El Roca on fire
One way to fire up broodmare owners, who have yet to finalise their matings, is to keep firing out winners.
Westbury Stud’s El Roca (Fastnet Rock) is doing exactly that, with his progeny on Saturday capping a grand month.
There were two stakes races to end the season, the Ryder Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Otaki and the Lightning Stakes (Listed, 1050m) over in Adelaide. El Roca sired Ima Roca Bee to a solid win here and also provided third placed Flash Mary as well as third placed Esta La Roca in the Lightning.
Ima Roca Bee hinted that a stakes victory was imminent with a strong second in the Castletown Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at Wanganui at her previous start.
At Morphettville, Esta La Roca led narrowly to the top of the straight then attempted to kick clear but was caught near the 100 metres, yet fought on well to hold third.
The month of July has been especially productive for the son of Fastnet Rock (Danehill). On July 7th he had two winners including one in Hong Kong; a Queensland winner on the 8th; a Te Rapa winner on the 10th; another winner in Hong Kong on the 11th and a winner in New South Wales on the 12th.
At Ruakaka on July 17th the last three races on the card fell to El Roca followed by winners at Hastings on the 22nd, Macau on the 23rd and Queensland on the 25th.
Saturday saw not only the stakes winner and two stakes-placed runners but also another winner at Arawa Park.
That’s 14 winners in a little over three weeks.
Barnmate Redwood (High Chaparral) chimed in with three winners himself on Saturday including the trifecta in the $50,000 Taumarunui Gold Cup (2200m), thus wrapping up quite a month for Russell Warwick and his team at Westbury Stud.
On Sunday, the first day of the new season, El Roca picked up where he left off with another winner at Te Aroha.
With three crops to the races, El Roca has sired 54 winners in six countries, headed by Group 1 winner and twice Group 1 placed Travelling Light, from his first crop, winner of the Levin Classic (Gr 1, 1600m).
Ima Roca Bee is the first stakes winner and fourth winner from her dam, Shelly Bee, a Pentire (Be My Guest) half-sister to Metropolitan Handicap (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Herculian Prince (Yaminan Vital).
Her grandam is a Woodman (Mr Prospector) winning half-sister to Group 3 winner Sleeping Beauty (Rip Van Winkle) and is from the same family as the splendid miler Racing To Win (Encosta de Lago).
It’s Awards Time
Deliberations are currently underway to decide the Eight Carat New Zealand Broodmare of the Year for 2021, one of several awards to be made at the Breeders’ Awards Dinner on August 21, hosted by the Waikato Branch of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.
The award has a deep history, dating back to 1953, and once made is attached to each mare’s performance details wherever she appears in sales catalog pedigree pages.
Australia has no equivalent.
In what looks like a competitive year, the 2021 winner will emerge from one of two categories. She may be the dam of multiple stakes winners during the season, or, the dam of a multiple Group winner. Like many before her she may need to claim the honour by qualifying on both counts.
This year, eight mares have produced multiple stakes performers including two that can claim three different stakes performers during the season.
One is Halloween (Encosta De Lago), dam of the Group 3 winners All Saints’ Eve (Sacred Falls), All Hallows’ Eve (Sacred Falls) and Group 2 placed Hasabro (Savabeel), the brother to 2017 New Zealand One Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) victress Hasahalo, thus making Halloween a very good producer indeed.
The other is Fabulist (Savabeel), dam of the five-times unbeaten Hong Kong Group 3 winner Courier Wonder (Sacred Falls), his older sister Icebath (Sacred Falls), who was a close second in the Doncaster Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) this past April, plus Nowyousee (O’Reilly), twice Listed placed in Singapore this season.
The Waikato Stud influence above is profound.
Two of the remaining six, 2020 Award Winner Meleka Belle (Iffraaj) and Distinctive Lass (Orientate), have produced multiple stakes winners. Meleka Belle’s two are four-time Group 1 winner (this season alone) Melody Belle and the exciting, now three-year-old, Listed winner Tutukaka (Tavistock).
Distinctive Lass produced the 2020 New Zealand One Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Kahma Lass (Darci Brahma) as well as late-season Listed winner Southern Lad (Ocean Park).
Nineteen mares will be recognised, each having produced Group 1 winners, with Opulence (Danroad), Meleka Belle, Extra Explosive (Ekraar) Magic Star (Danzero) Far Fetched (Pins) and Baggy Green (Galileo) having foaled a winner of multiple Group 1 races this season.
Of these six, Opulence’s Verry Elleegant (Zed), with five Group 1s, provides considerable weight to her dam’s chances yet Meleka Belle’s Melody Belle, bagged four. The fact that Meleka Belle also produced a Listed winner will make for a complex discussion.
Extra Explosive’s Explosive Jack (Jakkalberry) was in rare form during the autumn, scoring three Derbies, the Australian (Gr 1, 2400m), the South Australian (Gr.1, 2500) and Tasmanian (Listed, 2200m), then finished a highly creditable third in the Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m). His dam is sure to be one of the front-runners.
An Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m), a Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), a Group 3 plus a Group 1 second from the star mare Probabeel (Savabeel) places her dam Far Fetched well in contention. The same can be said of Magic Star and Baggy Green, dams of dual Group 1 stars Kolding (Ocean Park) and Tofane (Ocean Park) respectively.
Although represented by a solitary Group 1 winner, Hopscotch (O’Reilly) is also deserving of consideration, being the dam of 2020-21 New Zealand Filly of the Year Amarelinha (Savabeel).
Past and present Waikato Stud sires abound.
Qualities of previous winners
Current holder of the title, Meleka Belle, is the first of the famous “Belle” family to have her name on the Broodmare Honours Board, which is a little surprising given the fabulous history of her family.
Belle Rosa (Instinct), dam of the Champion filly Star Belle (Summertime), was denied by Galston (Balloch) in 1967. The latter’s Galilee (Alcimedes) took out the Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 8f), the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 12f), the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 16f), and the following autumn, the Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 16f).
Recent breeding news is that Meleka Belle has been booked to visit Cambridge Stud’s world-class sprinter Hello Youmzain (Kodiac).
In 1981, The Pixie (Mellay) became the first Broodmare of the Year to foal three stakes winners in one season – a Group 1 winner plus two Listed winners, namely The Twinkle (Gate Keeper), her sister The Fantasy and The Dimple (Noble Bijou). That year, the NZTBA was unable to split the deeds of The Pixie and Taiona (Sovereign Edition), declaring a shared title. Taiona was represented by Sovereign Red (Sir Tristram) who won five Group 1s that season.
Two years later, Taiona would win her second title outright, as dam of Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup winner Gurner’s Lane (Sir Tristram).
The Pixie may have been the first Broodmare of the Year to foal three stakes winners but her record was equalled in 2015 by Parfore (Gold Brose) who, that season, produced Group 1 winner Terravista (Captain Rio) as well as Group 2 winners Tiger Tees (Dubawi) and his brother Ball Of Muscle. Tiger Tees would bag a Group 1 the following season.
The first recipient to be represented by two Group 1 winners in the same season (1977) was Micheline (Le Fliou), dam of Surround (Sovereign Edition) and Purple Patch (Pakistan II). Between them their haul was seven Group 1s, Surround gaining five including the WS Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) as a three-year-old filly.
Micheline would later foal a third Group 1 winner, a three-quarter brother to champion Balmerino (Trictrac), named Lord Hybrow, winner of the Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2200m).
The previous year, Micheline’s dam Dulcie (Duccio) was named Broodmare of the Year due to the exploits of Balmerino (above) and his five Group 1s. Dulcie produced a total of four stakes winners, the others being Group 1 victors Fulmen and Gay Filou plus Group 2 winner Fileur, all by Le Filou (Vatellor). It is a wonder that Dulcie wasn’t a multiple Broodmare of the Year.
Making up for it is Dulcie’s granddaughter Belle Cherie (Sovereign Edition), a three-quarter sister to Surround, securing the Broodmare of the Year title in 1988 when her Beau Zam (Zamazaan) scored four Group 1s.
The Pixie (above) and Dulcie are the only two instances of a family’s three successive generations of Award winners.
Three mares: Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight), Songline (Western Symphony) and Flying Floozie (Pompeii Court) were so domjohn charlinant in their time that they achieved three successive titles.
The incomparable Eight Carat managed the feat with Octagonal (Zabeel) in 1995, 1996 and 1997, supported by Group 1 winners Marquise (Gold And Ivory) and Mouawad (Zabeel), three of her five career Group 1 winners.
Sunline (Desert Sun) was wholly responsible for Songline’s hattrick in 2000, 2001 and 2002 while Starcraft (Soviet Star) held similar responsibility for Flying Floozie’s three successive titles between 2004 and 2006.
Each with two Group 1 winners in the same season are River Century (Centaine) in 2007, Just Cruising (Broad Reach) in 2008 and Miss Jessie Jay (Spectacular Phantom) in 2010.
The great Sunbride (Tai-Yang) was the first dual winner and her feat was all the more remarkable because she achieved her second seven years after her first. Sunbride was recently inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame, and deservedly so.
Further dual winners are Imitation (Oakville), dam of Bonecrusher (Pag Asa); Benediction (Day Is Done), dam of Might And Power (Zabeel); Triassic (Tights), dam of So You Think (High Chaparral) and Bagalollies (Zabeel), dam of Werther (Tavistock). These four mares produced the winners of 29 Group 1s around the world.
Judging from the quality of those listed above it is clear that to be named New Zealand Broodmare of the Year, extraordinary performances are a prerequisite.
History Mystery of 1960
An old trick question used to be: Can you name the 1957 Auckland Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner?
It was a trick question because the four-day carnival of the 1957-58 racing season saw the Auckland Racing Club switch their annual feature two-miler from Boxing Day to New Year’s Day.
There was no Auckland Cup run in 1957.
In case you were wondering, the ‘56 Cup was won by Yeman (Sabaean), and the ‘58 version by Red Eagle (Revelation).
