Turf Monthly May 2022

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TURF

May 2022

THIS MONTH

FIREBURN - CHAMPION 2YO PRIZED ICON - A DERBY WINNER AT STUD MORE SPEARMINT SONS THE TRUMP AND HIS TRAINER

Editor’s Letter Welcome back and I hope you are enjoying Turf Monthly. History is amazing and we can learn so much from it, but we do try and balance that with the modern stories of racing. I know that it is easy to watch videos of racing, but again the ones we display here are hopefully ones that help to connect the past to modern racing. We are just about finished our story on Spearmint and his enduring influence. Next month we will look at Spearfelt, a son of Spearhead to finish off our series. The modern thoroughbred would be a very different animal had it not been for Carbine and his descendants. Carbine was really what started our look at this enduring influence. That is one thing I find with history. Whenever you look at one story, there is always another one to distract you. Trying to remember to go back to those you uncover is always difficult. In terms of history though, this month I am again struck by that time early last century when the spectre of War hung heavy over the world. We saw European racing decimated and the top bloodlines were being sold at budget prices. This drove a special period in Australian racing, and we saw Australians bemoaning the fact that British domination of staying races was complete. I find it interesting that a century on history seems to be repeating as our own stayers struggle against a Northern Hemisphere invasion. The interesting thing now is that we have immediate access to the best staying bloodlines in the world, but it is an intent to breed stayers that is missing. The argument is often an economic one, but it is also an economic one that papers over the cracks. The industry is focussed on a quick return and the patience and skill required to breed and train a stayer are attributes that are being lost to the industry. Owners seem to suffer from the same malaise in a fast paced world. The accountants of the world also want us to believe that a quick return on investment is all that matters. We know that racing can be a life changing industry for many owners, but it is also one that has high risk. Most horses do not make a profit for owners, but potential owners are still attracted on the basis of quick return. Maybe there are lessons in history that we can learn. While there are, I hope that Turf Monthly can fill an important role that has been missing in a modern industry.

CONTENTS 4

Fireburn Magic Millions 2022

9

Prized Icon

15

Grunt

20

Spearmint Sins

21

Chicle

24

Cyklon

27

Spearhead

37

Choisir

40

The Trump

45

Stanley Reid

COVER IMAGE SHOWTIME standing at Arrowfield Stud. Photo by Joan Faras

Until next month

Ross Prowd

Turf Monthly ABN 64 892 144 940 Phone 0412 712 181

Email editor@turfmonthly.com.au Unit 4/125 West St Menzies Qld 4825

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GOLDEN SLIPPER FIREBURN

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n the space of a couple of minutes in March, Fireburn became one of the most expensive fillies in the world. Her Golden Slipper win now puts her alongside champions like Miss Finland, Merlene, Burst, Bounding Away and others. While she may not go on to match the feats of these greats on the track, she will be given similar opportunity at stud. Stallion owners will be lining up to attract her to their charges, unless of course she is sold to one of the major breeders. Unlike many of the runners in the Golden Slipper, she did not go through the sales ring. She was bred by Laurel Oak Bloodstock and partners who owned her sire, Rebel Dane, and purchased her dam, Mull Over with the intention of sending her to the stallion.

Fireburn certainly does not match the modern view of a Golden Slipper winner, in either her pedigree or her racing career, and this makes her a fascinating part of racing history.

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ireburn hardly had the average Golden Slipper lead in. She had her first official trial on 3 November 2021 at Warwick Farm, running sixth of eight behind Marooga, a Snitzel filly who has never appeared in public since. Fireburn then finished seventh of nine in another trial almost two weeks later before making her race day debut on 8 December. Fireburn finished strongly to run fourth beaten less than a length behind a Deep Field colt called California Deeply. Ten days later at Randwick, she broke her maiden winning over 1200m. Another win on the Kensington on New Years Day saw the filly have a let-up with connections no doubt having a growing confidence for the Autumn. Fireburn trialled again on the 14 February and finished strongly to run third. Her first big test came in the Sweet Embrace at Randwick on 26 February. Ridden by Jason Collett on a Heavy 10 over 1200m, she started at $8, beating She’s Xtreme and the favourite, Lady Laguna.

Again, Fireburn came from back in the field to record an impressive win before heading into the Golden Slipper.

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he dam of Fireburn was Mull Over by So You Think. She did not have her first start until the January of her 3yo season. In all, Mull Over was to start eleven times, winning only once in a Newcastle maiden over a mile for her trainer, James Cummings. Her owners were Think Big Stud in a time before Cummings went to the Godolphin organisation. Mull Over started in the Adrian Knox after her win but found the class too strong. She was transferred to Anthony Cummings’ stable and eventually retired in February 2018 before finding herself in the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast where she made a modest $22,000. Her dam was Zahani by Zabeel who had also produced Galizani by Galileo, a filly who had won four races from 1400m to 2400m including the Listed ATC City Tattersalls Cup and

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the Epona Stakes. Her dam in turn was Danarani by Danehill who had won four of her 20 starts from 1250m to 1600m and over $400,000 in prizemoney. She had started her career on 3 August of her 3yo season, winning a no Metropolitan race for fillies at Canterbury. A second behind Aragen in the Silver Shadow followed before Danarani won the Furious Stakes, Tea Rose Stakes and Flight Stakes. A trip to Melbourne saw her start favourite but run second to Northwood Plume in the Thousand Guineas. She was again favourite when running a close sixth behind Dream Of The Dance in the Wakeful, and then fifth in the VRC Oaks again behind Northwood Plume. Danarani never quite recaptured her form in the Autumn running fifth in the AJC Oaks behind Circles Of Gold and third in the Australasian Oaks. The following Spring saw her run third to Sober Suit in the Toorak before finishing eleventh behind Octagonal and Mahogany in their classic Cox Plate. Her last start saw her finish tenth in the Nissan behind Seascay.

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n turn the dam of Danarani was the Canadian bred Vaguely Modest who had won the Group 3 Woodbine Selene Stakes. She was by Vaguely Noble who is widely regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of his time. He won six of his nine starts including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as a three-year-old when he beat Sir Ivor, the winner of the English Derby. A quarter share of the stallion was sold before going to stud valuing him at $5 million, the highest priced stallion to that time. At stud, he was to live up to his high price going on to become both leading sire and leading broodmare sire in Britain. Vaguely Modest was also to produce the stakes placed Modesty On Ice and Perfectly Pie who was to produce Zenarta who was placed in both the SA Oaks and Wakeful Stakes. Significantly Vaguely Modest was a half-sister to Danzatore who was a champion 2yo in Ireland winning four of his five starts before suffering a career-ending injury. He commenced his stud career at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky but was later to finish in NZ where he had some success. In the US he produced the Breeders Cup Sprint winner, Gendarere while

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locally he produced Group 1 winners Key Dancer (WA Derby) and Wonder Dancer (VRC Sires Produce and WA Derby). He was also the sire of Almurtajaz who won both the SA Sires Produce and Memsie Stakes both when they were at Group 2 level and went on to become a solid sire.

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he family traces back to the Bruce Lowe number 2 family which is one of the oldest on record. This is a family that has its origins to the thoroughbreds bred

by Richard Burton who was likely connected to the Royal Stud at Hampton Court.

Original pedigrees refer to a Burton Barb mare which indicates that the original mare was a daughter of Mr Burton’s Barb stallion. The mare can be traced back to the reign of Charles II who was King from 1660-1685, although from her breeding record it is likely that she was foaled towards the end of this period. One of the great mares from this line was Industry who was by Priam out of Arachne. She was a flighty filly who won the Oaks but largely because all of the top fillies of her year had fallen ill. Industry was a successful producer for Lord Chesterfield and later Charles Greville with her daughters Distaffina winning the Gratwicke Produce Stakes and Lady Evelyn who won the Oaks. Many great horses owe their lineage to Industry including Fox Law, Highclere, Gone West, Aureole and Round Table.

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iven the breeding of Fireburn, she might well be one of those Golden Slipper winners that go on to even bigger things. Of course, we have already seen her dominate the 2yo’s in the Sires’ Produce and no-one who suggest that there are any real competitors for the title of Champion 2yo Fireburn is certainly a filly who you might suggest will go on to race in the 3yo classic events, and it would not surprise to see her run an Oaks trip. With the value now attached to a Golden Slipper winner from a stud perspective, we see few now being risked even at the other legs of the 2yo Triple Crown. Hopefully Fireburn can go on to earn her place among our best fillies of the new Millennium.

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Fireburn has a relatively heavily inbred pedigree (10.16%) due largely to a sex-balanced cross of Danehill. Importantly this is through the tail male and female lines of the filly. If we look simply at the third generation of her pedigree, we see that the four stallions appearing in that generation are Danehill, More Than Ready, High Chaparral and Zabeel. All of these stallions have been near the top of both the sire and damsire lists of our bloodstock regularly over the past decade or more. Six lines of Northern Dancer reinforce the dominance of his bloodlines, and we also see a same sex duplication of his son, Nijinsky who was the subject of a lot of conjecture early in his career when duplications of him were unsuccessful. This also highlights the fact that the influence of a stallion changes the further back in a pedigree they are found.

