Kung Hei Fat Choy (or Gong Xi Fa Cai as they say in Mandarin) – the Year of the Dog welcomed in yesterday with the usual cacophony of drums and cymbals and leaping Chinese lions (and last night with a city skyline swamped with red and yellow fireworks for the better part of 30 minutes – Disneyland chiming in towards the end to ensure the entire sky was alight) … you can tell you have lived in a foreign country too long when you’re like “yeah, yeah, seen it all before, want to go to the movies instead?!?!”
I wanted to make mention of the Tara Madgwick edited "BreedNet" which appears weekly (as part of the RaceNet series of online publications). Besides being a damn good read it is also full of all manner of interesting bits and pieces if you are a researcher/writer/enthusiast (or just a racing 'anorak' as a friend quipped the other day!)
Breednet has recently added "Vendor Sort" to its SALE MAIL.
As the 24/1/06 intro. stated:
"[A] search facility [has been] added to sort the Sale Mail by vendor and sire, giving breeders immediate access to see what runners they have engaged at any given meeting.
For example, if you were Chloe Latif of Kulani Park, you could have had a quick flick through the Sale Mail yesterday and discovered that the Aristotle (IRE) colt that you pin-hooked for $9,000 at the 2004 Inglis June Weanling Sale and then re-sold for $50,000 at the 2005 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale was having his first start at Sale yesterday.
Then, because he was such a great sort and you’d liked him so much you could have hot-footed to the local TAB and thrown a couple of bucks on your former charge, now named Its Logic.
[...]
Go to Sale Mail and click on the meeting you wish to see and then click on the sort option to bring up the horses in alphabetical order by vendor or sire.
A heads up to who is looking for sponors for 2006/7: SponsorshipHQ reports the following opportunities:
Country Racing Victoria
Sponsorship Event: 2006-07 Racing Season
Sponsorship Property: Major Partner
Location: Victoria
Investment: From $110,000 p/a.
Demographics: - Primary: M&F18-55 who spend. - Metro & Reg Campaigns: •Spring (Oct-Nov) Young M&F18-35 •Xmas Party (Nov-Dec): Corp & Families •Kids Summer (Dec–Jan): Parents & 5-15yo •Food & Wine (Feb): M&F25–45, high income. •Various: Owners/Trainers, Ladies Days, Fashion
Brand Values: It’s a great day out! Fun, social, warm, friendly and exciting, energetic, entertaining, engaging, spirited, vibrant, hospitable, consistent, outdoorsy, uniquely Australian and typically country.
Date Available: From 1 August 2006
Outline:
In its 150th year Country Racing with locations in 53 regions throughout Victoria again celebrates attendance and corporate hospitality increases up to 21.9%.
With over 76% of all Victorian race meetings held in provincial and country areas plus significant increases in hospitality, preferred supply partners and new sponsors, CRV has become a popular experience for both sponsors and its customers. Unique opportunities for sponsors to interact with race goers have been incredibly successful in 2005-06, as have the various activities sponsors and their clients have experienced i.e. owning a horse for the day, judging fashions.
Hanging Rock Australia Day, Yarra Valley Food & Wine and the Geelong and Bendigo Cups, are a few unique platforms to help build relationships, increase awareness through numerous marketing streams, and generate sales by leveraging promotional opportunities.
Benefits - Naming rights to high profile and popular racing events throughout Victoria in highly populated locations. Exposure through Advertising in various forms of regional, state and national media, to a captive on-course audience, and via database. - Year round Corporate Hospitality packages at each event nominate under naming rights. - Unique networking experiences (Client/Staff): One on one B2B/C intros, cross sponsor promos, network b/w races, committee room invitations, unique employee & customer incentives & experiences i.e. own horse for a day, call race with professional. - Customer Interaction & Sales: CRV welcome uniquely different and fun promotional ideas that help generate enquiries, in-store traffic, interaction with racegoers and sales. With the average racegoer staying on-course for 6 hours of more, we are happy to help create a leverage plan that may include interaction points, sampling, product launches and seminars, cross marketing campaigns, competitions, fund raising, point of sale and audience questionnaires and surveys. - Much more: Big screen TVC, racebook advertising, media interviews, signage, PR, Supply rights (i.e. pies, bread, milk, vehicle, beverages, seed & fertilisers, machinery, financial and insurance, electrical goods, jockey & staff lunches etc). - Additionally, CRV offers sponsorship of the following campaigns: Kids Summer campaign $55K (Includes Naming rights to campaign & 16 events; FEAST Food & Wine campaign $35K; Christmas Party $40K; Owners, Trainers & Breeders various campaigns from $37.5K; Award night $5K (Industry stakeholders); Signage from $3K p.a. per course; Ladies Days or Fashions on the Field between $2-$10K per course; Feature race naming @ 3+ Cup Days (Locations TBC) from $24K
Contact: Robyn Creed Country Racing Victoria Email Robyn Phone: (03) 9258 4229 Mobile: 0408 960167
Australian Jockey Club
Sponsorship Event: 2006/07 Racing Carnivals
Sponsorship Property: Partnership Package
Location: Royal Randwick Race Course, Sydney
Investment: From $250,000
Demographics: - Marketing Primary Target Market: Women 25-39 years, AB. - Marketing Secondary Target Market: Men 25-55 years, AB. - AJC Membership numbers: 14,427. - Members age breakdown: 19-37 years 17%, 38-57 years 42%, 58-77 years 34%, 78 years +7%.
Brand Values: Respect for people and the community, Quality service, Continuous improvement, Lifetime learning, Ensuring a safe environment.
Date Available: Racing runs the full 12 months of the year. Easter Carnival (Autumn) from March to April. Spring Carnival September to November.
Overview: With the huge success of the 2005 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 100,000 people visited Royal Randwick over the four days of the 2005 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.
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.
Contact: Jason Moore Moore Sports Advertising Email Jason Phone: 1300 556 176 Mobile: 0403 046 554
The names of 2 horses took my attention over the weekend (I should declare a conflict upfront given one of them is owned by a friend and his wife):
If you look first at the results of the E S P TECFORCE PLATE, a 2yo fillies race over 1000m at Hillside last Saturday, you will note that the filly that ran second - MISS WITNESS (gr f 2 El Moxie (USA) ex Good Looker by Godswalk (USA)) - is by the same sire as the world champion sprinter SILENT WITNESS (thus the remarkably similar name perhaps).
Same day, different state: in the COPPERAMA HANDICAP, an open class race for 2yo's at Eagle Farm, the horse that ran third - SILENT POWER (Honour's List (IRE) ex Cinnamon Splendor (USA) by Trempolino) - also carries "half" of the famous HK sprinter's name (and the other half? Well, it's none other than MIGHT AND POWER)
2 horses - both performing well to date - but it's fair to say both have some way to go to live up to the deeds of 'that other horse' (and his bank account) that the respective owners have no doubt wistfully considered as they filled in their registration forms !
There's no law (nor should there ever be one) against dreaming. It's what the Industry is grounded in after all.
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Update - SILENT POWER won a 2yo Handicap at Eagle Farm on 28 January by 2.3 lengths.
MEDIA WATCH: Media embargoes - it's all a matter of timing
I will let you in on a small secret. Some of the news you see in the racing media (indeed any media) has been released to the journalists a few days before it actually goes to print. Before you snort indignantly (probably best to leave that habit to your horses) there are some reports that need a bit more time to prepare particularly if they involve very high profile events.
The media releases that fall into this category are headlined by a 14-18 sized font headline (usually in bold) stating "This release is embargoed until (date and time)". It's a win-win situation for all concerned: the international media get the necessary prep. time to ensure the public receive the full range of stories they will be hankering for, and all media release their stories simultaneously which gives no-one the advantage in terms of time (it then comes down to readers choosing their favourite sites/writers to receive the information).
The trade off for getting the information early is not - obviously - to ignore the embargo and print before the scheduled time. Apart from earning the wrath of every other international journalist who DID stick to the rules (if you decide to do your own thing) there's nothing quite as frightening as the phone call from the race club or officiating body if you mess up ... a dangerous position to put yourself in if you also have large advertising contracts in place with these people. It also potentialy means that you will be struck off from future media accreditation or press release distribution lists - which when you court information for a living is a tricky situation to place yourself in.
In the past week I have received an embargoed release about the Eclipse Awards and another about the Dubai World Cup Day nominations. The subject line in the latter email read: "EMBARGOED - Dubai World Cup Press Release" and when the email was opened the release started "THIS PRESS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNITL 1300 HRS (GMT) - 1700 HRS (UAE TIME) ON WEDNESDAY, 25TH JANUARY 2006" (which translates to midnight Australian time (so technically the 26/1) or 9pm HK time this evening).
Ok, yes, mistakes happen, but I couldn't ignore the great 'media watch' post that landed smack in my in-tray when Breeding & Racing's daily update arrived this morning.
