Those of you who read these posts regularly will no doubt recall the bitter-sweet nature of our connection with yesterday’s Riccarton stakeswinner, Dee and Gee.
A yearling purchase by Shaune Ritchie, the daughter of Darci Brahma and the Jungle Pocket mare Gabana was highly rated in my Karaka Sales Analysis of 2015. Our Cloughmore Racing Partnership happily bought into the filly, who looked exceptional value at her $16,000 purchase price.
Dee and Gee raced four times as a 3YO. Although she showed some promise she didn’t meet the requirements of a majority of her owners and was accordingly leased to the South Island. I’ve written before about the wisdom of not unloading a staying bred thoroughbred too quickly, especially if it’s a late foal, but there’s no point in re-opening old wounds.
Anyway, yesterday was her day. Masterfully ridden by Cameron Lammas, Dee and Gee led for the last 2000 metres of that time-honoured contest, the Canterbury Jockey Club’s Metropolitan Handicap, and was simply too good on the day. She will no doubt take her place in the field for next Saturday’s New Zealand Cup and here’s hoping that she does herself proud.
The untarnished bright side of all this is that Dee and Gee has given credence to the concept behind the Cloughmore Racing Partnership. Buying small shares in nicely-bred and competitively-priced yearlings certainly seems to be working. Apart from our two current 3YOs, my partners and I have bought into seven yearlings. One broke down as soon as it went into work, another wasn’t much good and two others were placed, both having leg problems which shortened moderately promising careers.
The other three yearlings developed into Candle In The Wind (G2 placed, $208,805), Rikki Tikki Tavi (Listed placed, $112,187) and now Dee and Gee (SW, $109,485).
The total purchase price of all seven yearlings came to $93,000. To date our purchases have returned $430,477, with hopefully more to come. We have minority shareholdings in all our horses, so none of us have become rich, but winning 16 races and making a profit on our initial investment has been a blast.
Incidentally, the two 3YOs are Sir Ralph (Iffraaj) and Super Gee (Super Easy). Together they cost $24,000; both have won two trials.
