Invincibella is Waller's 'My Fair Lady'

Until last Saturday, June 22, there were two 'My Fair Ladies' in the life of Sydney-based premier trainer Chris Waller - his wife Stefanie and the world's equal best racehorse Winx.

Now there's a third - Queensland-bred 5YO mare Invincibella who provided Waller with his Australian record 18th Group 1 win for the season when she won the 1400m Tattersall's Tiara for fillies and mares at Eagle Farm

There may even be a fourth - Queen Elizabeth II - because Waller wasn't at Eagle Farm to celebrate the record. Instead he and wife Stephanie were part of the royal procession ahead of the fifth and final day of the Royal Ascot meeting.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently presented the royal racing enthusiast with a book about Winx written by Andrew Rule and signed by the owners and connections so it's odds-on Winx was a major topic of conversation between the Queen and Waller.

Waller's 18 Group 1 wins eclipse the late Tommy Smith's long held record of 17. Winx accounted for seven of those Group 1 victories, with The Autumn Sun producing three. In addition to being the 'icing on the cake' for Waller, it was the first Group 1 win for Invincibella and the first for her jockey, Sydney based star Jason Collett.

The breakthrough success at racing's elite level continued an incredible Queensland love affair for Invincibella - winner of the two past two runnings of the $1 million Magic Millions Fillies and Mares feature plus back to back Group 2 Dane Rippers. As it stands Invincibella now boasts an imposing record of 11 wins from 38 starts and earnings of more than $2.46 million.

QUEENSLAND-bred - that's what the Australian Stud Book (ASB) states about outstanding 5YO mare Invincibella who won the final Group 1 race in Australia for the 2018-19 racing season - the 1400m Tattersall's Tiara for fillies and mares - held at Eagle Farm, Brisbane, on Saturday.

The ASB lists Brisbane pharmacists Andrew and Nielma Grant-Taylor as the breeders of Invincibella and her recent Melbourne stakes-winning 3YO half-brother Secret Blaze. Both are from the unraced Galileo mare Abscond - a mare they bred from the winning Zabeel mare Luminata bought for $250,000 at the 2002 New Zealand Premier yearling sale. The reason for the high price was that her dam Taciturn was a triple Listed winner in New Zealand and the dam of eight winners including two stakes winners - Group 1 Adelaide Cup winner The Hind and Geelong Cup winner Oregon Star. A winner of two races up to 2000m, Luminata has since produced five winners including Light Up Manhattan -third in the VRC Derby.

By champion sire I Am Invincible - now sire of nine individual Group 1 winners - Invincibella was Abscond's first foal and sold for $185,000 at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling sale to Denise Martin's Star Thoroughbreds while her third foal Secret Blaze (Sizzling's first black type winner) sold for $90,000 at the 2017 Inglis Melbourne Premier yearling sale to McEvoy/Mitchell Racing. On both occasions the Grant-Taylors kept a racing share.

IF horses could talk, this year's Battle of the Bush series final winner Hanover Square would probably tell Sydney father/son training duo Peter and Paul Snowden who trained a double at Eagle Farm on Saturday "Look what you let go!"

The Snowden's double comprised Group 3 Healy Stakes winner Brave Song and Class 6 Plate winner Smartedge.

Hanover Square - the horse they let go after winning a Kembla Grange 2YO maiden at his second start plus three subsequent placings - was also at Eagle Farm and proved his ability by winning this year's Battle of the Bush final for Miles trainer Bevan (Billy) Johnson. The $72,500 first prize cheque took the 5YO gelding's earnings past $174,000 and he now has six wins, six seconds and six thirds from 42 starts.

Having begun his racing career with the Snowdens, Hanover Square was on-sold several times before moving to Hawkesbury, NSW trainer Brad Widdup who prepared him for a Goulburn Class 2 win and two places from four starts before moving to Chinchilla-based Leonard (Michael) Mawn in April last year.

Mawn still co-owns the horse with partner Jo Rayner but interstate work commitments prompted him to ask Bevan Johnson to take over training duties just prior to qualifying at Barcaldine on June 8 which gives Johnson a perfect two from two record.

