For Kersley it was a bittersweet phone call as he loved the farm from where he trained many great harness horses and, until that stage, some more than handy thoroughbreds, but times were tough and he needed the coin.

Hodgkinson was keen to get on the first plane to Melbourne to get the deal sealed, but Kersley said he wanted to concentrate on preparing Northerly (b g 1996, Serheed-North Bell) for the Australian Cup, the paperwork could wait.

Thankfully, Kersley’s delay was rewarded because Northerly, half-owned by Kersley’s wife Judith and coming off a defeat (third) when $1.90 favourite in the Victoria Cup (2024m) at Caulfield, set Flemington alight with one of the most memorable performances seen in a big race at headquarters.

Kersley eventually did sell the property, not long after Northerly had retired with a bankroll $9.3 million (nine Group 1 wins), for eight times the original offer. Northerly changed the Kersleys’ lives.

Northerly was a fighter from the day he was born, when his breeder and part-owner Neville Duncan had to revive him after he was born “dead”. Racecaller Greg Miles named him “the Fighting Tiger”, which was such a perfect fit even if the horse himself was not what you’d expect a champion to look like—he was light-framed, carried his head too high and could easily have understudied for the Man From Snowy River’s pony.

Damien Oliver, who rode Northerly to win his first of two Cox Plates, in 2001, said the little horse was different. “He was often the first horse off the bit, unlike so many other great horses, but he just kept going. He is right up there with the best I have ridden, but what made him special was that (like Oliver) he was from Western Australia.”

Kersley loved his horse, so much so that he refused to succumb to pressure to run him in the 2002 Melbourne Cup with 60kg despite the champ winning the Caulfield Cup, beating Fields Of Omagh, with 58kg and backing up a week later to win his second Cox Plate. “I don’t mind flying the flag, but I don’t want to break the flag pole,” was his wonderful summation of his decision.

Les Carlyon wrote in The Age: “(Northerly) fools you every time. He has the body language of a loser but a heart as big as the Nullabor”.

Late on May 9, Northerly, after battling with colic for most of the day, lost the most important fight. He will be buried on the Duncans’ Busselton property upright, like the warrior horses of Egypt.

Northerly’s battles with the great mare Sunline were legendary, but he had the wood on her in two Cox Plates. Significantly, Sunline also died in May, but three years ago. Northerly’s death came within 24 hours of the loss of Vo Rogue, aged 28, setting social media abuzz with tributes.

New Zealand journalist Michael Guerin summed it up perfectly with this tweet: “Sunline, Vo Rouge and now Northerly all gone… geez, it’s going to be tough winning a weight-for-age race in Horsey Heaven next few seasons.”

The final word on the great horse goes to Fred Kersley, when asked immediately after Northerly won the 2002 Caulfield Cup (2400m) if it was the best two and a half minutes of his life: “The Mrs says I don’t know what love is, but God I love that horse.”

Photo: Northerly, with Damien Oliver, in an exhibition gallop at Moonee Valley in 2010.

I made Flemington from 5am to 8am my round, and in a five-year period met and watched some amazing horses, jockeys and trainers.

There was nothing like Vic and Vo—oddball Queensland trainer Vic Rail and his incredible horse Vo Rogue.

My lasting memory of walking beside the pair after a track gallop as they headed back to Phil Burke’s stables—me with pen and pad in hand, and Rail chatting incessantly while dragging Vo away from the next grassy pick. It was not the sheer size and strength of the horse, with veins pumped thick and sweat trickling under his belly, nor the knockabout character of Rail, that tickles the memory, but the smell.

Yes, Vo Rogue stunk. Like no horse before or after him.

The stench was a legacy of Rail’s passion for horses to be trained as close to nature as possible. Vo Rogue never saw a hose— “in the wild they don’t wash, they roll in the dirt to stay clean, so why is there a need to wash him?” Rail said.

Sometimes, after Vo Rogue had rolled in the sand, Rail would harvest a clump of grass and rub the gelding down to remove any excess dirt and grim.

Rail also had a running battle with officialdom over wanting Vo Rogue to race barefoot—as nature would expect—before a compromise was reached for him to wear only tips. In contrast, Rail was rarely seen without his Mexican high-heeled cowboy boots on, whether in a suit or shorts.

We lost Rail, aged 49, to the Hendra virus in 1994, but old Vo Rogue batted on until May 8,  2012, when old age took him at 28.

Vo Rogue was a champion horse in a champion time—he won 26 of his 63 starts and more than $3 million his prizemoney. His bold, relentless front-running style made him a crowd favourite and tough horse to beat, even for the likes of Bonecrusher, Better Loosen Up and Campaign King.

The Ivor Prince gelding cost owner Jeff Perry $5000 as a weanling. Perry sold a slice of Vo Rogue late in his career to punter Gary Roberts for $180,000. For everyone connected with the horse it was a wonderful ride.

Little-known Queenslander Cyril Small built a career on the back of Vo—23 winning rides and six Group 1s. He steered Vo Rogue to wins in two Group 1 Australian Cups, three Group 2 C F Orr Stakes, two Group 2 Turnbull Stakes and a Group 1 William Reid Stakes.

