Find out more about racing a horse with Gai Waterhouse at … · 2013-08-14 · trust my judgement. Travel broadens one’s mind, and I have no doubt travel has made me a better trainer

1st edition / August 2013

gai’s gazetteindustry FoCusAn interview with gooree’s Monica Barrera

to geld or not to geld?rob Waterhouse takes on racing’s biggest question

the roAd so FArour year to date and what we can expect for the future

Find out more about racing a horse with Gai Waterhouse at www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au

Proudly sponsored by Magic Millions

editoriAlPierro blazes his way to stud

2 www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au

What’s NeW?our year to date............................

denise Martin and star thoroughbreds..............................

industry Focus: Monica Barrera on gooree Park stud......................

industry news...............................

Pierro: two years of excellence.....................................

in the spotlight: racing stable manager John livingstone.... rob Waterhouse takes on racing’s biggest question: to geld or not to geld?....................

gai Waterhouse: the stallion Maker............................................

Miler excels at creating history........

Behind the scenes with desert War stable hand suzy horvath........

Back in the day..............................

tulloCh lodge16 Bowral st,Kensington nsW 2033 Austelephone:+61 2 9662 1488Fax: +61 2 9662 6328

editor: Lea Straceyeditor-in-Chief: Madison Whant

Production Manager: Adrian Bott

Advertising Manager: Adrian Bott

Journalists: Zeb Armstrong, Ryan McEvoy, Rob Waterhouse, Madison Whant , James Bester & David Bay

graphic design and layout: Madison Whant

Chief Photographer: Bradley Photography

sponsors: Magic Millions, The Australian Turf Club, Widden Stud, Emirates Park Stud & Gooree Wines

Contributors: Zeb Armstrong Producers: Graphic Impressions

PublishiNg iNformatioN

What’s NeW?

tommy Berry and OverreachPhotograph by Bradley photography

Pages 4-7

Pages 8-9

Pages 10-12

Pages 14-16

Pages 18-21

Pages 22-23

Pages 24-25

Pages 26-27

Pages 28-29

Pages 30-31

Pages 32-33

www.gaiwaterhouse.com.au 3

Every month at Tulloch Lodge is different. Yes I wish they all contained a Golden Slipper or a Doncaster Win-ner but the reality is the small and big winners at different times of the year, are equally important for any stable. The provincials are very important meetings for the horses at Tulloch Lodge; the prize money these days away from Sydney is very respect-able and horses such as Bentley Biscuit and Grand Armee started their careers at the provincials.Late June and early July is usually a time to travel for the Lady Trainer and my darling one. This year we visited France, Royal Ascot and Ireland for the wedding of Henry Field and his beautiful bride Louise. Visiting Adare in Ireland brought back memories of my twenties when I spent many days in this area hunting. I really enjoy this sport; it is a great feeling of adrenalin shared between you and your horse while you are on the hunt. Royal Ascot is aptly named. These five race meetings contain the high-est calibre of horse all on view for the world to see. In the crowds at the track you are all always surrounded by superbly attired ladies and gents. Over the last 20 years Royal Ascot has become a great show place of American and Australian horses. Speed in Australia as well as America is an essential ingredient that all breeders try to instil in the equine in these countries. People ask me all the time why many Australian horses have plenty of speed. I answer that it is because of the land, the envi-ronment and the feed. These are all crucial components in a young horse

maximising the speed with which it is born. There are always exceptions, but I prefer to put my money where my mouth is in the sales ring and trust my judgement. Travel broadens one’s mind, and I have no doubt travel has made me a better trainer. On my return all eyes will be on the Golden Rose. Sweet Idea, Overreach and Star Thoroughbreds’ Whittington, among others, will all be aimed at this fantastic Group One race for three-year-olds. Before we know it, it will be Guineas time; then the big three Spring Classics, the Caulfield Cup, the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup.The Melbourne Cup is the most rec-ognised and richest two mile race in the world. Fiorente, Glencadam Gold and Michelangelo are already getting the wake-up call at Randwick most mornings in preparation for the race that stops a nation. I might even have a smoky or two yet for the big race. The old boys are all back. Reuben Percival, Kontiki Park and Star Thor-oughbreds’ Kinnersley are all back and getting fitter every week. These three old boys have been thrilling their owner’s preparation after

preparation and this time it will be no different. Then there are the late sea-son two-year-olds. Bull Point and Romantic Touch are two that imme-diately spring to mind. It is always exciting considering how horses like these might improve as three-year-olds and what they might achieve in the next few months. This time of year is a time for two-year-olds to find their feet in easier company. But in the future a class rise will be essen-tial; there are many two-year-olds in my yards that I am sure will make this big jump in the coming weeks and months.One of the best things about racing is that there are always bigger and bet-ter things just around the corner. The supreme opportunities for glory come around so quickly I can hardly contain my excitement. Yes, it might be cold and raining right now, but the first Group One of the spring, the Golden Rose in reality is not too far away and believe me, all my lieutenants and I have well and truly started planning for this race and the rest of the riches that await in the warmer months.Until next month,Gai


OUR YeaR tO Date

From the Pen

Of the Lady Trainer

Dear Gai.

I don’t know if you know this but your record in the Golden Slipper is better (statistically) than Bart’s in the Melbourne Cup. There are a few stables that have a huge number of two-year-olds, but you seem to always come out on top. Do you have a secret? Bart always has preached that a horse has to have a certain amount of miles in its legs heading to the Cup; do you do something albeit on a small-er scale with your two-year-olds heading towards the Slipper?Geoff Huxley, Grafton NSW

Thanks for your letter Geoff. Bart’s winning of 12 Melbourne Cups since 1965 is the most remarkable statistic in the history of the Australian turf, and just to be compared to him with my five Golden Slippers is a real honour. I have a secret, but I don’t keep it a secret if that makes sense. I think it is essential that a two-year-old is at least up and running by Cox Plate time. It is also beneficial for a young horse to have had a trip away well before the Golden Slipper. This gives them a chance to gain expe-rience at the track and fitness and even go for a spell and come back by Slipper time. Overreach had her first start during Caulfield Cup week at Caulfield. Pierro started his career in early October in the Breeders Plate.Then there is the Magic Millions. A two-year-old that is fit for these races is invariably well suited come Slipper time. The Slipper is full of horses with natural talent but by having given my horses plenty of time from October the previous year to show their best and get acclimatised, I feel I have the best chance to win the Slipper. My 2014 Slipper chances will all be up and running in the coming months.

Dear Gai

You always look as you would put it ‘simply divine.’ How do you continue to look great and find great clothes year after year? I am definitely a carnival racegoer and I don’t mind the odd $5 bet on the good looking horses. I saw you at the Ladies’ Luncheon at the races during the Warrnambool May Carnival, and the way you were dressed and the way you handled all the questions was just so wonderful. After all these years it is still so wonderful to see a lady at the top of a traditionally male dominated sport, and looking the part while doing so. Thank you for coming to Warrnambool and I look forward to seeing you there again soon.Susanne Martin, Warrnambool VIC

Wow Susanne, I don’t know what to say. Thank you very much for your magnificent compliments and I can tell you first before anyone else that I will be back at Warrnambool in 2014. It won’t just be me either; I will have a team of horses and will be attack-ing that magnificent carnival head on. I do love shopping as I am sure you do. Wherever I go in the world (including all my Australian travels) I have a look through the shops. You always find treasures hidden in unique shops. I tend to pack for a holiday then come home with twice as much. I am also lucky enough to be an ambassador for David Jones. They have such a wonderful selection of clothes, all at reasonable prices. In my role, I do have a couple of people who pick out clothes for me to pro-mote the company. So the answers to the fashion questions… David Jones and hidden treasures. Seek and you shall find. Thank you again for the email and I will see you at the ‘Bool.’

