Montoya’s Secret Rises To The Occasion In The Vinery Stud Stakes
Montoya’s Secret has been on an upward spiral since she broke her maiden at her eighth start on 2 March but with maturity and longer distances she is now living up to her classic pedigree.
Last Saturday Montoya’s Secret ran about in the straight with jockey Noel Callow found guilty of reckless and careless riding, suspended for a month and heavily fined as a result. The Vinery was incident packed with several fillies hampered severely but while Montoya’s Secret won by only a long head, she looked a worthy winner over the fast finishing Nurse Kitchen (Savabeel) with the pair well clear of third placed Harlow Gold (Tavistock) in 2:09.73.
In taking the Vinery Montoya’s Secret became the 16th Group One winner and 92nd stakes winner worldwide for Coolmore sire High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) who died in December, 2014 at the age of 15 having covered a book of 147 mares at Coolmore Australia.
While successful in both hemispheres, High Chaparral’s greatest impact as a sire was in Australasia as a result of seasons spent first at Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand and then at Coolmore in NSW. These resulted in such multiple Group One winners as Dundeel, Shoot Out, So You Think, Descarado and Monaco Consul not to mention 2015 Vinery Stud Stakes winner Fenway and Ireland-bred Contributer, twice a Group One winner in Sydney.
High Chaparral seems destined to have a significant influence on Australasian breeding for many years to come as top sons Dundeel (Arrowfield, NSW), So You Think (Coolmore, NSW), Monaco Consul (Kingstar Farm, NSW), Group One-winning import Free Eagle (Cornerstone, South Australia) and multiple Group One-winning import Toronado (Swettenham Stud, Victoria) are all currently standing in Australia with another stakes winning son, Alpine Eagle, due to retire this spring to Armidale Stud in Tasmania.
New Zealand has two Group One-winning sons of High Chaparral at stud, Contributer (Mapperley Stud) and Redwood (Westbury Stud), with stakes winning sprinting son Tivaci also due to make his stud debut there in the 2017 season.
As a racehorse High Chaparral had all the right qualities, high level ability, soundness and a great will to win, qualities which, in a 13 start career on two continents over three seasons , brought him ten wins, six at Group/Grade One level, plus three placings.
At two years High Chaparral won the valuable Racing Post Trophy (Gr 1, 1m) at Doncaster to establish his classic claims for the 2002 season when he captured both The Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f), easily defeating his more favoured stablemate Hawk Wing (Woodman), and the Irish Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f), later finishing third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) and rounding out the campaign in the United States to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf (Gr 1, 12f).
Highlights of High Chaparral’s four-year-old season were victory in the Irish Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 10 f) and a repeat success, a dead-heat, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, performances which led Timeform to give him the high rating of 132.
Although bred in Australia by Victoria’s Rosemont Stud, Montoya’s Secret was offered in the Phoenix Park draft at the 2015 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale where she fetched NZ$130,000 to the joint bid of Bahen Bloodstock and Malua Bloodstock.
She is the eighth foal of her dam Divine Secret (Thunder Gulch), a two-year-old winner at Moonee Valley who placed third to Kusi (Desert Prince) in the 2003 Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) after original winner Roedean (Flying Spur) was disqualified due to a positive swab.
Five of Divine Secret’s foals are now winners, best of the earlier ones being New Zealand Group Three winner Delago’s Secret (Encosta De Lago) and stakes-placed Secret Delight (Encosta De Lago).
Divine Secret has an as yet unnamed two-year-old filly by High Chaparral, a sister to Montoya’s Secret, a yearling colt by Starspangledbanner (Choisir) and was last season served by Toorak Toff (Show A Heart).
As you will see from the accompanying catalogue pedigree, Montoya’s Secret comes from a very successful family with its origins in New Zealand but introduced to Australia with the importation of her fourth dam So Fragrant (Alcimedes), a non winner herself but a daughter of the talented Chanel (Chatsworth II), winner of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup (Listed, 10f).
Chanel was a half-sister to crack New Zealand filly Brazil (Better Honey), dam of VRC St Leger winner Rio de Janeiro (Riverton) and other good winners.
Montoya’s Secret is linebred to Northern Dancer (Nearctic), Hail To Reason (Turn-to) and further back to Never Bend (Nasrullah).