On similar lines, which mare was named 1960 New Zealand Broodmare of the Year?
The award was not made in 1960 and sixty-one years on it is highly unlikely that any of the NZTBA panel, responsible for deciding such honours, is alive to explain why.
Broiveine (Broiefort), dam of champion Dalray (Balloch), was the first of soon-to-be 57 winners (56 if Meleka Belle repeats this year) spread over 69 years.
Had the award been initiated in 1952, Broievine would most likely have been the first back-to-back winner because Dalray’s three-year-old season was almost on a par with his fantastic four-year-old season.
If the NZTBA had decided to begin the award in 1950 they would probably have chosen Mabel Rose (Nightmarch), dam of champion Beaumaris (Beau Repaire).
Manaroo (Siegfried), dam of the freakish Mainbrace (Admiral’s Luck), would have bolted in as the 1951 victress.
So, what about this mysterious gap of 1960? Kiwi Chronicles thought it might be an interesting exercise to jump into the nuclear-powered, flex-capacitor-assisted DeLorean and revisit that era, retroactively researching the performances of several possible inductees.
The 1959-60 season’s multiple major race winners can probably be reduced to three: Macdougal (Marco Polo II), Travel Boy (Marco Polo II) and Lord Sasanof (Fair’s Fair), so the nominee mares are:
LADY FOX by Foxbridge – Lady Marie (Romeo). Bred by Mr G Courtney.
Dam of Macdougal (1953g by Marco Polo II).
In the 1959-60 season Macdougal won the VRC Melbourne Cup (Gr 1,16f) and the AJC Metropolitan Handicap (Gr 1,13f).
Outside of this season he also won the QTC Brisbane Cup (Gr 1,16f), the AJC Queen’s Cup (Gr 2,12f) and the VRC Victoria Racing Club Handicap (Listed,14f).
In all, Macdougal won 11 times including three Group 1s, a Group 3 and a Listed race. His dam, Lady Fox, also produced Master Robin (Robin Goodfellow) who won the Wellington Guineas (Gr 2,8f).
MERE-ANA by Foxbridge – Konneta (Bulandshar). Bred by Mrs GM Otway.
Dam of Travel Boy (1956c by Marco Polo II).
In the 1959-60 season Travel Boy won the Victoria Derby (Gr 1,12f,), Queensland Derby (Gr 1,12f) and AJC Craven Plate (Listed, 10f). His placings included seconds in the AJC Derby (Gr 1,12f) and the STC Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1,10f).
The previous season Travel Boy won the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1,7f,), the VRC Ascot Vale Stakes (Gr 2,6f) and ran second in the AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1,7f).
In all, Travel Boy won six times including three Group 1s, a Group 2 and a Listed race.
KING’S LADY by Sun King – Lady Rampion (Rampion). Bred by Mr JEP Cameron.
Dam of Lord Sasanof (1956c by Fair’s Fair).
In the 1959-60 season Lord Sasanof won the ARC Great Northern Guineas (Gr 2, 8f), the Wellington Guineas (Gr 2,8f), the WRC Gloaming Stakes (Gr 2,12f), the ARC King’s Plate (Gr 2,8f) and the CJC Churchill Stakes (Gr 3,8f).
Outside of this season he also added the ARC Clifford Plate (Gr 2,10f), the Waikato RC Foxbridge Plate (Gr 3,10f), the Te Aroha JC Thames Valley Stakes (Gr 3,8f) and the Ohinemuri JC Queen Elizabeth II Plate (Gr 3,10f).
In all, Lord Sasanof won 15 times including five Group 2s and four Group 3s.
His dam, King’s Lady, also produced Apa (1958g by Gabador) who won the Auckland Cup (Gr 1,16f), the QTC Brisbane Cup (Gr 1,16f) and the Waikato Gold Cup (Gr 3,12f).
All three are worthy nominees and therefore make no easy choice.
During the last 60 years there has been a change in how the industry views the major races. Cups, especially the Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup, were then always the most desirable. The Weight-For-Age WS Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) have supplanted the cups as being the pinnacle of performance.
In modern times the classic three-year-old races, such as the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), seem to hold more prestige than Derby winners, especially given the huge stud values of its winners.
This new prestige has spilled over into races like the Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) for two-year-olds or the Coolmore Sprint (Gr 1 1200m) for three-year-old sprinters. Even The Everest (1200m), which does not have stakes status attached to its enormous prize-money, has somewhat suddenly become the race everyone wants to win.
Additionally, stayers were formally held in higher regard whereas sprinter-milers and Group 1, 2000-metre performers are looked upon more favourably of late.
Australian form gets bonus points, judging from the achievements of many of each award-winning mare’s produce.
The panel in 1959-60 might possibly have favoured a Melbourne Cup victory over a Victoria Derby victory and they might therefore have given the nod to Lady Fox.
If the award was to be retroactively awarded, should the decision be based on views held at the time? Times change therefore making this exercise an interesting conundrum.
The award continues as a highly desirable honour and the recipients deserve their recognition. Their produce records are amazing and are certainly worth more exposure. After all, they set the highest of standards.