PRIZED ICON GRUNT

PRIZED ICON

A DERBY WINNER AT STUD

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any mare owners will probably discard Prized Icon from their list of potential suitors by the simple fact that he is a Derby winner. Certainly in recent times, Derby winners have not had a great record at stud, but this is a broad generalisation that hardly does justice to the longevity of the breed. We often hear of races that are stallion making races but what happens in reality is that success in these races determines opportunity which is after all, probably the key to any chances of success. The Derby win of Prized Icon seems to have overshadowed his success in the Champagne Stakes, a race that would normally have seen him among the most popular stallion prospects. The honour roll of that race includes horses like Pierro, Baguette, Luskin Star and Vain.

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ad Prized Icon not won a Derby, it is interesting to wonder what the market would make of his pedigree. He is a son of More Than Ready, the champion US stallion who has sired over 200 stakes winners internationally. He has numerous sons who have gone to stud with varying rates of success but they include the likes of Sebring and Better Than Ready. More Than Ready made an immediate impact on Australian breeding with back to back Magic Millions winners Augusta Proud and Phelan Ready in the 2000’s. Phelan Ready went on to win the Golden Slipper, and these early crops included horses like More Joyous and another Golden Slipper winner in Sebring.

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rized Icon’s female line is intriguing. One of the most interesting stallions we see in this family is Covetous who produced St Covet who looked like he may well have been a breed shaping stallion had it not been for his early demise. St Covet won six stakes races including the Black Opal and AJC Sires’ Produce as a 2yo, and the time-honoured Caulfield Guineas at three. He had only 178 live foals yet still produced ten stakes winners including the G1 Hong Kong Sprint winner, All Thrills Too. Another stallion that hails from the same family is Sticks And Stones who was the sire of Diamond Lover, a half-sister to Octagonal, Kaapstad and Cotehele House, the dam of both Commands and Danewin. Diamond Lover has seen her descendants in Viscount, Dangerous, another Derby winner interestingly, Don Eduardo and I Conquer also go to stud.

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e also see another stallion in the family in Pag-Asa, a moderately performed son of Kaoru Star who is best known as the sire of the great Bonecrusher.

Although not a stallion, one other family member that might bear commenting on is a horse called Mustard. While not a champion in the true sense, he raced until he was 14yo and won 17 of his 137 starts including four stakes races. There is no doubt that he could be considered sound and it could be an important trait in the family given that many seem to also share that trait. If Prized Icon can pass this onto his progeny, it may not propel him to the top of the Sires Table, but it would go some way to ensuring at least some level of long-term success.

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ore immediately, Prized Icon was a son of the Danehill mare, Tropical Affair.

She had won the Maribyrnong Plate at her first start beating Catnipped and Winged Hope. Prized Icon was the eleventh named foal of the mare who had already produced the stakes winners Matras by Zabeel and Romantic Moon by More Than Ready before foaling the colt. Matras had won the G3 Inglis Mile later the Tesio at Moonee Valley. She was to become a good broodmare in her own right producing the stakes placed Best Of The Rest by Northern Meteor and Zutara by Encosta De Lago. Zutara was placed in the Reginald Allen, Silver Slipper and Sweet Embrace before going on to produce the Fernhill Stakes winning Whispered Agent by High Chaparral. Tropical Affair also produced Tarlaquena by Don Eduardo in NZ who was later to produce the Stan Fox winner, Kabayan by Haradasun.

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n the track, Prized Icon was hardly the classic VRC Derby winner. He had his first start in the Breeders Plate at Randwick, running home well to finish third behind Capitalist who was to go on to win the Golden Slipper. Returning for the Autumn Prized Icon was placed in the Lonhro Stakes behind Telperion and Black Opal behind Defcon unfortunately missing a start in the Golden Slipper. Instead he was placed in the Baillieu before winning the Fernhill Stakes followed by the

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Group 1 Champagne Stakes. As a Spring 3yo he was placed in the Gloaming and Champion Stakes before running fifth to Sacred Elixir in the Aami Vase at Moonee Valley at his first start in Melbourne. He then dominated a good field in the VRC Derby with Sacred Elixir finishing second. Rather oddly, Prized Icon was not to win another race but that is not to say that he performed poorly. He finished second in the Australian Guineas, Tulloch Stakes and the Inglis Guineas as an Autumn 3yo.

At four, his best result was likely a second to the champion mare Winx in the G1 Chipping Norton although he also finished third in the Ranvet behind Gailo Chop and second to Cliff ’s Edge in the Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley.

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he question before us though is how Prized Icon might do at stud. We have some indication with the other sons of More Than Ready at stud. They have had varied success but there is still room for a champion son of that stallion to emerge although Sebring was certainly a wonderful performer. Sadly, his best son Criterion was to prove sub-fertile. No doubt the career of Sebring at stud is one that we should look at closely when examining the prospects Prized Icon.

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he big query is the influence of Danehill. More Than Ready of course had much of his success with Danehill line mares. Prized Icon is a classic example of this in more ways than one. He was a son of a Danehill mare and perhaps this is the biggest challenge that he faces. However, even sons of Danehill like Redoute’s Choice, when mated with Prized Icon through their daughters, will be pushing the Danehill influence back to the third generation. We have seen good racehorses with this type of duplication of Danehill, and although a strategy that is always going to be among the more high-risk types, it is not necessarily going to be to the detriment of the stallion. The difficulty for the stallion arises in the other influences in the pedigree of the mares that he covers. In terms of the Danehill influence, we must note here that Sebring also saw Danehill present in his pedigree, being out of a mare

by Flying Spur. Interestingly, his son Criterion was to win an ATC Derby.

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hile ideally we would be looking for mares that are free from Danehill, they will prove quite difficult to find. The more traditional lines will be the key here

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and by those I refer to the likes of Sir Tristram, Mossman, Strategic and others that shaped our breed. This includes no doubt the remaining Star Kingdom influences like Bletchingly in particular who can be found in many sons of Danehill. Here we must also include some of the newer imported lines although of course with Prized Icon having a strong US influence, this will need some caution. We certainly run a risk by introducing strong Mr Prospector and Halo lines for example. Having said that, influences like Shamardal and Scat Daddy certainly may not be out of place, but of course are not overly prevalent in the broodmare population.

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he British influence may not be the sales route for the stallion, but it may be the one that produces the best runners from the stallion. We are looking here at producing horses that will be classic 3yo’s that may even perform over some of the longer trips as they get older. While we import many of these types, we still have a market for them long term, and it may be that we will again see a fashionable staying stallion into the future. We have already seen stallions like So You Think and Dundeel who have shown an ability to produce runners who can get over a trip and daughters of these two stallions are likely to have plenty of appeal with Prized Icon.

A large part of their pedigree is Sadler’s Wells and his son, High Chaparral, and we continue to see the success that Sadler’s Wells and Danehill have had when mixed in a pedigree.

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Prized Icon at 11.33% represents quite a heavily inbred pedigree. We note a sex-balanced cross of Northern Dancer a feature as the closest duplication within the fourth generation. As we see with any pedigree that has a double of Northern Dancer through Danehill, Northern Dancer’s dam, Natalma is also duplicated. The others are Natalma and her dam, Almahmoud together with Buckpasser, Native Dancer and Nasrullah. Interestingly these are all overseas influences and largely play back into the relationship of More Than Ready and Danehill. It will be interesting to see whether utilising the presence of Star Kingdom will play a role in the success of Prized Icon, or whether reinforcing these international aspects of his pedigree will be the key.

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he ultimate measure of a stallion in the modern era seems to be early two-year olds. Prized Icon himself was excellent at that age, so despite his later success, there should be a lot of confidence that he can produce the type that the market craves. The key to this most likely will be again the local lines and here it is stallions like Written Tycoon whose daughters may have great appeal. While his daughters have perhaps not had the impact that we might have expected, Bel Esprit is another option to produce some early types. The critical aspect of producing early types will most likely come back to the influence of Danehill and we must again reinforce the importance that stallion will inevitably play in the success of Prized Icon.

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his newcomer represents a real opportunity for breeders to consider different strategies with some of their mares. As we have seen, the stallion was a top 2yo, and the right mating can reinforce this type of progeny. Alternatively, there is an option of breeding more to the stamina lines in the stallion’s pedigree and for those who get it right, perhaps there is even a chance to breed a very versatile runner.

Prized Icon is an interesting prospect who faces some historical challenges to his success. We have seen time and again though that horses can overcome this, and it would be wonderful to see a Derby winner have a real impact on the modern breed.

It would also be fitting to see More Than Ready be represented by another top line sire son to underline the influence he has had on our modern thoroughbred.