Hi Denise & Emma

Just got home from celebrating the race result with Wayne and Anne Marie Lambert and Sharee Mar-shall and her partner Leon. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about the run of Equator today. I am obviously still glowing from the day and the gutsy run from Equator. He was so gallant in defeat and to see the race replay again tonight you really appreciate Nash’s ride and the way our horse fought to the very end. This has been an amazing experi-ence for me from day one and I am having a love affair not only with Star Thoroughbreds but also with the Northern Meteors so as a man of my word I would like to buy a share in the filly you are syndicat-ing out of Magsaya.I love the Northern Meteors and also the history that Gai has with the family of this filly plus you bought her at a very good price so this is the next share I would like to invest in. Sorry I can’t be at the stables to-morrow as I work on a Sunday but I really hope Equator has pulled up ok and his success helps you sell a few shares tomorrow in the yearlings you have available.Thank you again for your guidance and professionalism. All the best,Bruce KennemoreSydndicate Owner of Star Thoroughbreds Equator

Letters to Gai

send your letters to [email protected] the deadline for our next issue is august 21.Please include your name, postal address and contact.


Recent WinneRs

star thoroughbreds Oceans the Great snowman

star thoroughbreds houstonBull Point

star thoroughbreds Charing Cross and MasahikoLaidback Larry

PitcrewUnder the sun

Fiorente the ‘parachute horse’ is back in full training after a very brief autumn campaign. The term ‘parachute horse’ comes from the fact that Fiorente landed in Australia a very short time before last year’s Melbourne Cup; it was almost like he was pushed out of the plane and parachuted to the starting gates at the 3200m on the first Tuesday in November. The truth is Gai had a little bit of time to work with him before the 2012 Cup and what she did absolutely worked wonders with him. As an entire, Gai knew Fiorente needed to be switched onto the job very quickly, so she had James McDonald ride him in some unique ways doing some Lady Trainer patterned exercises out at Werribee to get the entire inter-ested as quickly as she could. The rest is history. Fiorente’s was the best run in the race and he ran a brilliant second to Green Moon. The run gave everyone in the ownership and everyone at Tulloch Lodge a real thrill and left everyone

counting down the days until the 2013 Melbourne Cup.After the Cup Fiorente went for a spell then quickly dropped back into Tulloch Lodge for a few weeks over the autumn. The entire was given just the one race in the autumn in the 1400m All-Aged Stakes. Not many people expected much from the stayer first-up over 1400m but Fiorente demonstrated just how much he loved racing and how good he was by storming home for third in the Group One race. After such a brilliant run, the Doomben Cup and other races in Queensland would have been very much winnable for the import, but Gai decided much to the relief of all, that Fiorente would be rested for the spring. It was clearly the right choice as is reflected in the current bet-ting markets not just for the Cup but the Cox Plate as well. In his European days Fiorente managed to beat the globe-trotting Melbourne Cup runner up Red

Cadeaux and was competitive against Japanese champion Orfevre. Fiorente is clearly all class. He showed the class, dash and toughness to be competitive in one of the best 1400m Group One races of the year as well as the Melbourne Cup. Yes Fiorente has had just the two starts in Australia for a second in the race that stops a nation and a third six months later in the Group One All-Aged Stakes that contained five Group One winners. This is a marvellous record and a definite reason for people to get excited. Lloyd Williams has perfected the preparation for a European import to be ready for the Cup, and Gai knows very well that it is important to learn from the best. Dozens of trainers over the journey have learnt from Gai after all. So expect maybe just a few runs for Fiorente before the race that stops the nation. But write him in your black book because when the gates crash back and the roars can be heard, Fiorente will be ready.

FutuRe FoRcasts Fiorente and James McDonald

Photograph by Bradley Photography

article by Zeb armstrong


theseo and Nash RawillerPhotograph by Bradley Photography

stAr thoroughBredsAustralasia’s premier thoroughbred racehorse syndication companyStar Thoroughbreds is recognised throughout Australasia as the premier thoroughbred racehorse syndication com-pany, and has been for close to 20 years. Star Thoroughbreds offers quality horses in share partnerships, purchased from the principal yearling sales in Australia and New Zealand each year, all to be trained by Gai Waterhouse. Denise Martin, who established the company in 1994, owns and operates Star Thoroughbreds and continues to identify brilliant types at all the major sales, importantly at very affordable prices. When quizzed about her favourite all-time Star Thoroughbreds horses, Denise admits her top three change from time to time, but she still has a very special place in her heart for them all. There have been so many wonderful Star Thoroughbreds success stories that it is difficult to narrow a ‘favourites’ list down to just three; but here goes…

sebring (More than Ready x Pure-speed).

This brilliant colt is now a very exciting sire standing at Widden Stud in the Hunter Valley. Sebring only ran as a two-year-old, but in that one season he did more than enough to earn him an early retirement and a life at stud. Sebring was the champion two-year-old of his year and one of the best two-year-olds in recent memory. Sebring had six starts only, all as a two-year-old. Firstly, the future sire won a two-year-old handicap at Rosehill, and then he was thrown straight into the deep end, in the Listed Canonbury Stakes at Randwick where he demolished a quality field by five lengths. Next it was to the Breeders’ Plate where Sebring was again successful in very dominant fashion. From here the son of More Than Ready was given a fresh-en up and a trial before heading to the Golden Slipper. Sebring stormed down the outside on a very heavy track to win the Slipper by a narrow margin. It was a tough win as compared to the brilliance Sebring had shown previously. The young colt now had toughness and class personified and he was given his chance to win the two-year-old Triple Crown. Sebring easily won the Sires’ over 1400m defeating the champion filly Samantha Miss in the process. However in the final leg, the Champagne Stakes over 1600m, Samantha Miss got past Sebring by no more than an inch. It was a wonderful clash between two champions.

theseo (Danewin x Ozone sand).

Theseo was Australia’s Middle Distance Champion and an iron horse for Star Thoroughbreds. During his career he improved as much as a horse possi-bly could. Theseo went from moderate city form to become a five times Group One winner. Once he started improving dramatically as a late three-year-old, he held this brilliant form for three and a half years. Theseo won an Epsom Handicap, the Ranvet Stakes twice, a Mackinnon Stakes and a Chipping Norton. He also won multiple Group Two and Group Three races. He was the first horse De-nise purchased for more than $100,000. On the track, Theseo won a remarkable $3.2 million during his illustrious career. Driefontein (Fastnet Rock x Follow Gold).

This wonderful mare won her first four starts as a two-year-old including the Magic Millions Classic and the Group Three BJ McLachlan Stakes along the way. This was followed by a determined effort to win the Widden Stakes, therefore increasing her significant residual value, as the mare is by the much sought after Fastnet Rock. She completed her two-year-old season as the second highest juvenile prize money earner in all of Australia winning just over $1.5 million; a great result for her owners from an astute Star Thoroughbreds $75,000 Magic Mil-lions sale purchase.

There are many quality Star Thorough-breds performers “hitting” the track right now including several which have regu-larly returned to the winner’s circle.

Kinnersley (al Maher x Miss Radiant).

