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SPREADING XMAS CHEER
A LISTED DOUBLE FOR QLD
It was a winning Listed double for Queensland with Oaklands Stud sire Ferocity and Glenlogan Park’s Falvelon both producing impressive winners.
Five year old mare, Divine City by Ferocity was given an uninterrupted run in transit by jockey Chris Munce and won the Fillies and Mares Quality Listed Just Now Hcp (1350m) easily by two and a quarter lengths from fellow Queenslander Annie Lizze, by Mearas.
Trainer Garnett Taylor said the daughter of Magic Millions Adelaide Classic winner Ferocity would run in the Fillies and Mares feature on January 11 after her dashing win.
Leading home a Magic Millions trifecta clean sweep, Divine City sent her earnings soaring to over $316,000 – a lofty figure considering her purchase for just $7,000 from the Oaklands Stud draft at the 2010 Gold Coast March Yearling Sale.
The mare is from the once raced Anabaa mare Miss Katy Louise and hails from the family of Australian Cup winner Admiral Lincoln and international stars Pride of Rosewood and Challen.
Keeping the maroons at the top was Falvelon’s five year old gelding Someday (pictured Dan Costello Racing).
Like Divine City, Someday was given a glorious run by Chris Munce to win the $80,000 Quality Listed Pages Event Equipment 1600m. Munce had Someday no further back than fourth and was produced at the 300m for a soft win.
He has now had seven wins from his twenty starts and collected over $340,000 in prizemoney.
Trainer Kelso Wood said Someday, a Raheen Stud graduate of the 2009 National Weanling Sale, would most likely head to the Bernborough Handicap at Toowoomba on New Year’s Eve.
He is the sole runner for the four time winning and Group Two Tea Rose Stakes placegetter Miss Ivy, a daughter of former slick sprinter Gold Brose.
MAGIC MILLIONS STAKES DOMINATION CONTINUES
Someday and Divine City (pictured, Dan Costello Racing) weren’t the only two Magic Millions graduates to dominate on the weekend.
The sales company yearling’s starred around the country winning six of the eight stakes races on offer and have a three quarter relation to another headed for January’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
The juvenile streak of success continued with Gold Coast graduates winning all three two-year-old events open to all-comers including both stakes races in Brisbane (mentioned above).
Quality Sydney sprinter Aeronautical won Saturday’s listed Razor Sharp Handicap at Kensington.
Exciting first season sire I Am Invincible capped a big Saturday when debutant Bassillique burst into contention for the $2 million Jeep Magic Millions 2YO Classic by winning the listed Phelan Ready Stakes at Doomben.
At Flemington, I Am The General provided the Yarraman Park Stud based sire with his first city winner and Bassillique then became his first stakes winner when he completed a memorable double.
The $2 million Jeep Magic Millions 2YO Classic is also on the agenda for boom filly Oakleigh Girl after she made it two stakes wins from as many starts on Saturday.
Into the Red gave his Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas prospects a boost when he scored an impressive win in Saturday’s listed Gold Edition Plate at Doomben.
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REAP THE REWARDS FROM QTIS
There was more than double the prizemoney available on all QTIS races across Queensland this week.
The earnings for Crystal Missle, Glorious George, Menacing and Red Ocean jumped from $6,500 to $15,000 while the second placegetters went from $2,000 to $4,300 and the third horses took home $2,200 instead of $1,000 thanks to the QTIS bonus.
QTIS is the only scheme in Australia that rewards all three placegetters, not just the winner and has recently been rated in a TBQA survey as the leading incentive scheme in the country.
With the Magic Millions Sale just a few weeks away, and the March QTIS sale not far behind, its worth investing in a Queensland bred, QTIS yearling to see the best return for your money in the years ahead.
This week’s QTIS results here
photo: Former QTIS winner, Puff’s Girl, Dan Costello Racing
CONGRATULATIONS QTIS PAY-UP WINNERS
The TBQA recently conducted a market research survey into the thoroughbred industry, with two QTIS pay-ups offered as a prize for those who participated.
The lucky winners have been drawn with Adam Wales and Peter Cranitch claiming the prize.