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GRUNT

THE FOUNDATION

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runt stands at Yulong Stud and is another stallion who is aimed at taking that establishment to the forefront of Australian breeding. They have made a major impact on Australian racing, but that does not ensure success in the breeding barn. Grunt represents that racetrack success, winning two Group 1 races, but his pedigree is not one that would immediately attract the interest of every breeder.

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he colt was bred and raised in NZ but was trained by Mick Price in Victoria. He had his first race start on 20 May 2017 in a 2yo race at Flemington over 1400m.

He was to run third behind two other Kiwis in Aloisia and Salsamor who were to both go on and earn black type. Aloisia in particular was to run second in the JJ Atkins in Brisbane at her next start, before winning the 1000 Guineas and Moonee Valley Vase as a Spring 3yo. Grunt was to go to the paddock, and we did not see him again until December when he won races at Werribee and Morphettville. It was then back to Melbourne for the Autumn where he won the G3 CS Hayes and G1 Australian Guineas at Flemington. Returning in the Spring, he started with a fifth in TURF MONTHLY 15

the Lawrence Stakes behind Showtime and Hartnell, and an eighth in the Memsie behind Humidor and Kementari, beaten less than three lengths. Grunt then had the biggest win of his career in the G1 Makybe Diva at Flemington beating Kings Will Dream and Jon Snow. He then finished sixth in the Underwood behind Homesman, before a disappointing tenth to Winx in the Turnbull. After a spell, Grunt returned with a good sixth to Violate in the G2 Shaftesbury Avenue Stakes, and then fifth to Mystic Journey and Hartnell in the All-Star Mile, both times beaten less than three lengths. He was then retired to stud where he has covered good books of mares at Yulong.

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runt is a son of the wonderful NZ stallion, O’Reilly who was by Last Tycoon and sired almost 100 stakes winners. Among his best were Sacred Falls who has gone on to become a good stallion, Guyno, Silent Achiever, Shamrocker, Shamexpress and Brutal. His dam was Ruqqaya by Van Nistelrooy, a son of Storm Cat that stood in NZ. He performed moderately with his best runner likely to be the NZ Oaks winner, Boundless. Interestingly, Ruqqaya had two race wins over 2000m and 2100m. She has also produced Addison by Jimmy Choux who was placed in the Listed SAJC Birthday Handicap. Grunt’s second dam is Sayyida by Zabeel who produced the wonderful Ocean Park by Thorn Park who won eight races including the Cox Plate, Caulfield and Underwood Stakes and was the NZ Horse of the Year and Champion Australasian Middle Distance horse. He has become a top line stallion producing G1 winners like Kolding and Tofane. More importantly perhaps is the third dam of Grunt who was Eastern Princess by Pompeii Court.

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While she was a winner of six races from 1600m to 2200m, she was a full sister to three wonderful horses in Courtza, Our Pompeii, and Hunza Court. Courtza was the winner of Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond in 1989 and importantly went on to produce O’Reilly. Our Pompeii won over a million dollars in stakes and his wins included the SA Derby and Adelaide and Sandown Cups. He was to compete in nineteen Cups races in his career including two Melbourne Cups. Hunza Court won three Listed races before going on to a moderate career at stud in NZ. The family is one that arrived in NZ in the early 1900’s and include horses like Beau Vite, Gaine Carrington, Wotan, Skipton and more recently Danzero, Nostradamus and Star Witness.

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s we have mentioned, Grunt is by the wonderful grandson of Northern Dancer in Last Tycoon who was the sire of Mahogany but also stallions like Bigstone, Marju, Iglesia who we now see as the sire of Written Tycoon, and the ill-fated Just Awesome. The pedigree of Grunt though is dominated by the relationship of Courtza and Eastern Princess although we cannot forget that we see the presence of champion stallion Zabeel also, as well as Mill Reef, Halo and Storm Cat. What is also interesting is that we see that Grunt himself was not an early 2yo despite having in his pedigree the champion 2yo Courtza. In the case of Prized Icon, we saw that his 2yo career was overshadowed by his Derby win in the minds of many breeders, while in the case of Grunt, it would seem that the presence of Courtza is perhaps more important than his own racetrack performance. We often talk about opportunity with stallions, and there perhaps is no greater contrast than that we see in the placement and perception of our two stallions this month.

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he proof will always be in the results on the track and Grunt offers something of a quandary. There is no disputing the success of his family, but most has been in his native NZ. While we talk of the success of O’Reilly, there are large doubts over whether he would have had anywhere near the influence if he had stood in Australia. That is always something we can ponder and even the remarkable Zabeel is unlikely to have had anywhere near the success he achieved in NZ had he stood locally. But that digresses from our look at Brutal. The most obvious comment must be that his pedigree is free of a Danehill influence, even if we do see four lines of Northern Dancer. Interestingly both tail male lines trace to that stallion and for breeders, the decision over how much Northern Dancer to introduce into a pedigree is an ongoing issue. For me, it is always about which sons of that stallion

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we see, and in this case we are looking at Try My Best, Storm Bird, Nureyev and one daughter. Other complementary lines like Danzig and Sadler’s Wells will most likely have success and can be pursued with confidence. It is unlikely that many breeders will be looking at duplicating the sons that are in the pedigree of Brutal.

In the case of Danehill being a son of Danzig, a popular way is always Redoute’s Choice because he was such a wonderful stallion. He has also had good success with Last Tycoon mares although some of this can come back to opportunity. The attraction of that cross was largely the presence of the good mare, Best In Show in the pedigrees of both stallions. On the issue of good females, we note that Storm Cat is closely related to Royal Academy and we regularly see breeding to the mare Crimson Saint. In all of these cases, I would suggest that this strategy is likely to be a minor influence to consider in breeding to Brutal. Even in cases where it may appear to be successful, there will likely be far more important factors at play. By and large mares from Danehill line stallions are going to be the key to long term success of the stallion. They will represent a large proportion of his matings and, unless there are other conflicting pedigree issues, they should find plenty of success with Grunt. In particular, daughters of stallions like Not A Single Doubt are likely to present good possibilities.

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f we suggest that caution needs to be taken with Redoute’s Choice presence in a pedigree for this stallion, it does lessen some of the real 2yo lines of Danehill available. The likes of Not A Single Doubt and Fastnet Rock arguably produce better 3yo’s in many cases. Of the more precocious, Exceed And Excel may be among the best. Flying Spur would also represent a very interesting match but his daughters are becoming harder to find. This leads us to the influence of his close relation Encosta De Lago and indeed his son, Casino Prince. Casino Prince notably sees Last Tycoon as his damsire and while this may be a risky proposition, there are certainly families that would make this attractive.

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runt is another stallion who sees stamina lines such as Zabeel in his pedigree.

Breeding back to that stallion in particular might not see the best results, especially if we see Zabeel present through a daughter. There may be daughters of Lonhro for example though that could be enticing matings for the stallion.

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runt appeals as a stallion that will suit a fairly wide range of mares in general.

However it may not be that he is a source of speed that Australians crave. Many of his progeny are likely to be similar in style to himself, and more of a 1400-1600m type although some may well be quite versatile. Like many of his NZ cousins though, success at the top level in Australia might be hard to come by, and it would not surprise to see some of his youngsters making their way back to his home country.

It may also be that some of his progeny will find conditions outside of Sydney and Melbourne much more to their liking. There is an old adage in racing about horses for courses, and NZ sprinters have had good successes in the Brisbane winter carnival. The traditional NZ family of Grunt might see this old adage come home to roost.

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Grunt has a heavily inbred pedigree that we have already hinted at through the close relationship of Courtza and Eastern Princess, the three-quarter sisters. While this looks the obvious focus, we need to highlight that the only sector of the pedigree that does not see a duplication within six generations is that of Mill Princess, the dam of Last Tycoon. We know that Last Tycoon has had success with Northern Dancer lines, and this is a key feature of this pedigree in that we see the power of multiple lines of that stallion. Possibly focussing on the presence of Hunza and her daughters might play against the true strength of this pedigree.

THIS MONTH

CHICLE CYKLON SPEARHEAD

CHICLE

INFLUENCING THE WORLD

Chicle was bred by Harry Payne Whitney and foaled in France in 1913. Whitney was a prominent sportsman and capitalist making his fortune in banking and mining. The colt was sent to the US just prior to the outbreak of WW1. He was something of a slow developer, hitting his best form late in his 2yo season winning the Champagne Stakes over 7 furlongs (1400m) for trainer James Rowe.As a 3yo, Chicle won the Brooklyn Derby which was later to be known as the Dwyer Stakes.

Chicle’s career was curtailed by a nasty temperament, and he had a reputation for viciousness.