A $45,000 purchase at the 2015 Magic Millions yearling sale, Hanover Square is by Manhattan Rain - a Group 1 winning half-brother to Redoute's Choice - and is the ninth winner produced from the unraced Scenic (Ire) mare Beam. She in turn is from the Golden Slipper winner Bint Marscay which makes her a half-sister to three black-type winners including Group 1 winner Bollinger.

NOMINATIONS close next Monday, July 1 for the 2019 Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards (GSSSA) which recognise their value to the industry and to showcase their roles,

First staged in Australia in 2015, the GSSSA - an initiative of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and Racing Australia and sponsored by Godolphin - offer recognition to everyone in every 'backroom', every stable, stud or office in the Australian Thoroughbred world.

From stable workers to exercise riders, to float drivers, to secretaries, to stud grooms, to foaling supervisors, to the growing band of "re-homers" who provide care and a future to horses who can no longer race, the awards are open to everyone.

In so many cases, the industry workers whom the awards seek to recognise perform their jobs simply because they love horses.

As the 2018 Thoroughbred Excellence Award winner, the trackwork rider, Joe Agresta says: "You couldn't do it if you didn't love them. None of us does it for money, because there isn't any. We do it because we love horses, love being with them, love looking after them," he said

Jenny Watson, whose 35 years on the night watch looking out for mares to deliver their foals, at Armidale Stud in Tasmania, earned her the Thoroughbred Excellence Award in 2016. "I still think this is the best job in the world. To see a mare and a foal survive just because you are there is the most wonderful thing," she said.

To find the most deserving recipients, the GSSSA rely on anyone being able to nominate anyone. It isn't necessary for a nomination to come from a boss or someone more senior than the nominee. People can propose someone on the same level as themselves - someone more senior, or junior, from within their own organisation or from another.

The GSSSA provide total prize money of $100,000 in seven categories plus an overall Thoroughbred Excellence Award made to the one of the five category winners. Each category award carries $10,000 and a trophy, plus $3,000 to their employer to be shared among fellow employees.

Nominations can be completed online via the Stud and Stable Staff Awards website www.studandstablestaffawards.com.au.

AUSTRALIA'S latest Thoroughbred venture aimed at preparing and selling 2YOs at the Ready To Run sales each year has been launched online.

It is called R2R Club which, in its inaugural year, has brought together six experienced, well-respected and passionate industry professionals - Stuart Kendrick, Alexia Fraser, Mary-Lee Trivett, Simon Adams, Neil Douglas and Andrew Dunemann.

The objective of R2R Club is to buy yearlings at Australian sales and take them through a structured development and education process to have them ready to race as 2YOs. It includes breaking-in, pre-training, spelling, training and preparing them to present at the Ready To Run sales in October.

One of Queensland's leading trainers Stuart Kendrick will be a key member of R2R Club overseeing the education and training of the horses prior to the sales. "A real focus for us in the R2R Club is to showcase the processes that the horse goes through from the start of its education to the sale. It enables anyone to follow the horse's progress and make a well-informed purchase decision," he said.

Each horse will have its own page on the website www.r2rclub.com.au which will feature videos at each main stage of the horse's development, pedigree updates, veterinary reports, growth tables, breeze ups and other important pre-purchase information.

R2R Club member and concept creator Simon Adams, of Golden Gully Thoroughbreds, said he and his colleagues believe there is strong growth potential in a 'transparent selling model' aimed at Ready To Run sales.

"There has been a noticeable shift in the industry in recent years in buyers requesting more information and sellers making information more available. A key focus for us is transparency and using digital and social media platforms to convey regular progress reports on each horse," he said.

The first crop of horses to enter the R2R Club stables for its inaugural year are colts by Smart Missile, Deep Field and Spirit Of Boom.

Kendrick, who has had success selling 2YOs to Asia including last year's Hong Kong Derby winner Ping Hai Star, hopes these three yearlings will develop along similar lines to be attractive to both the domestic and Asian markets. "All three yearlings have been bought with the highest degree of scrutiny and each has a level of class that the buying bench will expect when buying a horse at the ready to run sales," he said.

For further information or to connect to R2R Club on social media visit:

WEBSITE - www.r2rclub.com.au

FACEBOOK - www.facebook.com/R2RClubAU/

TWITTER - www.twitter.com/R2RClub

INSTAGRAM - www.instagram.com/r2rclub/