The ‘old boy’ returned to form recently with an eye catching third in the Listed Winter Challenge at Rosehill. Earlier this year, Kinnersley won the $200,000 Magic Millions Stayers’ Cup on the Gold Coast under the top weight of 59kg. Kinnersley has been winning both Saturday and black type races regularly since 2009. It is easy to see why the now seven-year-old is one of Denise’s all time favourites.

Whittington (tale of the Cat x Maha Chakri).

This magnificent colt won his first career start, in the time honoured Breeders’ Plate in dominant fashion by three lengths at Randwick. The Breeders’ Plate has been the “launching pad” for many very good horses in the past. Whitting-ton then headed to Warwick Farm for a strong win in the Lonhro Plate in the autumn of 2013. He is now being prepared for a tilt at some of the major three-year-old Classics during the spring.

Masahiko (Haradasun x Saffie Darling).

Denise is very excited about the pros-pects of this son of Haradasun. He has won two of his last three Saturday races at metropolitan level and was defeated by the shortest of margins to run second in the other. Those horses which he has defeated most recently have progressed to the winner’s circle themselves, thus franking his form. Masahiko is a tough and very resilient gelding who looks to have a very bright future on the track.

syndicate owners of Driefontein, Dave and Ingrid Murphy made this piece for Denise and the team at star thorough-breds. It now hangs proudly amongst their many other syndicate memorabilia.

to join Denise and the star thoroughbreds juggernaut please call +61 2 9662 3683 or email [email protected]

Gooree Park StudInterview with Gooree Park Stud’s new Racing Manager Monica Barrera.

INteRVIeW

the outstanding success achieved by Gooree Park stud has been well documented over the years. Can you please tell us a bit about the history of Gooree Park stud?

The original Gooree, now referred to as ‘the complex’ in the Gooree Park portfolio, was purchased in 1978 from Lloyd Foyster. Prior to this date, my grandfather had only been agisting his racehorses in Australia and they were trained by Neville Begg who ac-tually trained a very good race-horse in Kapalaran for us. We bought Kapalaran as a yearling from Inglis Easter Sales. The boss then began a vast expansion and purchased more of the surrounding properties. Cullen-bone is now known as the ‘pastoral area’ and Galambine became the ‘stud side’. I believe it is fair to say that he and his team have successfully built a showpiece stud from scratch.As the years went on, he purchased more land in the region and in 1996 we expanded operations into viticulture and planted our first vineyard known as ‘Tul-lamour’. From this, ‘Fords Creek Vine-yard’ was purchased across the road in 1997 and by 1999 we were ready to make our first wines. Since then, the boss has been a keen advocate of advanced viticultural practices that have allowed us the opportunity to develop what is today renowned as high quality wines. My grandmother, Gretchen Cojuangco or ‘Ta’ as the grandchildren call her, has developed organic gardens throughout the farm which are her pride and joy. My grandmother has a very strong passion for all things natural and she is responsible for many of the ar-chitectural designs around the property and the homestead. All of them are her pieces of art and she has an amazing eye for design with natural materials. We have Spanish heritage and the Spanish interpretation for grandmother is ‘Abuelita’. However as young kids we were unable to pronounce this, hence the reason we call grandmother ‘Ta’.

In terms of the racehorse history of Gooree, we actually used to operate as a multitasking commercial stud. In the 1970’s, Planet Kingdom stood as a stallion at the farm. Tommy Smith trained one of his successful sons in Mighty Kingdom who won the Caul-field Cup as a three-year-old and was also reared at Gooree. Tolomeo stood at Gooree and was once the highest priced horse ever exported to Australia before stallion shuttles existed. Our association with Gai has been greater than meets the eye, with Tommy being involved with Gooree before she even took out her trainer’s license. We agist-ed some of his broodmares and reared their progeny, and we also spelled his racehorses. In fact, Bounding Away was born and reared at Gooree. In 1986 when Bounding Away won the Golden Slipper our homebred filly Just Blooming ran 2nd, both were reared at Gooree, so that was a great achieve-ment for the team.In 1990, the farm became privatised and the stallions were dispersed. My grandfather was primarily a breeder but he also raced a few. Obviously since then our racing team has significantly increased parallel to his excitement for his bloodstock. Over the years he has enjoyed a lot of success with his business in the racing industry having bred many winners including Desert War, Northern Meteor, Shower of Roses, Smart Missile, Your Song, Tempest Morn, Swift Alliance, Laser Hawk, Crowned Glory, Romantic Touch, Queen of the Hill, Beauty Watch, Dreamscape, Mr Murphy, San-dy’s Pleasure... the list goes on!He is determined to see the special pedigrees that he has acquired through-out his time in racing from the USA and Australia succeed, and I am in awe of his patience. Romantic Touch is a great example of how he has developed his bloodstock. He is a 100% Gooree bred horse being by Northern Meteor, and his dam side goes back 4 generations in the farm. He first acquired Bosk who

is the dam of Silken Step, the dam of High Heels who produced Desert War, Laser Hawk and Dearness who is the dam of our Group One winner Romantic Touch. He had great satisfaction when he purchased Candy Bird who was carrying Bush Padre, who then went on to win over a million dollars in races including the Doomben Cup! He purchased a mare from the knackery called Miss Clementine for $800, and it was a painstaking task for Andrew Bad-dock to find her before it was too late! This mare is the great dam of our black type performed mare Agueda. He has bred a lot of good fillies and now his goal to breed successful commercial stallions is coming to fruition. Some-times his choice in bloodstock may be difficult for some to understand, but he backs his judgement and will wait to see it pay off.

how did your grandfather become interested and involved in racing horses in australia? When I asked him this question, he told me that Australia is a horse country and that the Philippines is very limit-ed in terms of horse racing. Australia was geographically the closest to his home and as a beautiful country with the friendliest people there was no question for him to establish his racing

Gai and I have the same goals and interests when it comes to Gooree horses, and that is to give each racehorse the opportunity to show its maximum potential at the right time...


empire here. His interest in racing stems back in the family to my great grandfather, his father, who we refer to as Lolo Endeng. We have a good racehorse, which is now a stallion, called Don Eduardo who is actually named after him. Growing up, my grandfather took a strong interest in his father’s passion of breeding horses that were used for transport. Lolo Endeng purchased his stallion from Australia and bred it to native horses in the Phil-ippines even before WW2. There was no access to gasoline at this time due to the Japanese army seizing all the supplies, and the Filipinos had to rely on horse drawn carriages. After the war, he began breeding racehorses in the Philippines and was racing them with friends who shared his interest.My grandfather broadened his interest into racehorses in the USA where he knew friends that were already invest-ing over there. Interestingly, the first racehorse he purchased in the USA he named after his grandfather’s sister Dona Ysidra Cojuangco. This mare then went to stud and he sent her to Lyphard. Amazingly, this first foal he bred outside of the Philippines turned out to be the racehorse, Manila, who was inducted into the American Racing Hall of Fame following his outstanding racing career. Unfortunately, due to per-sonal circumstance, he was unable to

race the stallion himself and had to sell him. Needless to say, he had a great thrill to be so strongly associated with a horse of this calibre, and I believe this experience further ignited his passion for breeding.

