Following my previous post, I’ve had some strong enquiries about this mare and have kept on digging.
The first thing that attracted me about her was that she was out of a Broad Brush mare, herself a full-sister to a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner.
Broad Brush’s figures are exceptional. 83% winners to starters (cf Zabeel and Savabeel – both 72%); 19% stakeswinners to winners (cf Zabeel and Savabeel – both 15%).
Concern was the Breeders’ Cup winner referred to above. His victory in the 1994 renewal of the Classic is remarkable (and available on Youtube). His career as a stallion was handicapped by starting off in Maryland and then being relocated to Oklahoma but his figures as a broodmare sire are respectable: 146 winners from 204 runners and an AEI of 1.31.
I’ve tracked down Manhattan Melody’s first foal, the 2g by Toronado, as far as Lindsay Park. I’ve messaged them but have received no reply as yet. Leanach Lodge prepared him for the HIT sale and reported that as a yearling he was nothing spectacular, but as he got older, he became increasingly impressive.
The mare was previously domiciled at Windsor Park. I spoke to Steve Till about her. He mentioned that she’d been originally bought by a Hong Kong investor in New Zealand bloodstock who had a policy of turning over his mares on a regular basis. He was very positive about the mare.
MM is currently at Norwegian Park. Peter Westend described her as a “nice, big mare with a very nice nature.”