Nonetheless he stood at Whitney’s stud where he covered the best mares that Whitney had collected, propelling him to the top of the US Sires List in 1929. Among his best runners were Cherry Pie, who won six stakes races including the Jerome Handicap. He was placed in 24 more stakes races in a remarkable career. Chicle’s daughter Gadfly won the Pimlico Oaks while Goose Egg won the Spinaway Stakes, and Edelweiss the American Oaks. He also sired the champion 2yo’s Mother Goose who won the Futurity Stakes, and her full brother Whichone who won ten from fourteen starts including the Futurity Stakes, Champagne Stakes, Saratoga Special, Whitney Stakes, Withers Stakes, and Miller Stakes.

Chicle was to make his name through his daughters, and none was more important than Mother Goose. Her daughter Arbitrator was the dam of Almahmoud who won four of her eleven starts. She was to produce Cosmah who won the Astarita Stakes as a 2yo, and was placed in four other stakes races at two and three. A prolific broodmare, she produced 15 foals including the champion Torah who won 23 of her 39 starts and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984. Tosman also produced Halo who won four stakes races and was to become a successful stallion who continues to play an important role internationally through his sons Southern Halo, the sire of More Than Ready, and Sunday Silence, the Japanese champion sire who produced Deep Impact among a host of exceptional racehorses and sires.

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Almahmoud though is probably best known for her daughter Natalma. She won three of her seven career starts, and was relegated to third in the G1 Spinaway Stakes having crossed the line first. Her legacy was assured when she produced a colt by Nearctic in 1961 who was to race under the name of Northern Dancer. The Canadian horse won 14 of his 18 career starts and set a race record in winning the Kentucky Derby. Arguably Northern Dancer is the greatest sire in history and his influence has shaped the breed internationally. His half sister in Spring Adieu by Buckpasser was to produce a daughter by His Majesty called Razyana. When covered by Danzig she produced a son called Danehill in 1986 who was to be unplaced only once in nine starts and won the G1 Sprint Cup as a 3yo. At stud, Danehill was the stallion who made the notion of a shuttle stallion a success. He was to revolutionise the stallion industry and became a sensation in both hemispheres.

Most readers will be very familiar with this line of Chicle, but there have been more who have made their impact. One daughter called Incandescent was to become the second dam of Assault who won the US Triple Crown in 1946. He won the Wood Memorial the same year, and continued to race for a number of seasons winning the Brooklyn Handicap in 1947. Assault was retired to stud but proved infertile. He returned to the track to repeat his Brooklyn Handicap win in 1949. He eventually retired to King Ranch where he was bred and he shared the paddocks with some Quarter horses. He was to be recorded as the sire of two AQHA fillies.

In 1964 Assault was inducted into the US Racing Hall of Fame. But there is another racehorse that traces to a daughter of Chicle in Dustemall that was a household name in the USA. That name was John Henry.

John Henry was unfashionably bred, being by Ole Bob Bowers, a grandson of Princequillo. He was to be the only stakes winner of his sire. His dam was Blue Jeans, a daughter of Bull Lea. She was a half-sister to Blue Ruler who won the USA Starlet and Futurity Stakes. John Henry was bred on Golden Chance Farm and sold to John Callaway for only $1100 at a Keeneland Mixed Sale. The colt would tear steel water and feed buckets off his stall walls and stomp them flat. This led to him being named John Henry after a legendary US former slave whose statue graces the town of Talcott in West Virginia. He was immortalised in song and worked driving metal spikes into rock in order to set explosives in railway tunnels. He was known as the "steel-drivin' man" which reminded Calaway of the colt’s habit. John Henry started racing on 20 May 1977 and had his first 18 starts on the dirt. He was sold to New York City businessman Sam Rubin and his wife Dorothy for $25,000 as a three-yearold. He was transferred to the stable of Robert Donato and won his first stakes race, the Round Table on the turf at Arlington Park at that age. In 1979, John Henry was transferred to a new trainer, Lefty Nickerson for the turf season in New York winning four of his eleven starts. He was then sent to California under Ron McAnally where he won six stakes races in succession culminating in the Hollywood Invitational.

John Henry was to race until a 9yo and had his last start on 22 September 1984 winning the Ballantine's Scotch Classic over 2200m on turf and equalling the track record. That season he won six of his nine start. He was a late entry for the Breeders Cup but went sore and was retired. In all, John Henry won 39 of his 83 starts and prizemoney of almost $6.5 million. During his career he was named Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984, Champion Older Horse in 1981 and Champion Turf Horse in 1981, 1983 and 1984. He was retired to the Kentucky Horse Park and in 1990 inducted into the US Racing Hall of Fame. John Henry passed away in 2007 at the age of 32. Fittingly a bronze statue called Against All Odds, created by Edwin Bogucki, overlooks the paddock at Arlington Park to commemorate one of John Henry’s most famous vcitories in the inaugural Arlington Million in 1981, TURF MONTHLY 22

CYKLON

RETURNING TO AUSTRALIA

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yklon is a largely forgotten son of Spearmint but one with an intriguing history. He was born in England in 1910 and, as we have seen regularly, this was a period of turmoil in that country which saw thoroughbred prices heavily impacted. As a result, many good British horses found their way to Australia, and Cyklon was to become one of these. But it was not only Australians that took advantage of British breeding, and Count Lehndorff purchased some mares that year for the Imperial Graditz Stud in Germany.

Among those he obtained was a mare called Cyanean who had a Spearmint colt at foot that was later to be known as Cyklon. He did not race until he was a 3yo, but Cyklon was put into training by R Day and won TURF MONTHLY 24

his first five starts in Germany including the Baden Baden Furstenberg Memorial Stakes which attracted an international field and was worth £2,000.

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n 1913 Day severed his connection with the Graditz stud and returned to England. However, he persuaded Count Lehndorff to allow him to take Cyklon to England with him. Day had high hopes for the colt, but he suffered from some leg issues. Before Day could get him to the track, war broke out and British authorities seized the horse and offered him for sale under the Enemies Property Act. Cyklon was purchased by Australian jockey Frank Bullock in a bulk lot that also included Sydian and Shepherd King.

Caulfield Cup won by Lavendo with Cyklon in third

In total, around five horses cost Bullock only £1,500 and he sent them to his brother in law Frank Lewis who had little trouble in making a profit on-selling them. Cyklon was sold to Mrs Richard Hawker for a price rumoured to be around 3,000 guineas. The sale was conditional on Cyklon remaining in the stable of James Scobie and that he was to be ridden by jockey Bobbie Lewis. In the 1915 Caulfield Cup, Cyklon reached the lead just before the field entered the straight but ran wide at his first appearance at that tricky track, allowing for William The Silent to rail through and kick clear. Another English import in Lavendo was to run home strongly to win by a length from William The Silent with Cyklon in third, three quarters of a length further back. Such was the prevalence of English horses in Melbourne at the time that it was reported that a prominent owner was heard to lament after the race, “What is the use of our buying yearlings when imported horses run first, second and third in a race like this?” Only three days before the Cup, the White Star liner, Persic had unloaded 25 English imports including incidentally Shepherd King who was to win the Caulfield Cup the following year.

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yklon was to go on to win nine stakes races over the next two years of racing. He won seven of these in South Australia including the Birthday Cup, Elder and Keswick Stakes and two Parkside Stakes while in Melbourne he was to win the Eclipse Stakes and St George Stakes both at Caulfield. After retirement he stood at Mrs Hawker’s Morphetville Stud in Adelaide but had little opportunity. With a growing demand for Spearmint blood in Victoria, Cyklon was sold to Mr Ernest Clarke to take the place of his top stallion, The Welkin at his Melton Stud where Cyklon was to meet with great success. The greatest was to be through a daughter of one of Clarke’s mares by The Welkin. Trey was out of the wonderful mare Teppo who herself was a granddaughter of Carbine, and we must not forget that Spearmint was a son of that great stallion. She produced the incomparable Trivalve who had one the greatest 3yo seasons that has ever been seen in Australia when he won the AJC and VRC Derbies, VRC St Leger and Melbourne Cup in 1927. We wrote about Trivalve in an earlier edition so will not recount his wonderful deeds this time. He certainly was the best horse bred and raced by Ernest Clarke whose name has been

Cyklon winning the Birthday Cup TURF MONTHLY 25

Cyklon winning the Eclipse Stakes

immortalised in Victorian racing through the time honoured race that carries his name.

Cyklon though did more than just produce Trivalve, and his progeny, unlike many of the English stallions, were rather precocious with 2yo stakes winners like Belle Gallante (AJC Gimcrack Stakes), Cyden (VRC Ascot Vale Stakes and AJC Sires Produce), Treylon (VATC Debutante Stakes) and Postscript (Port Adelaide Sires Produce) among his winners at that age. His progeny largely performed best over shorter journeys with older horses like Chilperic winning the Toorak Handicap and Hemisphere winning the AJC Villiers Stakes

Cyklon’s owner Mrs RM Hawker and Andrew Chirnside

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SPEARHEAD A FORGOTTEN GREAT

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pearhead is one of the great sons of Spearmint, but his place in history has always underestimated his importance. For some reason, his stud career was overshadowed by his best son Spearfelt who dominated headlines, while his illustrious sire was underappreciated, even being sold at what should have been the pinnacle of his career. He was a reasonably well credentialled racehorse in the UK winning the Chippenham Stakes and running second in the April Stakes at Newmarket.