Your grandfather and Gai have shared a strong relationship throughout the history of Gooree Park, what has been his most satisfying and successful moments racing with Gai? Northern Meteor of course! Gai started training for Gooree around 15 years ago. His first winner with Gai was a mare called Actress who won two stakes races, and we have since shared a LOT of great success stories. It is quite an honour that Gai has chosen two out of her four stables to be named after Gooree homebred champions Desert War and Tempest Morn, whilst Bounding Away was also reared at the farm too. What do you think has been the key to the success of Gooree Park stud? I believe a key factor to the success of the farm is our team. Our staff are dedicated and put in the hard yards be-cause they love our horses and the farm, and this is of utmost value

in our business. We have employees that have been with us from the very beginning and have witnessed and contributed to the growth and success of Gooree. As breeders, we take a lot of pride in the idea that we breed tough, sound horses. We lend this to our geo-graphical attributes. It is no coincidence that 40 minutes away is Corumbene Stud that bred the 2013 Golden Slipper winner in Overreach. The farm offers a great design for rearing young horses - undulating hills, big 40 acre paddocks, hard ground to toughen their feet and bones. This foundation means that as racehorses they are advantaged as they can take the work load and are tough. Just as an example, in her three-year-old Autumn/Winter campaign Tempest Morn ran in seven Group One races across 3 states and ran 1st and 2nd in all of them. Desert War, our 4th generation homebred known as ‘The War Horse’ captured the imagination of the public through his bold catch-me-if-you-can tactics to win 6 Group One races. You mentioned that a team is essen-tial to the success of any business, who do you work with closely within your role?

It goes without saying, I work very closely with the boss, Eduardo

Natasha Kent, Gai Waterhouse, Monica Barrera, andrew Baddock, Nash Rawiller and Wassim GazalPhotograph by Bradley Photography


Cojuangco. He is the head of the team and I have to admit that he is incredible to work for. In trying to achieve suc-cess, however, I work very closely with quite a few people. I strongly believe that communication is the key to success and I have a great network internally with the team at Gooree and also with our trainers. Andrew Baddock (stud manager) and John Peatfield (Gooree vet) have a wealth of knowledge for me to tap into. Their experience not only with Gooree, but also the racing indus-try as a whole, is invaluable and I regu-larly enjoy bouncing ideas off them and hearing their thoughts and ideas.Jamie Thomsen is our pre-trainer at Gooree, and he recently joined our team during the 2013 Autumn Carnival. He is the son of legendary trainer, Bobby Thomsen, and he has a lot to add to Gooree having watched his father train many Group One winners. One of our valued long term staff is Bob Mc-Crae who has been working at Gooree for over 20 years and is a huge help to me in managing our spellers at Gooree.Max Crockett has been with the boss since day one and now his son Cameron has joined him in breaking in our year-lings. He’s earned the reputation as one of the industry’s best breakers and I’m lucky to get to see his methods.I get a lot of support from our office at Gooree from Jeanette Tioseco and Elise Wildner, who actually play a very pivotal role in the smooth running of the business. Mike Barrera, my father, is heavily involved as the Director and is an absolute all-rounder in terms of offer-ing support in every facet of Gooree.I value each of our trainers equally, and am so grateful for their encouragement and support in my role. I have found them all to be good to deal with and in the seven months that I have been in this job I have been able to deepen my wealth of knowledge from them!

how did you arrive at the position you are at today, at what point did you re-alise you wanted to stay in the family business? I was offered the job as Racing Manager for Gooree in December 2012. I had a brief stint with Joe Pride before I really fuelled my interest in Gooree race-horses when I began to work for Gai in 2009. After some time, I moved to Bart Cummings Racing to broaden my knowl-edge and experience with a different ap-proach. I had caught the racing bug.Growing up my grandfather and grand-mother wanted us to know horses. Vikki Canon is one of our longest serving members of staff and our racehorse midwife. She was given this great feat and she bravely took on his challenge

of educating thirteen grandchildren. She taught us the ropes. She had us clean-ing boxes and learning basic horse hus-bandry and she was the first person to put any of us on a horse. It couldn’t have been easy, especially with me. I say this because I believe there must be some reason that I was no longer referred to around the farm and my family as Moni-ca, but I had earned the nickname “Holy Terror” from my grandfather. As a young teenager, I had dabbled in showjumping and dressage, but this never caught my attention the way the racing industry did. I had graduated from the University of Sydney and had been managing a small portfolio of racehorses that I had leased from Gooree for a few months. My interest and passion grew like wildfire and I suppose the boss identified this in me. When he offered me the job, it was probably the first time I realised I could actually have a career in the family business. I was always privy to the idea that business and family are hard to mix, and I probably never looked at a job with Gooree because of this. I feel so lucky

to have this opportunity, and in terms of Gooree as a family business I only hope to make them very proud.

how has your relationship pro-gressed since then and what did you learn from your initial experience working with Gai?

Gai and I have the same goals and in-terests when it comes to Gooree horses, and that is to give each racehorse the opportunity to show its maximum po-tential at the right time. Working for Gai taught me to have the discipline and pro-fessionalism that is required in business. In watching her, she has also taught me the value in acknowledging the efforts of the people that are involved in your suc-cess, no matter how great or small their role is. Most importantly, I have learned how to be a part of a team. Where would you like to see yourself and the stud ideally placed in 10 years?As the boss says, ‘Only God Knows!’

INDUstRY FOCUs: GORee PaRK stUD (cont...)


‘Tying-Up’ or Exertional Rhabdomyolysis is a muscular disorder occurring after exercise. It was originally called ‘Monday Morning Disease’, as carthorses were fed the same high-grain feed on Sundays, which were non-working days. On Mon-days when these horses commenced work, they developed acute muscle pain to the point where they could not move; hence ‘set fast’ was another name for this disease. If the muscle damage is se-vere enough, the breakdown products of muscle, called myoglobin, damages the kidneys. If enough muscle is damaged, irreversible kidney damage and death can occur.Fortunately most of the cases we see in racehorses are not this severe and not life threatening. They can however have a detrimental affect on performance. Horses that are prone to this disorder, mostly fillies, should be worked seven days a week. If less work is given on a particular day, the grain content of the feed should also be reduced.The cause of ‘tying-up’ is still unknown but diet, exercise, training status, hor-

monal and genetic factors are thought to play a role. Initially the problem was thought to be a build-up of lactic acid in muscle. This has been disproven as most of these horses are alkalotic, or have a high blood pH, not a low one. In quarter horses a genetic defect termed Poly-saccharide Storage Myopathy has been identified where a build-up of glycogen in muscle causes muscle damage. This same genetic defect has not been found to date in thoroughbreds. Once a horse shows the clinical signs of lameness, stiff stilted gait, palpable muscle pain, sweating, high heart rate and respiratory rate, treatment should be sought from a veterinarian. Blood levels of the muscle enzymes CPK and AST can be mea-sured to give a definitive diagnosis. In se-vere cases, the horse’s urine will be red in colour due to the presence of muscle breakdown products or myoglobin. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as phen-ylbutazone are indicated to reduce pain and the inflammation in muscle. Care should be taken, however, to ensure that the horse is well-hydrated, as these

drugs are also toxic to the kidneys. Electrolytes are often given by stomach tube, to stimulate water intake and, in severe cases, intravenous fluid therapy is warranted.Prevention is again better than cure and titrating work and feed is the important consideration. Swimming these horses prior to work can also be effective in re-ducing the incidence of this disease. The administration of branched chain amino acid paste (Branch Paste) has proven useful prior to fast work. The mechanism of action is thought to be reduction of lactic acid production. Although this is not considered to be the direct cause of ‘tying-up’, use of this preparation results in lowering of muscle enzymes and improvement in clinical signs. Phenyt-oin (Rexin) has also been used in the management of these horses. This drug inhibits calcium release from inside muscle cells and over time can lessen the degree of ‘tying-up’ in some horses. As this drug has a significant withholding period, it is not as useful in a horse that is close to racing.

