Patience, patience, patience
This year’s Marton Cup (Listed, 2200m) result was a triumph of patience as forty years has elapsed since the Schumacher family became involved with a mare named Wild Lavender (Varano), the great-granddam of Saturday’s Cup victor Canheroc (El Roca).
Wild Lavender was foaled in Great Britain and imported to New Zealand in 1975. Her dam, Deep Lavender (Gilles de Retz), won five times, was stakes-placed in Ireland and was herself from a half-sister to the successful Ra Ora Stud sire Stunning (Stardust).
Wild Lavender foaled Malcomem (Imperial Seal) in 1980. He won six times including the Marton JC Beefeater Handicap and recorded a stakes-placed third in the Feilding Stakes (Listed, 1400m) in March of 1986. That was the first black-type attributed to the New Zealand branch of the line.
Kiwi Chronicles spoke with Aiden Schumacher, who breeds from eight or ten mares in Midhurst, near Stratford (Taranaki): “I bought Wild Lavender from Allan Kaye who trained the mare at Awapuni. She placed about seven times and he bred Malcomem before I bought her. I liked her because of her family, the number one family going back to Lavendula.
“I still have my trainer’s licence and can do quite a lot of early work with them here. We race a few to keep the family going and keep building on it. Most from the family are late maturing types. So was Canheroc but there is no hurry, we can wait. You don’t need to push them,” ended Schumacher.
The Schumachers took over the mare in 1981 and the venture did not begin well as the mare produced dead twins in 1981. However, she did foal two more winners for them.
Blue Lavender (Imperial Seal), a sister to Malcomem, produced six winners including Goldie Cantride (Columbia), a dual winner and dam of Canheroc.
Some forty years on, the Schumachers can finally claim their black-type winner. They have been supremely loyal to the line throughout the entire period.
Twenty individual winners can be traced to Wild Lavender and apart from Canheroc and Malcomem perhaps Ellerslie winner Tarryn John (Icelandic) and Trentham winner Tani’s Pride (Alleged Dash) are the next best performers.
The sole stakes race run in New Zealand over the weekend, the Marton Cup is normally staged at Awapuni but due to track maintenance was instead held at Hastings.
Canheroc became his sire’s ninth black-type winner and the gelding has been quite consistent lately and was due a valuable win.
More patience was exhibited in that Canheroc never raced at two or three and didn’t break his maiden until he turned five, over 1800 metres at Taupo. His second win was at Te Rapa but win three was not until last October, also over 2200 metres at Hastings.
From just off the pace he was widest into the straight and with a long continuous run had the lead inside the 200 metres but over the last 100 metres ran away to win easily. He is likely headed for the Wellington Cup (Gr 3, 3200m) set for Saturday, January 20.
Getting Ready
With the Auckland racing carnival behind us and Trentham’s showcase meeting less than a week away, there is a sense of a small lull in proceedings.
Behind the scenes, though, there is plenty taking place as the yearling sales season is about to be unleashed, beginning with the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, in which a number of New Zealand vendors are participating.
The Gold Coast sale sets the trend for the next few months and while the most recent auction, New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale was extraordinary, yearlings are a different cup of tea from in-training two-year-olds.
At the Gold Coast, Cambridge Stud have eight lots on offer including two colts by their potentially exciting young sire Hello Youmzain (Kodiac), one of the premier English sprinters from just a couple of seasons back. Chief among his wins was the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) at four. A year earlier he was the winner of the Haydock Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 6f) and at two he was a Group 2 winner in France.
It will be interesting to learn how the stallion is received by buyers, who might be expecting some early speed.
Such speed can be found in Lot 191. The colt’s dam was a juvenile winning half-sister to two-year-old stakes winner Ebhaar (I Am Invincible) and closely related to Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock), also a Diamond Jubilee Stakes winner. The yearling’s and Merchant Navy’s bloodlines are quite similar.
Lot 982 is bred on the same cross as Lot 191, from a More Than Ready (Southern Halo) half-sister Group 2 millionaire Ninth Legion (Fastnet Rock).
Little Avondale Stud have made the long trek from the Wairarapa to the Gold Coast with three lots including one by their headline sire, Per Incanto (Street Cry). Lot 686 is the brother to Group 1 filly Bonham (Per Incanto), winner of the Levin Classic (Gr 1, 1600m).
Waikato Stud is represented by eight lots including three by evergreen champion Savabeel (Zabeel).
Lot 257 is the half-sister to Emancipation Stakes (Gr 2, 1500m) winner Promise Of Success (Dansili). There is some super blood here as the filly’s granddam is a stakes-winning three-quarter sister to the incomparable Galileo (Sadler’s Wells).
Lot 327 is from a winning O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) half-sister to Group 3 and three-times Listed winner Residential (Pins). This is the magic Savabeel-O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) cross.
