when he went out at even money but good for the memories nonetheless.


Coming back to scale - Coetzee's hand raised in its familiar salute.

Also spotted at Shatin today - former part-owner of New Zealand G1 winner IFLOOXCOULDKILL Charlotte Ma (right), IT consultant Anthony Doyle and Charlotte's sister Fran.

NewsDay reports that enterprising jockey Pat Valenzuela, who recently sold US$15,000 worth of advertising space on his pants and collar on eBay sold the space to none other than an offshore betting company by the name of Betcris.com. Perhaps not surprisingly then, Santa Anita stewards have informed Valenzuela that he will not be allowed to display the logo. The enterprising jockey has therefore canceled the contract and will return to the eBay forum in the hope of seeking a deal acceptable to racing authorities in California.

Following the ground-breaking innovation at last year’s Tattersalls Breeze Up Sale, Tattersalls will again be posting video recordings of each breeze up on its website.

The breeze up takes place at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse beginning at 9.00am on Tuesday 12th April, and buyers will be able to download a high quality video of each individual breeze from the Tattersalls website shortly after its completion.

Commenting on the facility, Tattersalls Marketing Director Jimmy George said;

“We broke new ground with this innovation last year and it was a resounding success particularly with overseas buyers who were unable to attend the Breeze Up Sale in person.

”The Sale itself begins after racing on Wednesday 13th April which gives potential buyers more than 24 hours to view lots in which they are interested and more than 48 hours for those selling on Thursday 14th April.

”The technology is readily available and I think it would be safe to say that this will now be a permanent feature of future Tattersalls Breeze Up Sales.”

The two day sale commences at Tattersalls Park Paddocks at 5.00pm Wednesday 13th April.

Source: Tattersalls Media Release

“I hope he can run" - Damion Flower after paying $1.4 million for Lot 597, a colt by Redoute's Choice out of Luanda (by Mr Prospector) at this week's Easter sale in Sydney.

... I'm sure there will be quite a few other buyers with similar thoughts after a sale that saw an average of $208,221 (cf 2004 $204,736); median of $150,000 (cf 2004 $125,000)and gross of $90,368.000 (cf 2004 $75,752,500).

Blue Gum Farm also announced today the service fee for the 5-time G1 winner Elvstroem who will stand his first season at Blue Gum Farm at a fee of $35,000 + GST.

Stuart McCormick, marketing manager at Blue Gum Farm states "By Champion sire Danehill out of the Classic winning mare Circles Of Gold, a daughter of Champion broodmare sire Marscay, Elvstroem’s recent win in the Group 1 US$2 million Dubai Duty Free Stakes stamped him as a major player on the international stage."

The stallion's addition to the Victorian breeding roster is certainly a worthy coup for the Southern State.

Surely I wasn't the only person who did a double-take at the Arrowfield media release this afternoon? I had heard discussions during the week that spoke of a service fee announcement at the $150K mark .. but the figure of $220K certainly caused a moment of disbelief as it eclipses anything we have ever seen before in Australia (even when Danehill was still serving 'Down Under'). On the positive side, I guess that figure may at least reduce the stallion's book from last year's figure of 200+ mares (and those mare owners will be celebrating their good fortune en masse no doubt given they would need to fork out more than 4 times that amount if they returned in 2005)

Also from the Arrowfield desk this afternoon was the news that they will be the first stud to stand a stakewinning son of Redoute's Choice. Not A Single Doubt is from stakesplaced mare Singles Bar (who is a half sister to Arrowfield’s champion racehorse and sire Snippets). For those not au fait with the family it is the wondrous Easy Date line that is awash with Australian black type.

Quoting from the Arrowfield press release:

"Not A Single Doubt made his racecourse debut at Rosehill on the 29th of November 2003 and cruised home a 5 lengths winner from subsequent Caulfield Guineas winner Econsol. Two weeks later he effortlessly won the inaugural $100,000 Wyong Slipper and in the process smashed the track record posting the slick time of 56.21 seconds for the 1000m. At his next start, Not A Single Doubt lumped 58.5kg in the Listed Canonbury Stakes at Randwick and trounced a quality field with another easy win to become the first stakeswinner for his record breaking sire Redoute’s Choice.

"Undefeated in three starts, Not A Single Doubt was hailed the best 2YO in the land.
He was installed pre-post favourite for the Golden Slipper and a very short priced
favourite to win the Magic Millions. He was denied this glory in race record time when a close second to multiple Group 1 winner Dance Hero, one of the best 2YOs of modern times. Despite the loss, Not A Single Doubt maintained his Golden Slipper favouritism but an injury sustained in the Todman Slipper Trial (a lead up race to the Golden Slipper) ended his 2YO campaign.

“Not A Single Doubt possessed sizzling speed. I wish he wasn’t retiring because
I think his future is still ahead of him. He has an iron constitution with a beautiful temperament,” said his trainer Tony Vasil.

"Not A Single Doubt returned to racing as a 3YO and in addition to winning the Listed
Zeditave Stakes (1200m), emphasised his quality being very competitive at Group 1 level against older horses including finishing just 1½ lengths astern of champion galloper Elvstroem in the CF Orr Stakes. He retired sound having won 4 of his 10 starts.

“Due to enormous demand for a high class son of Redoute’s Choice, we’ve decided
to retire Not A Single Doubt,” said Arrowfield Managing Director John Messara.
Not A Single Doubt will stand his first season at a fee of $13,750 including GST."