July 16th, 2012 — Horse Racing, News, Winners
Saturday’s Parliamentary Handicap victory by our tough Shinko King gelding was a a great thrill for his breeders. There may only have been six runners in this year’s renewal but the manner of his win confirmed that he is an above average winter stayer.
Rising Tide was bred by a partnership consisting of Athol and Diane Hunter, Fred Gianone, Vaughan Cronin and myself – a similar partnership to the one responsible for his older half-brother The Jungle Boy (Jungle Pocket).
In 2002 the three win mare Ballina Wave came on to the market. She had previously left the good wet track galloper Vinny’s Image and I had done the mating for her 1997 colt, later named Bodie, who was showing highly promising form. The Lord Ballina mare seemed too good an opportunity to miss so I put together a partnership which included the subsequent breeders of Rising Tide.
However, as any breeder will attest, there are always setbacks to any breeding venture. In December 2002 I was congratulating myself at having selected Pentire as Ballina Wave’s consort and on the mare having returned a positive test to the Rich Hill stallion, then standing at a fee of $6500; the following month came the dreaded phone call – the mare had slipped her foal. The partners accepted the news philosophically and we agreed that Bodie’s sire, Stark South, was the way to go. Bodie had just won the 2003 Auckland Cup so this was just about as obvious a mating as you can get. Who wouldn’t want a full sibling to a Group 1 winner?
In the Spring of 2004 Ballina Wave delivered a filly prior to her covering by Jungle Pocket. Unfortunately, the filly was so bad legged that the only sensible course of action was to give her away when she was old enough to be weaned.
Our luck had to get better – and it did. At least, up to a point. The Jungle Pocket foal turned out to be a colt, if a somewhat plain one, so it was decided to sell him as a weanling. He made $18,000 at the National Weanling Sale – which just about covered what he had cost us.
Undeterred, we continued. In 2006 Ballina Wave produced another plain colt, this time by Shinko King. Declined by New Zealand Bloodstock as a candidate for the Select Sale, he was retained to be raced from the Awapuni stable of Mark Oulaghan. We were joined in the racing partnership by racing stalwart Bill Freeman, Wellington enthusiast Kevin Kane and Stratford vet Philip Jeffreys jnr.
At last we got it right. May the ride continue!
June 23rd, 2012 — Horse Racing, News, Winners
Yesterday’s Amberley meeting at Riccarton featured two $25,000 open events; both were won by Cloughmore representatives. Too Much Torque cantered home in the open sprint over 1200m and in the very next event Comanche Gold out – toughed his opponents in the Greenwood Amberley Cup (1600).
Too Much Torque is product of one of my favourite crosses: Tale of the Cat – Sir Tristram. Dual Group winning sprinter Durham Town is bred on a similar genetic pattern and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Too Much Torque ended up being competitive at a similar level. Taking a three – or four – wide position for the entire journey, the son of juvenile SW Superjet managed to complete the journey in a slick 1:10.48, a remarkable time on the Dead 8 surface.
Thirty – five minutes later Comanche Gold did what he does best. Settling on a strong pace, he hit the front early in the run home and fought off the strong finishing The Hammer Head to win by a narrow margin. This was his fourth win over the Riccarton mile; hopefully he will be back to contest the Group 3 Winter Cup in early August. His sire, the Danehill son Hawkeye, hasn’t done much as a stallion but clearly was well suited by the speed – bred Festal mare Treadgold. Her dam Can Lah (Riverton) was a quick on – pace performer; she’s also the grand-dam of the useful Howbaddouwantit mares Malissimo (6 wins) and Vincitore (4 wins to date).
Malissimo was catalogued in the recent NZB May sale and I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase her in foal to Nom Du Jeu. As Comanche Gold was Treadgold’s last foal, I’m really looking forward to breeding from this family again.
Fingers crossed!
June 18th, 2012 — Horse Racing, News, Winners
Cloughmore’s golden June run continued on Saturday with a double at Ellerslie. Only the day before the much improved Miss El Bee Dee had completed a double of her own at Timaru’s Phar Lap Raceway.