15 hours still to go on the DWC embargo but what do we have here but the press release from the DRC. (You need to remember of course that the Club behind it - the same one that runs the richest race day in the world - still haven't gone public on any of this news either and the press conference to announce what will fill the front pages of most international reacing papers the following day has yet to even set up a microphone).
'A major screw-up' is the best way to describe what appeared in B&R. It is also somewhat frustrating for every other journalist who does abide by the rules and yet who equally stands to lose by others being so careless.
My fellow writers will understand the concern of writing a feature about the Eclipse Award winners or the DWC noms AFTER the awards or final noms have been announced. In the age of the Internet the public demand instant news but whilst headline-style material can be churned out quite quickly a good story/feature simply cannot be written in 15 minutes (well some can but I will leave it to you to judge the quality of such material). For this reason all writers remain very reliant on Clubs etc working with us to ensure we can meet the general public's needs when it comes to delivering a "big" story.
Here's the link to the Greenwich Mean Time website in case anyone needs to check the time in a different country in future. Meanwhile, one wonders if B&R will admit to their mistake (as in PR circles it is not a small one) and print an apology in tomorrow's Update ? Perhaps the Australia Day public holiday will provide them with the necessary escape route not to ...
For those that are interested the official DRC press release appears in full below.
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Update 27/1 - B&R did not print an apology in the Friday edition (Thursday being a public holiday in Australia).
Asian horses prominent as 27 countries nominate horses for Dubai World Cup Day
Heart’s Cry heads a strong list of Japanese nominations for the US$21,250,000 Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) day – the world’s richest racemeeting at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on Saturday, 25th March 2006.
Trained by Kojiro Hashiguchi, Heart’s Cry, a four-year-old son of Sunday Silence finished a nose second to Alkaased in the Japan Cup (Gr.1) before beating the talented Deep Impact by half a length in the Arima Kinen (Gr.1) on 25th December 2005.
Mr. Saeed H. Al-Tayer, Chairman of the Dubai Racing Club, said “Once again the Dubai World Cup meeting has received nominations from all of the major racing nations around the world. On behalf of the Dubai Racing Club I would like to thank our 25 partners, without their support and sponsorship this meeting would not be the success that it is.”
Mr. Frank Gabriel Jr, CEO of the Dubai Racing Club said, “The nominations for all seven races on Dubai World Cup day look extremely strong. With 27 countries represented it shows just how important to global racing the Dubai World Cup and the Dubai International Racing Carnival have become, and will continue to be.”
Both Heart’s Cry and Deep Impact, who has only been beaten once in eight outings, hold nominations for the eleventh running of the US$6,000,000 Dubai World Cup (Gr.1), the world’s richest race, sponsored by Emirates Airline. Run over 2,000 metres on dirt the Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) has attracted 159 nominations from 13 countries.
Among the nominations is the Japanese dirt champion and winner of the Japan Cup Dirt (Gr.1), Kane Hekili, trained by Katsuhiko Sumii.
Richard Mandella, winner of the 2004 Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) with Pleasantly Perfect, has nominated Congrats, Ulistnintome and Grade Two winners Minister Eric and Unbridled Energy.
Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Flower Alley, trained by Todd Pletcher, could also fly the flag for the United States in March.
Grey Swallow, winner of the Irish Derby (Gr.1) in 2004 and the 2005 Tattersalls Gold Cup (Gr.1), has been nominated by trainer Dermot Weld.
Dubai Champion Stakes (Gr.1) winner David Junior and the multiple Group One winning mare Alexander Goldrun head the nominations for the US$5,000,000 Dubai Duty Free (Gr.1), sponsored by Dubai Duty Free, over 1,777 metres on the turf.
The Dubai Duty Free (Gr.1) and the Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr.1), sponsored by NAKHEEL, will this year share the honour of being the richest races ever run on turf in the world, with total prize money of US$5,000,000 each.
Three Japanese stars have been nominated for the Dubai Duty Free (Gr.1), Asakusa Den’en, winner of the Keio Hai Spring Cup (Gr.1) and the Yasuda Kinen (Gr.1) and the talented filly Cesario, who won both the American Oaks (Gr.1) at Hollywood Park and the Japanese Oaks (Gr.1). The pair could be joined by Hat Trick, winner of the Mile Championship (Gr.1) at Kyoto at the Hong Kong Mile (Gr.1) in December.
The Dubai Duty Free is the second leg of the 2006 Asian Mile Challenge, a four race series run in four different countries. The Asian Mile Challenge begins in Australia with the Futurity Stakes (Gr.I) run on March 4th at Caulfield Racecourse, followed by the Dubai Duty Free on March 25th. The Challenge then takes in the Champions Mile in Hong Kong on May 7th before Japan hosts the final leg – the Yasuda Kinen on June 4th.
Ed Dunlop’s super filly Ouija Board is the star nomination for the US$5,000,000 Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr.1), sponsored by NAKHEEL over 2,400 metres on the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse’s turf course.
In 2004 Ouija Board recorded wins in the English and Irish Oaks (Gr1) and the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Gr.1). In 2005 she finished runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (Gr.1) before ending her season with a win in the Hong Kong Vase (Gr.1) at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr.1) hero Shirocco, trained by Andre Fabre, has been nominated for the Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr.1) along with last year’s winner Phoenix Reach, who will be looking to defend his title
New Zealand could be represented in the Dubai Sheema Classic (Gr.1) with the multiple Group One winner and Melbourne Cup (Gr.1) third Xcellent.
Some of the fastest horses in racing will be lining up on March 25th in the US$2,000,000 Dubai Golden Shaheen (Gr.1), sponsored by GULF NEWS, over the straight 1,200 metres on dirt.
Cape of Good Hope, winner of the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr.1) at Royal Ascot, has been nominated along with Attila’s Storm who finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (Gr.1) and local sprint star Estimraar.
Grand Emporium, winner of the 2005 Godolphin Mile (Gr.2) has been nominated for the 2006 renewal of the US$1,000,000, 1,600 metre race sponsored by JEBEL ALI INTERNATIONAL HOTELS.
Well Armed, an impressive winner for Clive Brittain on the first night of the Dubai International Racing Carnival has been nominated for the US$2,000,000 UAE Derby (Gr.2), over 1,800 metres, sponsored by SAEED & MOHAMMED ALNABOODAH GROUP.
Racing on Dubai World Cup day begins with the US$250,000 Dubai Kahayla Classic (Gr.1), for Purebred Arabians over 2,000 metres, sponsored by EMAAR. Among the entries are the last two winners of the race, Kaolino (2004) and Madjani (2005).
Horse movies that end in tragedy are somewhat akin to juggling an armful of thorns in terms of potential public backlash, negative press and animal-rights activists getting hot under the collar.
Alas, not every story has the Hollywood ending; one example the life of Ruffian - widely considered to be the greatest female thoroughbred racehorse of all time.
Jane Schwartz wrote an utterly extraordinary book when she penned "Ruffian: Burning From the Start". The filly's amazing career is so beautifully handled - even as her tragic death which resulted from an injury sustained during her famed 1975 match race with Foolish Pleasure is certainly not easy reading (and the author evokes such emotion not by vivid descriptions of bones shattering but rather the jarring images of Foolish Pleasure's owners crowing over their victory, and the effect of the filly's absence on the stables.)
ESPN Original Entertainment announced last week that it has given the go-ahead to start production of its original movie Ruffian. The movie will start shooting in Shreveport, La., in late February and should premiere on ABC in conjunction with the network's presentation of the Belmont Stakes in June 2007.
If the movie manages to evoke the same emotion that Schwartz' book did in terms of sharing the true wonder of this filly's achievements (and the effect of her death on those that loved her) then it should be well worth seeing.
So, who was behind the purchase of Vinery's pre-training centre ?
I met Geoff Guest and Jill Kewish at last year's VRC Derby. It was a superb day - one of my co-owners (in a mare we race in Melbourne) kind enough to make the introduction somewhere between race 4 and 6 ... actually I'm only guessing the time as we were all talking so much, but I do recall that afternoon tea had appeared on the tables and the first shadows had fallen across the track - so I assume it was closer to race 6 than race 2 !
Like most introductions that involve like-minded people, not much was said of non-equine interests (a lot more being said about horses, race meetings and which sales people were attending early in 06). I was therefore delighted to learn this week that Geoff and Jill were actually the successful purchasers of the Vinery pre-training centre just a few weeks after I met them.
The auction of the former Dr Tom Simon owned Australian business took place on Friday 18th of November, 2005.
Located at Longwood near Euroa, one hour and twenty minutes from the centre of Melbourne, the 161 acre property was developed as a specialized thoroughbred training establishment. The facilities at the property include a 1400 metre rubber based track, extensive bridle paths, horse walker, a new equine aqua walker, an array of safe spelling yards, and separated stable complexes.
