One bonus of getting older is that it’s fascinating to track the progress of families you’ve had something to do with back in the day.
Yesterday’s victory by Top Brass (Epaulette) is a case in point. Back in 1998 I suggested to long-time client Terry Archer that the Jetball – Precious Platinum (Sir Tristram) filly in the National Yearling Sale catalogue might be a good buy. Marscay x Sir Tristram appealed strongly and anything tracing to one of my all-time favourite horses, Ajasco, had to be worth serious consideration. Terry shelled out $80,000 for the filly and as Superjet she obliged by winning a couple of 2YO stakes races for him.
Superjet turned out to be a successful but not outstanding broodmare. One of her offspring was the Kaapstad filly Golden Lights and I was consulted again to advise how best to mate her. The result was the five-win High Chaparral mare Highlight – not far from being a very good mare indeed.
Highlight concluded her racing career in Australia and Terry decided that breeding her there was a smart option. I’d always liked Epaulette and the pedigrees matched up really well. The result is Top Brass – as yesterday showed, a very smart sprinter indeed.
Another blast from the past was yesterday’s impressive triple Derby winner, Explosive Jack. I had nothing to do with the mating which produced him, but I did advise on the mating which produced his dam, the Ekraar mare Extra Explosive. I rate Ekraar mares highly and used him on three occasions in the hope of producing a good filly. All I succeeded in doing was to produce the slowest horse I’ve ever had anything to do with (his dam turned out to be entirely useless), a filly which bled and a chestnut gelding still at home as a 3YO. He’s a gorgeous walker who has yet to learn that getting entangled in fences is not a smart thing to do.
Breeding thoroughbreds is a great way of keeping humble.