Small, who returned to Victoria to ride at Warrnambool last month, spoke to RSN Radio after Vo Rogue’s death: “Instead of fighting him, I let him stride and he just ran them off their legs.”

The next time we reminisce this great horse is when he’s inducted in the Hall of Fame. Not before time.

I think it is time Reset and Victoria’s other stallion success stories got their due recognition.

Reset continued the tremendous run of Victorian stallions in 2011—following on from the great achievements of Black Caviar’s sire Bel Esprit, the very underrated Bianconi and Dash For Cash, Reset’s Darley barn-mate, Domesday, who sired the Group 1 Spring Championship winner Doctor Doom, and the national success of Written Tycoon to win the Champion Australian First Season Sire title.

Reset (b h 2000, Zabeel (NZ)-Assertive Lass, by Zeditave) is one of a few stallions who can boast a Group 1 Victoria Derby and Group 1 Cox Plate winner in his first three crops—I haven’t done the deep research but not even Reset’s famous sire Zabeel, and his sire, Sir Tristram, can match that record, although Zabeel went close in 1995 when his first-crop son Octoagonal almost took the Group 1 double seven days apart (won Cox, 2^nd Derby) before winning the AJC Derby in the autumn.

Rebel Raider provided the former unbeaten star with his first big winner when he won the 2008 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington; last month, the exciting and surely underrated Pinker Pinker took Reset to new heights when she stormed home to win the Cox Plate.

Add to that, Peter Moody’s exceptional multiple Group-winning filly from the 2010-2011 season, Set For Fame, and the hardy Group 2 winning Victorian mare, Avienus, who has competed in the past two Cox Plates, and Reset deserves his position on the top of Darley’s Victorian roster.

The stallion came into the limelight again late in November when one of his New Zealand runners, Cassini, won the Listed Wanganui Cup—it was his sixth new Stakes winner for 2011—taking his career tally of Stakes winners to 15, including two from two shuttle seasons in England.

It’s interesting that despite standing all his career at Darley, after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Australian breeding outfit bought Reset from Lloyd Williams for a reported $20 million—the colt had retired injured unbeaten from five starts, including the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) and the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m)—only two of Reset’s 11 Australian Stakes winners, Avienus and the Queensland Listed winner Moulin Lady, were bred by Darley, and none have raced in Sheikh Mohammed’s colours.

For whatever reason, Darley hasn’t had any luck with Reset, but he has always been popular with breeders in general—in his first five seasons he averaged 140 mares per spring—and equally popular with trainers at yearling sale time.

In 2009, interest in the horse waned a little as he covered only 68 mares (for 37 foals), but he was back with 95 mares last year on the back of horses such as Avienus and Set For Fame, and this spring he will again cover more than 100 mares and a very accessible fee of $16,500. Darley keeps his book to no more than that despite urgings from breeders to use him—Darley received a flood of inquiries after Pinker Pinker won the Cox Plate. Reset is not a “wham, bam, thank you maam” breeder, preferring the “chat over a glass of wine at dinner” approach.

Pinker Pinker looks certain to carry on has a headliner for Reset—proving her Cox Plate win was no fluke. She also has the pedigree to back it up.

Pinker Pinker, bred by Heidelberg Hub chicken retailer, Bill “Chickens” Giovas, is from his Success Express mare Miss Marion, a more than handy multiple-city winner in Melbourne for trainer Steve McKinnon. Miss Marion’s sixth dam is the 1960 The Oaks and English 1000 Guineas winner Never Too Late (by Never Say Die), who is best known in these parts as the dam of the champion stallion Without Fear (by Baldric), who helped put Colin Hayes’ breeding empire, Lindsay Park, on the map in the 1970s.

Also in the family is the 1986 Group 1 Karrakatta Plate winner, Golden Unicorn, a daughter of Biscay’s close relation Jevington (by Todman) from a granddaughter of Never Too Late. Pinker Pinker’s granddam, Golden Deed, is a sister to Golden Unicorn.

So the dam line in an intriguing mixture of Classic bloodlines and precocious speed, something that mirrors Reset’s pedigree, as he is by the great sire of stayers, Zabeel (by Sir Tristram), from a fast mare by the champion speedster, Zeditave (by The Judge).

Reset, perky, resilient and a star galloper, has passed his talent and his interesting bloodlines onto his progeny. I get the impression that if Reset and the Eliza Park barn-mates, Bel Esprit and Written Tycoon, were standing north of the Murray River, some of the NSW-dominated breeding media would be falling all over themselves over their achievements in 2011. Don’t worry, we know how good they are.

Footnote: Pinker Pinker died suddenly on April 4, after an adverse reaction to a veterinary treatment.

Well, that was apt until late last year, when, suddenly, God’s Own performed something of the “resurrection”. In the space of six weeks from December to mid-January, the 2005 Group 1 Caulfield Guineas hero sired 18 individual winners of 21 races—that’s an average of three new winners a week.

As comebacks go, this one would make Lazarus smile. In the stallion game, you can’t be more “gone” than God’s Own, and while he may not get back to reach the expectations when he first hit the stud hustings, he certainly has regained a lot of credibility.