The property is set up for spelling, breaking-in, pre-training and full training and the farm is located on the Hume Highway, just 30 minutes from Seymour racecourse. Being in close proximity to the Melbourne racetracks and stables the farm is ideally located to have racing horses return to the farm for a brief freshen up both physically and mentally.
When the property went up for sale last year Peter Orton, Vinery's General Manager said "The pretraining complex at the Euroa Farm has played an intricate role in the management and development of the Vinery Racing team during the period of Dr Tom Simon's ownership. The complex with the expert team we have on hand has allowed us to manage the careers and development of our young horses to become one of Australia's most successful racing teams."
Geoff is not a horseman by career; rather his professional expertise lies in the accounting arena - his company (Count Financial Limited) was listed on the ASX in December 2000 and Geoff remained as a Director until October 2005, when he retired with the aim of directing 100% of his energy into the new business.
In response to a question why he purchased the property Geoff says "My wife and I love horses, and are both Members at the VRC. Some business success has provided funds to be more involved, hence the purchase of the farm.
"I have always been interested in the land and farming. I thought of going to Dookie Ag College when I left school, but became an accountant instead. I've always had an interest in horses. My late uncle Alan Guest bred EUREKA STAR and EUREKA AGAIN. I thought land and horses, what a great combination ... we went to the auction and the rest is history."
Geoff said that "All the staff are staying on, most importantly Manager Damian Murphy and Farm Foreman Chris Harvey, so from 1st February it will be business as usual, the farm is virtually full at present.
Capital improvements are underway, a new office being built, new hardware and software (Ardex Horse Management System) is being installed, new logos and corporate colours etc (Gold and Navy Blue) are being introduced, a new website is being built so it's go, go, go. We will be trading under the name "Rockmount" taken from the fantastic granite structures that rise from the western slopes of the property."
Geoff says that he and Jill have a vision for the property that involves "maintaining it at all times in top shape, to ensure owners (clients) get great value, to attract and retain quality staff, to look at some irrigation in major paddocks, and to take on some breeding for our own purposes."
Stay tuned for an appearance of Geoff and Jill's recently registered colours on the track as well - gold, navy diamonds, navy sleeves with gold band, and a gold cap with navy diamonds. Geoff and Jill currently have a couple of horses in work - Ross McDonald at Caulfield being one of their trainers.
New owners, new history in the making ... and to make it even better they're also lovely people to boot !
Here's raising a glass to the future success of the new "Rockmount".
The following photographs were taken by the senior picture editor - Peter Merkesteyn - of The Border Mail (Australia). They appeared in the Monday, January 9 edition.
One of Athlone's regular readers - Mal Hayes - purchased the images and after receiving clearance from Mr Merkesteyn, has forwarded them to us for inclusion on the blog.
The photographs were taken at a popular annual picnic race meeting at nearby Dederang on January the 7th.
The toddler in the pink hat was completely unharmed. Neither the horse (a 7yo mare that'd had 3 starts in 2 years), nor any spectator was injured in the incident. The stewards have reportedly insisted that the mare trial before it is allowed to race again.
Mal says: "I felt this to be a potent reminder of the ever-present dangers associated with these powerful, and sometimes unpredictable animals. I can only hope the parents of that child, and all who saw the incident, or the photographs, will never again underestimate the size, strength, and speed of the thoroughbred."
Perhaps, not surprisingly, the race club were not overly happy about the pictures being published.
Images (c) Peter Merkesteyn. First published The Border Mail 9/1/06.
I think there would be quite a few people querying whether any yearling sale ever provides true "value for money" but I nevertheless raised an eyebrow at a letter sent by Paul Moroney to all his clients yesterday:
"Dear Clients,
As no doubt you are aware, the yearling sales series is underway and Paul Moroney Bloodstock and Ballymore Stables will once again be sourcing yearlings from most of the sales in Australasia. We decided to miss the Gold Coast sale as we feel it does not offer value for money and we will be concentrating instead on the New Zealand Bloodstock's Karaka sale which starts on January 30, and the three William Inglis sales in Australia - the Classic sale in early February and Melbourne Premier in March and Sydney Easter in April. [...]"
I can (sort of) appreciate the Inglis Classic sale being included in the 'value for money' list .... but Easter ?!?!?!
An article on the AAP site yesterday reported the debut of the David Hayes' trained VROOM VROOM today - a horse who defines "well traveled" given his early racing career in Argentina, a season in Hong Kong, and now a new life in Australia.
The introduction to the article stated "Vroom Vroom makes his Australian debut at Sandown on Saturday and trainer David Hayes is counting on him improving on his subsequent Hong Kong form."
To be honest, given the former G1 Argentinean gelding had trouble beating a horse home during his 9 starts in HK - and was retired in April of last year due to a heart irregularity, it wasn't exactly going to be difficult to fulfill the hopes of his trainer if he managed to finish closer to the winner than the last horse home. (One assumes an owner would not ship a retired horse to another country and race him again unless a few people believed his former ability - and good health - could be recaptured).
Sure enough, 40 weeks after his retirement, Vroom Vroom faced the starter and won race 4 at Sandown today.
This sport - and the horses that make it what it is - certainly never fail to amaze me.
No, I didn't manage to snare a photograph of the top priced yearling but yes, the crowds around the TV's at the sales complex were 20-deep come 2yo race time on Saturday afternoon, and yes the Events team were busy preparing the tables for the post 4pm rush.
You might have earned a bid of $725,000 but it didn't stop you chewing on a towel as you had the final touches put to your coat prior to your sale ...
Yes, I did stand at the parade ring for more than 2 hours on Monday to get the photos of the yearlings rearing (and stared in glum envy at the professionals who casually sauntered out from the media room for all of 2 seconds, had every horse in a 10m radius standing on their hind legs as if on command ... and a roll of film instantly tucked away ...).
(Surprisingly) no, I didn't get stressed by the traffic jams out to the race track on Saturday (living in Hong Kong means I don't get to enjoy driving a car for most of the year so even sitting in traffic whilst behind the wheel is an enjoyable novelty).
Yes, when you want to get a horse to prick its ears for a photo you can get people standing alongside you to do pretty much anything you ask of them !
I could travel halfway around the world but no, there wasn't vegemite on the menu for breakfast on Sunday morning.
Yes, images of the 'Ekka'/'Easter Show' did cross my mind over the 4 days I was there.
No, the majority of casual fans don't realize how much work is involved in both getting a horse to the sales and ensuring it is able to be paraded at show-class quality for more than a week before the sale even commences.
No, I couldn't explain why More than Ready's yearlings inexplicably went off the boil; just as I couldn't answer the question why everyone suddenly wanted a Danehill Dancer yearling ... and damn the expense. There's a lot to be said for those sales gossip channels.
Yes, I did covet the portable folding chair that someone appeared with alongside the crowded sales ring on Saturday, and for one blissful moment as I imagined sitting on it, I craved it even more than the beautifully bred Elusive Quality colt that was facing the auctioneer and staring in boggle eyed horror at the post-race crowd.
He said he was one of the co-owners of a starter in the 2yo MM race. We momentarily gave him the benefit of the doubt, but no, we didn't believe him.
Yes, Dash for Cash did have the marketing distinction of offering a selection of largely grey - rather than the traditional bay and chestnut - yearlings.
Yes, it's exhausting work ...
... even if you're not working ...
Yes, we all perspired uncomfortably in the heat but the stud grooms were still turned out immaculately.
No, these boards won't be around forever so enjoy tradition whilst it lasts.
Yes, I am now the owner of yet more horses (so much for keeping my hands on the tripod/pen and out of the air ... I will blame one of my co-owners and my Queensland trainer for encouraging such a rapid fall from the recent New Year's Resolution that I wouldn't buy any more thoroughbreds in 2006.)
... and on to the next stage of the roadshow ...
... and now I'm off to read the next chapter in Bryan Peterson's photography book "Understanding exposure" - why I have no idea given that sleep would no doubt be a far better option !
The Dubai Racing Club ("DRC") is responsible for the Dubai International Racing Carnival, which begins this evening and culminates with the world's richest race, the US$6m Dubai World Cup (Gr.I), sponsored by Emirates Airline, on March 25.
In 2006 the DRC have taken the novel approach of including a blog in their Carnival marketing armory.
Athlone & Associates Ltd won the mandate for the job - our second "world first" (the Athlone blog being the first in the world to deal with thoroughbred marketing; the Dubai International Racing Carnival blog being another first of its kind as well).
I've spent the past 3 months working on the project which went live yesterday. I have also been retained as one of the blog writers for the next 10 weeks.
If you click on the picture (above) you will be taken to the Carnival blog.
I must say, it has been an extraordinary job to be involved with and I sincerely hope people get even 1/10th of the enjoyment out of reading it as I did in assisting in creating it !