on ‘tying-up syndrome’Dr leaNNe begg


Photograph: Dr Leanne Begg applying her expertise to Oceans

tommy Berry on OverreachPhotograph by Bradley Photography

extra... extra... read all about itRacing News for the year to date

The first half of 2013 in the Australi-an racing industry was a monumen-tal period in the history of the sport of kings. Perhaps our best sprinter ever, Black Caviar retired unbeaten; two great three-year-olds Pierro and All Too Hard were also retired and sent to stud; while champion mare More Joyous was retired and has been booked in for a date with Fran-kel. They were potentially the four best horses in racing in Australia in 2013 and they now leave a big gap that will no doubt be filled by some up and coming young horses in the spring.The three-year-olds dominat-ed throughout the autumn. It’s A Dundeel became the first horse to win the three-year-old Triple Crown since Octagonal in 1996. Not even the champ the Big O won with as much authority as Murray Baker’s Kiwi colt. Geldings like Super Cool and Fiveandahalfstar were close to unbeatable in the middle distance Weight for Age races across New South Wales and Victoria. Pierro and All Too Hard, two of the best colts in recent memory dominated the shorter WFA races across the two states. The two major two-year-old races were won by connections at the opposite ends of the spectrum by two fillies that may just have the world at their feet. The beautiful little filly Miracles Of Life ridden by the 2kg claiming apprentice from South Australia Lauren Stojakovic who won the Blue Diamond at Caulfield in fantastic fashion. There were racetrack whispers leading up to

the race regarding the inexperience of Lauren in relation to riding the fa-vourite in such an important and rich race. But Lauren put all the doubters to rest with a 10 out of 10 ride and won the race very easily. A perfect ride allowed the filly to relax and win as she wished. Miracles Of Life is trained by unheralded South Austral-ian horseman Daniel Clarken, a man who has big plans for his filly for the upcoming spring. The other major two-year-old race, the Golden Slip-per, was won by Gai Waterhouse with the superb filly Overreach ridden in a very confident manner by Tommy Berry. This win gave Gai Waterhouse her 5th Slipper winner out of the last twelve that have been run. That is an amazing statistic. That means Gai has won 42% of the last twelve Slippers that have been run. Remember that this is the richest two-year-old race in the world. It must be a real confidence booster for owners and potential owners to know these statistics. The Brisbane winter carnival was one to remember with many great winners in the sunshine state’s time hon-oured races. However like Doncas-ter day in Sydney almost every year, a great deal of the winter meetings in Queensland (and the off-season meetings in Sydney) were competed on very heavy tracks. Gooree geld-ing Romantic Touch improved from a midweek meeting to a Group One winner during the winter and he like Pitcrew, Bull Point and a few other young horses at Tulloch Lodge are looking at a successful spring.



Northern Glory (Northern Meteor x Cliantha) won two low key off-season two-year-old races in June at Randwick over 1200m. However these two wins were absolutely outstanding and were good enough for Northern Glory to earn the performance of the year (so far) award. The first win on 8 June was on a dead 5 track and the filly ridden perfectly by Alysha Collett sat back in the field and stormed down the outside to win with authority in devastating fashion. Win number two on 22 June was equally as impressive. This win was on a heavy 10 track; a track so wet and under conditions so bad, that the races were called off immediately after the race, half way through the card. Again Alysha Collett rode the filly perfectly sitting back in the field and unleashing a well-timed run shortly after the turn.These two wins were so good due to the turn of foot shown by the filly on tracks at almost opposite ends of the wet/dry scale. Northern Glory displayed an ability to travel beautifully and accelerate when required. Alysha Collett also deserves a wrap for the way she positioned the filly in these two wins and the confidence she displayed to just wait and wait and trust the filly’s ability. The Golden Rose in mid-September is no doubt at the forefront of thoughts for this filly. The Golden Rose has provided a great picture for the future in recent years with winners like Forensics and Epaulette going on to bigger and better things after winning the race.

NortherN glorytwo great Performancesarticle by Zeb armstrong

Photograph by Bradley Photography

Northern Glory looks as if she will eat up the 1400m and she of course will get a slight weight relief for being a filly. At this stage Nothern Glory has had just five starts. At her debut she smashed a handy field at Kembla Grange by three and a half lengths. Start number two was at Doomben in a Group Three race where the filly ran a brave fourth to the likes of Sweet Idea (Golden Slipper

placegetter) and Missy Longstocking (multiple stakes winner). Then it was a quick spell before returning at a Listed race at Scone where she came from a long way back to run a fantastic third. Then it was the above mentioned two straight wins at Randwick. So three wins, a 4th and a 3rd; the future certainly looks bright for this filly that will grow, mature and be a force come the spring.

alysha Collett on Northern Glory Photograph by Bradley Photography


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Pierro has left Tulloch Lodge for a career in the breeding barn; we are of course all sad to see him go, but at the same time we wish him all the best. There has been a lot of press dedicated to his sale price and his value to his new owners; but what needs more attention is his actual record on the track. He was a champion, a true champion and behind the immortal Black Caviar, the second best horse Australia has seen in the last five years. He had fourteen starts for eleven wins, two seconds and one third. Yes, fourteen starts is not a huge amount for such a champion, but that is the nature of the game. On reading through the data on all these fourteen starts, it becomes very apparent that despite being labelled a ‘champion’ Pierro may not have received enough plaudits. In every one of Pierro’s fourteen starts, he either did something remarkable or beat fellow great horses. Consider…Pierro’s first start way back on 1 October 2011 in the Breeders Plate was just a regulation win, but eight minutes after the race was won, Gai made no secret that the horse was a champion and would win the Golden Slipper in six months time. Some ‘racing identities’ called her mad; after all it was just a half-length win in only fair time and in hindsight the opposition this day have not really risen to any great heights. But as it turns out the colt won simply on talent because he still had a long way to go fitness wise, and Gai’s predictions turned out to become reality.At Pierro’s second start, the Silver Slipper, five months after the Breeders Plate, the colt walked into the mounting yard looking short of a run, fat and with a lot

of improvement left in him. But this is exactly how Gai wanted him to look considering what he was aimed at for the remainder of the autumn. Pierro won this race and the experts were starting to take notice that this colt could win despite looking like he still needed a run and had lots of improvement left in him.The next start was in the Todman and Pierro managed to beat Epau-lette who is a subsequent Group One winner and the horse to have pushed Black Caviar the most almost in her entire career. Next, it was the Golden Slipper and Pierro fulfilled Gai’s earlier prediction by winning fairly easily. In the pro-cess he accounted for the race favourite and Blue Diamond winner Samaready as well as Snitzerland. Snitzerland of course has gone on to win multiple Group Two and Three races and is one of the most exciting fillies in training in Aus-tralia. After claiming the Slipper, with eyes on the Triple Crown, Gai sent Pierro to the Sires’ and here he managed to beat another boom colt All Too Hard by two lengths. All Too Hard won a Group One race at this track and distance at his last start to demonstrate that he could still win big races in Sydney. Pierro really showed off his cham-pion qualities in this win and it was clearly one of his best. In the third leg of the Sydney Triple Crown for two-year-olds, the Champagne Stakes, Pierro beat Dear Demi by three lengths. Dear Demi has since won the VRC Oaks and ran second and third in several other Group One Classics.After a spell, Pierro returned as a three-year-old in the Run to the Rose over 1200m at Rosehill. Here Pierro was again carrying a lot