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pearhead was a son of Baroness La Fleche, by Ladas, who was a good 2yo winning the Acorn Stakes. At stud not only did she produce Spearhead but also the One Thousand Guineas and Coronation Stakes winner, Cinna. Cinna was to go on to produce the stallion Beau Pere who won the Chesterfield and Swaffham Plates before being sent to NZ where he produced the outstanding Beau Vite who won thirty stakes races including two Cox Plates and Beaulivre who won seventeen TURF MONTHLY 27

Roman Spear by Spearhead - a granddaughter of Comedy King

stakes races including the Caulfield Cup. Beau Pere was later sold to the US where he continued his success siring multiple stakes winners there including Honeymoon who won both the Hollywood Oaks and Derby during the glory years of racing in that area. Baroness La Fleche was a daughter of La Fleche by St Simon.

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a Fleche was to prove an outstanding racehorse winning six stakes races in total in the Oaks, Thousand Guineas, St Leger, Nassau and Champion Stakes, and the Ascot Gold Cup. She had been bred at Hampton Court but was sent to sale in 1890 shortly after her sister, Memoir had won the Newmarket Stakes and the Oaks. She was sold for a record price of 5,500 guineas to Lord Marcus Beresford on behalf of Baron Hirsch. La Fleche found herself at the famed Kingsclere stables of John Porter alongside other notables in Orme and Goldfinch. At stud she was also to produce John O’Gaunt who was to sire the excellent stallion, Swynford. La Fleche was herself a daughter of the very good filly Quiver who was a daughter of Y Melbourne Mare, a three-quarter sister to West Australian Mare who helped start our story by producing the legendary stallion Musket.

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pearhead came to Australia in 1918 to stand at Pranjip Stud near Murchison in the Goulbourn Valley in Victoria. It belonged to Mr Norman Falkiner and was to home one his best horses in Comedy King. Falkiner was also the owner of the famed Noorilim Stud which was within five miles of his newer property. Among the stallions he stood were David and he even leased the great Eurythmic for a time. He was a popular owner and had great success with jumps horses owning Bullawarra who won the Australian Steeplechase in 1913 and was later taken to England to race, and Clan Robert who won the 1926 Grand National Steeplechase. Following Falkiner’s death, Spearhead was sold at the dispersal of his bloodstock. He made 1500 guineas when sold to by Mr Herbert Thompson. Thompson was later to sell Spearhead to Mr EA Haley, of the Te Koona Stud, Wimbledon which is remarkable for such a well performed stallion.

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n all, Spearhead was to sire 22 stakes winners including Spearfelt, who we will talk about in depth next month. Among the best of these was the WA owned The Dimmer who in 1931 won the Perth Cup and CB Cox Plate, and the Autumn and Cumberland Stakes, AJC Plate and Sydney Cup. In a bit of a twist, The Dimmer had broken down in 1932 but connections continued to try and get him back to the track.

He was entered for the Sydney and Melbourne Cups in 1933 but did not stand up to training. Eventually he was scheduled to return to racing in the Peron Handicap in Perth in January 1934 before stewards intervened ruling that in their opinion, the

Yarramba winning the Moonee Valley Cup - Shadow King in third

horse was not fit for racing. Another son of Spearhead in Count Ito won the VRC Newmarket and CM Lloyd Stakes, while Yarramba won the Williamstown Cup, Moonee Valley Cup and Alderman Cup. Apart from Spearfelt, sons of Spearhead had little success at stud, and it was left to his daughters to continue much of his influence.

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he best daughter of Spearhead on the track was without doubt the 1929 VRC Oaks winner, Lineage. As a 2yo she had ran second to Carradale in the Gibson Carmichael Stakes. At three, apart from winning the Oaks, she also won the Armadale Handicap at Caulfield. She was second in the October Stakes behind High Syce, and also in the Williamstown Cup and Governor’s Plate, and third in the King’s Plate over 2 miles. Lineage has left a legacy that includes many good gallopers over the years although few have made it to the top level. Horses like Emblem Boy in the late 70’s was a top Adelaide galloper winning two Christmas Handicaps, while Precept, a son of Peter Pan, won the 1943 VRC Derby. Precept was owned by JJ Liston and trained by Jim Pengilly. He won two races as a 2yo, and on his way to the Derby at three, he won the Moonee Valley Stakes and was second in the Melbourne Stakes and Caulfield Guineas, and third in the Cox Plate behind Amana. He was later to finish third in the VRC St Leger and CM Llloyd Stakes, and finished fourth behind Dark Felt, sa son of Spearfelt in the 1943 Melbourne Cup. Precept went to stud with little success, although he did produce Fire Dust who won the 1955 AJC Doncaster. A grandson of Lineage was Don Pedro by Gay Lothario who won five stakes races in the VATC Eclipse Stakes, CB Fisher Plate, Moonee Valley Cup, Toorak Handicap and Mackinnon Stakes. He was perhaps unlucky in that he raced against great horses like Flight and Tranquil Star, and he ran second

Lineage by Spearhead winning the VRC Oaks TURF MONTHLY 29

to Flight in the CF Orr, while he beat Tranquil Star in the CB Fisher Plate. Don Pedro had also been bred by JJ Liston, but after his death, was transferred to his son, JE Liston who leased the horse to trainer, EJ Willmott. In recent times, the family of Lineage has been responsible for producing Delzao, a son of Encosta De Lago who won the Feehan Stakes and went to stud with limited success, although he did produce Runson who won the SAJC Matrice Stakes.

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ne daughter of Spearhead that eventually was to shape Australian racing was Adhere. She was a good broodmare producing three stakes winners in Billposter by Madagascar who won the 1940 City Tattersalls Gold Cup, Coalition

by Nuffield who won the Grafton Cup, and Prelate by School Tie who won the 1952 Doncaster Handicap. By the 1970’s, a mare called Staid by Minor Portion won the STC Christmas Cup having run fourth in the AJC Oaks, but it was her granddaughter by Lunchtime who was to change the face of Australian racing. She produced a chestnut foal by Danehill Dancer who was to race under the name of Choisir and was to become the colt that took Australian racing to the forefront throughout the world. He was rather controversially inducted into the Hall Of Fame as his racing record was arguably not up to some of those from history who have to date been overlooked. The International recognition that Choisir brought to Australian racing was the key factor, and no-one can dispute his importance there.

We will look at Choisir in more depth later.

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Celia was a daughter of Spearhead who produced Spearmain by Manitoba was a talented racehorse who never quite lived up to his promise. He was to win the Captain Robinson Handicap at Williamstown and at one stage was favourite for the 1943 Caulfield Cup. He actually returned for his next campaign after the Cup to be backed from 50’s into 20’s to win a fortune for connections in the 6 furlong Fenton Handicap at Flemington. In all he was to win seven races in Melbourne and he earned himself a career at stud, although with little success. It is in more recent times though that the family seems to have come to the fore. The very good filly Hips Don’t Lie by Stravinsky is one of the more recent runners who have brought this line to favour. She won four races including the G2 STC Reisling Stakes before going on to produce stakes winners Ennis Hill and Lady Geneva by Fastnet Rock. Lady Geneva was to finish third in the 2015 Golden Slipper behind Vancouver. This family which has found itself in NZ was also that of the good mares Rhythm, Tristachine and Western Music. Another good runner from the family is The Heavyweight by Zeditave who won the Maribyrnong Plate and Debutante Stakes in 1992.

The 1988 Caulfield Guineas was won by Vitalic by Noalcoholic. He traced to a daughter of Spearhead in Chickling. Chickling is a filly who is part of our forgotten history, but she was a more than useful racehorse. She won the Elms Handicap at Flemington as a 3yo, beating Demades who had beaten another 3yo in Spearfelt in the Mentone Handicap a week before. She won her only start as a 2yo at Geelong, and as a 3yo won the VATC Doona Trial, and Colac Christmas Gift while running second in a Dundonald Welter and Melrose Handicap at Moonee Valley, as well as placing in the VRC Oaks. She was retired to Alec Hunter’s Northwood Park Stud at Seymour where she produced three winning daughters in Gold Chick who won a King’s Handicap at Sale, Game Chick who won three 2yo races at Moonee Valley, Mentone and Ascot, and Cackle who won a Holiday Stakes at Caulfield. Vitalic traces to Cackle, and himself was a top 2yo winning his first two starts at Moonee Valley at that age. He was then beaten by Zeditave at Caulfield before winning the Listed Criterion Stakes at Flemington. Vitalic then again ran second to Zeditave in the Blue Diamond before winning the Breeders Stakes and finishing second in the VRC Sires Produce. As a 3yo he won the Caulfield Guineas and ran second in the Australian Guineas, while he was later to win the Blush Plate in Adelaide and the Ansett Cup in Brisbane. He was also to be placed in the G1 Epsom, Manikato and Caulfield Stakes.

