THREE-quarter brothers Silvera and High Wind - both bred and owned by the Huddy family and trained by Tony Gollan - dominated racing at Rockhampton on Saturday, when Silvera won the 1600m Rockhampton Cup and High Wind won a 2215m Benchmark 65 Handicap.
Both horses are close relations to outstanding galloper Shoot Out whose five Group 1 wins included the AJC Derby at Randwick and earnings of more than $3.2 million - a massive return on the $15,000 price tag paid by Linda Huddy at the 2008 Magic Millions yearling sale on the Gold Coast.
Bred in Queensland at Neville Stewart's Oaklands Stud, Shoot Out is by High Chaparral (Ire) from the winning Pentire (GB) mare Pentamerous (NZ). The Huddys subsequently managed to secure Pentamerous, along with two Ferocity daughters, to be among 20 broodmares at Peachester Lodge on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Keen to replicate the Shoot Out success, Linda Huddy decided to mate Pentamerous back to High Chaparral in 2010. The result was Highward who won a solitary race for Tony Gollan. A repeat mating in 2011 produced now 6YO gelding High Wind who was first trained in Sydney by Chris Waller for places at Randwick and Newcastle before being transferred to Tony Gollan who has prepared him for six wins.
For a third year in succession Pentamerous was again mated to High Chaparral plus one of her Ferocity daughters Silver Tiara for her first mating. Pentamerous produced a full sister to Shoot Out named I'm A Princess while Silver Tiara's foal was Shoot Out's three-quarter brother Silvera who won last Saturday's 1600m Rockhampton Cup at his third start for Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan.
Prior to that Silvera was under the care of prominent Victorian and South Australian trainer Tony McEvoy who won six races with him at Morphettville and Flemington including the Listed Morphettville Guineas for 3YOs at just his second start - having won a Mildura maiden on debut.
McEvoy was also given I'm A Princess. She became another stakes winner for Pentamerous by winning the Group 3 Summoned Stakes at Sandown last November and gained further black type when she was runner-up in the Group 3 Epona Stakes on Golden Slipper day at Rosehill in March this year. All up, she now has five wins and four placings from 20 starts.
Pentamerous also has a third stakes winner to her credit - Group 3 West Australian Oaks winner Cassandara Shadow (by Johannesburg (USA) who has also joined her dam at Peachester Lodge. She was also mated to High Chaparral in 2011 to produce now 6YO gelding Zandarral who won races for Peter Moody and Darren Weir before being on-sold to Western Australia in August last year.
Rockhampton winner High Wind has also emulated his brother Shoot Out and half-sister Cassandra Shadow by winning at 2400m. Shoot Out won the 2400m AJC Derby, Cassandra Shadow won the 2400m Group 3 West Australian Oaks while High Wind recently won a 2450m Benchmark 70 handicap at Beaudesert.
Wonder Boom wins Rockhampton Newmarket
IT'S appropriate this year's Rockhampton Newmarket winner is named Wonder Boom as his sire Falvelon and maternal grandsire Show A Heart both had wondrous race records and were considered boom horses of their era.
Contemporaries both on the track and at Glenlogan Park Stud, Innisplain, Falvelon has now sired at least 375 winners with progeny earnings of almost $27 million while Show A Heart daughters have produced 220 winners and $15 million in progeny earnings.
Although unsuccessful on the track, Show A Heart's daughter Burning Fig has had three matings with Falvelon for three winners - Queenofthepixies, Portuguese Tart and Wonder Boom. All three were bred by Tony Hill and wife April Martin at their boutique Yelgun Valley Stud near Mullumbimby, NSW. Burning Fig is from the Mighty Avalanche mare Opal Lass - a sister to Group 2 AJC Light Fingers Stakes winner Gem Of The West who was also bred and raced by Tony and April.
Prepared at Glenlogan Park, Wonder Boom was sold at the 2016 Magic Million March yearling sale for $21,000 to Brisbane trainer Paul Butterworth. It was an astute buy as the 4YO entire now has nine wins and nine placings from 34 starts and more than $234,000 prize money. It was the second Newmarket win for Butterworth having previously won the 2017 race with Counter Meal (G Publishing/Mine Counter).