God’s Own retired to stud in 2006 in a joint venture between neighbouring Kerrie (near Romsey) studs, Yallambee, who had the standing rights to the son of Redoute’s Choice, and Eliza Park. God’s Own resides at Eliza Park where his has covered 824 mares in six seasons.

God’s Own deserved his accolades and a harem of classy mares lining up for a meeting, albeit without the chocolates and the roses. He emerged as a star under the guidance of trainer, and part-owner, Bart Cummings, who had other reasons to appreciate the big colt—Cummings made God’s Own’s family famous having trained the fourth dam, Dark Queen, and her champion son Taj Rossi, and Angel In Disguise’s sire, the Group 1 winner Sky Chase, and her “cousin”, the great Saintly, who also boasts Dark Queen as his fourth dam.

At his fifth start, God’s Own produced one of the most amazing performances ever seen on an Australian racetrack, when he over came a series of severe checks before regrouping to storm home for a win in the 2005 Group 1 Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m, Caulfield) that had jockey Glen Boss looking to the heavens for thanks.

The colt had a dip at the Group 1 Cox Plate (WFA, 2040m), but finished eighth to Makybe Diva, before a spell. He returned in the autumn to produce another barnstorming finish to beat all but the wonderful sprinter Takeover Target in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m, Flemington), and then chased home the rising star, Apache Cat, in the Group 3 Schweppes Cup (1400m, Caulfield). God’s Own was injured in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes in Sydney that forced his retirement.

God’s Own, a son of the champion sire Redoute’s Choice—one of his best sons—was a headline act in his first stud season, handling 142 mares at a fee of $33,000. In 2007, he covered 204 mares and 196 at an increased fee of $38,500—up due to the quality of his yearlings—in 2008, and another big band of 168 mares in 2009 (at $33,000). Few stallions get a better start.

However, his stock just didn’t run early, which is a suicide result in the cutthroat, impatient, unforgiving, commercial stud scene in Australia. In the past two seasons, as the disciples of Australian racing waited for a sign that God’s Own was worthy, the stallion has covered books of only 65 and 49. Last spring, mares produced only 37 God’s Own foals.

Part-owner Dato Tan Chin Nam continued to support him, but others had faith, too, and they are the ones that could find themselves on a winner.

God’s Own won’t be the first stallion to bounce back after an ordinary start. You only need to look across the Tasman at Savabeel, who has suddenly emerged as a serious stallion when his oldest progeny are now five. In fact, God’s Own fits his own profile. He wasn’t a precocious horse, and he’s not from a fast, early running family. Many of his progeny were big, raw, heavy yearlings—especially the colts—and most astute bloodstock agents were wary of them for that reason. “They will need time” was the call. Correct.

I remember Redoute’s Choice’s first crop of yearlings—big and unspectacular—but it didn’t take long to breeders to realise that the smaller, quicker mares were better suited to him. The results flowed. God’s Own also is far better suited to smaller, compact mares, and it is the progeny of these mares that are starting to run a bit earlier than the first crop.

In all, God’s Own (to Jan. 25) has 233 names foals, 138 starters for 47 winners. Two of his progeny have black type—the Stakes-placed Vatican and Utah Saints—but others will follow as they mature, including the exciting gelding, Godwilling (b g 2007, ex-Millrich, by Rubiton), who scored impressive city wins in Sydney over the summer; Jason Warren’s Lady Rum Drum (b or br m 2007, Lyford, by Royal Academy (USA)), three wins from four starts; and the promising dual-winner Bartholomew (b g 2008, Harrow, by Dehere (USA)).

God’s Own has risen up the third-season sires’ ladder to be 12^th (prizemoney) and eighth (winners) … already there are signs of acceptance of the stallion at a commercial level; a colt by him, a half-brother to smart sprinter Canali (from the Barathea mare Angora), fetched $75,000 at the Inglis Classic Sale in Sydney in January.

When asked for an answer about God’s Own’s return from oblivion, Yallambee Stud’s Peter Woodard said: “Resurrection? I didn’t realise he was dead! Yes, he might have been a little slow getting out of the blocks, but this is no Lazarus job … his oldest are only four and he’s getting a nice mix of precocious types and horses that train on. I’m still getting a lot of really good feedback from trainers.

“He won’t having many going through the sale ring this year, I’m extremely confident that 2012 is going to be his year—the amount of his winners since December seems to bear that out and as I keep telling everyone … believe in God!”

Over the years, Woodard and Greg Tobin, the clever spin doctor at Eliza Park, have all but exhausted every biblical catch-phrase to promote God’s Own. Maybe it’s time to let the horse’s progeny do the selling … heaven knows he deserves it.

This story appeared in the latest February 2012 issue of Inside Racing magazine.

When Price’s filly Samaready (br f 2, More Than Ready (USA)-Samar, by Secret Savings (USA)) won at Flemington on December 17, Price indicated she was a one of a number of promising two-year-olds he was aiming at the Blue Diamond series.

After the Flemington race, Price said: “I thought she might be a bit underdone. I thought she looked a little tubby in the mounting yard and I said to the guys (owners) if she was to win today there is a lot of improvement in her. She’s a genuinely good filly, she has a great temperament and I’m pointing her to the Blue Diamond.”

