Bowness continue to fly under the radar after fourth Group 1 success in as many years
Saturday’s win for Media Award (Shamus Award) was widely met with a gasping intake of breath as the $61 outsider shocked most onlookers with her top-flight victory in the Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) at Morphettville.
The Shamus Award (Snitzel) filly, coming off the back of a victory in a low-key Benchmark 64 affair at Geelong and, coupled with the fact she is prepared by an emerging trainer who had not tasted victory at Group 1 level before, while also carrying a bargain $5,000 yearling price tag after being bred and raised by a family operation in Young, NSW, never came into calculations.
Rosemont Stud’s Shamus Award has, today, been given a notable fee rise to $33,000 on the back of his exploits at stud, while for the family-run breeding operation in Young, it’s a fourth Group 1 winner in as many years to have been raised on their pastures.
John North and his wife Helen have bred or raised multiple stakes winners over the last 30 years at their Bowness Stud nursery. That success, in recent times, includes four-time Group 1 winner and champion sprinter Trapeze Artist (Snitzel), 2018 Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m) winner Youngstar (High Chaparral) and her Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600)-winning sister Funstar a year later, with Media Award the latest in that impressive roll of honour list.
It’s a track record that any nursery in Australia would be proud of. Yet, still, the experienced breeder feels their consignments can fly under the radar when offered at public auction.
“Absolutely, we’ve always been under the radar,” said John North. “This is the fourth Group 1 winner we’ve had in four years. We had Trapeze Artist who won four Group 1s, followed by Funstar and Youngstar, and now Music Award. We’ve bred a lot of other stakes winners too.”
With Saturday’s Group 1 winner, however, even North is taken slightly by surprise.
Consigned to the Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale in 2019, Media Award sold to Aintree Park for $5,000, yet went on to become the second elite-level winner for Shamus Award after Mr Quickie, who recorded his Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) just one month after the filly passed through the ring.
“She wasn’t very impressive and I believe she’s still not very impressive, but she’s just got that hardened will to win,” he said.
“She was a lightly-framed sort of filly. Fairly typical of the Shamus Awards at the time, but once we sold her he (Shamus Award) really started to kick goals.
“The timing is good for us,” North continued. “She’s got a Super One filly in the Melbourne Gold sale, which is the sale we sold Media Award at. She’s a bit bigger and more precocious, being the third foal now. We have very high hopes for her because she’s a very nice filly.”
Based on 7,000 acres of land just outside of Young, away from the hub of the Hunter Valley, North believes their natural environment plays a huge part in their success, while adding that the onus on type and presentation has become much more profound at sales in recent years.
“We’ve got good, strong country, big paddocks and undulating hills,” said North. “We grow all of our own feed here and there’s plenty of ground to move over and good pastures. It’s an investment that’s all paying off.
“I’m finding that type has become very, very important now. Type and presentation. It’s just as important as the catalogue page.
“That’s what we try to do. Even though we might not have the best catalogue page, if you can present them well and they’re well educated, there’s always someone happy to put their hand up for them.”
Bowness took a draft of six horses north to the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale this year, where the colt out of Starspangled (Danehill), the half-brother to Funstar and Youngstar by Pierro (Lonhro) now named Ayelistar, sold for $500,000 to Michael and Richard Freedman.
Their success has certainly not gone unnoticed by all, as the Golden Slipper-winning trainers also purchased an Adelaide (Galileo) colt out of Singho (Commands) for $130,000, while Mick Price is also a regular customer for Bowness, taking home a Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) from the Gold Coast and a Star Turn (Star Witness) colt from Adelaide for $50,000.
“The results tell the story,” said North. “I’ve got trainers like Mick Price and others, who ring me up and ask about the horses. We’ve got good followers.
“Neville Parnham in Western Australia, we sold him Indian Pacific. A lot of people are just coming and looking for our horses now, too, even in the lesser sales. It’s positive from our point of view.”
North says a few extra eyes have migrated their way for inspections in the Inglis HTBA Sale that continues today, with the outfit having 11 of their 13-strong draft sell today at the Riverside complex, headlined by a filly by all-conquering sire Capitalist (Written Tycoon) out of five-time winner Mezmar (Marwina), a half-sister to stakes winner Dorf Command (Commands), catalogued as lot 250.
“I’ve got a lovely Capitalist filly in this sale here that I think should have been in one of the better sales,” North said.
“I’ve got a nice Shooting To Win filly that I like. There’s a nice Super One filly there, too. They’re all pretty reasonable horses, there’s certainly no duds there.”
North made an exciting play into the stallion market last year, acquiring Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) winner D’Argento (So You Think) to stand alongside stallion Bon Hoffa (Belong To Me).
The striking grey covered a book of 152 mares, having only been announced in June, and will stand at an unchanged $16,500 (inc GST).
“We’re hoping to get another good book for him. Music Media, the mother of Media Award, she’ll go to D’Argento, and we’ve given him the best mares we’ve got,” said North.
“His sire, So You Think, has been on fire and this bloke’s out of a stakes-winning two-year-old, a daughter of Redoute’s Choice. He was a deadset Group 1 horse.
“He’s very competitively priced. So You Think has gone up to $77,000 this year, and we’re doing D’Argento for $16,500. He’s very fertile and most of his foals will be coming early. We’ll just monitor it and observe it, but it’s very much all systems go again.”