Wonder Boom has an affinity for the Rockhampton track with three wins and two placings from five starts including a last start third at the track in the 12-horse Tattersall's Sprint (1200m) on June 21.
Winning association with Glenlogan Park
ADMITTING to being 73 years old, northern NSW racing enthusiast Tony Hill said he and wife April Martin have been racing and breeding horses for around 50 years and enjoyed a 16-year winning association with Glenlogan Park with stallion shares in Falvelon, Rothsay and Bradbury's Luck.
"While we keep about seven broodmares, we now prefer to race their progeny rather than sell them. In fact, the last two horses we sold were Madotti in 2014 and Wonder Boom in 2016," he said.
When Madotti sold for $80,000 to bloodstock agent Neil Jenkinson at the 2014 Magic Millions yearling sales, Tony and April kept a quarter-share in the filly who went on to win more than $1 million with nine wins for trainer Matt Dunn which included the Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate and the Magic Millions Open Sprint - both at the Gold Coast - before being sold as a broodmare for $350,000 to Glenlogan Park at the 2018 Magic Millions National Broodmare sale.
Madotti is by Falvelon from their home-bred Mighty Avalanche mare Mighty Illusion. Repeat matings to Falvelon have produced five other winners while a mating to Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Bradbury's Luck produced Queen Of The Lochs. She won nine races and more than $377,000 for Tony and April and now has a rising 2YO daughter by Rich Enuff.
Quirk joins Racing Queensland board
FORMER Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has been appointed to the Racing Queensland board as the control body's Thoroughbred industry representative.
The board position has been vacant for several months after Mark Sowerby resigned. Quirk stepped down as Lord Mayor in April and had been widely tipped to fill the RQ vacancy.
Racing Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said Mr Quirk brought a strong set of skills and capabilities to the role.
"As a Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Graham Quirk lives and breathes racing. He's a regular visitor to the races and is highly respected for his knowledge and understanding of the thoroughbred industry," Mr Hinchliffe said.
"Mr Quirk is a great addition to the team at RQ and will help to deliver the stronger commercial focus needed to grow and prosper Queensland's racing industry. I look forward to working with Graham and the leadership team at RQ to create a more resilient industry for owners, trainers, breeders and the other participants who are the lifeblood of the industry," he said.
Mr Quirk will take up his appointment to Racing Queensland immediately.
Motivation gene found for racehorse potential
GROUND-BREAKING research headed by University College Dublin Professor of Equine Science Emmeline Hill - who is also chief science officer with Plusvital - has found that a gene for motivation could play a significant role in the future racing performance of a Thoroughbred.
Breeding and Racing webnews reports the peer-reviewed research has established that PRCP - known as the motivator-gene - is similar to that found in mice and humans where motivation to exercise may be a critical factor in maintaining a training regime and achieving a high level of fitness.
Professor Hill noted that the high proportion of Thoroughbred foals that do not make a racecourse start - despite being specifically bred for this purpose - has a major economic impact not just for the owner but for the racing industry as a whole. She observed, "The more naturally active foal or yearling in a paddock is likely to strengthen better than others that are less naturally motivated to play and move around, and this could have knock-on effects later in life."
In addition to establishing a genetic link, the scientists developed a new predictive test for determining the chances a Thoroughbred has of making a racecourse start in their 2YO and 3YO racing seasons. Hill added, "The prediction model analyses the DNA of a horse and then categorises them as having a 'High', 'Medium' or 'Low' chance of making a racecourse start. Horses categorised as 'High' are more likely to have a racecourse start, more likely to run in more races, more likely to have higher earnings but curiously do not have a significantly different sales price. This is therefore valuable information that even the most astute in the market currently cannot assess from the pedigree or by physical assessment of the horse."
The genetic test arising from this research, the 'Raced/Unraced' test, is available from Plusvital.