Remarque (AUS)
Remarque (AUS)
2 c Snitzel – Response by Charge Forward
O: Arrowfield Pastoral Pty Ltd, Mr K Yoshida
B: Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd
T: Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes
W: The Agency Real Estate Handicap, 1100m, January 16, Rosehill
The hype surrounding Arrowfield Stud’s Remarque (Snitzel) ahead of his debut last Saturday was already immense, given he is a brother to 2018 Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) heroine Estijaab.
However, even the pre-race pizzazz could not match the post-race plaudits after the Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes-trained colt raced clear under Tommy Berry. Even though he was as green and as raw as can be, he still won by a comfortable two lengths and now sits on the second line of Golden Slipper betting as he seeks to emulate his sister.
Only once in the race’s 65-year history have siblings taken the spoils: the second Golden Slipper winner, 1958 victor Skyline, and the fourth, 1960 winner Sky High, were both by the legendary Star Kingdom (Stardust) out of Flight’s Daughter (Helios). And while it is 61 years later, Remarque could at long last atone for his family should he salute. More on that later.
While he carried the Arrowfield yellow and black, it could have been oh so different had the Covid-19 pandemic not struck. Remarque was one of 63 yearlings withdrawn by Arrowfield Stud from last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale when the auction was forced onto the Inglis Digital bidding platform as the first lockdown hit Sydney.
Of the 63, only two had raced before Saturday – Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) runner-up Mallory (Not A Single Doubt) and Brisbane winner True Moonlight (Not A Single Doubt). However, two more joined the fray when Remarque and Gulf Of Saros (Snitzel), who finished sixth in the same event, both stepped out for the first time.
Whereas many were sold by private treaty, Remarque was not. In fact, his racetrack future looked over before it began after a nasty incident around sales time.
‘‘He was walking to the day yards and a horse got away and then he got away and ran into a fence,’’ Arrowfield principal John Messara told the Sydney Morning Herald’s Chris Roots. ‘‘I thought that was the end of him as an athlete. He took a chunk out of a leg. It was a really ugly gash.
‘‘You couldn’t possibly show him to anyone in the condition he was in. It looked awful. He was a valuable colt, so we kept him and he has recovered remarkably well.’’
Co-trainer Michael Hawkes added post-race: “He came to us late, so to pick up so much lost time, only good horses do that. He’s heading towards the Slipper, we are not going to deny that.
“The part I loved the most was in the last hundred when he knuckled down and he really knew what to do and lengthened.”
While it may be too early to suggest that he has a potential future as a stallion at Arrowfield Stud, his first step on that path was promising enough.
Remarque is the fifth foal to race out of dual Group 1 winner Response (Charge Forward), who took out the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and the Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m). She herself is a daughter of the Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) runner-up Live It Up (Match Winner).
Response has a yearling filly and a colt foal, both by Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), on the ground, while she was again served by Snitzel in November.
Remarque traces from a remarkable colonial family that dates back to blue hen Chand Beebee (Royal Hampton), who arrived from England as a two-year-old in 1892. A winner of just one race at Hawkesbury, she was considered talented enough to tackle the 1894 Epsom Handicap (1m) and was even entered for that year’s Melbourne Cup (2m).
It was in the breeding barn, though, that she made her most notable impact, producing top-class winners like 1903 Newmarket Handicap (6f) winner Chantress (Bill Of Portland) and 1912 Melbourne Cup hero Piastre (Positano).
Even as international blood has continued to arrive, especially ramping up over the past three decades, the Chand Beebee family remains. Among the notable names to descend from the mare are greats like Amounis (Magpie) and Wenona Girl (Wilkes), as well as high-class horses like Garrio (Chivalrous), Prince Standard (Mr Standfast), Gold Script (Gold Nib), Kinjite (Centaine) and Manawanui (Oratorio).
So how can Remarque strike a blow for his family at long last? Well, when Sky High took the 1960 Golden Slipper, he relegated Wenona Girl – half-sister to Remarque’s sixth dam Carrus (Nilo) – to second.
In fact, such was the dominance of Sky High and Wenona Girl that only five runners lined up over six furlongs at Rosehill. While Sky High won that first meeting and won comfortably, they would meet on another 19 occasions – the ledger, when all was done and dusted, was narrowly in his favour, 11-9.
If Remarque can join Estijaab to become the second pair of siblings after Skyline and Sky High, it would be a fitting end to a story seven decades in the making.