The Dream Came True!
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GAI’S GAZETTE4TH EDITION/ DECEMBER 2013 The Dream Came True! Proudly sponsored by Magic Millions GAI’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lea Stracey EDITOR GAZETTE Ric Chapman nd the dream came true! JOURNALISTS Last issue we talked about “Living the Dream”. For Gai Waterhouse Lady Gai, on the first Tues- Denise Martin day of November, 2013, all the stars were Lea Stracey A Zeb Armstrong finally aligned and the Melbourne Cup Rob Waterhouse was hers, won by Fiorente, one of the Emma Pearce most handsome black stallions you could Dane Robinson Greg Nash ever see. I’m sure you will enjoy reading James Harron about Fiorente and how he came under Madison Whant Gai’s watchful eye. This lucky writer is one of Fiorente’s GRAPHIC DESIGN & laYOUT proud and thrilled owners. Last year, while this most masculine of horses was Madison Whant going through his paces at Werribee, I turned to Gai feeling 2012 was our year. CHIEf photogrAPHER Fiorente, whose name means “Thriving” Bradley Photographers or “Flourishing” (comes from the Latin word “Fiore” – flower) was being cared ADVertiSERS for by Fleur whose name means “flower” in French. I felt it was an omen and it almost was, when he flashed Australian Turf Club out of the pack from midfield, gobbled up his opposition and stormed Magic Millions Sales Vinery Stud home for a second which to my mind anyway, could have been a first, Coolmore Stud had there been one or two more metres to the post! Cambridge Stud It seemed to me in the weeks leading up to Fiorente’s enormous Turangga Park Musk Creek charge, that everyone we met was certain that this year the Cup would Newhaven Park Stud be Gai’s. No words can express the rollercoaster of emotions that day – Widden Stud the excitement, the thrill, the anxiety, the relief. This is the beauty of a Bell View Park Lomar Park staying race. It elicits such a range of emotions. The hard work of Gai Rheinwood Pastoral and her team has paid off. Congratulations Gai and everyone at Tulloch Ranvet Lodge! This issue is certainly jampacked with information and wonderful ADVertiSING MaNAGER stories for your summer holiday reading. Now that the staying races Ric Chapman have been run and won our minds start to turn towards the Magic Mil- [email protected] lions on the Gold Coast where many of us look for the elusive sprint- ing champion. I know you will enjoy reading about the processes in PRINTERS acquiring these yearlings full of promise. Who knows, we might even Graphic Impressions see you at the sale yards when you are having a break from all the sun and surf the Gold Coast has to offer. I certainly hope so…… Happy Reading and Happy Holidays Lea Stracey Editor-in-Chief 4 www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au Contents page 10 page 32 Page 6 Performance of the Month Pages 8 - 9 From the Pen of the Lady Trainer Pages 10 - 11 A Dream come True Pages 12 - 13 Recent Winners Pages 14 - 18 Gai’s Graduates off to a Darley Flying Start Pages 20 - 21 Bombaderry Boy Bounces into Town page 11 Pages 22 - 23 Horses, Friendship and Yearling Inspections Pages 24 - 28 Gai Waterhouse and the Magic Millions page 40 Pages 30 - 31 Yearling Inspection Pages 32 - 33 This year and beyond for Melbourne Cup Hero Fiorente Page 34 The Story of a horse named Fiorente Pages 36-38 In the Spotlight: Apollo Ng Pages 40 - 41 Young Apprentice Spreads his Wings Page 42 Gai helps honour a True Legend of Art Page 44 PIERRO, an exciting first season page 22 sire www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au 5 Pic by Bradley Photographers PERFORMANCE OF THE MONTH: QUEENSTOWN By Denise Martin ometimes our talented horses are so much in June that year and there she was. It seemed as Friday night produced a dominant win over the Cox “closer to home” than we may first think. though it was inevitable that I should buy the filly Plate distance of 2,040 metres in a $100,000 fillies When highly successful Tasmanian and fortunately, she was knocked down to Star for and mares event. This was followed by a memora- breeders Robyn and her son David $60,000. The partnership to race her was finalised ble second in the 2,000 metres Group 2 Momentum SWhishaw from Armidale Stud, initially planned to quickly, and with the Tasmanian connection and the Stakes at Flemington on Emirates Stakes Day. Her offer their Stratum – Regal Heights (NZ) filly at the filly’s New Zealand mum, we felt that we needed to narrowest of margins defeat, was both exhilarating yearling sales, their intention had been to