HE may be 21 years old, but Godolphin's champion Australian sire Exceed and Excel continues his prominence on the nation's stallion platforms.
His young colt son fetched top price at $575,000 at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale at the Gold Coast last week. The colt was the first foal of two-year-old stakes winning Melbourne mare, Nomothaj. He was offered by Silverstream Consignment, Canungra, Qld.
This sale concludes the annual Gold Coast headquartered auction house's National Sales' series, which grossed over $161 million via its 1126 lots sold at an average of $143,390. In the two-days of selling yearlings, buyers spent over $14m, on the 264 sold lots for a $53,076 average and a clearance of 72 per cent.
The Silverstream Consignment also sold the second top at $450,000, for a colt by Newgate Farm's trump-card stallion Extreme Choice, from the Exceed And Excel mare Egyptian Melody.
A filly by Extreme Choice (from Diamond Meteor) and a colt by NZ-bred young sire Tarzino fetched $300,000 each. Scone-based Vinery Stud's prominent stallion All Too Hard had a colt (and full-brother to stakes winner Hard Too Think) sell for $280,000 (from Mnemonic).
Kukeracha and Tails
HE may have finished last in the BRC Doomben Cup-G1 at his last start in late May, but Night Of Thunder gelding Kukeracha won the BRC Tails Stakes-LR two starts previously, which got my attention.
The stakes race takes its name from the mighty Queensland-bred galloper, Tails, a 1965 foaled racehorse I use for my weekly "Tails" column of Thoroughbred news. A son of the NZ-bred Dalray and Australian-bred Dolled Up (by Katanga), Tails was among my early "pin-up" gallopers when I first picked up my parents' Saturday Sydney Morning Herald as a young teenager.
While beginning his racing career in Toowoomba, he later transferred to Pat Murray, Sydney. The tough and tall chestnut won 23 races (including 16 stakes) from 81 starts for $199,615 prizemoney which in today's terms would equate to many millions of dollars.
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Excelling at middle distances, Tails also won a Queensland Derby as a three-year-old in 1968, and which initiated a glittering stakes career over the next four seasons. This was followed by other features including the AJC The Metropolitan Handicap (twice), the STC Rosehill Cup (twice), the BATC Doomben Cup, the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes and STC Tancred Cup the latter two in 1972.
In the Tancred Cup and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Tails was ridden by come-back hoop Sammy Howard, with the latter race proving momentous as he defeated the great Gunsynd. Regularly carrying huge weights, Tails contested the Melbourne Cup, three times. His best finish was third to Silver Knight in 1971.
Sadly, never having a solid stud opportunity when retired to stud in Queensland, Tails' sireline has long since disappeared.
Vale Sid Kelly OAM
LONG-time racehorse breeder and trainer living in the Hawkesbury district, Sid Kelly OAM, died last month after a long battle with cancer, aged 78. A big contributor to racing particularly the provincial sector, he was a former chairman, a vice chairman and director of the Hawkesbury Race Club since he joined the board in 2003.
While Mr Kelly loved the Thoroughbred industry, he also donated his time and effort to various local charities including the world-wide organisation Rotary Club at Windsor and which he was its president for a time. Mr Kelly bred several good racehorses via his, and wife Carolyn's, historic Freeman's Reach property "Reiby".
Several of the Kelly's racehorses carried the name "Reiby" including home-bred city winners Reiby Rampart, Reiby Regina and Reiby The Red. Reiby also lent its name to the couple's home-bred chestnut stallion Heeby Reiby (by memorable Irish bred Switch In Time), which won the STC Neville Sellwood Stakes-LR before privately standing at Reiby for 10 seasons from 2004.
Derby winner
IN overseas news, Desert Crown scored an easy win when romping in to win as favourite the prestigious one-and-a-half-mile classic English Derby at Epsom Downs racecourse in England last Saturday night. Winning the noted Dante Stakes-G2 for juveniles at York last November, Desert Crown is the sixth Group I winner for prominent Galileo stallion Nathaniel.