Spearmain winning the Ascot Thousand at Mentone

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Frangipani was another daughter of Spearhead who was responsible for the line that gave us Shinakima, while Imoto had more of a long-term impact. Among the runners that owe their heritage to that mare are Rare Flyer (WA Derby, WA Guineas, Supremacy Quality Stakes, Birthday Quality Stakes, Breeders' Champion Stakes, Perth Quality Stakes and Premier's Cup), Doubting (VRC Kewney Stakes, MRC Blue Diamond Prelude, Jumeirah International Stakes, AJC Wiggle Quality Handicap and STC Triscay Stakes) and Star Pyramul (VATC Blue Diamond Prelude, Doveton Handicap and VRC Brian Courtney Handicap). Star Pyramul was to prove a good stallion even though he produced only three stakes winners. All won multiple stakes races in Adelaide and were Colebrook, Hero Wind who won three Spring Stakes, and Royal Ida who won ten stakes races including three Durbridge Stakes in Adelaide and the Standish Handicap at Flemington.

The daughter of Spearhead that had perhaps the most immediate impact was Koanie. She was out of the mare, Yaffle who had been foaled in Australia from a UK covering of her dam, Yippingdale by William The Third by Junior. Koanie had been bred by Norman Falkiner, but was among those mares dispersed upon his death when she was purchased by Mr Aldridge of Kismet Stud in Sunbury Victoria. If we jump ahead a number of years, we find this line producing Chicola who was a top 3yo winning the 1958 VRC Oaks, Wakeful Stakes, AJC Adrian Knox Stakes and VRC St Leger Stakes. These efforts are even more impressive when we consider that she beat the remarkable filly Wiggle in the Adrian Knox Stakes. But returning to Koanie, she was to produce two stakes winners with her second being Legislator by Law Maker who won the 1942 Tasmanian Guineas. He was to go to stud with some success producing nine stakes winners in that state which included four Hobart Cup winners. The first stakes winner of Koanie though was an underrated type, but he retains an important place in racing history. His name was The Trump, and he was to win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double in 1937 and you can read more about him a little later.

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The Trump returning to Scale after the Melbourne Cup

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ipstick was a daughter of Spearhead that was out of Queen Comedy by Comedy King. We wrote extensively about Comedy Queen in our November 2020 edition so will not repeat a full view of her descendants here. She was however an exceptional influence and there were probably none better to have come from the family than Lincoln by Manitoba and Counsel by Lawmaker. Lincoln won the 1949 Caulfield Cup while Counsel won five stakes races including the 1944 Caulfield Cup as well as a Toorak, Futurity and Melbourne Stakes. He was also the winner of the Victory Stakes in 1945 which marked the end of WWII.

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nother daughter of Spearhead we will touch on is Spear Lady. She is from the family of the wonderful galloper Piastre who won the 1912 Melbourne Cup. While Spear Lady had a number of daughters, it was Speed by Marconigram that was to have the biggest impact. She was to produce Golden Chariot by Golden Sovereign who won the 1951 VATC One Thousand Guineas. Golden Chariot was bred by John Kelly at Newhaven Park Stud in Boorowa, north west of Canberra. She was raced by Herbert Thompson of Tarwyn Park Stud fame, but was sold after his death at a dispersal sale in April 1956. She was purchased by John Kelly for the top price of 2100 guineas when in foal to Nilo carrying the foal that was to be named Carrus who would also become a good broodmare, later producing Farnworth by Wilkes who won five stakes races including the Champagne and Tramway Stakes.

Kelly had recently purchased a new stallion called Wilkes, a son of Court Martial who he used to cover Golden Chariot. The resultant filly was sold at the Inglis Easter sale for 2100 guineas to Bill Longworth who sent her to Sydney trainer, and former champion jockey, Maurice McCarten under the name of Wenona Girl.

Wenona Girl

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olden Chariot was to have four stakes winners in Carrus who won the Reginald Allen Quality, Emblem who won the 1961 VRC Sires Produce, Grammar Lad who won the STC Frederick Clissold and the remarkable Wenona Girl. In all Wenona Girl was to win 22 stakes races in the early 1960’s as she became one of the first superstars of the television era.

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enona Girl was a brilliant 2yo winning her first start in the Gimcrack Stakes as an odds-on favourite. She won her first four starts in Sydney but tasted defeat for the first time when she went to Melbourne in March 1960. She was upset in the Merson Cooper but bounced back within a week to win the G1 VC Sires Produce.

Returning to Sydney, she was an odds-on favourite in the Golden Slipper but was beaten by another star in Sky High a grandson of the great mare, Flight. It did not take long again for her to stamp her superiority by winning the AJC Sires Produce shortly after, beating Persian Lyric with Sky High in third. After a spell, Wenona Girl returned as a 3yo to win the Hobartville Stakes and Rosehill Guineas but failed in the AJC Derby. Back in distance she dominated the Flight Stakes against her own sex. In Melbourne she won the One Thousand Guineas and Wakeful Stakes but ran third to Lady Sybil on a heavy track in the VRC Oaks. She raced through the Autumn winning the Rawson Stakes and Adrian Knox but disappointed when sent to Qld for the winter. Her campaign extended into the Spring but her only success as an early 4yo was in the Tramway Stakes. A spell saw her bounce back in the Autumn winning the CF Orr at Moonee Valley first up. She went back in distance to run a narrow second to New Statesman in the Oakleigh Plate and returned to Sydney after failing in the Newmarket. She won the Liverpool Handicap before failing on a heavy track in the Doncaster. Her last run at that age was a second to Kilshery in the All-Aged Stakes at Randwick.

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s a 5yo Wenona Girl won four of her sixteen starts, with all of her wins coming in the Autumn. The Spring had seen her run eight consecutive placings in races like the Tramway, Theo Marks, Epsom and George Main. Her wins in the Autumn were in the AJC Challenge Stakes, Lighting Stakes, Futurity and AJC Malayan Racing Association Cup. The mare continued to race on, and when a 6yo she won six of seventeen starts including the George Main, Lightning Stakes, and Rawson Stakes. Wenona Girl’s last start was on 30 March 1964 when she won the All-Aged Stakes over a mile at Randwick by 1.5 lengths. In all, she was to win 27 of 68 starts including 11 Group 1 races.

Advocate winning the VRC Derby 1952 TURF MONTHLY 34

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pear Lady is also found in the female lines of such horses as Potrero (BATC Rothman's "100 000," VATC Show Day Cup, AJC The Galaxy, AJC Expressway Stakes, STC Missile Stakes and VRC United Airlines Stakes), Kinjite (AJC Spring Champion Stakes, AJC Epsom Handicap, George Ryder Stakes, Fernhill Handicap, AJC Up And Coming Stakes and Tatt's NSW Dransfield Quality Handicap) and Manawanui (Golden Rose Stakes, Stan Fox Stakes, MVRC Mitchelton Wines Vase, Up And Coming Stakes and Bill Ritchie Handicap).

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pearette is another of the Spearhead daughters who have had continuing success.

Her second dam was Savanna by Stepniak, so that is another stallion who we have investigated in some depth in an earlier magazine. Her family includes the likes of Spearfolio who won the 1953 VRC Bagot Handicap and 1954 Adelaide Cup, and Fields Of Omagh, the winner of eight stakes races including the 2003 and 2006 Cox Plates.

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ur final mare that we will look at is Tsuma. Tsuma was another bred by Norman Falkiner. In fact, her second dam, Polylogy by Polemelus was imported to Australia from England as a yearling by that breeder and was mated with Land Of Song, a stallion who had also been imported by Falkiner to produce the smart mare, Sonora. She was a half-sister to Royal Charter who won the Moonee Valley Cup, ran second to Silvius in the Herbert Power, and third behind Manfred and The Banker in the Caulfield Cup. Sonora and her foal, Tsuma were sold at the dispersal of Falkiner’s stud to Mr JP Arthur and she was an impressive 2yo winner. One of the early successes of this family was Advocate who broke the race record in winning the 1952 VRC Derby. He was to later go on to win four more stakes races in the AJC Colin Stephen Stakes, City Tattersall's Club Gold Cup, STC Cup and Chelmsford Stakes. Another from the family was Opera Prince by Bletchingly who was to win the 1981 VRC Chirnside Handicap. He was a good quality horse and caused something of a sensation early in his career when he was timed to run the 1000m at Canberra in 58.3 seconds during a 9.5 length romp. He was to go to stud where he was very successful producing 14 stakes winners including Straussbrook who won the 1990 G1 George Ryder Stakes. Another top runner from the family is Arctic Scent who won five stakes races including the 1996 Qld Oaks and Caulfield Cup before sadly dying before producing a foal.