Post contributed by HELEN McDONALD ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Were you there? Did you go? We went… that is both Evan and I took a leave of absence and went to the Magic Millions sale on Monday and caught up with some old friends and made some new ones. It was a veritable smorgasboard of the “who’s who” of the thoroughbred industry.
And the prices!
As is already known, the colt ex Ha Ha was bought for $1.3 million dollars. That’s right - a one year old baby for $1.3 million dollars. No, this baby has not won a Group 1 race. Nor has he won a listed race at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day. This little fella does not even know what it’s like to have a saddle placed on his back or to walk through the barriers.
Are there any guarantees that this little bloke will get to run in the 2007 MM 2 year old race? No. Are there any guarantees that this little bloke will run in a 2yo race at Toowoomba in October later this year? No. Are there any guarantees that this little bloke will make it to the track at all? No! Ok, ok… Are there any guarantees that this colt will get broken in? Um, No!!
Now, let me tell you the story of “Adavale Hornet” as reported in The Toowoomba Chronicle by Susan Searle. Please note the cost of this thoroughbred - $1.00 (an amount which has yet to be paid I have since discovered, although the new owner has promised to buy the previous owner a Hamburger and Chips in lieu).
The unwanted, unraced four-year old gelding – named after the owner’s hometown of Adavale - had a reputation and had been a handful, and had caused a real stir when he would wheel around the training track and go the wrong way.
Like Lucky Starr’s hit, “I’ve Been Everywhere”, Adavale Hornet has raced at Gympie, Roma, Caloundra, Tara, Goondiwindi, Quilpie, Toowoomba, Chinchilla, Gatton and Bundaberg, and won at Charleville, and Surat.
Adavale Hornet was one of the longest-priced winners at Toowoomba’s Clifford Park in August when he paid $122 for the win on the TAB. In an industry that usually nurtures its equines, Adavale Hornet has raced six times in the last six weeks for five wins and a third. Not bad for a dollar investment huh?
$1.3 million vs. $1.00 ... $1.3 million vs. $1.00 .. Thinking, thinking, thinking… now, which one do I want?
Ok, now hands up those who still think that they have to spend thousands and thousands (or millions if the case be) on a yearling to have a city class horse and a lot of fun?????
I had every intention of getting to a computer whilst down at the Coast, but amongst the endless number of people I had to catch up with, and the number of hours spent editing photos each evening, I didn't actually manage to log on to the Internet. To rub salt into the wound, none of the photos that I pored over on the laptop screen appear to be as good as the cameras that took them suggested they should be - shows all too well that the 'operator' remains the quintessential factor - that or my photography tutor is about to get paid a lot more money to teach me how to use Photoshop more effectively ! I confess that at times like this it also doesn't help having a professional photographer for a brother whose facial expression when he sees these pictures will no doubt sum up his unspoken thought "just stick to what you're good at sis, and leave the cameras to me".
It's been a rather huge week in the history of the Magic Millions. I won't bore you with what every other media outlet has already told you about the million dollar yearlings, huge increase in the average price, record turnover and crowd numbers at the Gold Coast track on Saturday, the traffic jams, heat, and general feeling amongst everyone you talked to that the market was very strong. Instead I'm going to take a slightly different route and give you a verbal/visual snapshot of what it was like to actually be at the sales grounds for those first 5 days (poetic license will, I hope, get me around any issues of a '24'-style coverage of the event).
People: snapshots from the Magic Millions sale 2006
John Singleton's racing manager Duncan Grimley
Insurance specialist Bob Logan with stud proprietor Heather Brown-Pascoe from Plaintree Farm.
John O'Shea sporting an Iskander cap. Iskander spent a staggering amount of money both before and during the sale hyping both their stallion Honours List and also their company's services. The top priced Honours List colt at the sale brought $200k and was purchased by Iskander himself ... a good way of qualifying a horse for the million dollar bonus the company is offering if one of the stallion's progeny wins next year's MM race; an equally expensive way of producing the material for future ads that can now state that "yearlings sold up to $200K". Now who said marketing was an inexpensive investment?!
Steve Morley, stud manager at Glenlogan Park whose dream of capturing the MM 2yo race with the colt he bred - Pulsator - was not to be. Steve nevertheless said on the Friday afternoon before the race that "whatever the outcome I've enjoyed every minute of the ride." Steve sold a full brother to Pulsator to Gai Waterhouse for $190,000. Glenlogan enjoyed an exceptional sale - the second crop Show a Heart's selling strongly, freshman sires Falvelon averaging $100,227 for 11 sold and King of Danes $105,625 for 4 sold.
Jeff Kruger and daughter, Celeste. Lyndhurst stallion Sequalo enjoyed some additional PR when lot 893 - a chestnut filly filly from Ohau Leica - was knocked down to local trainer Alan Bailey for $210,000 after a prolonged bidding battle with Ron Maund, bidding on behalf of Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm. Bailey, who trains the filly's half-brother Willy Leica, reportedly had instructions from his owner to buy her at any cost. For vendor, Terry Catip from Misty Downs Stud near Warwick, it was his best ever sales result by far. "I reckon they should probably call her 'genuine bid'" Jeff commented later.
Clarry Connors (trainer of Mirror Mirror who won the Saturday's $1,003,850 Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast) was an active buyer.
Peter Orton from Vinery Stud.
Derek Field (back to the camera) and Graeme Rogerson. Rogerson was leading buyer in sessions 1-4 of the sale, spending $5,492,500 for 26 lots. His top priced lot was the record $1,550,000 for a colt by Red Ransom from the Group One winning mare Savannah Success and is a half brother to former Rogerson trained Cox Plate winner (as a three-year-old) Savabeel.
Renowned pedigree expert Les Young seeks some peace and quiet away from the madding crowd.
People: snapshots from the Magic Millions sale 2006 (Part 2)
Antony Thompson from Widden Stud waits for a lot to go through the ring so he can pass a framed photograph of the yearling to its new owner.
Alice Minter (left), Vin Cox (right) and Stuart Boman, Arrowfield Racing Manager (centre) inspect yearlings.
Trevor Alexander from Myall Lodge at Chinchilla in Qld. Asked if he wanted me to email him the photo he retorted with a laugh and the comment "I don't even trust those adding machines! What would I do with a computer?!"
Greg Kennedy, trainer from Sunshine Racing Stables (Caloundra). In the recently completed 2004/2005 racing season Greg won the inaugural Sunshine Coast Trainers Strike Rate competition with a strike rate of better than one winner every four starters. Phil Purser wrote a recent article on Greg that appears on the Just Racing site.
Geoff Scholes (co-owner of Access Bloodstock with Doug Newberry) ponders the successful sale of the company's first yearling to be sold at auction - the chestnut filly by General Nediym ex Wings of Courage who was sold to Graeme Rogerson for 155K.
Scott McAlpine from Eureka Stud. Eureka lost 28yo stallion Semipalatinsk at 4.30am on Sunday morning. Scott was philosophical about the loss: "When they get to 28 every day is a bonus," he said. Scott had driven back to the property the afternoon before 'Semi' died. "I wasn't going to go home as the sales were on but I had to go back and pick something up," Scott commented. "I saw him gallop up the side of his paddock when I got home - 12 hours later he was dead." If you wish to read the story of Eureka Stud - and the role Semipalatinsk has played in the last quarter century, I wrote an article about the McAlpines in 2004. It can be accessed at the following URL. As an aside, Scott said the stud shirts "aren't pink ... they are some other colour, yes that's it - puce" (!)
Paringa Park stud manager Tim Breadmore.
Mark (I never did catch his surname) who was the only person who handled the magnificently bred Rock of Gibraltar/Ruby Clipper colt on account of Strawberry Hills Stud. The colt ("son of two world champions" Mark explained gravely) sold for $1,025,000 to the bid of leading South African trainer Charles Laird on Saturday evening.
Auctioneer Steve Davis takes a rest from the rostrum and bid spots instead.
AAP journalist Grant Morgan.
Bloodstock agent Anton Koolman. Anton has been instrumental in organising the purchase of horses that have won 12 Group One races. Horses he has selected/purchased include Let's Elope, Stony Bay, Richfield Lady, Look's Who's Talking, Hula Flight, In Joyment and Dr. More (HK).
... and just in case you feel a bit overwhelmed by some of the names just remember this - they all started out just like this child I captured on film when I went for a walk on the beach early on Sunday evening.
Leading South African trainer Charles Laird purchased his "colt of the sale" during Friday's session - a son of Danehill Dancer (and Group winner Piper Star) picked up for $720,000.
Laird's second pick - the superbly bred Rock of Gibraltar colt from the draft of Strawberry Hill Stud which sold for $1,025,000.
Couldn't be there? The online broadcast (despite a few teething problems on Friday) courtesy of Racing & Sports has been brilliant. In addition to web streaming of the actual auction the sales addicts have had considerable other data to absorb including links to pedigree pages and conformation videos, top 10 sire aggregates, sire averages, average prices overall, etc etc.
