Promising Trials by Haleconia & Jolie 23 September 2003
Haleconia (2002 Easter $280,000) and Jolie (2002 Classic $26,000), two fillies we purchased at the sales earlier this year, performed in encouraging fashion at the official Randwick two year old trials.Haleconia is a neat athletic Danehill (USA) filly from Group One winning sprinter Cannsea. Prepared by Garry Frazer, she travelled wide throughout her trial and then stretched out nicely over the concluding stages to run second. She was beaten just over two lengths by the more experienced filly Segments, which had also won at the Canterbury trials.
From the first time I saw Jolie she looked like a natural early runner and the daughter of Armidale certainly didn’t disappoint. Jack Denham puts the polish on this one and she showed plenty of pace before being run down by Carlucci and finishing second in a slick 48.02 seconds, the fastest fillies trial of the day.
Connections were delighted with both fillies and all going well, they will proceed to the Gimcrack Stakes.
Elvstroem Success Highlights Role of X-Rays 23 September 2003
A spectacular win by Elvstroem in the MRC Caulfield Guineas Prelude Gr 3 has sparked plenty of debate on the x-ray issue.
The Danehill (USA) colt from Group One winner Circles of Gold was sold for $330,000 at the 2002 Australian Easter Yearling Sale and then later returned to his breeders following a post-sale x-ray which apparently revealed a problem.
Celebrations for Team Mimzical 4 September 2003
Anyone who has been in racing for any length of time knows just how hard it is to win a race, particularly in the metropolitan area.
So you can understand why there was cause for celebration at Randwick on Tuesday when our filly Mimzical resumed from a spell with a stylish win.
Mimzical is a little filly by El Moxie (USA) which Gary Portelli and I purchased at the 2002 Classic Yearling Sale for just $12,500.
She’s the first foal of former handy racemare Beautiful Mimzar, a tough and hardy campaigner when prepared by Gai Waterhouse. Beautiful Mimzar was no champion by any means but her daughter, although tiny, looked like being a useful sort and at $12,500 she was unbelievably cheap.
You sometimes take a punt on smaller horses in the hope they will grow, but to be honest Mimzical hasn’t. She’s still tiny, but she’s neat, athletic and has a heart as big as herself.
The syndication of Mimzical proved to be an easy task, with Reg Inglis and several of the Inglis staff, Richard Haynes, Tara Madgwick and Melissa O’Gorman all keen to be involved.
Eden Harrington, the well known racing writer from the Daily Telegraph, figured we must know what we were doing so he too decided to come on board.
Chloe Latif, the yearling manager at Emirates Park where Mimzical was bred and raised had a soft spot for the filly, so it wasn’t hard to talk her into a share!
Also in the syndicate, my friend Scott Hayman who had previously owned a share in Perfect Crime, the horse which won the $1million Heroic Championship. He’s been lucky before and it look’s like he’s going to be lucky again.
So there you have it, a very happy Team Mimzical!
All going well, “the Mimz” will run at Rosehill on Saturday week in a 1300 metre open handicap for three year olds and from there maybe a crack at Listed company in the Reginald Allen Handicap at Randwick. After that we’ll just have to wait and see!
American Stakes Success for Reavill Farm Mare 4 September 2003
Welcome news earlier in the week when I saw that Ninth Trestle (USA), a mare purchased in America for John Rippon’s Reavill Farm, had produced her first stakes-winner.
Ninth Trestle (USA) is an unraced mare by leading sire Forty Niner from former champion US three year old filly Classy Cathy.
We paid $US130,000 for her at the 2000 November Breeding Stock Sale with a positive test to Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic. Unfortunately, her colt foal by Charismatic died and then she slipped the following year to Gilded Time (USA).
Hopefully her luck has turned around, now that she has produced a lovely weanling filly to Gilded Time (USA) and her three year old filly Nine Pines has achieved stakes success. Nine Pines is a winner of two races from four starts and defeated older mares to capture the Adena Springs Matchmaker Turf Sprint over five furlongs.
The weanling filly by Gilded Time (USA) from Ninth Trestle (USA) is likely to be sold at Keeneland in January and the mare has been covered by Before Too Long’s sire Belong To Me having been imported to Australia after foaling the Gilded Time filly.
