A steal from the Sheikh

It’s not often a good horse slips through the net of Sheikh Mohammed and his Darley crew, but last Saturday’s Listed Queen Adelaide Stakes winner Warm Love is one.

The 2YO filly, by Octagonal (pictured) from the Flying Spur mare Charangas, was dispersed in 2008 as a weanling by Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Australia.

The filly, small and chunky and anything but her father’s daughter, was considered not up to standard to be retained in the Darley stables, or be retained, commercially, and be offered for sale as a yearling. The filly was put through the Woodlands Stud draft of Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale, and there weren’t too many takers.

But there was one willing to put up his hand and buy the filly, and this was no fluker. David Brideoake, former Olympic equestrian and successful thoroughbred trainer, saw something in the little filly that others didn’t. Brideoake secured her for only $9000.

“She was small, but well-built. I liked her pedigree. She is from Jim Campin’s breed, tracing back to his fast mare Tupelo Honey,” Brideoake said.

Tupelo Honey (b m 1982, Vice Regal (NZ)–Mary Poppins (NZ), by Fair’s Fair (GB)) is the dam of the extremely slick race filly Super Natural, winner of the Group 2 1991 Breeders’ Stakes (1200m, 2YO fillies) at Matamata (NZ), and the outstanding staying filly Domino, who won the 1990 Group 1 NZ Oaks and Group 1 AJC Oaks double.

Brideoake has previously bought the fast winning filly Fivestar Lass (b f 2006, by Elusive Quality (USA)), whose dam, La Mambo (by Marscay), is a daughter of Tupelo Honey and the granddam of Warm Love. Fivestar Lass, although unraced, was showing Brideoake considerable speed at the time as a rising 2YO.

Brideoake’s next issue was to find an owner for his filly. But those who saw her at his Mornington property couldn’t be enticed to buy the small, bay youngster even for a bargain price. “I couldn’t find a buyer, so I kept her myself and raced her with my family. It was only $9000,” he said.

Warm Love scampered over 800m to win at trial at Cranbourne in November and Brideoake pressed on to the races. The pocket-sized filly showed blistering speed to win first up, at Moonee Valley (1000m) on December 4, so impressively that Brideoake set her aside for the Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) at Caulfield on Australia Day.

Warm Love matched strides with the brilliant Crystal Lily in the lead and did well to hang on to third behind that filly and Shaaheq, both heavily fancied to win Saturday’s Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.

In the adjoining stall, in fourth place, was the Darley-owned Koala Bear. The Darley men, Henry Plumptre and Trevor Lobb were the first to congratulate a beaming Brideoake.

Darley has not even retained direct residual value from Warm Love’s black type win – Charangas was sold, in foal to Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, at the 2009 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale for $35,000. And who signed the ticket? – the astute Jim Campin, who immediately shipped his new buy home to New Zealand. He, too, saw the value of the blood of his old mare Tupelo Honey. Campin, too, is now sitting on a bargain.

Darley has retained Warm Love’s three-quarter sister, by Octagonal’s champion son Lonhro; the filly was down to be sold as a weanling at the Magic Millions last June, but the Darley team had a change of mind and withdrew her from the sale.

Warm Love is the 20^th Stakes winner for old Octagonal, who has been banished to Darley’s Cootamundra farm where he covered only 31 mares last season. The once great racehorse and feted sire – after his sons, the brothers Lonhro and Niello won 14 Group 1 races between them – has been a disappointment mainly because his stock lack tactical speed and they have worrisome temperaments.

However, recently, and strangely, old Ocky (now aged 17, and available for a fee on application) has sired some very fast sprinting winners – the Perth Listed winner London (br g 2004, ex Harveynicks, by Lake Coniston (IRE)), Warm Love and the boom Melbourne sprinter Eight Bills (br h 2005, ex-Typhoon Billie, by Rory’s Jester), the winner of five of his six starts for trainer Gary Portelli.

Footnote: For the music minded, Warm Love gets her name from a song of the same title by the band Octagon.