Magic Millions report that over 38,000 viewers tuned into the action during the first five days of the seven day auction - a record number for any thoroughbred sale in Australian history.
During the five sessions a total of 458,857 minutes were viewed - the equivalent of 7,647 hours or 318 days.
Good photography (to me anyway) is a true art form. In the equine arena there are all number of gifted photographers at work. I have no doubt that like most creative individuals the majority of them don't make anywhere near what they should for capturing that 'perfect image' but in their ability to capture the raw energy, beauty and emotion that these magnificent animals evoke in each of us, they should all be given a quiet vote of thanks.
Which photographer ranks as the "best of the best" will always be an entirely subjective choice but there is a reason Barbara Livingston has won 2 Eclipse awards and has a website company tag line "images you feel". Her website is a 'must view' - you can access it at the following URL.
Another US photographer with a wonderful eye is Trevor Jones. His work can be seen at the following URL.
Looking for images of past champions? Try the following site.
Websites were meant to be updated ... or were they?
On the search engines Boscobel Stud is referred to as "one the oldest and most successful stud farms in Australia,located on the NSW Southern Highlands."
'Age' doesn't just apply to the property it would seem. Keeping in mind that Boscobel was put up for auction in May of 2005, it is interesting to see that the stud's website is still live, and worse - it contains a page that says "to be updated in August 1999".
I'm told that there are all number of ways of removing ghosts from a haunted house: you can have the property blessed, or find a psychic to communicate with the ghosts to encourage them to move on from this world and "into the light” (whatever that means). I'm not actually sure the Boscobel ghost needs that much TLC - or consulting advice ... someone just needs to send a simple email to the domain host asking them to pull the plug on the site.
Last week I was lamenting the fact that certain good stallions spend a season or two in Australia, prove successful (or run into other obstacles), then never return. Another issue is the stallions we never actually get to see in Australia. One example of this is Mozart.
Analysing the end of season sire stats for UK/Europe, we again saw Danehill crowned champion sire, his three-year-old son Oratorio being the main contributor to his success over Montjeu whose first crop of three-year-olds included the Arc winner Hurricane Run, the Derby winner Motivator and St Leger winner Scorpion.
Others prominent in the standings familiar to those in the Southern Hemisphere are Giant's Causeway, Spectrum, Cape Cross, Singspiel and Anabaa.
But what caught the eye was the first season sire down in 90th position. And with a result that good one can't help but wonder how suited Mozart would have been to Australia?
A son of Danehill, Mozart became champion European sprinter as a three-year-old with wins in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot before wins against the older horses in the July Cup at Newmarket and the Nunthorpe at York.
Mozart certainly had marketability written all over him
And judging by his first crop he may well have been a sire sensation in the making.
Of the 67 Mozart yearlings offered 50 were sold, averaging 63,000 guineas for the colts and 35,000 guineas for the fillies of which there were 18 individual winners of 26 races, including three stakeswinners and seven stakes performers.
Amadeus Wolf, purchased for €87,000 as a yearling before being bought back for 50,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Two-Year-Old Breeze Up Sale proved the best with his win in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket and is already high on many lists to return in winning form to the same course in this year's 2000 Guineas.
His other stakeswinners were Modeeroch and Dandy Man while Aidan O'Brien also appears to have a smart one in Amadeus Mozart, second to George Washington in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes in Ireland on his fourth and final run as a two-year-old.
Unfortunately Mozart served only one season at Coolmore in Ireland before dying in 2002 aged just four. So, in terms of "what could have been" - in the Northern or the Southern Hemisphere - we'll never really know.
Tasmania has received its fair share of muttered comment about all things "betting exchange" related in recent months, but on a more positive note, have you had a look at their 2006 AAMI Tasmanian Summer Racing Carnival website?
The 2006 Racing South Africa brochure is now available in electronic or printed format. You can email Claudie Naidoo (claudien@goldcircle.co.za) for a copy.
Athlone is doing some work in The Middle East at the moment so as a matter of course we track all the news coming out of there as well.
This morning I read Howard Wright's article from The Racing Post - a normal start to the day.
I then checked my news feeds and was suprised to see another article about Dubai written by Rob Burnet that looked remarkably similar to the one I had just read on The Racing Post site. So where EXACTLY was the mention of Howard and The Racing Post? And why had ThoroughbredNews allowed another journalist to take credit for the story?
I am going to reprint both articles here just to show you what the crossover is. I'll leave it to you to determine Mr Burnet's guilt.
Racing Post article:
Runners accepted from 15 countries
by Howard Wright
PLANNING for the 11-week Dubai Carnival, which is due to begin in 13 days' time, is going ahead, despite the death of Sheikh Maktoum earlier this week. A reserve list is already in operation and latecomers are being told that only horses rated 100 or more will be accommodated.
Martin Talty, international manager for the Dubai Racing Club, said on Thursday: "We raised the lowest turf rating for eligibility to the Carnival from 85 to 90 this year, because the standard of horses being nominated had goneup over the first two years. Now we are in a position to impose even stricter conditions for late nominations."
The cost of transport for overseas entries is refunded if they run at least twice during the Carnival, and Talty explained that a further 5lb leeway had been built into the rating qualification to give a better guarantee of horses meeting the incentive requirement.
Runners have been accepted from 15 individual countries, and British trainers will have the biggest numerical representation, with 60 runners confirmed, including six from Jeremy Noseda's yard and four each being sent by Clive Brittain, Gerard Butler, Mick Channon and John Gosden.
Regulars Andrew Balding and Mark Johnston will also be represented, while Barney Curley will join the newcomers, after nominating Cristoforo.
Ireland's 14 nominations - two fewer than from Brazil - are headed by globetrotting mare Alexander Goldrun from Jim Bolger's yard, while the Aga Khan will have his first runner in Dubai in the John Oxx-trained four-year-old Alayan.
Talty said: "We're delighted that the Aga Khan will be represented for the first time, because this is an indication that we are attracting not only the top trainers but also their best owners. It helps us to get the proper mix of the right horses, owners, trainers and jockeys."
The Aga Khan's interest will also be aroused by the Carnival appearance of Linngari, a Listed race winner in his colours, who sold out of Sir Michael Stoute's yard into the South African stable of Herman Brown jnr.
Brown has taken 15 horses for his first visit to Dubai, one short of the latest foray by Mike de Kock, who returns with regulars Grays Inn, Right Approach, Wolf Whistle and Lundy's Liability.
De Kock, whose Dubai exploits have earned him an international reputation, has added Mullins Bay, who won the John Smith's Cup and Strensall Stakes at York for Aidan O’Brien, to his stable.
ThoroughbredNews article:
Dubai World Cup Canival continues 6 Jan 2006
By Rob Burnet
The Dubai World Cup Carnival, which commences in under two weeks time, will go ahead despite the death this week of Sheikh Maktoum.
Martin Talty, international manager for the Dubai Racing Club, said on Thursday: "We raised the lowest turf rating for eligibility to the Carnival from 85 to 90 this year, because the standard of horses being nominated had gone up over the first two years. Now we are in a position to impose even stricter conditions for late nominations."
The cost of transport for overseas entries is refunded if they run at least twice during the Carnival, and Talty explained that a further 5lb leeway had been built into the rating qualification to give a better guarantee of horses meeting the incentive requirement.
Runners have been accepted from 15 individual countries, with 60 runners expected from Britan, 14 from Ireland and 16 from Brazil. The Irish runners include while the Aga Khan will have his first runner in Dubai in the John Oxx-trained four-year-old Alayan.
Talty said: "We're delighted that the Aga Khan will be represented for the first time, because this is an indication that we are attracting not only the top trainers but also their best owners. It helps us to get the proper mix of the right horses, owners, trainers and jockeys."
South African trainer Mike De Kock, who campaigned in Victoria last spring with Greys Inn, returns with the Zabeel horse who was successful last year during the Carnival, along with another four horses for his stable.
The UK will see additional live action from Dubai over the Carnival with a two-hour programme on Sky Sports announced for the ten Nad Al Sheba meetings leading up to the World Cup meeting on March 25th.
The programme is being produced by SIS, which will also provide live coverage for its own betting-shop service, as well as for At The Races and Racing UK.
SIS is also putting together a weekly 30-minute preview and review package, which will go to these outlets, as well as Australia, South Africa and the United States.
It's been a sad week. Another death in the past few days is that of champion sire Danzig, a stallion referred to by The Racing Post as "one of the most influential stallions of the post-war era". Danzig was euthanised on Tuesday at Claiborne Farm, Kentucky, where he had spent his entire stud career. According to media reports the 29-year-old stallion had been suffering from the infirmities of old age.