We all knew that The Jungle Boy was a more than handy horse but even his most enthusiastic admirers were expecting no more than a strong finishing run in the $25,000 Chevalier Produce Mile. The track conditions were in his favour and he was aided by a clever ride from top jockey Matthew Cameron but what was really impressive was his determination not to be headed by the very good winter milers Matost and Taking the Mickey.
It appears that the son of Jungle Pocket and the good producer Ballina Wave will be heading to Melbourne next month with the express aim of winning some nice handicaps over ground. Given Saturday’s performance, one would not want to bet against this happening.
Just one race earlier on the Ellerslie card, the Terry Archer- bred Splitfire broke through for her maiden win. Her previous form had not indicated that she was capable of winning a good race at any level on a major track but her determined finish over 1400 showed how wrong I – for one – was. The Keeper mare is out of the speedy SP Mi Signora, a very challenging mare to provide mating advice on. She had previously left nonentities by Zabeel and Stravinsky (2) but did leave the very good Malaysian Group 1 winner Professional Man to Royal Academy. Her last foal, a now 2YO filly by Any Suggestion, has recently been named Mi Idea.
Nothing’s ever perfect in racing and it was disappointing that The Jungle Boy’s half-brother Rising Tide could do no better than fourth in the open stayers’ event at Awapuni. Still, we did learn that running him close to the pace isn’t the way to go – so it wasn’t all bad news.
June 8th, 2012 — Horse Racing, News
Yes, it’s been a while since something headline – worthy occurred but today Pamina, Miss El Bee Dee and Browne Sugar combined to do just that at Phar Lap Raceway
Pamina was a recommended purchase last year at the Karaka sales, as Browne Sugar was three years previously. Both were purchased by Riccarton trainer Kevin Hughes. Miss El Bee Dee was a recommended mating for Cloughmore client Donald Tait.
Apart from today’s success, things have ticking over well enough with 24 individual winners doing us proud prior to today. However, it’s the near misses in black-type races that have been my personal highlights since my last article appeared. Our homebred Comanche Gold ran a strong second in the CJC Easter Cup (Group 3) and O’Reilly filly Thy (recommended mating) did even better with her Group 1 third in the Randwick ATC Oaks. Comanche Gold will be aimed at the Riccarton winter carnival; Thy is apparently being reserved for Melbourne spring events.
As always at this time of the year, new stallions have been announced and the crystal ball dusted off. I’ve never been a great fan of recomending first-season horses, preferring to wait until at least the first crop of foals have hit the weanling sales but this year has seen the retirement of one of our best Kiwi-bred stallion prospects for some time – Jimmy Choux. I was contracted by Rich Hill to give my opinion on what bloodlines would especially suit the five-time Group 1 winner and one point I do want to pass on is that he could well develop an affinity with descendants of supersire Sir Tristram. My rationale, together with my other thoughts on the subject, can be found on the Rich Hill website.
On the topic of websites, in the next few weeks I hope to develop a new page on this site. Clearly, times are hard and money is tight so it seemed a good time to focus on stallions standing at $3000 or less. Two horses I intend to feature are Mettre En Jeu and Tobique.
March 3rd, 2012 — Horse Racing, News
It’s been a steady start to 2012 but Ellerslie provided a spectacular boost to the Cloughmore fortunes today with both The Jungle Boy and Durham Town recording impressive victories.
Homebred The Jungle Boy trialled encouragingly for Wednesday’s Group 1 Auckland Cup, showing impressive acceleration from the back to the field to narrowly defeat a game Titch and the favourite Shez Sinsational in the Nathans Memorial Handicap. The Cup field will also feature Single Minded and Blood Brotha, to name but two well-credentialled rivals, so it will be anything but a walk in the park next week for the Jungle Pocket 6YO. Nevertheless, there’s certainly cause for hope.
