Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Highlighted Winners


Jameka and Global Glamour
   There are talks by connections of both Global Glamour and Jameka to make the trip to Royal Ascot this year. Ciaron Maher is keen to take the mare, Jameka to the King George but Hong Kong is also an option for her. Her run on Saturday in the Orr Stakes behind Blackheart Bart positively points to a winning campagne for her this Autumn . While after Global Glamours win on monday her syndicate of owners are very keen on having a crack at the Ascot Gold Cup or even the Breeders Cup meet . Global Glamour is by Star Witness a winner of the Blue Diamond out of a Testa Rossa mare Spectacula . Its great these horses connections are considering taking on the world as it will give Australian racing a great profile lift . Both horses are of high class and am sure they will do Australia proud. Just maybe Winx will follow next year after she completes her Cox Plate treble. 

Winx 14 in a row Apollo Stakes  


 Local Thoroughbred Racing
Sunshine Coast Turf Club Caloundra Racing Sunday 12th of February

Pride of Destiny
      Four year old gelding out of the Lion Hunter mare Academy Pride broke through for his first win in the 1000 metre maiden . He is by Natural Destiny who stood at Willowbend Stud before relocating to Phuttocks End Stud in New Zealand.  A son of Naturalism, he won 7 of his first 9 starts in Brisbane and Sydney and retired after a clean-sweep of the 2006-07 Doomben Triple Crown.


 Simply Ming 
    This eight year old mare won the benchmark 70. She is by Bel Esprit out of the More Than Ready mare ,The Dash .Bel Esprit won the Blue Diamond and went on to produce the great Black Caviar who was out of Scandinavia and at Werribee today we saw another horse out of Scandinavia win for the Hayes, Dabernick stable. Its name is Lionhearted by Fastnet Rock . He cost a pretty penny but maybe now hes broke through he could go on and win better races. The same cant be said here but an interesting win none the less.

 Simply Ming Sunshine Coatst Benchmark 70


Lionhearted Fastnet Rock by Scandinavia
Winning at Werribee 12/02/2017


  These winners lead us into the HIGHLIGHTED Stallion this week
Magnus by Flying Spur  out of Scandanvia
     Malaguerra is his best racing progeny being out of the Bletchingly mare Tennessee Morn. He recently won the $200,000  Australia Stakes at the Valley beating Blackheart Bart but on saturday the Bart had his revenge winning the Orr Stakes. Magnus's best nicks are with Distant Music and Zabeel mares but there is another interesting nick that works here and that is Kenny Best Pal mares ! Kenny Best Pal was a Bletchingly stallion out of a Sir Tristram mare of course Sir Tristram is the sire of Zabeel . It brings back memories of the eighties and nineties when the two great stallions Bletchingly and Sir Tristram battled the sire prmierships out !
    The sire of Magnus was Flying Spur one of the first Danehill stallions to stand at stud and i believe one of his most productive . He was from the Mr Prospector broodmare line. This undoubtably has a positive effect on rain affected ground for the Magnus breed! They tend to handle all distances between 1000 to 2400 metres ! 


 
 Black Caviar all 25 wins 


International Racing
Lucky Pulpit Dies
The stallion that sired the great California Chrome has died in the breeding barn. He had a heart attack while servicing a mare yesterday. 12/02/2017

Friday, February 10, 2017

My Subzero Story


 The Ghostly Grey
       Super Impose miraculously wins the Cox Plate of 1992 against an epic field . Miracles always cause me to light up, and with a spur of the moment decision it sends me on a quest, as I head Melbourne way for the Melbourne Cup of 1992 in hope of another one. Its announced Super would retire after the race that stops a nation and wanting to witness him race just once and maybe get a fairy tale ending. His unforgettable performances in the Epsom and Doncaster still stuck in my head coming from last either down the outside or along the rails swerving between horses and each time starting at a better price because as they say weight stops a train but not old Super he just kept performing miracles and as an eight year old in Australias race of champions he had just performed another miracle beating probably the greatest field ever assembled in Australian racing . Horses like Naturalism,Better Loosen Up, Lets Elope, Rough Habit,Slight Chance,Mannerism so why could'nt he perform another miracle like he did in the Cox Plate and defeat Better Loosen Up,Saintly, Veandercross, Lets Elope, his nemesis last year .
     The Melbourne Cup leaves memories of the champions and the battlers . I love looking for the legends and stories behind them . In racing, my first experience of this was the great Kingston  Town when he put his incredible winning sequence together and the Melbourne Cup of 1982 was a day i wont forget . When no one thought the King, had a chance, the broken down champion nearly pulled off a miracle but was caught in the last stride of the grueling two mile classic by Gurners Lane. His jockey Malcolm Johnston, not the greatest jockey of all time had taken off too early down the long Flemington straight. Many cheering because they thought the champ had lasted but the fairytale wasnt to be. Now ten years later, living in a unit on the Tweed River 1400 kilometres from Melbourne. I jump in my car on my search for a miracle in the Melbourne Cup of 1992 .  Knowing that Super could'nt win if it rained I was hoping for divine intervention that would bring the sun out but it never happened and down came the rain. We were on the grass at Flemington with showers in the morning but around lunchtime the heavens opened as the race got closer the fairytale was looking impossible and so it was. I watched through the pouring rain still hoping for the Super miracle but he couldnt pull one out that day and i saw the champs fade Better Loosen Up, Saintly, Lets Elope and Super himself then out of the mud and rain I saw a ghostly grey horse emerge into equine immortality his name Subzero . I sat on the grass with 100,000 others, a bit disappointed but you do get that when you look for miracles but after as I headed back to the Pakenham Hotel soaked and broke i thought this is a day i will never forget.  Its a memory that will stay with me until i leave this world. All the thoroughbreds from that race, are gone now, all but Subbie. When I hear that old boy Subbie is doing this and doing that my mind flashes back to that wet Melbourne Tuesday in 1992 and the fairy tale that would never be.
    Today Subbie at 28 has become a bit of a legend himself visitng aged care centres,schools and sporting events. His owner Graham Salisbury told how once, years back the Sheik in Dubai said I love your horse and offered him 500000 for the retired racehorse but Graham refused saying he wasnt for sale at any price. Graham says i dont know what I"ll do when the old boy passes. He has been a part me and my families life for so long. I will miss having a beer with him every arvo. I hope I go first he said. Subbie gets a beer every afternoon when his duties are over. Champions and legends come in different forms. You never know when one will appear from the mist.   

Subzero Story The Book
    This is more than a racing story. Sure, there is the breeder who took a punt on an untried stallion, the owners who thought they were buying a fast two-year-old, the trainer who was breaking records and the jockey whose career was resurrected by the promise of a young grey stayer.
However, his Melbourne Cup victory became secondary after forming an endearing partnership with veteran clerk of the course Graham Salisbury. Subzero was reinvented under Graham’s care, leading the horse to become a versatile community ambassador, and ultimately to his induction into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. He has attended primary schools, visited children in hospital beds, socialised in aged-care facilities and even shared drinks with publicans in licensed establishments. He has become a celebrity in his own right, mixing with world leaders, pop stars and actors.
This is also a story of the love that a man has for his best friend, who happens to have four legs and a tail, and answers to the name Subbie.
Subzero’s name was etched into history as a sporting champion, but his achievements off the racecourse are what make him legendary. Subzero is truly more than a Melbourne Cup hero.
                                      
                                                       Subbies Appearances Recently
 Subbies latest appearance at the National Jockeys Trust cricket match at Caulfield Park in Melbourne. He will also be visiting aged care centres and schools in the next couple weeks. Here he is at work and play !