He then added that he had “a couple of” youngsters every bit as promising as Samaready, who wouldn’t be produced until the traditional Blue Diamond Stakes lead-up races at Caulfield.

Out stepped the Price-trained Malasun (b f 2, Red Ransom (USA)-Malapert, by Encosta De Lago), at $8.50, to win yesterday’s fillies’ division of the Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) and producing a performance that suggests Price will play a strong hand in the $1 million Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at February 25. The filly was Price’s only runner in the two divisions of the Previews.

Malasun, bought for $80,000 by BC3 Thoroughbreds at the 2011 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, tracked the pace, set by odds-on favourite Sweet Little Lies (by Elusive Quality (USA)), before she unleashed a strong finish to beat Members Joy (Hussonet (USA)) and Sabie (Exceed And Excel) and a weakening Sweet Little Lies, who had firmed from $1.85 to $1.70 on the strength of an easy first-start Caulfield win on January 7. Trainers Mat Ellerton and Simon Zahra have reported that Sweet Little Lies is shin sore and will be spelled.

Malasun, described by jockey Damien Oliver as the ideal, mature, strong “jump and run two-year-old”, had won three jump-out trials at Caulfield before her debut. “We knew she had the speed—she led in all her trials—but today it was good to see her settle behind the pace,” Oliver said.

Price will be hoping Malasun can give him his first Blue Diamond Stakes—a race that sits heavy in his heart (and high in ambition) after leading in Roedean as the winner in 2003 only to lose it later due to a positive swab (Kusi was elevated to first place). He has previously won Previews with the fillies World Peace (2004, third behind Alinghi in the Blue Diamond) and Halibery (2003, second behind Kusi in the Blue Diamond) and also Preludes with Doubting (2005) and Halibery.

Malasun is from the second last crop of 90 foals of the wonderful stallion Red Ransom (by Roberto (USA)), who stood with distinction for 11 years at Vinery Stud, near Scone, in the Hunter Valley, until his death in August 2009. The closest Red Ransom has gone to producing a Blue Diamond winner was All American’s second behind stablemate Reaan in 2008.

Malasun is from the Encosta De Lago mare, Malapert, who also is the dam of the 2009 Group 2 Autumn Classic winner Stokehouse. The second dam, Brazenne (by The Pug (GB)), is a half-sister to the smart Listed Winter Championship winner Gay Tulip.

Interestingly, Encosta De Lago (by Fairy King (USA)) had a terrific 24 hours as a broodmare sire. He also is the sire of the dam of the Listed Zeditave Stakes winner Instinction (gr c 3, Exceed And Excel-De Lago Mist), also trained by Price, and the outstanding Dubai star, Musir (b h 5, Redoute’s Choice-Dizzy De Lago), who won the Group 2 Al Rashidiya Stakes (1900m) at Meydan.

The steely grey Instinction, who was sixth (behind Sepoy) in a Blue Diamond Prelude last year, is a colt on the up. He advanced from a Kyneton maiden win in October to win the Listed Hilton On The Park (1400m) at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival. Price is aiming the colt for the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m, Flemington) in March.

Instinction tracked the pace and got through along the fence when the leader Petman (Lonhro) drifted wide. Caulfield Guineas fourth placegetter, Specter (Nadeem), returned from a break with an encouraging second, after following the winner through on the fence.

After the race, jockey Craig Newitt revealed that Instinction had performed well in the much-publicised jump-out trial behind the champion Black Caviar last week. “He stood her up 15 lengths and got beat five or six,” Newitt said. Oh, if we all had known that! (Competing horses are not named in unofficial trials.)

The Zeditave Stakes has been won by some high-class gallopers, including Blue Diamond winner Hurricane Sky (1995), Pins (2000), Not A Single Doubt (2005), Haradasun (2007) and Denman (2010), but only Pins has gone on to win the Guineas.

Price’s has won the Guineas twice—with Light Fantastic, also a grey, in 2008 and Heart of Dreams in 2009.

Photo: Red Ransom at Vinery.

Mawingo (b c 2008, Tertullian (USA)-Montfleur (GB), by Sadler’s Wells (USA)) will arrive in Melbourne in late January. Freedman hopes to give the horse a run in Sydney late in the autumn before embarking on a winter campaign in Brisbane, where he hopes Mawingo can qualify for a run in the 2012 Melbourne Cup.

The colt was bought by Luke Murrell’s Australian Bloodstock syndicate following the success of Lucas Cranach in the spring—Lucas Cranach finished fifth behind Southern Speed in the Caulfield Cup and third behind Dunaden in the Melbourne Cup.

Mawingo had five starts in Germany for leading trainer Jens Hirschberger, winning the Group 3 Bavarian Classic (2000m) at Munich in May, before finishing a sound fourth behind Waldpark in a strong edition of the Group 1 Deutsches (German) Derby (2400m) at Hamburg in July.

Behind him, in fifth place, was the smart English colt Black Panther—owned by soccer star Michael Owen—who went on to run second behind Masked Marvel in the Group 1 English St Leger (2800m) at Doncaster.

