The Thoroughbred’s weekly breeding analysis The Breed reported in March that Caulfield Cup winner Tawqeet (Ch h 2002, Kingmambo (USA)-Caerless (Ire), by Caerleon (USA)), had served more than 50 mares at stud in Argentina after being bought from Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stud last year.

The story of how Tawqeet got to Argentina is an interesting one and, according to bloodstock agent Rosie May Carter, who in her job with the Argentine Bloodstock Agency helps promote South American studs, involves an Argentine, a Brazilian and a Venezuelan.

Carter takes up the story: “It started one day in Argentina when Argentinian Ignacio Pavlovsky, the racing manager of Brazilian businessman Julio Bozano, met Vincente Perez, a Venezuelan businessman who is building a stud next to Haras Santa Maria in Mar del Plata in Argentina.

“Mar Del Plata is a well-known region for thoroughbred studs – its soil has more than three times the average levels of calcium, and since Haras Santa Maria relocated its breeding stud to this area, it has seen a 90 per cent reduction in leg injuries in their horses in training.

“During the conversation, Perez mentioned that he was looking for a stallion with the bloodlines of champion American sire Kingmambo (by Mr. Prospector (USA)-Miesque (USA), by Nureyev (USA)).” Kingmambo is the sire of the 2008 champion European ‘miler’ Henrythenavigator (ex Sequoyah, by Sadler’s Wells), who has just had his first season at stud at Coolmore, Ireland, and will shuttle to Coolmore Australia in the Hunter Valley)this spring.

“At that time there was no stallion for sale – or available – in Argentina with these bloodlines, but months later (April 2008), Pavlovsky, while looking at horses in Australia, mentioned to Victorian bloodstock agent Paul Guy that he was looking for a stallion. Guy said he had such a horse in Tawqeet.

“Within half an hour they were at the Flemington stables of trainer David Hayes looking at Tawqeet. A few phone calls later – to Perez – and Tawqeet was bought for Argentina.

“Tawqeet is in Haras Santa Maria in Capitán Sarmiento, near Buenos Aires. The 850-hectare property houses 140 broodmares.  In his first season, Tawqeet served privately 54 mares. After his first foals are born, his services will be offered to other studs.”

Mark Kelly, who manages Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell business in Australia, told The Thoroughbred he had discussed Tawqeet’s stud prospects with farms in Australia and New Zealand, but Angus Gold, who manages the sheikh’s racing and breeding interests worldwide, arranged the deal with Argentina.

Tawqeet won two Group 1s over 2400m in Australia in the spring of 2006, the Caulfield Cup and the Metropolitan Handicap, two weeks earlier at Randwick. He was trained by David Hayes and ridden by Dwayne Dunn.

Bought for 100,000 guineas (about $220,000) at the 2003 Tattersalls yearling sale at Newmarket, he had won three races in England (over 1600m, 2400m and 2800m) when trained by John Dunlop before Sheikh Hamdan sent him to Australia. He also ran third, in a field of six, to Scorpion in the group 1 St Leger (2937m) at Doncaster in 2005.

He had five wins from 24 starts, the last when he failed at $61 – later he was found to be injured -in the 2007 Melbourne Cup won by Efficient. He had started favourite in Delta Blues’ Cup the previous year. He earned $2.3 million in stakes.

Australian interest in Argentinian breeding stock has been fuelled by the success of Arrowfield’s Hussonet (Ch h 1991, Mr Prospector (USA)-Sacahuista (USA), by Raja Baba (USA)), sire of Weekend Hussler, Fist Of Fury and the promising Huxssen. Several studs have imported sons of Hussonet off the back of the stallion’s success.

[The remarkable story of Hussonet's purchase by Arrowfield can be found in the 2008 spring edition of The Thoroughbred, http://thethoroughbred.com.au/magazineviewer/issue/the_thoroughbred_spr_08 ]

(Rosie May Carter is a director of the Argentine Bloodstock Agency. Email: rosiemaycarter@argentineturf.com)

Tanya Fullarton is The Thoroughbred’s business manager. She is also the granddaughter of the great jumping jockey, Alec Fullarton. In a week in which a pall has hung over jumps racing, she remembers her grandfather, and his love of the sport.