of condition and was sent to the race looking very happy and well fed with an eye on the later spring Classics. He could not be tuned up fully first up because he was head-ing to the Cox Plate and that was the day he needed to peak, not this day at Rosehill. Pierro also in this race was required to carry 60kg which is a huge burden for a three-year-old. Yet he still managed to win the race and in the process he again beat Epaulette as well as last start Group One winner (by five lengths) Your Song. This was another remarkable performance against really good horses, but this time Pierro also had the 60kg to contend with. It did not even go close to stopping him. Next it was down to Victoria for Pierro forthe Bill Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley. Generally a horse is granted excuses at its first start in a different state, running in a different direction; but Pierro did not need any excuses, he won the Stutt Stakes by five lengths despite all the above mentioned circum-stances. At Pierro’s next start in the Caulfield Guineas, defeat greeted the colt for the first time. Yet, it was still clearly the best run in the race. Pierro, like Kingston Town and countless others before him, was a little lost around Caulfield. He was wide, he was bustled up the hill, he was not let in and on hitting the front, he was tired and would have been excused had he run last. But he held on for second, beaten by the colt All Too Hard. Beaten half a length by a horse considered by many to be his equal after one of the most torrid runs seen in recent memory in a Classic at Caulfield. This was a defeat yes, but it too was an outstanding performance and in fact was one of Pierro’s

Two years of excellencePierro is the most exiting horse i have ever trained. he possesses all the attributes of a champion - gai Waterhouse

Pierroarticle by Zeb armstrong


best runs. Then it was off to the Cox Plate where Pierro ran third. Third in the best Weight For Age in Australia is nothing to be sneezed at, especially as a three-year-old. Pierro was sent for a spell after the Cox Plate. He was not at his best in the Cox Plate, but natural ability and class still got him into third place. Again he could have simply wilted and would have been forgiven, but he let his heart take him into third place. First up in the Sydney autumn Pierro tackled the Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill over 1400m on a heavy track. Again, look at all the potential excuses; 1400m, first up, heavy track not to mention a star studded field. But again Pierro won just like a champion should. He held out the in-form Rebel Dane, boom colt Proisir not to mention Sydney three-year-old Triple Crown winner It’s A Dundeel. Another great win and a further indication of Pierro’s champion status.Next it was back in distance and the Group One Canterbury Stakes over 1300m. Here Pierro had to beat a super field of older horses including the second best horse in Sydney, More Joyous. Again he won. He beat More Joyous in a race she had won the previous two years. Pierro also beat Solzhenit-

syn who was a Group One winner in the previous spring. After the Canterbury Stakes, Gai took Pierro to the traditional Doncaster lead up, the Group One George Ryder Stakes. After a slightly wide run, Pierro managed to dig deep to win the race by half a length from King Mufhasa and Shoot Out. Between them, these two geldings have won fifteen Group One races.Pierro’s last start was in the Don-caster Handicap and as is usually the case with Doncaster week, the heavens opened. Yes, Pierro was proven on the heavy, but in this case, the colt was burdened with 57kg. 57kg for a three-year-old on a heavy track in an open handicap is a task that not even Pierro could overcome. The horse that beat him, Sacred Falls carried 53kg for being the same age. There is no doubt Pierro deserved the 57kg;

we can’t call a horse a champion then complain about the weight he receives in the biggest races. But on a heavy track, carrying weight is harder than it is on a dry track. Pierro simply couldn’t match the turn of foot of the other horse with the 4kg less on his back. But Pierro didn’t give up. He didn’t accept his fate. He tried his hardest and gave everything he had and still finished second. Neither Tulloch, nor Kingston Town ever carried as much as 57kg as a three-year-old in an open hand-icap. Pierro was retired having never run a bad race, and short of Black Caviar who he never faced, he comprehensively, and in some cases, regularly beat the next three or four best horses in the country. More Joyous, All Too Hard, Epau-lette, Snitzerland, Dear Demi, Your Song and Shoot Out unless they are facing each other, generally start favourite or second favourite in the majority of their races. They are all proven gun horses and they all share one thing in common: they were all beaten by Pierro. The son of Lonhro was a champion and if he is half as good at stud as he was on the track, the Australian racing industry is in for generations of quality horses with class, heart and a will to win.

the best horse i’ve ridden. Being associated with him over the last 18 months was one of the most enjoy-able times of my career. he is an absolute champion with a tremendous will to win - nash rawiller

Nash Rawiller on PierroPhotograph by Bradley Photography


Whilst it is said that “manners maketh the man”, it is certain that “mare-books maketh the stallion”.That being the case, Pierro is already, though not in the Mafia sense, a ‘uomo d’onore’ – a ‘made man’.Not only is he a horse whose man-ners would make him a model for any treatise on equine etiquette; he is also a stallion who surely boasts the finest book of mares ever afforded an Austral-ian first-season sire.For ye of little faith who require more than just our word on that score, we here, for the first time, open the curtain a crack on some of the mares who will be paying homage to Pierro this season.Try, for starters, some 60 or so Group winners and/or dams of Group winners, alongside a further 30 or so Listed winners and/or dams of Listed winners. Rest assured that by the time his book closes, over 100 of Pierro’s mares will be black-type winners themselves and/or already have pro-duced black-type winners.Now add another 20 or so sisters (including half or 3-parts sisters) to Group winners and a picture emerges of a stallion blessed with a mare-book unmatched in the annals of first-season sires.Space constraints prevent a full listing of the mares already booked but here is just a taste of some household names:The Group One winners in-clude such as Cox Plate heroine Dane Ripper, Blue Diamond winner sleek Chassis, Thousand Guineas winner Irish Lights, Emirates winner Bonano-va, Myer Classic winner hurtle Myrtle, Oaks winners Dizelle and Larrocha and Futurity winner aqua d’amore.Now throw in the dam of – silence please – Fastnet Rock, alongside the dams of triple Group One winners Ortensia and scintillation, dual Group One winner Road to Rock, champion two-year-old Meurice, Galaxy winner snowland (as well as snippetson, Portillo etc.), Railway Stakes winner Covertly, VRC Oaks winner arap-aho Miss and WA Derby, Oaks and Guineas winner Dreamaway. We could mention Group Two winners like (or the dams of) shania Dane, satin shoes, Buffering, Military Rose, Criterion,

PIeRRO: tWO YeaRs OF exCeLLeNCe(cont)

PierroPhotograph by Bradley Photography

Rocha etc. and Group Three/Listed winners like Bliss street, November Flight, Upon this Rock, arctic Flight, augusta Proud, she’s Meaner, Gybe and so many others.But we think you get the point, even without adding sisters to the likes of Fastnet Rock, Overreach, Magnus, samaready, eremein, Red Dazzler, amelia’s Dream, hips Don’t Lie, Domesday, Beneteau, Raheeb, etc.One thing’s for sure – come the Magic Millions, Karaka, Easter and other yearling sales of 2016, there is

only going to be one first-crop year-ling sire on the top of every buyer’s shopping list: Pierro.Because, his near-perfect race-re-cord and matchless mare-book aside, his physique is so flawless, his action so fluid and his tempera-ment so admirable that his foals can scarcely fail to embody and express ‘the three P’s’ – that ‘holy trinity’ of racing and breeding success – pedi-gree, physique, performance.

Pierro, ci salutiamo!

James Bester dissects Pierro’s first book of mares.article by James Bester

Pierro is already, though not in the Mafia sense, a ‘uomo d’onore’ – a ‘made man’...


in the sPotlight: Racing stable manager John Livingstone.