A report filed by Amy Bennett for The Racing Post states:
"In a stud career spanning 23 years Danzig sired 188 stakes winners and 106 group or graded winners, including 21 champions worldwide. Only Danehill [his son] and Sadler’s Wells have sired more stakes winners than him.
[...]
"His outstanding success at stud is all the more noteworthy given that he was covered limited books, never covering over 75 mares, according to Gus Koch, stallion manager at Claiborne."
Each morning my in-tray is full of the latest run of press releases from all number of stud farms, trainers, and suppliers. Quite a few end up getting a mention in one form or another on this blog (actually, whilst I think of it, another plug needs to be given to the team at Blue Gum Farm - their latest newsletter came out this week and the photos - as always - are truly magnificent).
Another was received today from Greg Tobin (marketing manager at Yallambee Stud that deserves to be re-printed in full (even though I've already given them a mention this week). It's just so refreshing to see a creative spin included in a press release - it certainly does make them stand out from the clutter.
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WHATS IN A NAME?
Standing a horse like Dewhurst Stakes-G1 winner, DISTANT MUSIC, was guaranteed to inspire a raft of melodious monikers, although Elvis, Hendrix and Joplin have all left the building as far as the Registrar of Racehorses is concerned.
Still, that didnt stop the connections of Bingham seeking a harmonious handle, naming their stakesplaced juvenile after Charlotte Bingham, author of the novel, Distant Music.
And it worked too with Bingham running a green but highly promising second to I Got Chills in the VRC Maribyrnong Trial Stakes-LR at Flemington, thus providing Distant Music with black type via his first runner in Australia.
But impressed as we were with both Binghams label and his lope, the David Hayes trained Sinikka due for debut in the Rancher Super VOBIS Plate (1000m) at Sandown on Saturday is the new leader of the band.
Now, if you already know who Sinikka is without looking up Google, you definitely need to get out more often. However, for those of us who confine our easy listening to lifts and a break between scratchings on the racing station, Sinikka is actually named after Sinikka Langleand, an East Norway singer and kantele player.
Lets face it, you cant get much more distant than East Norway (pretty sure youd have to change at Flinders Street).
Adding even more credence to the appellation achievement is that Sinikka (neddy not Norwegian), is from the Marscay mare Markka, which tunes in just nicely.
Coincidentally, a half-brother (by Choisir) to Sinikka will be sold as Lot 295 at the 2006 Gold Coast Magic Millions as a member of the Yallambee Stud draft (Yallambee has stood Distant Music since he first shuttled to Australia in 2002).
By the way, in case you're wondering what a kantele is the Scandanavian Sinikkas weapon of choice it's a traditional Finnish plucked zither.
Try saying that 3 times quickly after a night at the concert hall with a liver full of VB!
You don't see that many Australian ads in the European Bloodstock News. The ad on p.2 of yesterday's EBN was therefore somewhat noticeable:
Last month Arrowfield issued a media release stating that Redoute's Choice would be bred to a limited number of mares on Northern Hemisphere time at Arrowfield Stud; the stallion unable to be shuttled due to insurance considerations.
The media release went on to say:
"There has been some interest from international breeders to use Redoute’s Choice in Australia on a NH basis, and this has caused the syndicate to accept mares for service in the new year.
“While it is difficult to say what demand there would be, his NH book will only be a maximum of, say, 25 mares, as we want to give him a decent rest before next season,” said John Messara, Syndicate Manager.
“Perhaps the produce of his NH bookings will open up new vistas for this great horse,” added Messara.
Redoute’s Choice has just completed a Southern Hemisphere book of approximately 175 mares plus free returns from the 2004 season.
The advertising in the EBN has therefore intrigued me. Is this early preparations for forthcoming yearling sales in Aus (to prospective international buyers)? Are the 25 vacant slots for mares not taken as yet? Or will the final number of mares RC covers be higher than initially proposed ?
The inclusion of 'Fact 1' on the advertisement suggests that this ad might be the first of many.
It's always good to follow campaigns to see what their ultimate objectives are, so I will keep you posted.
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A reader has contacted me to say that the same series of ads ran in the Thoroughbred Daily News (US) last month and apparently there are 8 ads in total.
Another USA podcaster has come to light - this time from the Australian Racing site.
Video podcasts of the 2004 and 2005 Melbourne Cups are currently available at the following URL (you will need to have downloaded iTunes [or similar] to watch the replays.)
A report from a Las Vegas publication KLASTV states that a number of famous race horses are taking up painting to fill those long hours in the off season.
Painting?
Yep, you read correctly.
A Moneigh is trademarked artwork created by horses. That's right, BY horses. They paint with their lips, noses, tails and hooves using non-toxic paints on archival quality paper. The 'paintings' are matted and framed with a brass name plate and lock of a mane encased in each painting. These are original artworks, no one is like the other.
"ReRun started the idea of "Moneighs" - a whimsical idea that's turned into serious cash.
Mary Simons, who works for ReRun, says the online auction service e-Bay has opened up a whole new market for the paintings. The average cost for a painting is 300 to 400 dollars, but a work by Smarty went for 32-hundred-50 dollars on e-Bay in December.
ReRun estimates it's raised about 20-thousand dollars in three years from works by horses such as Funny Cide, Giacomo and others."
I couldn't resist ... off to eBay I went. Sure enough - here they are.
(I'm all for charity so I'm not saying ONE WORD about people explaining this one to the guests admiring the 'artwork' above the dining room table !)
The racing world is in shock following the sudden death in Australia of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates.
The Sheikh was staying at the Gold Coast, reportedly in preparation for the Magic Millions yearling sales next week.
Sheikh Maktoum’s presence throughout the world of racing was seen through his partnership in Godolphin with brothers Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Ahmed, and as the owner of Gainsborough Stud, whose stallions include Fantastic Light, Cadeux Genereux, Royal Applause, Green Desert, Zilzal, Elusive Quality, Rahy, and Quiet American.
While there are some horses that continue to carry his colours in Europe, among them the recent Group 1 winner Court Masterpiece, many of his horses raced under the Godolphin banner.
Prior to the establishment of Godolphin his horses were regularly seen throughout the world, more so in Europe where his race wins included a 2000 Guineas (Shadeed), 1000 Guineas (Ma Biche, Hatoof), Oaks (Snow Bride), Eclipse (Ezzoud), July Cup (Cadeaux Genereux), Juddmonte Lockinge (Ezzoud), Champion Stakes (Storming Home, Hatoof), Dubai Sheema Classic (Fantastic Light), Irish Derby (Balanchine), Irish Oaks (Lailani), French 1000 Guineas (Always Loyal, Musical Chimes), French 2000 Guineas (Vettori).
His colours were also carried to success on International Day in Hong Kong by Soviet Line in the Hong Kong Bowl.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is the UAE's defence minister, and Maktoum's brother and heir, will automatically take over as ruler of Dubai.
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The news of the Sheikh's death has come on the same day that Collingrove announced the death of renowned sire and former Melbourne Cup winner Jeune (GB), aged 16.
Currently 8th on Australia’s Sire List, Jeune was known for his versatility as a racehorse and sire. Jeune won 10 races inc. four Gr 1 events from 1400m to 3200m and was named Australasian Horse of the Year when trained by David Hayes to win the Melbourne Cup and set a course record in the C.F Orr Stakes (over 1400m) in 1994.
Jeune was trained at Lindsay Park by the late Colin Hayes and then by David Hayes for Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid al Maktoum before being syndicated for stud in 1996.
For those wondering what happens in Dubai during an official period of mourning - the entire city closes down for the next seven days for an official period of mourning. Flags will fly at half mast for 40 days while local radio and television stations will broadcast readings from the Koran. All sport will be cancelled, the Dubai Shopping Festival has reportedly been cancelled and normal life will slow down somewhat as everything closes for the next few days.
The Dubai International Racing Carnival is due to open on January 19 so it will be interesting to see what effect the Sheikh's death will have on this.
I received a lengthy media release from Yallambee Stud today outlining recent successes achieved by resident sire TESTA ROSSA. The email states (inter alia):
SWING TIME
There’s no form like current form and Testa Rossa has been in the news during the past week:
- Irontrak ran 2nd at Kilmore last Thursday - Ella La Rossa won at Canberra last Friday - San Pietro ran 2nd on debut at Warrnambool last Friday - Master Archie won the TJ Smith Slipper-LR at Doomben on Saturday, becoming Testa Rossa’s fifth stakeswinner and ninth black type earner - Tereschenko ran 2nd to a potential superstar in California Dane – in track record time – at Moonee Valley on Saturday and now boasts 3 wins and 3 seconds from 6 starts - M’Lady Tess ran 3rd at Flemington on Monday
A number of studs have been noticeably silent this season in terms of promoting their stallions (both in terms of website updates, press releases and newsletters) despite the fact that the progeny of the same are doing an excellent job enhancing the value of the yearlings about to enter sales rings in Australia and across the Tasman. But what use are race results if the stud standing the stallion/s aren't assisting their clients (investors and/or future vendors) by informing/reminding the general public of the importance of such results?