Mawingo hasn’t raced since taking on the older horses and finishing fifth behind Zazou in the Group 1 Premio Roma (2000m) at Capannelle in Italy in November. He was beaten less than three lengths by Godolphin’s runner-up, Rio De La Plata, who went into the race boasting a third behind superstar Frankel in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes (1600m, Goodwood) and a second behind Excelebration in the Group 1 Prix de Moulin (1600m, Longchamp), so the form around Mawingo stacks up very well.

Murrell said Mawingo caught his attention because, like Lucas Cranach, the colt has a turn-of-foot and will be suited by Australian conditions. Interestingly, it was considered by the Hirschbeger stable that Mawingo had a good chance of winning the German Derby, run on heavy ground, because of the colt’s supposed liking for wet tracks, following his Bavarian Classic win on slow ground.

“Getting so close with Lucas Cranach showed us we were on the right track to getting a Melbourne Cup winner,” Murrell, who runs Australian Bloodstock with co-director Jamie Lovett, told stallions.com.au.

“We have looked for a similar type of horse to Lucas Cranach because we think a good stayer with a strong turn of foot is the type that will be successful in the big cups next spring. With Lucas Cranach, we have two really good stayers to aim for next year’s Melbourne Cup, which is a great thrill.”

Freedman said he was keen to get his first look at Mawingo. “From what I have seen from the videos, he’s the right type of horse for Australia. This time, however, he will be here a lot earlier than Lucas Cranach, so we will have time to train him to our way,” he said.

“He also different to Lucas Cranach, who was already qualified for the Melbourne Cup and had to be prepared by Lee in quarantine in England, but with Mawingo we have time on our side—he’s young and inexperienced and he won’t be rushed.

“He’s shown he’s competitive at a top level at 2000 metres, so he could measure up to weight-for-age races as he has the necessary turn-of-foot like Lucas Cranach, who will have a chance to show his class at weight-for-age next year.”

Mawingo has an exciting female line and a stallion’s pedigree—his dam, Montfleur (by Sadler’s Wells) didn’t win in two starts in Ireland, but her dam, Mackie (by Summer Squall (USA)) was a Group 3 winner in America, and her dam, Glowing Tribute (by Graustark (USA)), a Group 2 winner, is the dam of star gallopers and leading stallions, Hero’s Honor and Sea Hero. This also is the family of the brilliant sprinter Mozart and the classy filly Wild Applause.

Mawingo’s sire, Tertullian (by Miswaki (USA)) was a five-time Group winning sprinter in Germany and Italy, and he is a three-quarter brother to Sea The Stars’ and Galileo’s champion-producing dam, Urban Sea. Tertullian’s pedigree is a wonderful mix of speed and classic stamina, and he has mixed fairly with the stoutly bred German mares, although he can’t be considered a top-shelf stallion in Germany. The average winning distance of Tertullian’s progeny is 2100 metres.

Tertullian is the sire of Bart Cummings’ imported Melbourne Cup runner Illo, two Group 1 German Guineas winners in Aviso and Irian, and the Group 3 winning 3YO colt Russian Tango.

Meanwhile, Lucas Cranach is back in light work at Markdel. He has developed a winter coat, as expected, but importantly, his feet problems are on the mend.

Photo: Mawingo after winning the Bavarian Classic.

He was a product of greatness, the combining of the best with the best from both sides of the world. His sire was the legendary American Triple Crown hero and dual Horse of the Year, Secretariat, a horse that some say is the best to ever look through a bridle.

Kingston Rule’s dam, Rose Of Kingston (by Claude (ITY)), travelled from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula for the liaison. Her papers were stamped “champion”, an Australian Horse Of The Year who beat the colts in the 1982 Group 1 AJC Derby, after she had won the 1981 Group 1 VRC Oaks. Her colt, with his rich, golden chestnut colouring and flashy white blaze, was everything you could hope from such a union.

Melbourne owner-breeder David Hains, a dominant figure in Australian racing at the time, had a small, boutique broodmare farm in Kentucky to go with his Kingston Park Stud in Victoria. Hains sent a band of his best mares to Kentucky to be bred to the America’s leading stallions, with the resultant offspring to return to race in Australia. It was an experiment that lasted about eight years, and included the exporting Rose Of Kingston’s half-sister, the 1984 Group 1 VRC Oaks winner Spirit Of Kingston (by Bletchingly), and their dam Kingston Rose (by Better Boy).

After an unplaced run in France as a 2YO for trainer Patrick Biancone, Kingston Rule was imported to Australia and joined the stable of Tommy Smith at Randwick in Sydney. Smith and Hains had combined to dominate Australian racing earlier that decade with Kingston Town, the champion triple Cox Plate winner, who was gelded after finishing last at his racetrack debut. The same fate was on the cards of Kingston Rule, if Smith had his way, after the handsome 4YO finished an inauspicious 35-length last at his first Australian racetrack appearance, on a heavy track over 1400m at Warwick Farm in May, 1989.

That was when Hains made one of the most important decisions of his life. He had great faith in Kingston Rule and rather than geld him, he decided to spell the entire before switching trainers, and he sent Kingston Rule to Bart Cummings, the champion trainer of stayers who Hains thought would suit Kingston Rule’s stout pedigree. And in one of the twists that make the bloodstock world such an interesting place, the story of Kingston Rule’s lineage goes back to the master trainer from the beginning.