The absence of Nash Rawiller indicated that Durham Town had every chance of success in the Group 3 Darley Plate over 1200 metres – and so it proved. This horse is one serious sprinter: he’s got good gate speed, the ability to relax and a devastating turn of foot, even on tracks that don’t really suit him. In my opinion, he still has room for improvement and you wouldn’t be surprised if ultimately he was competitive in Australia.
As readers are well aware, the Falkirk gelding was bought by Donna Logan out of the Festival Sale of 2009, Cloughmore providing pedigree advice in support of the purchase. This year’s sales resulted in six lots ending up in the ownership of Cloughmore clients: fillies by Sir Percy – Devant (Zabeel), Elvstroem – Evana (Entrepreneur), Keeper – Giuliana (Zabeel), Sakhee’s Secret – Louders (Danasinga), Thorn Park – Lyric (Grosvenor) and a colt by Any Suggestion – Diaga (Kinjite). Although Premier Sale vendors found the going difficult, it was not easy to buy a quality individual at either the Select or Festival levels.
Talking of quality individuals, I was much impressed by the stock of Mettre En Jeu in the Festival Sale. The colts I saw all looked very much the same and, as Mettre En Jeu looks very much like Montjeu, this has to be good news. On following up my observations with studmaster Nigel Auret, he commented that Letham has some yearling fillies available at a reasonable price. Given the increased advantages enjoyed by fillies through the revamped handicapping system, buying a nice filly is becoming an interesting investment option.
January 9th, 2012 — Breeding Theory, News, Value For Money
I mentioned in my last article that there were 12 lots with a Cloughmore connection in the 2012 catalogues and promised to give readers some details about them. So here we go.
The Premier Sale includes two recommended matings, both colts. One is by Darci Brahma ex Showileo and the other a son of O’Reilly out of the Group 2 winner Star Affair. The Darci Brahma colt is a standout in terms of athleticism and I’m thrilled by the recent progress of the Danehill – Sadler’s Wells cross, Frankel being the star. The O’Reilly comes from another rock-solid family; he is a good type with an outstanding temperament. Star Way mares are always something of a challenge to mate but this one has already produced a colt and a filly by O’Reilly which have been well received in the sale ring and are showing promise in the early stages of their careers.
The Select Sale features colts by Falkirk – Baci, Bachelor Duke – Lady Cherokee, Magic Albert – Quiet Please, Strategic – Sotela and Iffraaj – Straight Lake.
The Falkirk mating had a significant conformation aspect to it; Baci is a chunky mare and Falkirk was suggested as a stallion which should provide more scope whilst retaining the mare’s speed.
Lady Cherokee is by Cherokee Run from a superb family. Cherokee Run has had mixed success as a broodmare sire but he crosses well with two stallions in particular – Seattle Slew and Mr.Prospector; Bachelor Duke has both these influences close up.
The Magic Albert and Strategic colts were in utero when their dams were purchased by clients; in both cases I felt that the unborn foals contributed significantly to the value of the packages.
As regards Iffraaj, there seems to be a very strong likelihood that his stock will represent good value. Last year his yearlings brought ridiculous prices; now that his second NH crop has not done as well as his first, the market will no doubt over-react. Buyers should remember that Iffraaj was a much better racehorse as a 4YO and a 5YO than he was in his younger days.
The Select fillies are by Pentire ex Eyes Light Up, Thorn Park – Lady Cavalier and Pins – Sheza Gem.
The Pentire is bred on the highly successful Tudor Minstrel – Star Kingdom nick with some strong Djebel influences thrown in. This is a consistent family which has produced some smart fillies over the years.
Consistency is also a major attraction of the Thorn Park filly’s family. The dam was only narrowly beaten at Group 1 level and the sire was selected to inject just a little more class into the pedigree.
The Pins mating for Sheza Gem was an obvious way of reinforcing the key Star Kingdom and Northern Dancer elements of her pedigree. It never pays to ignore the obvious.