My grandfather, Alec Fullarton, was one of Australia’s greatest jumping riders, and an original inductee into the Jumps Hall of Fame. He rode the winners of every one of Australia’s great jumping races, in an era (1920s-1940s) when they jumped post and rail hurdles, and high brush fences, often wearing flimsy head gear.

He died, aged 55, on Easter Saturday in 1964 while at the famous Oakbank racing carnival. Ironically the winner of the Great Eastern that year, First Shuffle, was a delicate jumper who, when trained by my grandfather, did not handle the city environment so he sent the gelding back to the bush to his mate and drinking buddy Bill Swift.

To the very end, he celebrated his time in a wonderful community of jumping riders, jumping trainers, and jumping horses.

He was never one to romance about the turf, or to ignore the dangers. It was a job he loved, for the glorious victories, for overcoming danger and the sheer thrill of it all. Make no mistakes, my grandfather, so respected by his peers (jockeys like the great Scobie Breasley, who called him “a true gentleman of the turf”) and great sportsmen of his era (example, Walter Lindrum) – was also certified by his mates, as so brave he was M-A-D.

In fact he was a leading flat apprentice in Melbourne in the 1920s and rode Beedos as a 17yo in the 1926 Melbourne Cup. With further riding opportunities knocking at the door, he decided not to waste, but eat up in order to put on weight and achieve his ambition of riding over the jumps. 

Alec Fullarton was born in 1909, and started his career at the pony races, then won the first running of the 1929 King’s Cup at Flemington on Spear Maiden – with the trophy being presented by King George V. He owned, and occasionally rode Victory March, an extraordinary horse who finished first, second and third in the Grand National, Australian Steeple and Hiskens between 1942 and 1946 (he could not train him during the war years when he had to take part in the war effort at the Essendon Airport).

Unfortunately, I never met my grandfather, but I have heard so many tales of his life – like a Grand Annual when the entire field fell, including Grandpa’s mount.  He was puffing away on a cigarette botted from a member of the large crowd, when he realised the whole field was down. He re-mounted, tried to win the event, but was beaten by another canny jockey, Ron Sweetnam, who had also remounted.

My grandfather won his first “major” in 1929, riding home Sandhurst, carrying 11st. 4lb (72kg) to win the Grand National Steeplechase, defeating the great Mosstrooper who carried only 9.6 (and who went on to win the National Hurdle and Steeplechase double the following year, only one of two horses to achieve the feat). My grandfather won the 1934 Grand National Steeplechase on Woodlace, defeating Redditch. He had thus won the steeple twice beating two of the greatest jumpers of all time.

Fullarton, the giant killer was exactly that – his first and only ride on the champion Redditch became the big red gelding’s demise.  According to Grandpa it was sheer bad luck: the champ fell, and while getting to his feet unscathed had another horse land on him, breaking his leg.  Jumping moved on.

When his time in the saddle was over, he turned to training, with his focus – naturally – on the jumping horse.  One of the old racing writers wrote of him: “Everything jumps at the Fullarton residence, dogs, cats, goats, sheep and even a cow, whose dual purpose was for daily milking. Alec would make everything jump.” The only issue not clear is whether he made his racing pigeons attempt to jump too.

Alec Fullarton trained The Feline, recognised as one of the greatest jumpers of all time, winning most of the great jumping events, some more than once, and more often than not with the grandstand on his back!  Research done by John Adams on which gallopers had won the most prizemoney over the jumps (taking the triple Japanese Grand Jump winner Karasi out of the equation, and bringing prizemoney to today’s values) put The Feline second behind Winterset, with each winning more than $1 million. [Reference Herald Sun July 27, 2007 ( http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22141293-11088,00.html ) ]

Grandpa instilled in his whole family a love of horses – of all animals really – but also an understanding of where they stood in the pecking order.

He knew well the horses he rode and trained were never going to succeed on the flat (well, maybe they would if he had given them a chance). Or if they had done so, their time was gone. Jumping races gave them, and their owners, another life.

The baby of the Fullarton rrn