Bart part-owned and trained Kingston Rose and it was Cummings who recommended Hains buy her at sale after she retired from racing. The mare was from Sojourner, a half-sister to the flying South Australian filly Proud Miss, tracing back to the mare Opera Bouffe (a daughter of the first imported Melbourne Cup winner Comedy King—2010), who was owned by Cummings’ father Jim, and who provided Cummings snr with his first two Classic winners as a trainer—1928 VRC Oaks winner Opera Queen and 1931 SA Derby winner Opera King. Cummings claims in his book, Bart, that he learned to ride on Opera Bouffe’s grand-daughter Cushla.

Kingston Rule blossomed under Cummings, and won his first race, second up, at a Sandown meeting over 1600m in the autumn of 1990. He progressed so far, that he finished seventh behind Vo Rogue in the Group 1 Australian Cup (wfa 2000m) at Flemington at the end of his first campaign with Cummings.

Kingston Rule, who relished firm ground, missed a run in the Caulfield Cup, but earned his Melbourne Cup start with a win in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Cup (2600m). He warmed up for the Cup with a second behind Mount Olympus in The Dalgety (2500m) at Flemington on Derby Day, and dropped from 56kg to 53kg in the Cup. Kingston Rule, beautifully rated by Darren Beadman, tracked the pace in the Cup before taking over on the turn, and then held off The Phantom under hands and heels riding—his winning time of 3min 16.3secs remains a course record for 3200 metres.

“He didn’t come right though until he had fully acclimatised. However, Tom didn’t think he was going to make it,” Hains said.

“I thought he was too good a horse to give up on, a very good looking horse, a classic looking horse. I asked Bart to take him on and he was happy to do so. Tommy though claimed after we’d won the Melbourne Cup that we’d sacked him, and we’d taken the horse from him, but that wasn’t true.”

Hains doesn’t claim genius for the mating—“to put Rose of Kingston, one of the top fillies of the period, to Secretariat, one of the great horses of the era, was just a good idea.

“Like all breeding, I just hoped for the best. You can do the nicks and crosses as a matter of routine, but you can make a story with racehorses in a number of different ways. All on the face of it should be great racehorses, but they are not. The outlying breeds can also produce champions.”

Hains believes though it’s a combination of the great trainers with the right horse, and sometimes the right bloodlines that produce the champions of the turf. “Only a limited number of trainers have the skill level of a Tommy Smith or a Bart Cummings or a Colin Hayes. I’m not suggesting there aren’t some current trainers that have it as well, but that group dominated racing for years and years and years. I think JB (Cummings) has a genius for all horses, but particularly where he has the patience to train Cup winners.”

Kingston Rule broke down after three starts in the autumn of 1991, and Hains retired him to stand at Tim Johnson’s Ealing Park Stud, Euroa. The handsome chestnut hasn’t attracted the cream of the mares, but he eight stakes winners from about 190 winners, includes the outstanding Hains-owned and -bred filly Kensington Palace, who won the 1997 Group 1 VRC Oaks. Kingston Rule, aged 24 by northern hemisphere time in 2010, remains the only Melbourne Cup winner at stud in Australia. In 2009, he covered six mares.

“He’s a lovely old horse,” Johnson said.

Kingston Rule, aged 25, died at Ealing Park on December 2. His youngest progeny are foals in 2011—three colts and a filly from five mares covered in his final season in 2010.

Interestingly, two of those mares travelled all the way from Queensland—the half-sisters Bluegrass Queen (b m 2001, American Odyssey (USA)-Kasisi (IRE), by Bluebird (USA)) and Royal Something (b or br m 2004, Xaar (GB)—for a purpose, to double on the blood of the great broodmare, Somethingroyal (USA) (by Princequillo (IRE)), the dam of Secretariat. The third dam of the two mares, Cherryville (USA), by Correspondent (USA), is daughter of Somethingroyal.

This is an edited extract from The Melbourne Cup, the story of Australia’s greatest race, published by The Slattery Media Group. This magnificent book is for sale at a wonderful price of $30 (down from $100). Go to www.slatteryracingbooks.com and enter the code CHRISTMAS at the check-out or phone (03) 9627 2600.

It’s worth reflecting on the living Melbourne Cup winners and what they are up to.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

The oldest living Emirates Melbourne Cup winner is Just A Dash, who, at the wonderful, amazing age of 35, lives a pampered life with Stephen and Christine Hill at Willow Dene Farm, Dapto, NSW.

The Hills inherited Just A Dash 20 years ago when the 1981 Cup winner failed to make it as a police horse.

“He’s still well, sprightly for his age. He’s rugged in the winter and never misses a feed,” Hill said.

The other living Cup winners are:

Let’s Elope (1991), mare, aged 24—Retired from breeding and lives at Seven Creeks Estate, Euroa. Her last foal was a 2008 filly, Karata, by Elvstroem.

Subzero (1992), gelding, aged 23—The much-loved grey has retired as a clerk of the course mount for Graham Salisbury, based at Heathcote, but he remains an ambassador for racing and visits up to 100 schools a year.

Vintage Crop (1993) gelding, aged 25—Lives in retirement at the Irish National Stud, where he is the most popular horse in the stud tour.