present her establish a name, with an association in both places. and heart stopping (for her owners, not the mare!). at the 2011 Inglis Premier sale in Melbourne. QUEENSTOWN it was, and as is often the case, Onwards to the Group 2 Zipping Classic over the Several weeks prior to the Victorian sale and whilst her name now suits the mare perfectly. testing journey of 2,400 metres one week later at in Launceston, I met up with Robyn at the Tasma- Caulfield, QUEENSTOWN led for most of the trip, nian Magic Millions sale and enquired about her QUEENSTOWN, now a 4 year old mare, won her only to be caught late in the final stages of the race, draft at the upcoming Inglis auction. She explained first race start at Hawkesbury over a sprint distance. running third behind the vastly more seasoned 6 that she had a particularly attractive Stratum filly to From then onwards, she has displayed real talent year old Galileo (IRE) gelding, Sertorius. It was the sell, and that Star should inspect her. over middle distance and now staying races. Her run of a mare ready to make (in Gai’s words) “the Some weeks later and with this conversation well explosive win over 2,000 metres at Randwick in quantum leap” next preparation. in mind, I headed to the Melbourne sale with the May signalled a likely Spring Carnival campaign intention of looking at the filly and maybe purchas- and true to form, her owners have had one thrill QUEENSTOWN has given her owners (and ing her to offer in a Star partnership. The best laid after another with the mare over the past two and a syndicator) unforgettable excitement over the past plans went astray however, as the filly had been cast half months. Her second placing, beaten less than a couple of months and she now looks destined for in her box in Tassie a short time prior to travelling to length, in the Angst Stakes at Randwick in mid-Oc- even greater success in the autumn as the mare the Inglis sale, and the immediate sale plans for her tober highlighted QUEENSTOWN’s capacity to spells, to return for a Sydney Cup preparation. were unknown at that stage. race at Stakes level this preparation. It’s a long way up the ladder for the little girl from Fast forward to the Magic Millions National sale Her first start in Victoria at Moonee Valley on a Tassie. ▣ 6 www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au FROM THE PEN OF THE LADY TRAINER hen the October edition of Gai’s Gazette came out, I was pictured on the front cover holding my father’s 1955 Melbourne Cup thatW he received when his horse Toparoa beat the immortal Rising Fast by a small margin. It was a great thrill to again hold this cherished Cup, but little did I know that a short time later, I would be holding aloft my own piece of Australian racing history. I have always wished I had a horse that was good enough to win this great race, and boy have I gone close. Now with Fiorente I have reached the summit. This entire is everything a trainer could possibly ask for in a champion horse. For Damien Oliver, me, the 38 strong group of won- derful owners and for everyone in Australia who backed him or enjoyed his win, Fiorente provided immense pleasure and a magnificent experience. My husband, my children and their spouses, my mother and father in-law, and all the Tulloch Lodge staff, have helped me reach this pinnacle and I can’t thank you all enough. The difference between sport in Victoria and NSW is immense. In Victoria, people are com- pletely aware of all their sports stars, they follow their respective sports ever so keenly and they live and die by their teams. It is just not the same in NSW. I have won five Golden Slippers, seven Doncaster Handicaps and well over 100 Group Ones Australia wide. But winning the Melbourne Cup is something completely different: it is the race that stops a nation. When walking up the street since the win people are going out of their way to say hello: “Oh you won the Cup, congratulations” and, “You got your Cup Gai, well done.” “Great to see you win the Cup Gai, what a win from that horse.” This also, “Yes, I backed him, at the two furlong pole we were home!” Everyday strangers are congratulating me and this perfectly illustrates the significance of the Melbourne Cup to the Australian public. This time of year I am on the road searching for 8 www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au A jubilant Gai with connections at the podium the next Champion. Along with my trusty team, I am on the prowl through Australia Gai with Joe and moving from south to north searching for the Anne Hayden next star of Australian racing.