Turnitup … a polo mare!

Somewhere in the hills at the back of Gundy, deep in the Hunter Valley near Scone, runs a herd of 100 polo mares with four attentive stallions to look after them. They roam like brumbies in more than 1200 hectares of bush and scrub, and are rarely seen.

Their owner occasionally gathers their offspring to break and train as the next generation of polo ponies.

Recently, Kitchwin Hills stud manager Mick Malone and some of his staff have been seen scouring the nearby scrubby paddocks, meticulously sifting through the polo mares. Their search, so far fruitless, is for a gem that has got away, a mare whose fortunes have turned in the past four years.

This is not old Regret, but a mare with an even more apt name – No Finding. She hasn’t been seen since 2007 when Malone let her go to run with the polo pack after her owner decided he no longer wanted her. And for good reason – No Finding’s first eight foals had produced only two minor winners at Mount Isa and Broome. Her papers were stamped “dud”.

And then along came Dane Shadow, the magnificent son of champion sire Danehill and the champion Centaine mare Slight Chance.

Kitchwin Hills’ exciting young stallion covered No Finding in 2005 and 2006 – and the fortunes of the “lost” mare suddenly took a dramatic turn for the better.

The first foal, a colt (now gelding) named Coroner, is a promising city winner in Queensland; the second foal, also a colt and the one Malone weaned from No Finding before releasing her into the wilds of the Isis River valley, is a horse who makes this story one to whet the appetite of any film maker.

The colt, now named a very apt (in hindsight) Turnitup, could be trainer Peter Moody’s next Stakes winner. The 3YO gelding, having only his second start for Moody, charged over the top of his rivals to win 3YO Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield last Saturday. This is a horse on the up with Black Type his aim.

“We have been searching for her since we had the information that Turnitup is Stakes class, but true to her name we can’t find any trace of No Finding,” Malone said. “She could be anywhere – it’s 3000 acres!”

Malone said that at the time he let No Finding run the through the back gates, nobody knew of the incredible upgrading qualities of Dane Shadow, who is making a habit of “picking second-rate mares off the canvas” – the Kitchwin Hills crew always had hope and trust in Dane Shadow, but now they have the hard evidence.

“In those early days we took whatever mares we could, but now the progeny have hit the racetrack, albeit from small numbers of mares, winner after winner by Dane Shadow – like the Blue Diamond Stakes contender Holdontoyahorses – is showing up to be the best progeny produced by the dam.

“At the same time he has also shown us that when he gets a decent mare he produces outstanding results. Group horses such as Hurtle Myrtle, Red Tracer, Shadow Assassin and Shellscrape all emerged from just a handful of better-quality mares in those early years.

“It makes you wonder just what Dane Shadow can achieve from the better mares he has covered in his past two seasons. He has covered some very serious mares. We have a lot to look forward to with Dane Shadow, it’s very exciting for everyone at Kitchwin Hills and our clients,” Malone said.

He added that there are expectations of some great things from Dane Shadow when his class of 2012 – from his foals born last spring – hit the racetrack.

“The upgrade in mares from 2009 and 2010 is so dramatic that it’s a bit scary as to what we think Dane Shadow can achieve. Already we have seen his stock readily accepted by trainers at yearlings sales – they are selling up to 10-20 times his service fee.”

One thing is assured for Dane Shadow – the days of him covering mares who run with polo ponies are long gone.