Group One winner Summer Passage (inside) will stand at Mapperley stud this coming breeding season. Photo credit: Horsebetting.com

May 16 2019

Mapperley Stud has added Snitzel’s Group 1 winning son, Summer Passage, to their five-strong stallion roster ahead of the 2019 breeding season, where he will stand for a fee of $8,000+GST. An A$800,000 yearling, Summer Passage was a high-class juvenile, winning the Listed Reid & Harrison Slipper (1200m) before showing sustained speed when crossing from the outside barrier to win the Group 1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) in emphatic fashion.

The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained colt then proved he was up with the best of his generation across the Tasman, when a brave second to Invader in the Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), defeating subsequent Group 1 winners Trapeze Artist and The Mission. Raced by Hermitage Thoroughbreds, Summer Passage had a mixed campaign at three when plagued by a back injury, with the highlight being a second placing in the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) behind Perast, with Kementari in third.

The entire failed to fire in five-starts in Hong Kong and was subsequently retired and becomes the first son of Australia’s champion sire Snitzel to stand at stud in New Zealand. Mapperley Stud principal Simms Davison was delighted to secure the precocious Group 1 winner and believes Summer Passage will add balance to the Matamata nursery’s roster, complementing barn-mates Contributer, Complacent, Puccini and He’s Remarkable. “I had been looking for a horse ever since I lost Atlante, a precocious, physically strong horse who not only appealed to the Australian market but to traders, as far as not having to wait long to get a horse up and going,” Davison said.

“Summer Passage ticked all those boxes. We all know what he did as a two-year-old, especially in that Sistema Stakes when he had drawn wide. He stormed around the whole lot and charged to the front and he showed how tough he was. “His run for second in the Sires’ Produce in Australia was exceptional, defeating a quality line-up which included Trapeze Artist. “It is a funny old game, if he had won that day he would probably be standing for $40,000 or $50,000 over in Australia. “With all the sons of Snitzel starting to stand at stud, it is only going to be a matter of time before one of them puts their hand up and is the real deal and there is no reason why it won’t be Summer Passage.”

Davison said Summer Passage was an imposing type and he took great heart from the good judges who selected the horse as a yearling. “Lance O’Sullivan has a great client in Hermitage Thoroughbreds and every year they give him a pretty big cheque to go and buy a top colt. Lance, Paul and Dave O’Sullivan went over there (to Australia) and this was the colt they picked out. “There wouldn’t be many better judges than those three walking around a sale complex.” Davison was pleased to be able to stand Summer Passage at a value that would enable commercial breeders to get a return. “There was no point in me getting the horse and standing him at money that I thought would be too tough for this environment, so it is great to get him here and stand him at $8,000. “We are also selling some limited lifetime breeding rights to him. I don’t know how long they will stay around because once they are gone, they are gone.”

Summer Passage is out of a winning mare by Australia’s champion broodmare sire, Encosta de Lago. His third dam Subterfuge is the dam of six stakes performers, including top-class gallopers Shania Dane and Scintillation. The red-and-green silks of the Chuang family’s Hermitage Thoroughbreds have been regularly worn to success in recent years, with horses the ilk of The Autum Sun, Egg Tart and Willie Cazals joining Summer Passage as elite level-winners for the Hong Kong owners. “Hermitage will be strongly supporting the horse,” Davison said. “They will be sending up to ten mares a year for the first three years, which should help give him every opportunity and I would expect a number of prominent breeders to also support the horse.”

Davison has also focussed on improving the quality of Mapperley Stud’s broodmare band and he has recently been active at the Sydney broodmare sale and is keen to source more mares to support his young stallion roster. “Our own numbers are up around 70 mares, but I would like to get it down to about 60 and increase the quality,” Davison said. “It has been a great Autumn for us, with Brutal (Group 1 Doncaster winner) and Rattan (Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed in Hong Kong) who were both bred off the place.”

Davison has also set the fees for Contributer ($12,500+GST), Complacent ($5,000+GST), Puccini ($5,000+GST) and He’s Remarkable ($3,000+GST). “I am really excited about Contributer. I think about 65 percent of his horses went to Australia and his yearlings were well received,” Davison said. “Godolphin has six yearlings by him getting broken in and they are absolutely rapt with them. They were taking all their mares home but have left them here to go again, such was the impression his stock have made. “I have some ripper weanlings this year by Complacent. I feel his book of mares in his second year is almost better than his first. They were nice yearlings and for their first year they sold well at Karaka and the next ones will be another level up. “I am really happy with Puccini, whose eldest are foals, and the type he has left. They are athletic horses and have really come on as well. Monovale Farm (who bred and raced him) have been big supporters and are going to keep a lot of them and race them. They will get every chance.”

