Hogan’s exciting Precedence

Sir Patrick Hogan told me late last year that he has one ambition left in racing – to win a Melbourne Cup as an owner.

“I am desperate to win it, and I have only 10 or 12 years to achieve it,” he said. “You can have your Golden Slipper, there is only one race and it’s the Melbourne Cup.”

Hogan’s champion sires, Sir Tristram (IRE) and his son Zabeel (NZ), have three Melbourne Cup winners each, but not owned or part-owned by Hogan. In recent years, he has taken shares in many of the Zabeel sons he has sold as yearlings, especially those bought by “lucky Cup winners” such as Lloyd Williams and Dato Tan Chin Nam. Williams has owned or part-owned three Cup winners, whereas Dato Tan has four cups in his trophy cabinet.

One of those is the promising stayer Precedence, part-owned by Dato Tan. Hogan said last spring that of all the horses he owned Precedence was the one “most likely” to fulfil his dream. Since then, trainer Bart Cummings has gelded the son of Zabeel and, last Saturday, Precedence (pictured) earned himself Sydney Cup favouritism by winning the Listed Manion Cup (2400m) at Rosehill, following strong handicap wins at Flemington (2000m) and Moonee Valley (1600m).

The Manion Cup win, worth $65,000 to the winner, will mean little to Dato Tan, a bit more for the frugal Irishman-Kiwi Hogan, but importantly the amount will qualify Precedence for a run in the 2010 Melbourne Cup – the 150^th running of the famous race.

The complete Patrick Hogan interview, including his thoughts about the future of Cambridge Stud, was in the last issue of The Thoroughbred magazine: Success and successions.

The Breeding lines:

Precedence (b g 4, Zabeel (NZ)–Kowtow (USA), by Shadeed (USA))

Photo courtesy of dgrracing.com.au