Doriemus (1995) gelding, aged 21—Spends most of his time at Living Legends, near Tullamarine.

Saintly (1996) gelding, aged 19—Lives a useful life as a caretaker to young colts at trainer Bart Cummings’ Princes Farm, Castlereagh, NSW.

Might And Power (1997) gelding, aged 18—Enjoys life as one of the main attractions at Living Legends.

Jezabeel (1998) mare, aged 19—Now owned in WA by breeder Geoff Evans. Her most recent foal was a filly in 2009 by Street Sense, named Broadway And Fifth.

Rogan Josh (1999) gelding, aged 19—Bart Cummings’ 11^th Cup winner lives in retirement at Living Legends.

Brew (2000) gelding, aged 17—Unfortunately, Brew failed his test to become a police horse. Now a resident of Living Legends.

Ethereal (2001) mare, aged 15—In September, she foaled a colt by Encosta De Lago at Pencarrow Stud, near Hamilton, in New Zealand.

Makybe Diva (2003, 2004, 2005) mare, aged 13—Produced a colt this spring by champion sire Lonhro. She was mated to Starspangledbanner. The great mare spends most of her time at the stud named in her honour, Makybe, nestled in the Barrabool Hills at Gnarwarre, near Geelong.

Delta Blues (2006) stallion, aged 11 –Delta Blues retired in Japan in 2008, but there is no record of him siring any foals.

Efficient (2007) gelding, aged 8—Nagging injuries have halted the grey gelding’s attempt for a second Cup win, but he returned to racing in the 2011 spring for owner Lloyd Williams.

Shocking (2009) stallion, aged 6—Failed in last year’s Melbourne Cup, but he won the G1 Australian Cup in 2011. Retired soon after to stand at Rich Hill Stud, Walton, New Zealand, where he covered more than 120 mares.

Americain (2010) stallion, aged 7—The first French-trained winner returned to Melbourne for another try at the Cup. Won the G2 Zipping Classic and now trained by David Hayes.

Dunaden (2011) stallion, aged 6—another French-trained winner. This international vagabond followed his wonderful Cup performance with a win in the G1 Hong Kong International Vase on December 11.

Photo: Kingston Rule pictured at Ealing Park in 2010 (photo, Sean Garnsworthy, Slattery Media Group)

At Warrnambool, the lightly framed filly Catalina Sounds powered home to snatch a first-start maiden win over 1400 metres for trainer Peter Moody (pictured) and jockey Linda Meech.

Not long after, a beautiful filly by Singspiel, Zauberflote, in the Darley colours but wearing the gear of trainer Guy Walter (rather than usual Sydney trainer Peter Snowden), charged home late at the end of 1200 metres at Gosford to win at her first start.

Both fillies gave promise of much better things to come, especially when their distances are stretched beyond 1600 metres.

Catalina Sounds (b f 2008, Testa Rossa-Mya, by Desert King (IRE)) is a dead-ringer for her mother, an underrated mare who was part-owned by Moody’s wife Sarah and a group of stable clients; and the group stayed together to breed and race Catalina Sounds.

Mya (b m 1999, from the mare Katie’ ONeill (NZ), by Zabeel (NZ)) was a more than handy galloper for Moody when he first settled to train in Melbourne. She won two of eight starts, including over 2040m at Moonee Valley in 2002, beating Umbula and Mintaka, after which she was injured and spent a year on the sidelines. Mya also was placed at Listed level at Flemington.

The mating to Testa Rossa is a clever one, as it introduced some speed into the pedigree, which allowed Catalina Sounds to be competitive at her first start. The pedigree also boasts a double cross of Danzig, 3×3—a cross that seems to be working well and one that you would rarely see outside of Australia.

Meech said after the race that Catalina Sounds is very immature. “She needs to fill out and strengthen, but she will develop into a good filly when she gets to 2000m or further,” she said.

Zauberflote (b or br f 2008, Singspiel (IRE)-Ideal Lady (IRE), by Seattle Slew (USA)) looks a bit more ready made for the autumn racing, when I expect the Group 1 AJC Oaks (2400m, Randwick), in April, will be her aim. Walter has a fine record of getting lightly raced fillies to peak for that race, and nothing would give him more pleasure than to do it with a filly owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Darley Australia.

Zauberflote (means magic flute in German) went into the Gosford race on the strength of a late-closing second in an 800m trial on a slow track at Warwick Farm, but it was expected the 1200 metres may be a little too short for her. The filly, ridden by Nathan Berry, settled just off midfield, copped a bump early in the straight, before powering home to grab a win on the line.

It was a very impressive performance from a filly with a touch of class, both in her looks and talent.

Her dam, the unraced Ideal Lady (1996 mare), was originally owned and imported by Sheikh Mohammed’s late father’s Gainsborough Stud. She was sold in 2010 to Tony Bott in foal to Street Cry for $80,000 at the Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale. She went through the ring in the same sale again this year, in foal to Bernardini, but didn’t make her reserve (passed in on a bid of $60,000).

Ideal Lady’s dam, Insijaam (by Secretariat) won twice at Listed level in France over 1800m and 2000m. She is a half-sister to Stakes winners Hatoof, Irish Prize and Fasateen (check her pedigree)

From six names foals, Ideal Lady is the dam of five winners, including the Stakes-placed Bouboulina (2003 f by Grand Lodge), who was runner-up in the Listed Surrey Stakes at Epsom.

