paddock to post FIRST FoALs for Golden Slipper winner FORMER TOP 2YO SEBRING IS NOW TIPPED TO BE AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS AS A SIRE words: TARA MADGWICK This striking chestnut colt by Sebring was born at Widden Stud and is from the mare Pine Away (USA) 68 www.racingnsw.com.au hampion two-year-old and Golden slipper role as president of the TBNSW and from that day I was a winner sebring has been popular with breeders fan of the horse,” Muir revealed. C since retiring to widden stud last spring, with his “The Breeders Plate has been a stepping stone to a first foals now arriving including a half-brother to Group stud career for many colts including current sires Choisir, one winner Absolut Glam. Charge Forward and snitzel, so I would love to see A striking chestnut, the colt was born at widden stud sebring follow in their footsteps.” and is the fifth living foal of Pine Away (UsA). John Muir, of Milburn Creek Thoroughbreds, is another THINKING OUTSIDE THE breeder to greet an early foal by sebring; his stakes-placed SQUARE mare Canny Princess delivering a handsome bay colt. Two seemingly unrelated events in bloodstock news at “our stud manager, Kerry Kertesz, tells me he is very the start of spring gave me pause for thought to recall correct and a good size, but as this mare Canny Princess a horse that lays claim to being the most influential has a habit of foaling a bit early each year, he is a foal Australian thoroughbred on the world breeding stage that is going to improve a lot,” said John Muir, who is an in recent times, a horse that has also had a hand in these ardent admirer of sebring. two major news stories – strawberry road. “He (sebring) is a horse I’ve liked all along and I At an August media launch in sydney for Kentucky honestly think he was one of the best two-year-olds I’ve derby winner Big Brown (UsA), the son of Boundary was seen for a long time. lauded as the best American racehorse to ever come “He was precocious and really wanted to win his races, to Australia, his presence at Vinery stud this spring the his only defeat at two was when he was beaten narrowly work of ad-man and racing/breeding enthusiast, John by another champion in samantha Miss.” singleton, who owned strawberry road and set him on sebring started his career with a win on January 19 the path to international success. and then won a pair of Listed events at royal randwick soon afterwards Arrowfields tud announced their including the rescheduled AJC Breeders Plate, then young gun sire All American would be shuttling to the winning the Golden slipper at his fourth start in a race. Us in 2011 to darby dan Farm and while he might not be “I was at randwick the day he won the Breeders Plate our best horse, he has in fact beaten a horse who many and presented the trophy to the owners in my former believe is our best … and that is so You Think. Strawberry Road – the stallion left his mark on the world breeding stage. Picture by Noel Pascoe www.racingnsw.com.au 69 paddock to post LEFT: Highly-rated stallion Big Brown (USA), is ‘somewhere’ amongst this group including “Singo” and Kate Waterhouse (left) derby and then the Cox Plate in the spring before John singleton stepped in to purchase a share in the son of whiskey road (UsA), with international goals in mind. Victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe proved unattainable, but strawberry road still posted Group one wins in Germany and France, before being sold to America where he raced on successfully until 1987, before retiring with the record of 17 wins and 14 placings from 45 starts. Strawberry Road had no female pedigree of note and was in fact the first Stakes-winner in his family for at least six generations and can only be termed a genetic freak; his sire, Whiskey Road, was a well-bred son of Nijinsky who won just one modest race in Ireland over a mile and a half. The kind of stallion that would never even be considered for stud duties by any commercial breeder in 2010, whiskey road was a very successful sire for many years based at Neal Lavis’s strathallan stud at Braidwood leaving a string of Group one winners including Melbourne Cup hero Just a dash, also the likes of Marwong (Caulfield Guineas),s trawberry Fair (Coolmore All American was bred by John Classic) and whisked (Thousand Guineas), the latter Singleton at his Strawberry Hill finding even more fame at stud as the dam of champion galloper Tie the Knot. Stud and is from the imported strawberry road was retired to Brookside Farm in the American bred mare Milva (USA), Us in 