It strikes me as an astonishing oversight given the millions of dollars that are invested in stallions, broodmares and general (read as: untargeted) advertising. If I was an owner of a yearling being offered on account of any of these establishments [and there are a few of them] over the next few months and I was paying top dollar for the privilege I can't say I would be entirely happy when I next received that familiar window faced envelope.
In many ways the current marketing practices of many establishments remind me of non-thoroughbred organizations who willingly spend (waste ?) a million dollars trying to get "the next big client" ... and completely overlook the 80/20 rule (you get 80% of your business from 20% of your existing clientbase) and the fact that it costs, on average, 8 times as much to get a new client as it does to satisfy an existing one.
Well, at least Yallambee's marketing team are on top of things.
It's not unusual for American horses to post huge winning margins in their races - a recent example the $100,000 PENINSULA GAMING’S DIAMOND JO STAKES at Evangeline Downs on the 31st December. The 2yo race over a mile was won by LAWYER RON (Langfuhr – Donation by Lord Avie) from DESERT WHEAT (Wheaton – Absoluta (IRE) by Royal Academy) and PREMIER DANCE (Premiership – Vilshedance by Vilzak). The commentator could have made himself a cup of coffee in the time between first and third when one looks at the margins - 8 ½ len x 11 ¼ len (time: 1m 39.19s).
Such margins are not as common in Australia but just to make a liar of me - the winner of the G2 Perth Cup on New Year's Day - BLACK TOM (5yo by Langfuhr (CAN) – Narmada (USA) by Blushing Groom) did so by a margin of 6 lengths.
It's great to see so many vendors taking the time (and yes, investing the money) in promoting their yearlings for the forthcoming sales. Technology has ably assisted many people with this task as is demonstrated by the number of the sales companies now offering pedigree information, conformation photographs, and streaming video of the yearlings walking, on their respective websites.
I would encourage every vendor to utilise the promotional tools available to them - with one proviso: Before you fork out the additional money ask yourself why you are using each one and what you hope to achieve from it.
Pedigree page - speaks for itself as buyers will want to know the breeding of the horse in question, not just its sire and his accomplishments (both as a racehorse and also in terms of what his progeny have gone on to achieve) but also the race and breeding performance of the dams reflected on the page. Pedigrees on sales sites all follow the same format. For the A3 (or larger) pedigrees you laminate and attach to the stable door at the sales complex I would suggest using Photoshop/Publisher (or similar) or getting a graphic designer to spend an hour of his/her time assisting you to highlight the relevant parts of the pedigree that you wish to bring to prospective buyer's attention (e.g. that a stakes winner on the page was bred on the same cross as your yearling; the sire has now had 100 stakes winners; recent winners under the first dam etc etc).
Photos - a good side-on conformation shot is a good tool for those people who have seen the yearling onsite (either at the stud farm pre-sale or at the sales complex) and wish to refresh their memory against their notes, see how it has grown since they saw it (as photos are usually taken about 4-6 weeks out from the sale), or see it for the first time to encourage a 'live' viewing. Without a photo a horse is just a pedigree page. It is an inexpensive and effective tool. It becomes a very dangerous tool when a photograph that does utterly no justice to the animal is used (the excuse often being "we were in a rush/we ran out of time"). Just remember that bad promotion can often prove more damaging than no promotion at all.
So, who takes a good photo? Go and have a look at the way the bigger studs do them (accepting that many use professional photographers): Collingrove, Widden, Coolmore, Darley for eg. Their photos are always good - the horses are immaculately presented, they are paraded on level ground, are set against a clean background, and the photo is cropped to maximise the subject. The time of day the photo is taken and the weather conditions all play an important role as well as timing will effect shadows, and conditions the colour/shine on a horse's coat. Just out of interest - to show how a background can effect things - look at the photos of some of the Broadwater Farm yearlings. Magnificently presented yearlings but the slope BEHIND the photo draws the eye and makes you wonder if the horses are actually standing on flat ground.
Streaming videos - from a purely marketing angle it has been encouraging to see the huge developments in web streaming in recent years and SireCam has certainly been at the forefront of this in the thoroughbred arena. The company offers a very good service and a number of vendors are (not surprisngly) using it. A number of people I know have ended up purchasing a horse that they have openly said they would not have considered but because they liked what they could see (to the extent that SireCam and photos could depict the animal), they at least inspected the horse whereas without the photo/video, they wouldn't have. It just goes to show the power of the visual.
My original question still applies however - why use it? Video allows us to see a horse walking to look at their overall appearance, the freedom of their action, assess their balance, and to see whether they have a visible conformational defect. Can video show that? My answer is - in the current format - no it can't. SireCam certainly provides a good basis for assessing the overall 'look' of a horse, but if the horse is paraded in an area that isn't flat, if we get to assess the conformational defects of the person walking the horse rather than the horse itself (if the groom blocks a clear view of its charge's legs) then why exactly have you spent the money to have the video taken?
Have a look at GaitCam - again, not perfect (as web streaming will never be as good as "actually being there") BUT the horse is walked on flat ground, lines have been marked on the ground so you can assess the horse's action as they walk towards you/away from you, you can choose front on or side views and also conformation shots.
One hopes the next generation of streaming video in Australia offers the same functionality, otherwise my concern is more and more people will just latch on to marketing initiatives of this nature without actually thinking through whether they are using the right tools to meet their objectives - or are simply worried about not "keeping up with the Jones'".
Derrinstown stud - home of 2 stallions that I wish still called NZ home
It's strange how you stumble across a site once ... and then find yourself back at it for an entirely different matter some weeks later.
Has anyone looked at the leading 2nd crop Australian sire lists lately? Former NZ Westbury Stud shuttler Elnadim (by Danzig) is third on that list with a 100% runner to winner ratio. From just 3 starters he has had 3 winners (including stakes winner Pendragon (NZ) with earnings of $492,700). The only 2 sires above Elnadim on the 2nd crop table are More Than Ready (by Southern Halo) who has had 53 starters for 18 winners and Testa Rossa (by Perugino) who has had 54 starters for 15 winners.
I therefore found myself back at the Derrinstown Stud website - and immediately realized that this is the same stud that stands another former NZ shuttler - Almutawakel - who has also done great things in NZ (see my previous post on the topic)
The design of the website intrigued me so I went and hunted around for some further information on how the link between Dubai and Ireland (and also the UK looking at the 'related stud farm' list) worked. It eventuates that Derrinstown is owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum (who also raced Elnadim and Almutawakel [his colours: blue with white epaulettes and blue and white striped cap]). He also owned (amongst many others) Zabeel, Nashwan, Nayef, and Unfuwain.
Derrinstown is his Irish stud, Shadwell is his English stud, and Shadwell Farms his American Stud. It is a similar model to that of Darley which is owned by Sheikh Mohammed - who also own Kildangen in Ireland. Sheikh Maktoum, the eldest brother in the family, owns Gainsborough stud.
Derrinstown stallions are refreshingly inexpensive considering how well performed their progeny have been - the 2 stallions I have referred to have a service fee of 7,000 pounds ... makes me wish I had a few mares in Ireland to send to them.
My frustration was not in seeing such a lovely website and an excellent line-up of stallions (that was actually a very positive start to the day). The frustration is seeing how well certain shuttle stallions work 'down under' and coming to terms with the fact that we don't then (for whatever reason) get access to them again once they are proven. The more usual scenario is a stallion firing (eg. Giant's Causeway or Montjeu) and then the larger studs pointing to insurance issues as the reason the horse can't be shuttled. Instead they 'compensate' local breeders by throwing a few unknowns into their annual pilgrimage and then swamp the market with tens of thousands of dollars of advertising and PR to again entice local breeders to "test" the stallions to determine whether or not they are then valuable enough not to return to our shores.
Anyone see the irony in this logic?
I'm not privy to the reasons why Almutawakel and Elnadim aren't shuttling to NZ anymore - perhaps deals couldn't be brokered with local farms (or there were other issues). They were removed from service long before their first crops hit the tracks so at least they haven't fallen victim to the "too valuable to shuttle" approach which is some relief.
What I do know is that when you are putting a mare to a stallion you should be having some long and hard discussions with the stud that stands him about how long the stallion will be returning to Australia (if it is a shuttler), what guarantees they can provide you, and what promotion budget they will be investing in the year your yearling hits the sales should the stallion not be returning.
Today's 10 page colour spread in The Bloodhorse Review/Australian Turf Monthly/Breeding & Racing saying THIS stallion is the greatest thing to ever grace a race course/breeding shed is all too soon overtaken by the next horse they need a return on investment for. And all too often it is the breeders who bear this risk (accepting of course that investment risk is exactly that - risk - and occasionally a breeder does hit gold in the sales ring should the stallion go on to produce a sensational few crops). My issue is that disclosure of risk is not the same in this industry as it is in others - and maybe we should be asking why it isn't. As our editor John Baxter has been heard to comment 'Should stallions carry a wealth warning'? His piece appears below.