She was one of 17 mares in foal to Singspiel, bred to southern hemisphere time, imported into Australia in 2008. Singspiel stood only one season in Australia, in 2001, when he covered 102 mares at Collingrove Stud in the Hunter Valley. The son of In The Sings (by Sadler’s Wells) sired nine Stakes winners from that single crop, including the very fast mare Rewaaya.

Catalina Sounds might not be as forward as Zauberflote for the autumn racing, so Moody is likely to look at the South Australian Oaks for the filly rather than Sydney. However, not matter what is on their agenda in 2012, their futures are well beyond a couple of country maidens.

Next year’s yearling sale season—which kicks off at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale in January—will certainly be the prime time to sell a colt or filly by Australia’s leading sire Lonhro.

For one thing, the sellers paid a low fee of only $33,000 for Lonhro in 2009—he rose to $88,000 in 2010 and $77,000 this year—and also, Lonhro’s owners, Darley, has flagged its intention to be in the market to top up on Lonhro yearlings.

Until now, a relatively small number of Lonhro yearlings have been available each year due to the fact a large percentage of the mares he has covered were owned by Woodlands Stud and Darley, who both preferred to race the offspring.

Not so in 2009, when Lonhro covered his biggest book of mares (212) at a time when Darley had already committed not to support the stallion, preferring high-profile imports such as Street Cry, New Approach and Bernardini.

At the time, Darley had good reason, not only did they have barns and paddocks full of unraced yearlings and weanlings by Lonhro, but also it must be remembered that Lonhro’s star wasn’t shining brightly in mid-2009. The former star racehorse started the 2009 spring with a boast of only four Stakes winners, and some reservations from trainers and breeders.

The turnaround in Lonhro’s fortunes has been almost miraculous. By the end of the 2011 Spring Racing Carnival, his Stakes winners tally had leapt to 30. It has been an incredible two years for Lonhro, which has seen him to climb to the top of the 2010-11 Australian leading-sire table, knocking off older stalwarts champions Redoute’s Choice and Encosta De Lago

The rush for Lonhro came after his first star offspring emerged, and very much in his own black image—the brilliant Denman, who won the Group 1 Golden Rose at Rosehill in September 2009. Many others have followed, including the 2011 Group 1 winners Beaded and Benfica, and top-class Group winners Obsequious, Demerit, Parables and Pinwheel.

Importantly for those with a Lonhro yearling to sell this season, Darley intends to make up for the lack of Lonhro yearlings on its books by returning to the sale yards to buy the best. This is a general change in policy as Darley has moved away from the Australian yearling sale market in preference to breeding its own stock.

There are 28 Lonhros catalogued for sale at the Gold Coast and the reports from the yearling inspectors are that there are some beauties. Vendors have good reason to have a spring in their step.

The Magic Millions sale will kick off with a Victorian flavour when the first yearling to step up into the sale ring will be a colt by Victoria’s leading sire Bel Esprit from the Snippets mare, Gavroche. The colt, to be sold by Sam Hayes’ Cornerstone Stud (the old Lindsay Park) as agent, is a brother to Victorian trainer Jason Warren’s exciting young sprinter Bel Sprinter.

It’s a fitting way to start the sale, as Snippets won the Magic Millions race on the Southport in 1987, and in doing so started a sale-race phenomenon that is unmatched anywhere else in the world.

Snippets was the perfect, precocious juvenile for the sale and the race, and he went on to become a wonderful stallion. Similar expectations abound for Sebring (ch h 2005, More Than Ready-Purespeed, by Flying Spur), whose first progeny will go under the hammer on the Gold Coast. Sebring was bought by Gai Waterhouse and Star Thoroughbreds at the 2007 Magic Millions for $130,000. In 2008, the colt brilliantly won the Group 1 Golden Slipper before retiring to Widden Stud in the Hunter Valley.

The Sebring youngsters will be much sought after, as, too, will be the progeny of a stellar list of high-class Australian-bred first-season sires, including Northern Meteor (by Encosta De Lago), Reaan (Hussonet), Real Saga (Tale Of The Cat), Kaphero (Danzero), Murtajill (Rock Of Gibraltar) and Mutawaajid (Redoute’s Choice).

Add this imposing bunch to a similar line-up of top-flight shuttle stallions with their first crop yearlings, including the Group 1 stars Duke Of Marmalade (Danehill), Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo) and Myboycharlie (Danetime), and the Epsom Derby winners New Approach (Galileo) and Authorized (Montjeu). Also on offer will be the first Australian foals of Kheleyf (Green Desert), Europe’s leading first-season sire of 2008 and the promising young sire Teofilo (Galileo).

Two of the highlight lots in January will be an Exceed And Excel colt from the 2006 Magic Millions winner Mirror Mirror (offered by Strawberry Hill) and the Coolmore-bred colt by Encosta De Lago from Piccadilly Circus, who is a half-brother to the latest top sprinter and exciting sire Fastnet Rock.

SALE DETAILS

2012 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale

Sessions 1-5: January 11-15