– Joshua Smith, Horsebetting.com

Arrogant (inside) finishing runner-up to The Autumn Sun in the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m). Photo credit: Bradley Photography

May 16 2019

Quality New Zealand three-year-old Arrogant is the latest Australasian galloper to join the exodus to Hong Kong following his recent sale.

The Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard-trained son of Ocean Park will join the stable of Caspar Fownes in Hong Kong and the Group 1 performer will no doubt be a candidate for next year’s Hong Kong Derby (2000m), which is run for four-year-olds and is Hong Kong’s most prestigious race. “He’s a lovely colt that we have developed from a yearling into a Group 1 performer with a big future,” Mike Moroney said. “However, the offer was simply too good to refuse, and he has been sold in a private negotiation brokered by my brother Paul.”

Arrogant has raced 10 times, winning his maiden at Matamata before finishing runner-up in the Group 2 Waikato Guineas (2000m) and fourth in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m). At his first start in Australia, Arrogant was narrowly beaten by The Autumn Sun in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) before being unsuited by the Randwick surface last time out when unplaced in the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m).

Bred by Kevin Hickman, Arrogant was offered for sale as a New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Premier yearling where he was purchased by Paul Moroney for $130,000 from Hickman’s Valachi Downs.

Moroney said the Ballymore New Zealand stable played the major role in developing the talented three-year-old. “Pam Gerard and the team at Ballymore New Zealand deserve a lot of the credit,” Moroney said. “He’s a horse which showed plenty of natural ability, but we gave him time to strengthen and mature. “It’s a great option we have as a stable to be able to do this and it has paid off in a substantial way when we are able to bring horses to Australia for the better prizemoney.

“I believe the sale is an endorsement of what we can do with the stables in New Zealand and Australia and it gives our owners the best of both worlds.” “Of course, it’s a disappointment to see him go but it is a seven-figure sale and they don’t come along very often so if it gives clients of the stable a good return on their investment then that’s not a bad thing. “We wish Caspar all the best with him and there will be no-one prouder than Ballymore Stables should he go on to win the Hong Kong Derby.”

Arrogant joins fellow Kiwi three-year-olds Surely Sacred, Sword In Stone and Spirits Aubeer as recent sales to Hong Kong, while Extra Brut and Global Exchange are members of the classic generation in Australia that have also been sold to Hong Kong.

– Joshua Smith, Horsebetting.com

Cup contender: Fierce Impact could be heading to the Doomben Cup on a quick back-up (Photo: AAP)

May 12 2019

The Queensland Racing Integrity Commission appears stuck in the 20th century after another mix-up which saw a winner at Toowoomba carry the wrong saddlecloth on Saturday night.

QRIC Commissioner Ross Barnett admitted runners are identified by brands and markings, rather than using a microchip scanner that cost $200, which are used around the country after mix-up in Rockhampton earlier in the year.

Integrity in Queensland continues to come under the spotlight with the long-running case surrounding Ben Currie, who was disqualified for four years on Friday more than a year after first being charged with offences by stewards.

But it has been raceday errors like the slip-up of declaring the wrong number for fourth after a photo in Toowoomba last month and letting the wrong horse run at Rockhampton in March that have hurt more.

Saturday’s mistake was fortunately picked up before correct weight but was incredible given the checks that should have found Royal Warfare in the wrong saddlecloth. He was No.4 in the race but went out with the five saddlecloth, which was supposed to be carried on the aptly named Unimaginable.

The jockey was in the correct silks and racecaller Anthony Collins identified the mistake as Royal Warfare crossed the line. Stewards confirmed the mistake after the race and found the the two horses involved carried the correct weight and jumped from the correct barriers. The numbers were changed in time for punters to be paid correctly.

It follows the error in Rockhampton in March when two stablemates were confused, which wasn’t picked up by stewards. An investigation into that mistake found that the identification of brands was to blame.

“Although the inquiry is not yet concluded, an interim report has identified that the trainer presented the wrong horse in error and this mistake was compounded by the failure of a steward to fully check the markings in accordance with established practice,” Barnett told AAP at the time.

“Given that the stewards successfully check about 28,000 thoroughbreds prior to racing in Queensland each year this is a very rare, but regrettable oversight.”

That brands and markings are used to identify horses is remarkable, considering every horse in the country is microchipped and a chip readers are used to clearly identify horses in other states.

