Christmas Day Racing a Nice Present for Swettenham

04-01-2012

ADAM SANGTER, the dynamic owner of the Swettenham stud at Nagambie in Victoria, received an extra 2011 Christmas present. It was the feat of Swettenham being the breeder of a winner on Christmas day and it occurred when the Hussonet gelding Good Baby made it five wins from ten outings when he was successful in the Aust$300,000 Magic Millions Classic (3 and 4yos) over 1200m at Penang, Malaysia.

The uniqueness of the achievement was that Penang was holding what may have been the only race meeting in the world on Christmas day. It is a day when no race meetings are held in Australia or other principal racing countries.  Bred under Adam’s care under the Swettenham banner when it was still a part of his late father Robert Sangster’s empire, Good Baby resulted from the mating of Mr. Prospector former Chilean super sire Hussonet at the Arrowfield stud, Scone with Secret Haze, a good class Adelaide sprinter. She is by Danehill and from Cajun Magic, a half-sister by Twig Moss to Golden Slipper winner and quality sire Marauding. Secret Haze, Cajun Magic and Marauding were all bred by Swettenham.

At dispersal of Robert Sangster’s Swettenham stud interests in 2008, Secret Haze was sold in Sydney to C.T. H. Cropper, Guntawang stud, Gulgong, NSW for $65,000 and her foal which went on to be Good Baby to Blue Sky Thoroughbreds,Qld for $110,000 at the Magic Millions National weanling sale at the Gold Coast. He was subsequently passed in at $130,000 and a reserve of $160,000 at the January Gold Coast yearling sale and was shipped to Malaysia in March 2010.

Now at the Sam Hayes established Cornerstone stud on Lindsay Park at Angaston in South Australia, Hussonet has yearlings in the catalogues for most 2012 Australian yearling sales, including a nicely related colt in the Swettenham Adelaide consignment.

Buyers at 2012 sales are likely to be even more keener than they were in 2011, the first opportunity, to seek out offspring of Hussonet’s sons following the early good showing of those by Husson (Patinack Farm, Hunter Valley), Host (Swettenham, Victoria) and Husson Lightning (Heytesbury, Western Australia).  Host, a champion at two and three in Chile and a Group1 winner in the United States, has only had three starters and they have only had one run each. One of them, Flying Hostess, was strong finishing third on debut at Sandown on Christmas Eve.  Host is one of two top class northern hemisphere performers resident at Swettenham whose first crop are 2-year-olds.Yet to have a starter, the other is Soldier’s Tale, conquerer of Takeover Target in the 2007 renewal of the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot.

Soldier’s Tale is American bred son of the New Zealand shuttling Stravinsky, sire from his southern hemisphere use of Oratorio, a prominent Australian 2-year-old and, from use at the Mungrup stud, one of Western Australia’s best sires.  Represented by 42 lots in the catalogue for the Magic Millions Perth yearling sale February 14 – 18, Oratorio is the sire of Irish Coffee, the half length second to Good Baby in the Magic Millions race in Malaysia on Christmas day. He was sold at two Magic Millions sales, realising $30,000 at the Perth yearling sale and $100,000 at the Gold Coast Horses In Training sale.  Stravinsky is also the maternal grandsire of Happy Thoughts, the third placegetter in the Malaysian event. Also sold at a Magic Millions Gold Coast Horses In Training sale, going for $24,000, he is from the first crop of Greenwood Lake, a leading American 2-year-old who is a three-quarter brother to Success Express. Greenwood Lake stood the 2011 season at Egmont Park near Oakey, Darling Downs.

The success of Good Baby in the Magic Millions Malaysian Classic on Christmas Day was one of seven for the Australian breed on the eleven event program.The results included the trifectas in each of two features, the other being the Gold Cup (Malaysian Group1) won by Tears To Diamonds (Royal Academy – Tears of Argentina, by Umatilla) from Lim’s Fighter (Flying Spur – Sky Watch, by Star Watch) and then Good Nature (Way of Light – Tears We Cry, by French Deputy).

All are graduates of Magic Millions Gold Coast sales, Tears To Diamonds (a/c Eliza Park, Victoria) selling in January 2009 for $38,000, veteran Lim’s Fighter (11 wins,18 seconds,11 thirds, 82 starts) for $95,000 in January 2004 and Good Nature (10 wins, four seconds, five thirds, 34 starts) for $10,000 on each occasion at the National Weanling Sale and the January Yearling sale.  

 Courtesy of Brian Russell Bloodstock Media Service