The TBQA committee would like to congratulate both gentlemen and wish them the best of luck with their QTIS runners.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey, we appreciate your time and your feedback will play a vitl role in reshaping Australia’s leading incentive scheme.
DONATIONS NEEDED FOR HAY RUN
A further seven hundred and fifty bales of hay has been delivered to drought stricken horse owners in Western Queensland this weekend.
TBQA Committee member Stan Johnston and his daughter Crystal, along with Jo Heather from Patinack Farm travelled thousands of kilometres to drop off the hay.
The trek took them to Blackall, Longreach, Barcaldine, Winton and plenty of properties in between.
It’s all part of Stan’s plan to help drought-affected families feed their horses after he heard a touching radio interview on one his regular road trips to the races in Townsville.
“They interviewed a little girl on the radio and she said her family owned a property outside Prairie and it was getting very dry,” Stan said.
“Her dad was having to sell cattle and she had two or three little ponies that were struggling in the dry, so I thought we might be able to do something.”
Stan thought a concept, similar to his ‘flood relief’ efforts two years ago, may help these families.
He got the TBQA, Droughtmaster Stud Breeders Society and hay merchant Peter Doyle, Kynoona Pastoral, Grantham on board with the aim of delivering ten bales of hay to each affected pony or horse, free of charge where possible.
Stan has been inundated with please for help since the concept was first publicised along with plenty of financial donations to purchase the hay.
But the delivering is the trickiest aspect. This weekend the trip took three seperate goosenecks on the three day trek. They were on the road for over fifty hours.
More details here…
SHOUTS ALL ROUND
There’s plenty of reasons for ‘Shouts All Round’ for one Queensland owner.
Kerry Griffiths lost his mare a day after foaling on 29th aug 2010 and he was left to rear an orphaned foal.
Initial attempts to find a nanny mare were unsuccessful so Kerry and his sons would bottle fed the filly nicknamed ’Orphan Annie’ for three weeks until a surrogate mare was found.
After a bit of coaxing the pairing was successful and ‘Orphan Annie’ has never looked back. She not only survived, but has gone from strength to strength.
The foal was raised at Grandview Lodge by Michael Grieve with Kerry and his family visiting regularly.
Annie’s race name, ‘Shouts All Round’ was dervied from her ill-fated dam, ‘Shout with Pride’. Kerry, who has been breeding and raising for thirty six years, was driving to work one morning and looked at ’Shout with Prides’ six progeny in his yard and thought ‘Gee, there’s Shouts All Round’, the name stuck for Orphan Annie.
Annie was initially given to Eric Ropiha in Toowoomba and was ready to barrier trail but then the Clifford Park track was closed for refurbishments so Kerry moved the filly to new trainer, Slim Perrin who has only one other horse in work.
Annie went on to win her two barrier trials at Gatton and had her first start in a QTIS race at Bundamaba over 1100m, but knocked up.
After a freshen up she had her second start at Warwick for a third and then hit the jackpot at Gatton on Tuesday 3rd December.
Not only did Annie have a win, but she scored the handy QTIS bonus on top.
It certainly shows that with persistence the dream can pay off and lead to ‘Shouts All Round’.
Photo – Michael Grieve, from Grandview Lodge helps Lachlan Griffiths feed ‘Orphan Annie’
ZABEEL RETIRED FROM STUD DUTY
A notable chapter in Australasian breeding has been closed with confirmation that Group I winner and multiple champion sire Zabeel has been retired from active stud duties.
Sir Patrick Hogan made the announcement on Monday morning from his Cambridge Stud in New Zealand where the 27yo Zabeel has stood since his retirement to stud in 1991.
“It’s the end of an era and what a ride it’s been for Cambridge Stud,” Sir Patrick Hogan said. “I could never have imagined what Sir Tristram was able to achieve and pretty well immediately afterwards came Zabeel to take over the mantle – it’s been an amazing 33-year run.”
“He’s been an extraordinary horse with three Melbourne Cup winners and four Cox Plate winners and as a sire of sires he’s left a horse like Reset, who has produced a VRC Derby winner (Rebel Raider), a Caulfield Cup winner (Fawkner) and a Cox Plate winner (Pinker Pinker).”
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