Gooree Park Principal Cojuangco Dies at 85 | 2 | Thursday, June 18, 2020
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Thursday, June 18, 2020 | Dedicated to the Australasian bloodstock industry - subscribe for free: Click here STRADIVARIUS AIMS FOR THREE IN A ROW AT ROYAL ASCOT - PAGE 18 MORNING BRIEFING - PAGE 22 Gooree Park principal YESTERDAY'S RESULTS - PAGE 37 Cojuangco dies at 85 Stud manager Baddock pays tribute to the Filipino businessman Read Tomorrow's Issue For: who devoted four decades to Australian racing and breeding Maiden Of The Week What's on Race meetings: Wyong (NSW), Seymour (VIC), Townsville (QLD), Northam (WA) International meetings: Royal Ascot - Day 3 (UK), Newmarket (UK), Redcar (UK), Fairyhouse (IRE), Turffontein (SAF) International Group races: Ascot (UK) - Gold Cup (Gr 1, 2m 4f), Jersey Stakes (Gr 3, 7f) Andrew Baddock and Eduardo Cojuangco SPORTPIX empire builder, kingmaker, tycoon, Marcos BY ANDREW HAWKINS & ALEX WILTSHIRE exile, basketball patron, business and sports duardo “Danding” Cojuangco visionary and car enthusiast, among many Jr, an Australian Racing Hall of others. Fame inductee who developed However, one of his primary areas of focus Mudgee’s Gooree Park into one of was on breeding and racing in Australia, which theE leading operations in the country, died on began in the late 1950s and peaked during the ROYAL ASCOT DAY TWO Tuesday aged 85, it was announced yesterday. 1970s when he was often the leading buyer at His death was announced by San Miguel thoroughbred sales across the country. Group 3 victory for Corporation, for which he was the chairman “He loved Australian racing and he loved son of Atlantic Jewel and chief executive officer. He died late Tuesday the challenge of the whole thing and was just Russian Emperor (Galileo), the third foal night in a Quezon City hospital. passionate about it,” Gooree Park’s stud manager produced by four-time Group 1 winner Atlantic A glance at the obituaries for Cojuangco Andrew Baddock, who has spent the last 35 years Jewel (Fastnet Rock), added even more black type shows the sheer number of hats he held in at the farm and has been instrumental in the to an already outstanding pedigree when winning both his native Philippines and his adopted operation’s success, told ANZ Bloodstock News the Hampton Court Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 2f) at Royal Australia - food and beverage magnate, yesterday. Continued page 2>> Ascot yesterday. Royal Ascot page 6 >> Follow us @anz_news | 1 | Brought to you by Gooree Park principal Cojuangco dies at 85 | 2 | Thursday, June 18, 2020 << Continued from page 1 “I think the best example of his While the Mudgee property also has pastoral interests like Wagyu thoughts of Australian racing was that he did a five-year $40 million cattle and sheep as well as vineyards, it is the thoroughbreds that have sponsorship of Australian racing and the Sydney racing carnival and that been rolled out from Gooree Park that have been its greatest product. was basically done for Australian racing and built up from nothing. The Top horses to have sported the red and black stripes include Desert last people to be told about it were the directors of San Miguel. War (Desert King), Northern Meteor (Encosta De Lago), Don Eduardo “He basically went to them and said, ‘I hope you guys like racing, (Zabeel), Snowland (Snippets), Hallowed Crown (Street Sense), Smart because guess what I’ve done.’ He was a character and he loved racing Missile (Fastnet Rock), Your Song (Fastnet Rock), Prized Icon (More and that was a thank you, and an investment in Sydney racing, because Than Ready), Swift Alliance (Don Eduardo), Dreamscape (Choisir), Sydney racing was struggling at the time. It was falling behind Victorian Needs Further (Encosta De Lago) and Tempest Morn (Thunder Gulch). racing and it was a massive injection into the industry. He was from the On the world stage, he also bred and raced 1986 Breeders’ Cup Turf Philippines but he saw Australia as his second home. He loved coming out (Gr 1, 12f) and 1987 Arlington Million (Gr 1, 10f) winner Manila (Lyphard). here because he could just be one of the guys. He loved nothing more than “Even though he was a man of significant wealth, he loved the going around the farm here and looking at his mares and foals. challenge of breeding and racing and saw it as a great leveller,” Baddock “I’ve been with him from all the way through and, yes, it was a big said. “He loved the highs and saw the lows as character building and it was shock to everyone. He’s been breeding here for four generations and always a great challenge for him. He