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CHOISIR

TAKING AUSTRALIA TO THE WORLD

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rained by Paul Perry, Choisir had his first race start at Warwick Farm on 22 September 2001 in the AJC Breeders Plate. Starting at $12, the colt settled towards the rear but stunned onlookers as he swamped the field when ridden

by Len Beasley. He was surprisingly beaten at his next two starts at Rosehill and Canterbury both times being beaten less that a half-length after settling back in the field. Choisir then won the Inglis Classic adding over $300,000 to his prizemoney tally on 19 January 2002 before winning the Skyline Stakes. A second in the Pago Pago saw him start at $5 in the Golden Slipper. He finished a brave third in that race having settled 14th in running. In the end he was beaten only a length behind Calaway Gal and Victory Vein, both top fillies. Choisir then disappointed a little by finishing second to Victory Vein in the AJC Sires Produce, having raced in the first two over the 1400m, and then third in the Champagne again behind Victory Vein and Half Hennessy.

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eturning as a 3yo, he was unplaced in the Up And Coming, Roman Consul and Heritage before running third in the Stan Fox. By now, Glen Boss was in the saddle for the trip to Melbourne, and a good third behind Helenus and Bel Esprit in the Caulfield Guineas. He then finished third in the L’Oreal Plate before chalking up his first win for the season in the Group 2 Emirates Classic beating Falvelon and Belle du Jour. After a spell, he again led to beat Spinning Hill in the Group 1 VRC Lighting to chalk up his first success at the highest level. Choisir then got out of his ground settling towards the rear in the Oakleigh Plate before flashing home to run third behind River Dove and North Boy, beaten a half-length. Unplaced runs in the Futurity and Newmarket had everyone questioning the wisdom of connections as they loaded the colt on board a flight headed to London and a date with destiny.

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is first overseas start was on 17 June 2003 in the 1000m King Stand Stakes at Group 2 level at Ascot. Few fancied his chances and he was sent out at 25 to 1 with champion jockey Johnny Murtagh in the saddle. Still a southern hemisphere 3yo, the colt was asked to carry 60.5kg to make his challenge even greater. Choisir was victorious by a length from the good galloper Acclamation. Next up it was the Group 1 Golden Jubilee over the same track and distance. The English pundits were still not sure about the Australian and sent him out at 13/2 in a field that included Belle du Jour. Again, Choisir was too good, winning by a half-length from Airwave with Belle du Jour struggling in to finish fifteenth to underline just how hard a task it is for Australians to head over to the UK to compete. Choisir had his last start on 10 July in the July Cup at Newmarket. The effort of his campaign proved a little too much for the star and despite starting at 9/4, he was beaten 1.5 lengths by Oasis Dream who he had to give three kilos in weight to. History has shown just how wonderful the performances of Choisir were in that English summer of 2003, and even with the advantages of modern travel, we have not seen any Australian horse match his deeds of that season.

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Choisir has little inbreeding in his pedigree (3.52%). The closest duplications are those of Tom Fool and Hyperion. While Hyperion is still considered a major influence, that of Tom Fool is becoming of less interest to modern pedigree students. He was the grandsire of the great Lunchtime who is the damsire of Choisir. The influence of Lunchtime is another that is lessening although should never be discounted. Most will identify the Danehill sire line of Choisir, and already by then that great stallion was being pushed back in pedigrees. Perhaps this allowed Choisir as one of the first locals at stud with Danehill in his second generation, a little of an advantage at stud. Notably we see that this pedigree has only one line of Northern Dancer reflecting a time when that stallion’s influence did not dominate the breed.

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hoisir was purchased by Coolmore who shuttled the stallion between Ireland and Australia for the next decade. It was 2014 when the decision was made to keep him in Australia full time, and Choisir was pensioned from stud duty in 2019. He died only in December 2021 after an illustrious career at stud. To date, Choisir has produced over 100 stakes winners across the world and over 1000 individual winners. His daughters have produced over 500 winners with 5 Group 1 winners among a list that will continue to grow over time as his daughters continue to produce quality runners. Among his best runners was Starspangledbanner who won the Oakleigh Plate and Caulfield Guineas before following his sire overseas to win the Golden Jubilee and July Cup. Starspangled Banner of course has gone on to success at stud, as have other sons of Choisir like Olympic Glory, Dreamscape and The Mission.

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THE TRUMP DUAL CUPS WINNER

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he Trump and Rivette are rated among the weakest of the horses that have won the famed Cups double. Both did little outside of their Cups winning season, although Rivette was the salvation of her owner Harry Bamber who had suffered badly through the Depression to see Rivette restore his fortunes. The first horse to ever win the double was Poseidon in 1906, making it a long wait until The Trump repeated the dose. As it was only two years later that Rivette took the double, it is unsurprising that the two have been linked in history. Their records pale against that of Posiedon who had won the AJC and VRC Derbies and was to win the Caulfield Cup the following year. In all he was to win 16 stakes races and he went on to become a quality sire. In comparison, The Trump was noted as being a “funny little gelding,” standing only around 15 hands. He was to look even smaller with his habit of racing with his head low. Both The Trump and Rivette also remarkably had their last race starts in the Melbourne Cup two years after their success. But we get well ahead of ourselves in the story of the gelding.

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he Trump was bred by Mr Aldridge, and was by that great champion, Manfred.

He was to be sold as a yearling to Mr E “Darcy” Eccles for 280 guineas and trained by Stan Reid. Rather surprisingly, The Trump had his first start on 20 October 1934, running third in the five furlong Gwynne Nursery at Caulfield. He was then unplaced in the Rawdon Stakes at Williamstown with Aureus and Young Idea running one and two. The Trump was then third in the Stansmore Handicap at Caulfield and fifth in the MRC Epsom 2yo before his only win at that age in the Alma Stakes at the same track. He was unplaced in the Sires Produce and third in the Ascot Vale Stakes before finishing his season with another unplaced run at Flemington. As a 3yo though, The Trump was an improved horse and gave a glimpse of what was to come. His first start at that age saw him finish second to Panax in the St Aubin Welter at Caulfield beaten only a head. He then won the Flemington Stand Handicap beating Panto before he was to run third in the Caulfield Guineas behind Young Idea. The Trump injured his near foreleg in the running of that race, and was scratched from all Spring engagements a couple of days later, with fears held for his future. His run did not go unnoticed though and he had been backed into favourite for the pending Caulfield Cup in the days after the Guineas.

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he Trump did not return to the races for over a year, and it was January 1937 before his trainer got him back to the track. Talk of the time was that the gelding suffered from knee problems which appeared commonly in the Spearhead breed. It was still a long road to recovery though, and the gelding had seven unplaced runs that season. Weights for the Caulfield Cup of 1937 were released on 26 June, with the handicapper being generous to the injured star. The Trump returned for one run as a late 4yo in July winning over the 6 furlongs of the Moonee Valley Derrimut Handicap, being heavily backed and coming from well back in the run.

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hat was to start a remarkable winning streak for The Trump which saw him win the Malakoff Stakes over 9f a week later in a race that saw him start favourite and win easily carrying 8 stone 5 pounds, some 9 pounds more than his Caulfield Cup weight. Again he was heavily backed in the great Handicap. Although his knees were not the issue, The Trump suffered from muscle soreness and was again proving difficult to get right. He then won the Toorak Handicap the week before the scheduled start of the Caulfield Cup. He was second last to the turn in that race and swamped the others to win by a head on the line, but it was an eye-catching run that confirmed his favouritism. Heavy rain in Melbourne though led to the postponement of the race which was eventually to be held on the following Wednesday. A crowd of 44,000 still rolled in for the mid-week event. The Trump’s jockey, Ashley Reed had the gelding closer in the run in the big field, settling around eighth. Manolive kicked

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The Trump has a heavily inbred pedigree (12.50%) even though we do not see a single horse duplicated before the fifth generation.

As we saw earlier in the pedigree of Grunt, this build up of similar ancestors, including the wonderful mare Illuminata who sits in The Trump’s tail female line, is the true strength of the mating. It is the names of St Simon, Hampton and of course, Musket, the sire of Carbine who in turn was the sire of Spearmint. Overall, the pedigree of The Trump is a good study in how influences are passed down through generations and sometimes we need to look past the first couple of generations of a pedigree to understand what is at play.

away in the straight but Silver Standard was in pursuit. Inside the furlong, The Trump showed his customary finishing burst to reel in the leaders, but Sir Regent soon loomed up to challenge. The Trump showed his fighting quality to win by a half-neck with Donaster finishing third a length and a half away. The handicapper reacted swiftly with a 7 pound penalty for the Melbourne Cup.