What are your primary roles at tulloch Lodge?The overall management and super-vision of all four GW Racing Stables* ensuring that the standards are maintained with ambition for constant improvement, including the acquire-ment of more responsible management from our stable managers (foremen). Duties include dealing with the efficien-cy of staff (including interviews / hiring), rostering, maintenance requirements, ordering and distribution of feed, track readings for metro meetings, riding track work, assisting Gai for training purposes when necessary, inspect-ing the accommodation and all other issues regarding the stable manager role. I also oversee and supervise horse movements, updates and work lists.*Tempest Morn Lodge, Desert War, Bounding Away and Tulloch Lodge.

how did you get the job?I came through a work experience program in 1999 when I was still in high

school. I graduated in 2001 and was offered full time employment straight away as I was already working con-sistently on a casual basis during my schooling.

What does a regular day entail?4am start, riding trackwork / assist-ing Gai at the trainers’ tower when required; twice a week I do the feed audit and order for 140 horses. Going through applicant emails takes up a good bit of my day but I try and prioritise to get myself around all four stables to oversee the staff and horses both morning and afternoon. Basically I am a second set of eyes for Gai. The weekly foremen’s roster is a task that has to be perfected every Tuesday for our week ahead. I fax through to Gai and mail to all office staff the details of what each foremen will be doing for the week; their duties include saddling at the races /weekends off/ public hol-idays and annual leave. There is also a roster for the beach supervisor, work list duties and any workers

INteRVIeW

compensation cases. We have two tiers of foremen’s meetings every Mon-day and Tuesday where each foremen gets the chance to discuss how his or her stable is running, any maintenance issues, staffing issues and / or any gear to be ordered and I am responsible for following up any and all of these issues. The rest of my time is spent managing four staffing rosters for our four yards and roughly 90 staff.

any favourite tulloch Lodge horses from the past or present?I have a few. I rode and strapped Group One winners Northern Meteor, Manhattan Rain, Dance Hero and Sun-day Joy so they’re all pretty special to me. One of my all-time favourites was a horse called Specialist. He won five straight in town and could have been anything with Group One form littered around him. He sadly had a heart attack and died in 2002. It was very sad to see him pass.

What is the most genius move you have ever seen Gai make in regards to a horse that was no good but then started going great? I’ve seen quite a few but the one that sticks out was a mare called Rapida. She was an ageing mare out of form with a few duck eggs next to her name. Back when the stock whip was legal we used to chase them over the jumps freehand. We did this with her oneday with blinkers on over at the mile bullring and she came out with a com-plete form reversal to get beaten in a photo by Group horses Swiss Echo and Dress Circle at her next start. I think she was just going through the motions but this certainly woke her up and showed me another way to get the best out of disinterested mares.

have you ever disagreed with Gai over an issue with a horse and-

John Livingstone with Manhattan Rain and GaiPhotograph by Bradley Photography


eventually convinced her you were right and the horse went on to do great things to vindicate your posi-tion?Gai and I have always had a good relationship, I find nowadays it can be a little more stressful being in such a demanding position but we can always talk through what needs to be done. Some days the voice is sterner than others. We did have a horse one time that Gai was planning to spell. She had only had two starts that prep; ran great first up then disappointed second up and was a bit short in her action after the second run. Gai said she would spell her and I said we should look deeper into it before we do. I got our equine physio to go over her and kept the swimming and beach right up to her. Within the week she was respond-ing to all of this so Gai kept her in work and found a race about three weeks later for her (at which stage Gai had gone on her annual holidays overseas so I was managing her as well as every other horse in the stable). The rest is history. She came out and won then was stakes placed the following run. Not bad as she was a Fastnet Rock mare so that added to her broodmare value. It made good on my opinion. Gai did thank me for it.

the team has a very famous leader but Gai can’t tend to 130 horses and

hundreds of owners alone. a good team is essential and multiple staff who could train in their own right when required. Do you see yourself as an independent trainer one day? Absolutely without a doubt in my mind. Being that I’ve had international experi-ence too I feel I’ve got a few more tricks up the sleeve than most. As well as Gai, I have worked for Racehorse train-ing greats like Todd Pletcher (USA), Michael Dickinson (UK) and Kevin Prendergast (Ireland) among others. It really opens your eyes to another world out there.The training methods vary so much from continent to continent so I would encourage any young racing people to go over and expand their mind and relationships.

apart from the knowledge that Gai trusts your judgement, what is the most rewarding part of your job? I know I’m especially good at what I do but I never take anything for granted. I’m always looking for ways to improve myself and listen to the people that can give me the advice to suit the situation. Experience and opportunity are two factors I believe are necessary to make some headway in this game and I’m fortunate that Gai amongst many others have given me both. Obviously any time we are training winners it is most rewarding because that’s what we are here to do. For me, the respect of my peers and other employees is something that kicks me along a bit also. A good man once told me you can’t demand respect you have to earn it so I always make an effort in whatever I’m doing, not solely for that reason but it’s just in my make-up to have a strong honest work ethic and hopefully others see it and follow suit. We have a great senior team at Tulloch Lodge that are always there for each other and that is very comforting. There is certainly never a dull moment work-ing here too and I could write several books on the stories of staff and horses here over the years alone! There has to be some fun with all the seriousness of a multi-million dollar stable surely :-)

Desert WarPhotgraph by Bradley Photograsphy


John Livingstone strapping Northern Meteor Photograph by Bradley Photography

a good man once told me you can’t demand respect you have to earn it so I al-ways make an effort in whatever I’m doing, not solely for that reason but it’s just in my make-up to have a strong honest work ethic and hopefully others see it and follow suit...

to geld or not to geld?“To geld or not to geld: that is the ques-tion!” (with apologies to the Bard).There is no more fraught issue between trainer and owner than the “gelding” one. I overhear Gai trying to explain the issues when she thinks gelding a colt is the best option: “He’s getting just too big in the shoulder. He’s developed very colty habits”.Every owner dreams of having a Pierro or Sebring to give them (and their chil-dren and children’s children) a ‘comfort-able old age’. The trainer, naturally, is mindful of confirmation and behavioural problems that can develop and stop a racehorse approaching his potential, and the owner, the best result.Gai is very mindful of the balance. No one can deny Gai is Australia’s ‘stallion maker’. She has achieved glory and a payday for owners recently with quite a few: Pierro and Sebring are two exam-ples, but there have been many more including Northern Meteor, Manhattan Rain, Nothin’ Leica Dane, Squamosa and Swift Alliance; all of which are still serving in Australia right now.But my close friend and keen racing man, Peter Lawrence, sees it, as I’m sure other owners do, as almost a conspiracy by Gai to, in his words, “steal their nuts”. I haven’t been able to assuage him by my reminding him that Gai only wants to geld his horse – not himself!I’ve repeated, to Peter, the no doubt, apocryphal parable, I was told as a

child, about the ‘glass-bottle’ monkey trap that contained a nut as bait. A doomed monkey would put his hand in and grab the nut and refuse to let go. Whilst ever his hand held the nut, he could not withdraw his hand. But he couldn’t bring himself to let go of it. To me, that’s a pretty good analogy of Peter’s ‘gelding aversion’. If it is not good enough as a colt, second prize isn’t bad (and better than noth-ing) – an effective gelding.Many horses are denied their full potential because owners “won’t let go of the monkey’s nut”, as it were (and forgive the poor pun). If they’d owned Kingstown Town and had their way, the champion may well have died a maiden.In considering the question, it’s useful to remind oneself what happens in the wild. The alpha male usually has a harem of about a dozen mares. The corresponding 11 beta males are left as outcast bachelors. And the ‘wild’ breed improves by only using the ‘best’ male to breed – all part of evolution. Sadly for the Alpha male horse, they don’t have a long life expectancy in the wild, in contrast to mares and the “Betas”.Correspondingly, so that the thor-ough-bred breed improves, we only need/want 1% of males to be entire and shape the breed. The good news for the owners of geldings is that the geldings race truer and for much longer.