Lot 752 the colt is a out of Hoity Toity (Makfi), making him a three-quarter brother to her half-sister Supera (Savabeel), whose eight wins include two Group 2s and a Group 3, not forgetting her four Group 1 placings. The colt’s dam is a sister to dual Group 3 winner Eleonora (Makfi).
Westbury Stud’s four New Zealand-bred lots are by Hello Youmzain, Redwood (High Chaparral) and two by Tarzino (Tavistock).
Lot 796, the colt by Hello Youmzain, is from a winning I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) mare whose granddam Bollinger (Dehere) won the Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) before a stud career in USA. Bollinger is a daughter of Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Bint Marscay (Marscay).
Windsor Park Stud has four lots up for grabs including two by their new sire Circus Maximus (Galileo) and one by Savabeel.
There is an old adage that great milers become great sires and there will be much interest in the progeny of first season sire Circus Maximus (Galileo) as he was ranked a Champion Miler, his best year as a three-year-old in which he landed the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) at Royal Ascot and later that same season added the Prix du Moulin (Gr 1, 1600m) at Longchamp.
At four he made it a Royal Ascot double by taking out the Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1, 1m). At Keeneland, for the Breeders’ Cup Mile (Gr 1, 8f), he came within a half length of another Group 1.
The two by Circus Maximus are Lot 174, a colt from a Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway) half-sister to Tramway Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m) winner Primus (Flying Spur) and Lot 546 is a half-sister to Weona Smartone (Shamexpress) who racked up nine recent wins – eight wins in succession – around Brisbane.
Their Savabeel colt, Lot 466, is a brother to Listed winner Hindaam (Savabeel) whose dam is a sister to Royal Ascot Stakes and Coolmore Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock).
Step-by-step
On the racing front, Ellerslie’s new track gets a thorough work–out this coming Sunday with a twilight meeting. Jump–outs and trials have had trainers and jockeys excited about the new surface, many describing the Strath-Ayr track as a carpet.
Being summer, the track ought to be in perfect order but actual racing will be another test and a further chapter in the huge investment made by Auckland Thoroughbred Racing.
The process has been managed exceptionally well by Ellerslie CEO Paul Wilcox, the public face of the project. One cannot help but notice that the step-by-step plan has never been allowed to get ahead of itself. The club gave itself a strict calendar and even if the track was probably ready a month ago, they have never wavered.
If there are any bugs to be ironed out, the Sunday meeting will provide any solutions. The Karaka Millions night is looking like a shining beacon for the industry and exactly the injection that we need for the years ahead.
The gala event will feature five stakes races plus the new $1 million Aotearoa Classic 4YO (1600m), which is sponsored by Elsdon Park. The Karaka Millions 3YO (RL, 1600m) will be run for $1.5 million this year, the Karaka Millions 2YO (RL, 1200m) remains at $1 million and the Westbury Classic (Gr 2, 1400m) boosted to $500,000.
Rich Hill quinella
Randwick’s Saturday meeting provided the New Zealand-breds just one good result when Lyrical Gangster (Proisir) and Monfelicity (Vadamos) scored a Rich Hill quinella in a Rating 78 (2000m).
Trained by Chris Waller, Lyrical Gangster was in trouble soon after they straightened but at the 300-metre mark he found a narrow gap three off the fence and drove through. He took over at the 150-metre mark and went to line gamely by a length.
The four-year-old is putting together a promising record, this his third win and second at Randwick in ten starts.
He was not sold at auction and is raced by M J Hughes, C E Stewart and C J Stewart. The Stewarts bred Lyrical Gangster in conjunction with William Fell of Goodwood Stud, who bought the dam, Dream Run (Pins), in 2015.
Interestingly, Goodwood Stud bred Dream Run and sold her at the 2013 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale. She won at Matamata as a two-year-old, at Te Aroha as a three-year-old and went within a half-head of gaining black-type when running fourth in the 2015 Lowland Stakes (Gr 2, 2100m).
Lyrical Gangster’s sire Proisir (Choisir) celebrated his sixth individual Group 1 winner when Waitak scorched away to win the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at Pukekohe on New Year’s Day and has his largest yet representation in Book 1 of the upcoming NZB Karaka Yearling Sale.
Geelong treble
At Geelong, three New Zealand-breds took the honours, namely Holymanz (Almanzor), Wertheimer (Tavistock) and Carbonados (Belardo).
In winning the $300,000 Coastal Classic (1700m), Holymanz, raced in partnership by Brendan and Jo Lindsay, is now a four-time winner in 12 starts. Prior to Saturday’s win he was successful in a Benchmark 90 (1800m) at Flemington in November. Already Group 3–placed, he must be close to gaining a black-type win. We may see him at Karaka later this month in the new and rich Aotearoa Classic 4YO.
The $175,000 SCAADA Group Handicap (1100m) went to the exciting three-year-old Carbonados who remains unbeaten in two starts. Purchased by Allan Sharrock as a yearling, the gelding won impressively at New Plymouth on debut last May and much was expected at Geelong where he scored with plenty in hand.