Finally, in the Festival catalogue there are the Don Eduardo – Prangelica and the Perfectly Ready – Superbly Bred colts, both very strong matings. The former pedigree imitates that of the classy stayer All In Black; the latter is a mirror pedigree featuring some of the leading stallions and female families of thoroughbred breeding.
Incidentally, photos of the Magic Albert, Don Eduardo, Perfectly Ready and Pins yearlings can be viewed on the Totara Park Stud website.
Please feel free to contact me if you’d like further information on the above yearlings.
January 6th, 2012 — Breeding Theory
As this year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka yearling sales approach, Ishimine’s impressive win at Whangarei yesterday was a nicely timed advertisement for the buyers’ guides I produce each year.
The Ishiguru – Poacher’s Prize (Prized) filly was selected as one of the top-ranking lots in the 2010 Festival Sale and was purchased by Donna Logan for $9000. Donna has used this Cloughmore service for several years and it has helped her to buy a steady stream of winners at very reasonable prices.
Another graduate of the same Festival Sale is the highly promising Falkirk filly Special Draw. The daughter of Summer Nymph did not make my original list but, as sometimes happens, a client phoned me saying that she was a particularly nice type and was there anything wrong with her pedigree? He also provided me with a key piece of information which completely dispelled a concern that I originally did have about the pedigree page. I was able to assure him that, in my opinion, he could proceed with confidence to bid on the filly. Incidentally, Special Draw’s pedigree has strong similarities to that of Durham Town.
(Clients who purchase a buyers’ guide for a sale are very welcome to any additional advice about any lot in that sale. This advice is available at no extra cost.)
The other exciting thing about these sales is that they contain the results of some of our recommended matings. This year there are 12 such yearlings: 2 in the Premier, 8 in the Select and 2 in the Festival.
In my next article I will focus on these yearlings. They include colts by O’Reilly, Darci Brahma, Falkirk, Bachelor Duke, Magic Albert, Strategic, Iffraaj, Don Eduardo and Perfectly Ready. The fillies are by Pentire, Thorn Park and Pins.
And for those of you following the Lucario story from my previous article – yes, he did run again yesterday at Ballarat and, yes, he did win again. Unfortunately his race was scheduled at the same time as some minor greyhound event so none of us got to see him in action.
December 21st, 2011 — Breeding Theory, News, Winners
One of the difficulties of advising clients about mating their mares is keeping a track of their eventual decisions and the results of those decisions.
In yesterday’s edition of the Manawatu Standard there was a short article about the impressive Awapuni winner, Nashville. The writer referred to the gelding being by Darci Brahma out of the Royal Academy mare Royal Kiss. That sounded familiar so I went to the filing system and it all came back to me.
I also remembered many interesting conversations I had with the late Bob Tait on the subject of breeding thoroughbreds. One such conversation involved Bob’s determination to send a mare to the first-season sire Darci Brahma. Should he send Royal Kiss or Key of Future? On analysing their pedigrees it became apparent that both mares would suit the son of Danehill very well indeed; I wrote to Bob and commented that “both appear to be excellent matings”. The Royal Kiss mating could “produce a racehorse with real brilliance”.
I am normally quite conservative in the way I phrase recommendations but this mating did appear to be somewhat special as it contained what I regarded as at least four major nicks. There certainly was a degree of inbreeding but the nicks were the key point I raised in my letter. It is going to be very interesting indeed to follow Nashville’s progress: if he turns out as good as I suspect him to be, he’ll be a very handy point of reference for future recommendations. I’ve long been doubtful about the wisdom of slavish devotion to inbreeding; identfying successful crosses which work well with other successful crosses seems to make much more sense.
Very much on the same theory one of my own mares, Mi Minnie, had been sent to D’Cash. Her second foal by him contracted a virus in his first few months of life and when I went to inspect my colt he was so unimpressive that I decided that as soon as he was weaned I would give him away. He wasn’t worth the expense of entering him in a sale. One had to be realistic.
