As I’m sure you all realise, two essential aspects of having a degree of success with thoroughbreds are doing your homework and being patient.
A couple of years ago, the winning Savabeel mare Desiree was offered on Gavelhouse. A couple of detractions were that she was in foal to the unpopular Mongolian Khan and that her first four foals had done absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, she came from a very acceptable family so some further digging was clearly justified.
Hm. The stud which looked after the mare were unable to tell me what had happened to the second and third foals, but a quick Google search informed me that the fourth foal, a colt by Wrote, had made $80,000 as a yearling. The video on the sales website looked impressive enough so I checked the identity of the buyer.
Neil Connors.
I was now seriously interested as it was Neil who, back in the day, had purchased a Stark South yearling later named Bodie that I had done the mating for. A few years later, after Bodie had won the Auckland Cup, Neil asked me to recommend a mating for a speedy Spectacular Love mare he owned; the resulting Al Akbar gelding, later named Race Ahead, won the Singapore Derby.
Today, the Wrote – Desiree gelding won a 1600 maiden event at Woodville. Aptly named Script, he won with some style. Let’s hope he keeps on winning.
Last Winter, I needed to cut down on my numbers so put Desiree and her Mongolian Khan filly on the market. Firstly, there were no takers; then I managed to quit the filly. OK, let’s just find a home for the mare, I thought. I had one nibble but no-one came to pick her up.
I’ve always thought that fortune does indeed favour the brave, so I resolved to keep Desiree and breed from her. Off she went to Mongolian Falcon. A few weeks later, a positive test was returned.
She’s now looking particularly attractive.