– Chris Roots, Brisbane Times

Racing manager Olly Koolman (second from left) with some City Slickers Appeal Team members Carly Hopkins, and sons Sam 11 and Ethan 9, Wade LEstrange and Michael Fergusson.

6 May 2019

HOW could the mighty Winx be linked in the same sentence as silage? Silage is a well-known livestock fodder that the mare will never be offered in her life.

But where the $26 million earning galloper has been spelling since she was a three-year-old – Hermitage Thoroughbreds on Sydney’s south-western outskirts at The Oaks, has opened its heart to drought-stricken farmers with a huge donation of silage.

The silage is home grown and produced, and thanks to the blessing of The Hermitage’s owner Hong Kong based Chinese businessman Eugene Chuang, the entire crop of about 600 bales is being donated.

The first of about three “uplifts” of silage – each containing around 200 large square bales, is scheduled to leave The Hermitage this Friday.

After seeing a recent drought relief fund-raising exercise at the Tamworth races Hermitage Thoroughbreds racing manager Olly Koolman decided to approach the Hawkesbury based City Slickers Appeal Team (CSAT) with the job of the silage’s distribution.

A recipient of a Hawkesbury Council Australia Day community organisation award, the CSAT team – which includes Wade L’Estrange, Carly Hopkins, Terry Boyle and Wendy Coaldrake, was initiated in August last year. It has since completed numerous runs to various drought areas across the State delivering anything from water, food hampers and Christmas gifts, to hay, dog food and diesel.

“We have four semi-trailers organised to collect approximately 200 bales from Hermitage on Friday,” said CSAT spokesman Wade L’Estrange.

“We are thrilled to have the support of The Hermitage and are excited to be able to assist approximately 10 farmers in the Upper Hunter Valley.”

“These trucks have been generously donated together with their time to assist us to make this (donation) happen.”

During Mr Chuang’s stay for last month’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale he was quick to agree to the silage donation, a thought process which began last year.

“We (farm employees) made a conscious effort through the summer period to spend the time and money to produce the fodder, and that we knew we did not need so there was always a thought of making a contribution,” Mr Koolman said.

While big name Australian bred racehorses including Winx, The Autumn Sun, and Egg Tart have been “tasting” some relaxation at The Hermitage, the 250 acres property was originally bought (in 2010) to give Mr Chuang’s Hong Kong racehorses a place to retire.

“We will then follow up these farms with another delivery in the weeks ahead to help them make it through another winter with no feed,” Mr L’Estrange said.

Mr Koolman hoped the silage would help take the farmers into spring, but added that due to a recent lucky break in the weather they would be making another cut shortly.

– Virginia Harvey, The Land

Brutal winning the Doncaster Mile (Image: Bradley Photos)

May 1 2019

Newgate Stud Farm has purchased a 50 per cent stake in Brutal, the last-start winner of the Doncaster Mile at Randwick, with the intention for the star colt to race on.

Brutal will not be whisked off to stud like many other Group 1-winning colts as a key component of the deal will see the horse continue his racing career, remaining in the care of Hawkes Racing.

His four-year-old season targets are expected to include the $7.5 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill in the spring and $5m All-Star Mile at Caulfield the following autumn.

The deal now places Brutal as the most valuable horse currently racing in Australia, although the final figure is undisclosed.

Brutal’s managing-owner Rupert Legh was adamant that a deal would only be struck with a stud that would have the horse continue his racing career.

“Having Brutal race on was very important to us,” Legh said.

“Racing needs good horses, especially after the recent retirement of Winx and The Autumn Sun.

“Brutal is only lightly raced, he has just had seven starts, and we really believe that he has much more to give on the track.

“Newgate are of the same mindset and we hope that he comes back in the spring, and then race on for another year or two.

“It will all come down to the horse, he will tell us.”

Henry Field, Newgate’s Managing Director, said it was ‘all about the intangible with horses like Brutal’.

“He just ticks so many boxes for us,” Field said.

“We had a similar situation with Russian Revolution last year, he came back to win a Group 1 as a four-year-old before retiring to stud.

“I have great confidence in Brutal being the real deal, he was able to win hard-held by five lengths on debut as a two-year-old at Caulfield, and then become the lightest-raced winner of the Doncaster as a three-year-old.

“He is a special horse, we are looking forward to racing with his ownership group and he will still wear Rupert’s colours whenever he races.”

Brutal is a son of champion New Zealand stallion O’Reilly and was purchased for $220,000 at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale at Karaka. He has won four of his seven starts, earning $2,289,650 in prizemoney.

-Shane Anderson, Racing.com