1987 and covered 45 mares in his first season at who is, of course, by Strawberry a fee of $7,500; his owner Alan Paulson supporting the Road. horse with a dozen of his own mares. That first small crop yielded three Groupo ne winners Trained initially in Queensland by doug Bougoure, in Fraise, dinard and Fowda, so from that point on strawberry road started twice in July of his two-year-old strawberry road was ‘made’ and would eventually sire season before breaking his maiden in style from a field of 37 stakes-winners with a stakes-winner-to-live foal ratio a 20 at Eagle Farm over 1400-metres on 11 August 1982. sparkling 10.5 %. resuming from a spell, he won four straight before whatever way you look at it, strawberry road has been heading to the big smoke of sydney where he was a resounding success on every level as a racehorse and beaten a short neck by Marscay in the Group Two-AJC subsequently during his stud career, which is an irony as Hobartville stakes. he is the sort of horse that would struggle to be accepted Three runs later he linked with Mick dittman to win commercially if he was retiring to stud in Australia this the Group one-sTC rosehill Guineas and followed up spring. with that memorable five and a half length victory in the He would be condemned for not winning at two, for Group one-AJC Australian derby at randwick. not winning Group one sprints, for being a derby winner As a high school kid with a passion for racing, I was twice over, for being a good wet tracker and for having smitten with the free-running bay in his flashy red bridle the hide to compete at the highest level until he was and the image of him winning that derby with no eight, generally regarded as a serious ‘no-no’ by stud company other than the seagulls is etched forever on my masters and broodmare owners. mind. His female pedigree would be dissected and found strawberry road went on to win the Queensland wanting, his sire declared a fluke unlikely to be a sire- 70 www.racingnsw.com.au of-sires himself and yet despite this litany of negatives, strawberry road remains our best thoroughbred export to the international breeding industry. For all those breeders who have a set profile in their head of what makes a leading sire, strawberry road is there to remind us that the mould can be broken. John singleton was one of the few who had faith in strawberry road and when he produces a horse that has captured his imagination such as Big Brown we might do well to pay attention. Likewise, when a major farm in the Us in darby dan comes calling for All American, they might know something about this Aussie-bred horse with the American pedigree that we don’t, after all they did breed and later stand his grand-sire roberto, who won an English derby. In terms of stallion selection we always need to keep an open mind as pre-conceived ideas about what does and does not work may well be stopping us breeding a superior racehorse. SOMETHING MISSING FROM SPRING The 2010 Melbourne spring Carnival has a host of stars including the likes of so You Think, shoot out, Typhoon Tracy and Predatory Pricer, but one rival they won’t have to worry about this year is perennial spring star El segundo. A Cox Plate winner of 12 races and $3.9million in prizemoney, El segundo will spend this spring in a new Cox Plate winner El Segundo now spends his retirement days at Amarina Farm. role at Amarina Farm in the Hunter Valley where he and Picture by Katrina Partridge his dual Group one-winning mate Typhoon Zed have taken up residence and were recently photographed by on a fraction of their wisdom to their young charges Katrina Partridge. including the bay colt by Encosta de Lago from former “They came to the farm about two months ago and have star mare Aqua d’Amore, who is destined for next year’s settled in a treat,” said Craig Anderson of Amarina Farm. Inglis Australian Easter Yearling sale. “one of our clients part-owns El segundo and was “Having good sensible older horses to use as nannies looking for a good retirement home for him and ralph with the young ones is very important and we have Johns, who was one of Typhoon Zed’s owners, has his several here including the former Gai waterhouse- mares here as well, so that’s how they found their way trained gelding Hey Pronto, as well as retired broodmares to us.” such as royal Accord (22-years-old), Mavournae (22yo) The geldings are being used as ‘nannies’ for the and our oldest nanny, True Verdict, who just turned 28yo yearlings on the farm and one can only hope they pass and is a sister to Zeditave,” Anderson added.