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he Trump was to have his next start in the Mackinnon Stakes, and he extended his winning streak albeit narrowly defeating Prince Quex and Allunga. Darcy Eccles had previously had little luck in the Melbourne Cup, having twice heavily backed his runners to win but having them both narrowly beaten. In 1922, his horse The Cypher was backed from 12/1 to 6/1 only to see him fail by a neck following an epic battle with King Ingoda. In 1932 Eccles had also heavily backed his horse Yarramba, another son of Spearhead, who looked to have the race safely in his keeping before a stunning finish by champion colt Peter Pan nabbed him on the line. It was to be third time lucky for Eccles though. The Trump was to start 11/2 equal favourite with Sir Regent who had run so well in the Caulfield Cup, and Hua who had won the VRC Derby. Sir Regent turned around as the starter let the field go, and lost almost 100 yards to never feature in the race. Hua was to run off on the home turn and lose all chance, leaving the coast clear for The Trump to run down Wille Win near the post and draw away to win by a half-length with Sarcherie close up in third. The following weekend The Trump started a short-priced favourite in the CB Fisher Plate but was to show none of his customary dash to finish last. The exertions of the Spring had obviously caught up with the gelding and he was again sent out for a long spell.

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e did not return to racing until the following August when he won the Moondah Plate over six furlongs. An unplaced run in the Underwood Stakes saw him put in a better performance to finish second to Ajax in the Memsie. It was clear that the gelding was not at his best, and unplaced runs followed including a poor last in Catalogue’s Melbourne Cup of 1938 before being sent back to the paddock.

A third over 6 furlongs at Caulfield first up gave connections some confidence, but The Trump then finished unplaced in the Newmarket and Bourne Handicap at Flemington. He then ran third in the Farewell Handicap over a mile and second in the St Kilda Handicap over a mile and a half before heading to Sydney. A third behind the brilliant son of Spearfelt in Spear Chief in the Chipping Norton was followed by an unplaced run behind Gold Rod in the Doncaster. The Trump then failed again in the Sydney Cup before heading back to Melbourne. Two months later he won the Sandringham Handicap over 10 furlongs but this was followed by two more unplaced runs to close out his 6yo season.

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eid tried to get The Trump back to his best form, but it was clear that things were not right. He was pulled up in his first start as a 7yo, and this was followed by two more unplaced runs including the Hotham Handicap. His last start was to be on 7 November 1939 in the Melbourne Cup won by Rivette who was to become only the third horse to win the Cups double. Sadly The Trump broke down during the race and was retired. He ended his days on Mr Eccles brother-in-law’s property on the Murray River where his nephews would ride the Cup winner to school.

The Trump winning the Caulfield Cup TURF MONTHLY 44

Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 13 November 1937, page 69

COLORFUL CAREER Stanley Reid, Trainer Of The Trump

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he amazing winning sequence of The Trump, culminating in the coveted Caulfield-Melbourne Cups double, is now history — even to racing folk in the most remote corners of the world. In the quiet period which invariably follows the hectic rush of Melbourne's big Spring carnival, it is fitting that one's thoughts should turn to the man responsible for the preparation of the season's champion. Like many other successful trainers, Stanley Reid commenced his turf career in the saddle, and modelled his methods along the lines adopted by his old master.

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TAN REID'S colorful turf career goes back to the day when, having won a scholarship at the little school he attended in Carterton on the north island of New Zealand, he incurred the wrath of his tutor by announcing that he had chosen horse racing as his life's work. The schoolmaster wore a horrified look when Stanley intimated that his great ambition was to be a successful jockey. He did his best to dissuade the youngster, but evidently realising that it was hopeless, gave up the fight. Young Reid was determined to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Sid Reid, who at the time was the champion lightweight rider of the Dominion.

Leaving school, he became apprenticed to Jack Gravestock, a prominent trainer at Carterton. Came the day when he had his first ride in a race — then his second, then his third. Stan rode for five months before he tasted success.

During that period the ambitious youngster was more than once glad of the encouragement meted out to him

by Charlie Jenkins, a leading rider of the country. "Don't worry. You will win a race — some day." Eventually the great day arrived. Young Reid rode Diplomatic to victory at Masterton and felt that at last he had entered upon a great career. Copying the style of his elder brother, Stanley went from success to success, and when his indentures were up, he received offers from all of the leading trainers. Stan decided to throw in his lot with the genial George Price, and rode many a winner for him. At the end of 12 months, however,

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increasing weight forced Reid to turn his attention to jumping races. His old master, Jack Gravestock, was agreeably surprised to see Stan win the first hurdle race in which he rode. He might not have been surprised, however, had he known that for a long time Reid had schooled Gravestock's best jumpers while his back was turned.

RODE OVER JUMPS

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uring the winter months in the Dominion jumping riders are well catered for.

There are numerous fiat races with a 9.0 minimum, and it was no time before Reid found himself a leading rider both over jumps and on the flat. Within a few seasons he had won most of the big jumping races, including the Great Northern Hurdle Race on that good horse Bonreve. Incidentally, Reid has a particularly interesting story to tell about Bonreve, whom he considers was one of the greatest horses he ever rode. Bonreve, by Boniform from Dreamer, was brought to Australia as a two-year-old, but was soon under the ban owing to his bad behaviour on the course. Returning to New Zealand, Bonreve showed his greatness by making a clean sweep of the important events at the Canterbury Jockey Club's spring meeting. The gelding won the Stewards' Handicap on the opening day, the Derby on the second day, the Canterbury Gold Cup, 2.25 miles, on the third day, and then the Stead Gold Cup. From there he went on to Auckland to take the Great Northern Derby. Almost immediately afterward Bonreve broke down. He was turned out and forgotten — so much so that after five years he was offered at auction in the Hastings (Hawkes Bay) pound. He was purchased for £28 by the well-known New Zealander, Herbert Neagle, and two seasons later with Stan Reid in the saddle Bonreve won £3000 in stakes in jumping races. Another incident associated with Bonreve which Reid likes to recall occurred at the Trenton racecourse at Wellington, and it tends to demonstrate the remarkable sagacity of the thoroughbred. In a big steeplechase at Trenton Bonreve's opponents included Sleight of Hand. Neither this jumper nor Bonreve had ever fallen. Coming to the last fence both came down through no fault of their own. The jockeys lay prone, but both horses immediately regained their feet and each trotted over to his prostrate rider, whinnying. Stan Reid first saw Melbourne when he was brought over to ride Mr W R Kemball's jumpers. So impressed was he with the possibilities in Melbourne that he decided to return and stop here. This he did and took up residence in Melbourne in 1920.

HIS BIG START

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ut for a long time things were not as rosy as Reid had pictured them. First on the tracks of a morning and last away, he was unable to secure even a ride at work. However, three successes in quick succession gave him his big start. From that stage onward the ex-New Zealander found no difficulty in getting rides, and within a comparatively short space of time Reid was one of the finest cross-country riders ever seen in Melbourne. Reid rode with great success over hurdles and fences and numbered amongst his victories two Nationals — both on that great jumper Mountain God. Melbourne racegoers looked on the Maorilander as a skilful, fearless rider, and his National wins were richly deserved. He considers, however, his best sequence of performances was that in Sydney, when on four consecutive days he rode the jumping "possible" at Randwick. Reid won the hurdle race on the first day on Gulgo, and the steeplechase on the New Zealander, No Surrender, then the double again on the second day when his mounts were Palbi and Dick (NZ).

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Early in 1926 Reid secured a trainer's licence. He quickly put together a team and continued to ride as well. Before long, however, he found that he could not train perhaps 15 horses and at the same time retain his condition for riding, so retired from the saddle and concentrated on training. Reid was particularly successful with his jumpers. He won the Grand National Steeplechase at Flemington with Dundalk.

Taking Chrysostom to Sydney, he won three races with him at Randwick, including a £2000 Steeplechase; then brought him back and won a steeplechase at Caulfield.

Stan showed his versatility when he won the Fulham Park Plate in Adelaide with the two-year-old, Bleu de Ceil. One of the most outstanding features of Reid's training successes is his exceptional ability to get a horse fit and keep him fit. It is an easy matter to bring a horse to that state of physical perfection necessary to win a big race, but an entirely different matter to keep him fit and put together a string of successes such as came the way of The Trump this year. The Melbourne Cup victory of The Trump was well deserved by both Reid and the gelding's owner, Mr Darcy Eccles. The now famous colors were all but carried to victory in the big handicap

by Yarramba. His defeat at the hands of Peter Pan, then a three-year-old, was sandwiched between success in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup and the Williamstown Cup, and Mr Eccles threw in for a huge win when the Melbourne Cup came along.

Like his horses, Reid is himself always very fit. He plays a good game of golf and has also made a name for himself at some time or other in other branches of sport.

Rugby appealed to Reid as a lad, and he met with great success at that game. Three times he captained the North Island jockeys' team and won the premiership against the South, while he completed his good record by leading South to victory on the one occasion he played with them.

The Trump TURF MONTHLY 47