Well, Lucario has yet to run out of the money. The recipients of the gift horse did a great job of making him the best he could be and after three consecutive placings sold him to clients of top Australian trainer Mark Kavanagh. After a placing and a spell Lucario was entered for a 1400 metre maiden at Ballarat on Sunday. As you’ll imagine, I watched the race with mixed feelings. Still no oil painting, he nonetheless was one of those horses which you’d describe as “big enough if he’s good enough”. On this occasion he was clearly good enough and beat his nearest rival, an expensive Encosta de Lago colt, convincingly.
Hm!
December 12th, 2011 — Horse Racing, Winners
There are certainly some differences between a Group 2 at Ellerslie, an open handicap at Traralgon and a Rating 65 event at Ascot Park, but what they do have in common are some very promising performances by the Cloughmore team.
Durham Town was a yearling selection after trainer Donna Logan phoned me to say that she’d seen an outstanding Falkirk colt. What did I think of the pedigree? It didn’t take too long to figure out that, putting aside the mare’s lack of racecourse performance, there weren’t any danger sigals in the pedigree. Even better, the Tale of the Cat – Sir Tristam cross plus some more Round Table and My Babu via Marju provided a highly arractive pedigree mix. The Group 1 Railway Handicap will be a significant step up from the Group 2 Concorde, but Durham Town does appear to have a touch of class about him.
Firejet was also asked to step up yesterday: in his case it was from a Moe R68 race to an open handicap, the $50,000 Traralgon Cup. This is not an event which traditionally stops the nation, but the favourite was a Group 2 winning son of Rock of Gibraltar and the Group 1 mare La Bella Dama so one could argue that there was some substance to the small field. Firejet scored a tough win, coming from well off the pace to narrowly defeat the public elect. As mentioned in my last article, Firejet is another successful example of the Tale of the Cat – Sir Tristram cross; he also appears to have scope for further improvement.
On the theme of improvement, our homebred Amigo’s performance at Ascot Park on Saturday represented just that. For the first time he handled a firm track and showed the ability to accelerate off a strong pace. He’s still a work in progress in terms of his racing manners but Daniel Bothamley rode him expertly to score a convincing win. Hopefully, the son of Mr Nancho and Antonella, a Bassenthwaite mare from the family of Scenic Shot, will develop into a handy stayer.
Best wishes for the Festive Season to all subscribers, casual readers and anyone who finds this site by accident. I’m off to read 1400 – odd pages of yearling catalogues; let’s hope I can find another Durham Town!
November 22nd, 2011 — Horse Racing, News, Winners
It might have been only a modest R68 event at provincial Moe but Firejet’s impressive win today was a real milestone for Cloughmore.
The product of a recommended mating, the Tale of the Cat gelding showed impressive acceleration over the final 150m to score a facile victory. He’s a son of SW Superjet and, although he has the challenging temperament typical of the mare’s progeny, he clearly has the ability to win races in much better company.
I’ve always liked the Tale of the Cat – Sir Tristram cross and it’s encouraging to see that other examples of the cross are also showing considerable ability. A case in point is the highly promising sprinter Durham Town (Falkirk – Durham Walk by Marju out of a Sir Tristram mare). On the subject of Falkirk, isn’t he doing well? He’s got three really good ones in Hong Kong – plus some progressive types at home.
Getting back to the headline, it’s always pleasing to surpass previous achievements. October was a record month, producing ten winners, but narrowly missing a couple of black-type victories has served to keep the feet on the ground. Rising Tide finished a game second in his first start in open company, the listed Feilding Cup, and his half-brother The Jungle Boy almost won the race that, as a breeder, I’d like to win more than anything else – the Group 3 New Zealand Cup. This was just three days after Comanche Gold’s chapter of accidents in the Coupland’s Mile (Group 2). Let’s hope he used up all his bad luck in the process!
On the subject of hope, the recent results of the Horses In Training Sale are a great confidence booster. It’s particularly encouraging that the sale is producing more consistent results across the whole catalogue; it’s a significant boost to breeders to be presented with another viable means of marketing their stock.