If I want to buy some shares in a float, I receive a prospectus which alerts me to all sorts of risks which might adversely affect my investment.
If I want to invest some money in a property trust, I am given all manner of paraphernalia telling me what I am letting myself in for.
If I want to buy a share in a racehorse from a syndicator, I get a disclosure statement telling me all the risks I am taking. In fact, they pretty much tell me that I am throwing my money away.
How come if I want to buy a service to a stallion, an "investment" which carries a colossal risk, I get told nothing ?
I don't get told that the stallion, if he is a shuttler, may not come back next year and, in that event, I will get no marketing support from the stud flogging me the service when it comes time for me to try to sell my yearling.
I will let you in on a small secret. Some of the news you see in the racing media (indeed any media) has been released to the journalists a few days before it actually goes to print. Before you snort indignantly (probably best to leave that habit to your horses) there are some reports that need a bit more time to prepare particularly if they involve very high profile events. 
Jane Schwartz wrote an utterly extraordinary book when she penned "Ruffian: Burning From the Start". The filly's amazing career is so beautifully handled - even as her tragic death which resulted from an injury sustained during her famed 1975 match race with Foolish Pleasure is certainly not easy reading (and the author evokes such emotion not by vivid descriptions of bones shattering but rather the jarring images of Foolish Pleasure's owners crowing over their victory, and the effect of the filly's absence on the stables.) 
I met Geoff Guest and Jill Kewish at last year's VRC Derby. It was a superb day - one of my co-owners (in a mare we race in Melbourne) kind enough to make the introduction somewhere between race 4 and 6 ... actually I'm only guessing the time as we were all talking so much, but I do recall that afternoon tea had appeared on the tables and the first shadows had fallen across the track - so I assume it was closer to race 6 than race 2 ! 
The facilities at the property include a 1400 metre rubber based track, extensive bridle paths, horse walker, a new equine aqua walker, an array of safe spelling yards, and separated stable complexes. 
When the property went up for sale last year Peter Orton, Vinery's General Manager said "The pretraining complex at the Euroa Farm has played an intricate role in the management and development of the Vinery Racing team during the period of Dr Tom Simon's ownership. The complex with the expert team we have on hand has allowed us to manage the careers and development of our young horses to become one of Australia's most successful racing teams."
Capital improvements are underway, a new office being built, new hardware and software (Ardex Horse Management System) is being installed, new logos and corporate colours etc (Gold and Navy Blue) are being introduced, a new website is being built so it's go, go, go. We will be trading under the name "Rockmount" taken from the fantastic granite structures that rise from the western slopes of the property." 
John Singleton's racing manager Duncan Grimley 
Insurance specialist Bob Logan with stud proprietor Heather Brown-Pascoe from Plaintree Farm.
John O'Shea sporting an Iskander cap. Iskander spent a staggering amount of money both before and during the sale hyping both their stallion Honours List and also their company's services. The top priced Honours List colt at the sale brought $200k and was purchased by Iskander himself ... a good way of qualifying a horse for the million dollar bonus the company is offering if one of the stallion's progeny wins next year's MM race; an equally expensive way of producing the material for future ads that can now state that "yearlings sold up to $200K". Now who said marketing was an inexpensive investment?! 
Steve Morley, stud manager at Glenlogan Park whose dream of capturing the MM 2yo race with the colt he bred - Pulsator - was not to be. Steve nevertheless said on the Friday afternoon before the race that "whatever the outcome I've enjoyed every minute of the ride." Steve sold a full brother to Pulsator to Gai Waterhouse for $190,000. Glenlogan enjoyed an exceptional sale - the second crop Show a Heart's selling strongly, freshman sires Falvelon averaging $100,227 for 11 sold and King of Danes $105,625 for 4 sold. 
Jeff Kruger and daughter, Celeste. Lyndhurst stallion Sequalo enjoyed some additional PR when lot 893 - a chestnut filly filly from Ohau Leica - was knocked down to local trainer Alan Bailey for $210,000 after a prolonged bidding battle with Ron Maund, bidding on behalf of Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm. Bailey, who trains the filly's half-brother Willy Leica, reportedly had instructions from his owner to buy her at any cost. For vendor, Terry Catip from Misty Downs Stud near Warwick, it was his best ever sales result by far. "I reckon they should probably call her 'genuine bid'" Jeff commented later.
Clarry Connors (trainer of Mirror Mirror who won the Saturday's $1,003,850 Conrad Jupiters Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast) was an active buyer.
Peter Orton from Vinery Stud.
Derek Field (back to the camera) and Graeme Rogerson. Rogerson was leading buyer in sessions 1-4 of the sale, spending $5,492,500 for 26 lots. His top priced lot was the record $1,550,000 for a colt by Red Ransom from the Group One winning mare Savannah Success and is a half brother to former Rogerson trained Cox Plate winner (as a three-year-old) Savabeel.
Renowned pedigree expert Les Young seeks some peace and quiet away from the madding crowd.
Athlone editor and owner/breeder John Baxter
Antony Thompson from Widden Stud waits for a lot to go through the ring so he can pass a framed photograph of the yearling to its new owner.
Alice Minter (left), Vin Cox (right) and Stuart Boman, Arrowfield Racing Manager (centre) inspect yearlings.
Trevor Alexander from Myall Lodge at Chinchilla in Qld. Asked if he wanted me to email him the photo he retorted with a laugh and the comment "I don't even trust those adding machines! What would I do with a computer?!"
Greg Kennedy, trainer from Sunshine Racing Stables (Caloundra). In the recently completed 2004/2005 racing season Greg won the inaugural Sunshine Coast Trainers Strike Rate competition with a strike rate of better than one winner every four starters. Phil Purser wrote a recent article on Greg that appears on the Just Racing site. 
Geoff Scholes (co-owner of Access Bloodstock with Doug Newberry) ponders the successful sale of the company's first yearling to be sold at auction - the chestnut filly by General Nediym ex Wings of Courage who was sold to Graeme Rogerson for 155K.
Scott McAlpine from Eureka Stud. Eureka lost 28yo stallion Semipalatinsk at 4.30am on Sunday morning. Scott was philosophical about the loss: "When they get to 28 every day is a bonus," he said. Scott had driven back to the property the afternoon before 'Semi' died. "I wasn't going to go home as the sales were on but I had to go back and pick something up," Scott commented. "I saw him gallop up the side of his paddock when I got home - 12 hours later he was dead." If you wish to read the story of Eureka Stud - and the role Semipalatinsk has played in the last quarter century, I wrote an article about the McAlpines in 2004. It can be accessed at the following URL. As an aside, Scott said the stud shirts "aren't pink ... they are some other colour, yes that's it - puce" (!) 
Paringa Park stud manager Tim Breadmore. 
Mark (I never did catch his surname) who was the only person who handled the magnificently bred Rock of Gibraltar/Ruby Clipper colt on account of Strawberry Hills Stud. The colt ("son of two world champions" Mark explained gravely) sold for $1,025,000 to the bid of leading South African trainer Charles Laird on Saturday evening. 
Auctioneer Steve Davis takes a rest from the rostrum and bid spots instead.
AAP journalist Grant Morgan. 
Bloodstock agent Anton Koolman. Anton has been instrumental in organising the purchase of horses that have won 12 Group One races. Horses he has selected/purchased include Let's Elope, Stony Bay, Richfield Lady, Look's Who's Talking, Hula Flight, In Joyment and Dr. More (HK).
... and just in case you feel a bit overwhelmed by some of the names just remember this - they all started out just like this child I captured on film when I went for a walk on the beach early on Sunday evening.
Leading South African trainer Charles Laird purchased his "colt of the sale" during Friday's session - a son of Danehill Dancer (and Group winner Piper Star) picked up for $720,000.
Laird's second pick - the superbly bred Rock of Gibraltar colt from the draft of Strawberry Hill Stud which sold for $1,025,000.
Has anyone looked at the leading 2nd crop Australian sire lists lately? Former NZ Westbury Stud shuttler Elnadim (by Danzig) is third on that list with a 100% runner to winner ratio. From just 3 starters he has had 3 winners (including stakes winner Pendragon (NZ) with earnings of $492,700). The only 2 sires above Elnadim on the 2nd crop table are More Than Ready (by Southern Halo) who has had 53 starters for 18 winners and Testa Rossa (by Perugino) who has had 54 starters for 15 winners. 
Derrinstown stallions are refreshingly inexpensive considering how well performed their progeny have been - the 2 stallions I have referred to have a service fee of 7,000 pounds ... makes me wish I had a few mares in Ireland to send to them.