Western Jewel’s Potential for Rare Melbourne Cup Double

11-01-2012

WESTERN JEWEL’S strong finishing win in the Perth Cup (2400m) at Ascot on December 31 indicated that there is still a chance for her sire to join the small group of Melbourne Cup winners who have gone on to sire a winner of the great staying test.

It is a feat that has not been accomplished for nearly seventy years, the last time being back in 1943 when Dark Felt, a son the 1926 winner of the Cup, Spearfelt, galloped away with the race, scoring by three lengths.  Before that the father and offspring to win Melbourne Cups were Marabou (1935) and his son Skipton (1941), Comedy King (GB) (1910) and King Ingoda (1922), Comedy King (GB) and Artilleryman (1919) and Malua (1884) and Malvolio (1891).  The records show that a Tim Whiffler won the 1867 Melbourne Cup and Darriwell, a son of Tim Whiffler was successful in 1879, but they were differerent Tim Whifflers.

Two times Melbourne Cup winner Peter Pan only had a short stud career, but he had a good crack at the father and offspring double. One son, Peter, was second in1944 and another, Precept, fourth in1943.

Perth Cup winner Western Jewel, a 5-year-old mare, is qualified to be the second leg of the double as she is from the last crop of Jeune, the imported horse trained by David Hayes for Sheikh Hamdan Maktoum, brother to Darley owner Sheikh Mohammed, and ridden by Wayne Harris, who was successful in the1994 Cup.  If Western Jewel gets to the line in the Melbourne Cup, she would be Jeune’s fifth individual contestant in the race, preceded by On A Jeune (four tries, second to Makybe Diva 2008),The Terminator (mid field 2011), Alcopop (sixth when favourite in 2009) and Mummify (19th in 2004).

They were among ten crops of foals supplied by Jeune at either the Hayes family’s Lindsay Park stud in South Australia or associate Collingrove stud in Victoria, a use that has provided from medium quality books over 400 winners (27 SWs, 22 SPS) of 1300 races and $35million.  The only winners on the flat at 3000m or further have been Young Centaur, annexer of the Group1 Wellington Cup (3200m) in New Zealand, Dirt Music and Star of Jeune.The latter two have won over 3000m at Moonee Valley. More offspring of Jeune may have stayed well with a ‘Cummings’ preparation, but the pool of opportunity in races beyond 2500m is very small.

A recessive chestnut, being by Kalaglow, a grey from the Grey Sovereign male line, and from Youthful, a bay mare by the Nijinsky sire Green Dancer, Jeune himself only ran twice beyond 2400m, appearances in the Melbourne Cup for the win and then a fifteenth the following year.  He went to the post 25 times after coming to Australia, including a handy sixth of 14 in the Japan Cup, for four Group1 wins, the Melbourne Cup, AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes-Gr.1 (2000m), MRC Underwood Stakes-Gr.1 (1800m) and C.F. Orr Stakes-Gr.1 (1400m).Ten seconds included six Group1s, STC The BMW (2400m), Ranvet Stakes (2000m), VRC LKS Mackinnon Stakes (2000m), Australian Cup (2000m), MRC Caulfield Stakes (2000m) and Futurity.

Jeune ran in England in his first three years of racing, appearing in 18 events and showing up as a competent middle distance performer with such good speed, he ran well at two. At three he won three races1600-2200m, including two spring classic trials, and then had his best result in England at four, success in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes (2400m).

His latest stakes winner in Australia, Perth Cup victor Western Jewel, on breeding should have no trouble in running 3200m. Her dam Our Millster, a winner up to 1600m in Perth, is by the Mill Reef horse Marooned, another imported galloper who stayed further in Australia, than he did in England. Out here he won the AJC Sydney Cup-Gr,.1 (3200m), Chairman’s Handicap-Gr.3 (2600m) and STC N.E, Manion Cup-Gr.3 (2400m). He stood at stud in Western Australia.

Prior to her success in the Perth Cup, a race she was fourth in a year earlier, Western Jewel had won six races in Perth 1650m-2200m, but no stakes. Her Cup win was the second in a stakes in Perth in a fortnight for her breeder owners, Peters Investments (R.J, and Mrs S. L. Peters), and their trainer Grant Williams as they took out the Western Australian St Leger (2100m) with the Catbird mare Moonlight Bay on December 17. 

Courtesy of Brian Russell Bloodstock Media Service