used to say, ‘just because we’ve got produced a lot of good horses and put a lot into the industry.” the wonderful white fencing and the lovely big paddocks - it’s what we are In 1979, Cojuangco established his Gooree Park operation, which producing inside them that counts’. came into being when he purchased Gooree Stud from the Foyster “I think one horse in particular brought him some of his highest moments family. He also bought Biraganbil Stud from Stan Fox and Galambine and then one of his lowest moments. He bred and raced Northern Meteor Stud from the Whites, amalgamating the three farms under the Gooree who was a stand-out colt from day one, with the pedigree and the looks. Park banner. Invariably, for whatever reason, those sort of horses never quite get there It became his refuge in 1986 when he was forced into exile following and he won the Group 1 at Flemington, established himself as a stallion, was the ousting of his political ally, long-time Filipino president Ferdinand an immediate success and then, ironically, passed away on the night he was Marcos; Cojuangco was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1989. crowned champion first season sire Continued on page 4>> Follow us @anz_news | 2 | Brought to you by World top-ranked SPRINTERS since 2012 at stud in Australia World Thoroughbred Rankings Thoroughbred World 125 Harry Angel 124 Blue Point 123 Trapeze Artist 122 Pierro 121 Brazen Beau 120 Epaulette 120 Flying Artie 120 Omaha Beach 120 Yes Yes Yes 119 Extreme Choice 119 Pierata 118 Astern 118 Brave Smash 118 Exceedance 118 Merchant Navy 118 Star Turn HARRY ANGEL Dark Angel – Beatrix Potter $16,500 inc GST Gooree Park principal Cojuangco dies at 85 | 4 | Thursday, June 18, 2020 << Continued from page 2 “I never forget getting that call and I then certain families that he’d had four generations of and, for some families, he had to give that call to him, thinking that this is the type of thing where he says, had produced the whole page and it’s very rare that sort of thing happens. ‘I’ve had enough.’ It’s so hard to get a Group 1 colt like that as we know. And then “He was a farmer at heart and had a great sense of humour. Whether he ran a to climb the mountain, get a champion first season sire - and then he dies. maiden at the provincials or a Group 1, he’d say, ‘It’s hard to win a race anywhere.’” “Amazingly, he ended up consoling me. That was just the type of guy he In fact, Baddock says that Cojuangco’s Australian endeavours allowed the was. Along with Antony Thompson from Widden, we were shattered, and he billionaire - estimated to be worth AUD$1.6 billion - to enjoy anonymity and was consoling us. obscurity that he simply couldn’t find in the Philippines. “Northern Meteor’s legacy has gone on through his sons, and now he “He’d spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 40 years on the has some grandsons standing this year. The legacy will go on for generations. farm. His first love was the thoroughbreds but he loved the agricultural side of He was very proud of that achievement and he had an uncanny knack for things. He loved coming out here and to the local town, Mudgee, and being a producing commercial stallions, there are probably half a dozen of them bit of a no one. He craved that sort of normality. that were produced on this farm, which is incredible really. He could breed a “I remember at a Tuesday meeting at Newcastle races, you’d be lucky to tough, hard gelding like Desert War, and also all these commercial stallions. have 100 people in the crowd, and I never forget he was there, with a hot dog That was his aim, but he wasn’t obsessed by it.” in his hand and the sauce was dribbling down his front. He said, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and he replied ‘I His first love was the couldn't do this in Manila.’ No one cared who he was. Here he was, one of the thoroughbreds but he loved biggest owners in the country, but he was just one of many there. That sort of the agricultural side of things. He loved summed him up. He craved a bit of normality actually. “He wanted his horses to do the talking and they certainly did. He was coming out here and to the local town, quite unassuming really.” Mudgee, and being a bit of a no one. Cojuangco’s death comes as Gooree Park was already preparing to enter He craved that sort of normality a new phase in its history. It was announced earlier this year that the stud - Andrew Baddock would shift from being a private racing and breeding operation towards a more commercial approach and Baddock believes that it was future planning on Cojuangco’s part that began this adjustment.