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Marconi – at the right price
Finding a good horse is never easy – you can spend hours perusing catalogues and trudge kilometres around the yearling sales complexes in search of the next big thing … or you can pluck one through the classified ads in a newspaper!
When trainer Mick Price’s wife, Caroline, went on the search for a mare to breed to a warm blood stallion to produce an equestrian horse, she hunted to a suitable mare in the classified section of the national rural newspaper, The Weekly Times.
Caroline was surprised to find a Grosvenor mare in foal to former brilliant sprinter Lago Delight (pictured). The mare, Capriceuse, fitted the bill and the deal was done for $4000.
Earlier that year, the owner of Capriceuse had tried to sell the mare at the 2006 Inglis March Thoroughbred Sale at Oaklands Junction, but she failed to meet a reserve of $4000. The vendor had bought her two years earlier at the same complex for $4500, in foal to Jetball – a weanling filly by Jetball from Capriceuse was also dispersed at that sale for only $500.
Capriceuse produced the Prices a very nice colt foal by Lago Delight (b h 2000, Encosta De Lago–Sweet Delight, by Rancho Ruler), so much so that Price decided to give him a try.
In due course, Capriceuse did her ultimate job by producing Caroline a lovely warm blood filly, but the mare unfortunately died without providing another offspring.
But the amazing saga of this former New Zealand mare with the American dam line didn’t finish there. The Lago Delight youngster, now a gelding, is Price’s rising star sprinter Marconi, who has blitzed his rivals in two starts – winning in record time (58.76 secs) over 1000m at his debut at Stony Creek before free-wheeling around the Caulfield 1000m last Saturday in 56.79 secs.
Price revealed that Marconi was twice “sold” to Hong Kong on the strength of a couple of brilliant trials wins at Cranbourne in May and October, but each time failed the stringent veterinary examination. The price tag was reported to be in the vicinity of $250,000 – more than 60 what the Prices paid for the mare.
What is Hong Kong’s loss has become Price’s gain. Marconi is now part-owned by Caroline and Mick is looking at some serious sprint races in 2010.
Marconi is beautifully named – after veteran Mornington trainer Jim Marconi, who trained Lago Delight and most of the stallion’s family including his dam Sweet Delight and her sire, the classy Rancho Ruler (by Rancher).
Marconi, the horse, gets his speed from Lago Delight, who ranks as probably the fastest son of Encosta De Lago we have seen. He won his first two starts, including the Listed Mitchell McKenzie (1000m) at Moonee Valley in the spring of 2003 before being beaten a lip by Scaredee Cat in the Group 2 Ascot Vale Stakes (1200m) at Flemington. In February, 2004, Lago Delight was sold for a seven figure sum to a syndicate headed by David Hayes and joined the stable of Lindsay Park’s trained Tony McEvoy.
The entire had only one run for the Hayes’ syndicate, finishing ninth in the 2004 Group 1 Australia Stakes (1200m, Moonee Valley) before injuries ended his career. Marconi bought the horse back off the syndicate and sent him to stand at Bombora Downs, on the Mornington Peninsula. He covered his first book of 89 mares in 2004, but in 2007 (EI year), he served 141 mares. His record stands at 27 winners from 80 starts, and Marconi is the headline horse that he needs to kick start his stud career.
Lago Delight, big and powerful, stands for a fee in 2009 of $4400 (inc. GST).
Capriceuse’s dam is the seven-times winning American import Jacindra (by Bold Ego), who was multiple Stakes placed. Her best offspring is the Hong Kong winner Jet Jackson (by Jetball). This family is very thin for recent black type winners, although the fourth dam of Capriceuse, the Beau Max mare Accroche Coeur, is the dam of Heart To Market, who is best known is Australia as the dam of the Golden Slipper winner and champion sire Marscay (by Biscay) and the granddam of the 1992 Melbourne Cup winner Subzero (by Kala Dancer).
The influence of the staying sire Grosvenor (by Sir Tristam (IRE)) is overshadowed by the combination of the speed of Lago Delight and the speed cross on the dam side of Bold Ruler (USA) over Star Kingdom (IRE), through his son Noholme. You can view this pedigree from a weanling by Indian Danehill from Jacindra, sold at Karaka in 2005 for $7000.
Price told the Herald Sun that he expected Marconi to continue to improve. “He has a lot to learn, he’s skinny and immature at the moment,” he said. The gelding’s next run will be in the Fiesta Handicap (1000m) at Flemington on December 19.
And would he have been happy to sell Marconi – “certainly, it’s a lot of money for a horse with his story line.”
Great article Danny!