Connections must, as a group, realise this. Nearly all entires (E) are gelded (G) by the end of their careers.As metropolitan male two-year-olds, there is roughly a 50-50 split between the two groups;I concede entires appear, statistically, better racehorses. But, why wouldn’t they be? They must, as a group, be “Mr Perfects”, be much more valuable (to want to preserve prospective stud

Many horses are denied their full potential because owners ‘won’t let go of the “monkey’s nut...”

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value), be better conformed (not heavy-shouldered horses, likely to deteriorate as they mature) and not have testosterone-induced behavioural problems. Hence the predominance of geldings in Slippers and Melbourne Cups.But, I know as a form student, entires are inconsistent betting propositions and penalise them sometimes. Entires un-derperform their market price consistent-ly and significantly. Geldings, converse-ly, are better betting propositions.For the sake of fullness, I should add horses do improve a bit in general hav-ing been gelded (and for the rest of the subsequent preparation). More impor-tantly, it often stops the stallion disaster or train wreck – those that should have been gelded get worse. To illustrate this point, Gai will persist with a runner she was allowed to geld but sack an entire she was stopped from cutting.I recently read an article by a James Gallagher, science reporter of the BBC, which gave me no pleasure personally but is on the point. He revealed eunuchs live much longer than men. His cruel punch line was “Will castration earn a few extra candles?”The journalist wrote: “Castration had a huge effect on the lifespans of Kore-an men, according to an analysis of hundreds of years of eunuch “family” re-cords. They lived up to 19 years longer than uncastrated men from the same social class and even outlived members of the royal family. The researchers be-lieve the findings show male hormones shorten life expectancy.Eunuchs had important roles in many cultures from protecting harems to cas-trati superstar singing sensations. The imperial court of the Korean Chosun dy-nasty used eunuchs to guard the gates and manage food. They were the only men outside the royal family allowed to spend the night in the palace. They could not have children of their own, so they adopted girls or castrated boys. Re-searchers in South Korea analysed the genealogical record of these “eunuch families”.They worked out the lifespans of 81 eunuchs born between 1556 and 1861. The average age was 70 years, including three centenarians - the oldest reached 109. By comparison, men in other families in the noble classes lived into their early 50s. Males in the royal family lasted until they were just 45 on average. Instead he thinks the data “pro-vides compelling evidence that the male sex hormone reduces male lifespan”.Men vs women. Women tend to outlive men across human societies. However, theories are hard to test in experiments and the exact

age Percentage (g) Percentage (e)3 yos 76% 24%4 yos 93% 7%6 yos 98% 2%

Percentage of gelded to non gelded

reason for the difference is uncertain.One thought is that male sex hormones such as testosterone, which are largely produced in the testes, could be damag-ing. The researchers said the hormones could weaken the immune system or damage the heart. Castration would pre-vent most of the hormone from being

produced, protecting the body from any damaging effect and prolonging lifespan.Dr Min said: “It is quite possible that testosterone reduction therapy extends male lifespan, however, we may need to consider the side effects of it, mainly the reduction of sex drive in males.”Very troubling.

Dance heroPhotograph by Bradley Photography


Following on from the last month of racing in Sydney in which PITCREW(Se-bring) and NORTHERN GLORY(North-ern Meteor) were both impressive back-to-back winners, I thought it was timely to visit the ongoing success of Gai Waterhouse as an emerging trainer of succesful Stallions. Many critics will argue the question of what makes a champion trainer. Pre-mierships? Group One winners?Overall winners? Strike-Rate? When analysing a promising young colt, one important factor that is often discussed at race-courses and yearling sales, is a trainer’s ability to not only set the foundation for a potential stallion but to ensure the colt has a race record worthy of commercial appeal. Providing this is achieved, it is then up to the stud to book the mares

and ultimately the stallion himself to complete the transition of champion colt to champion stallion. Angus Armanasco, Rick Hore-Lacy, Lee Freedman, Paul Perry and John Hawkes are almost al-ways mentioned having conditioned the racing careers of a number of our most influential stallions of the last 30 years. After the last racing season it would be fair to include Gai Waterhouse as an addition to that list. With a powerful Darlley arsenal aside, how many trainers have trained more than one Group One winner in a single season that were sired by stallions trained by the same trainer? (Fat Al - Epsom, Romantic Touch - J.J Atkins) The numbers achieved this sea-son by the Waterhouse trained cham-pion first crop sires Sebring & Northern Meteor are unprecedented if you consid-

er the modern day record of 16 individu-al first crop two-year-old winners (shared by Lion Hunter and More Than Ready). Combined the two stallions have had more two-year-old winners this season than Redoute’s Choice, Encosta de Lago, Lonhro, More Than Ready, Snitzel and Fastnet Rock put together. For two stallions to achieve 30+ individ-ual winners and 16 stakes horses whilst competing with each other in the same season is something that will rarely be repeated, certainly not by two stallions who were trained by the same stable. This must surely be a nod to not only the potential ongoing success of the aforementioned two stallions but that of the likes of champion PIERRO, Group One winner MANHATTAN RAIN and the talented DREAMSCAPE.

Gai Waterhouse:The Stallion Makerarticle by Ryan Mcevoy

I remember a conversation with Gai I had at Widden almost 10 years ago. She remarked about her critics suggestions of her inability to train two-year-olds. Rather than dismissing those statements she took them on board and made a conscious effort at the yearling sales to concentrate on early, mature types that would improve her two-year-old strike-rate. Two years later HA HA led home a Waterhouse trifecta in the Golden Slip-per thus providing the springboard that would establish Gai Waterhouse as the world’s premier two-year-old trainer.Not long after this Slipper success the critics still had the lady trainer question-ing herself with regards to being able to train those well-bred and well performed colts, to become established successful

stallions. Is Gai Waterhouse the right trainer for my colt the owner of the top priced yearling would ask oneself? The very next racing season SEBRING was the champion two-year-old colt, winning the Golden Slipper and amongst that crop was NORTHERN METEOR who would become the hottest sprinting three-year-old seen in years. The fol-lowing seasons have produced another two highly commercial stallion prospects; MANHATTAN RAIN and PIERRO. Two of the best performed, most sought after colts in Australian breeding history. The stable’s record of targeting and success-fully competing in the ‘stallion making’ two-year-old Group One races has be-come second to none. Let’s look at the Golden Slipper, AJC Sires’ Produce

Stakes and Champagne Stakes as examples. In the last 10 years the stable has trained:• 2x Golden slipper winning colts• 3x aJC sires’ Produce winning colts• 2x Champagne stakes winning colts

As two of Sydney’s most exciting three-year-old’s PITCREW (Sebring) and ROMANTIC TOUCH (Northern Mete-or) head towards the ultimate Sydney spring goal of the Golden Rose we are reminded of the phenomenal impact of these two young stallions so early in their careers but that of the masterful handling and foundation they received from Tulloch Lodge and what future colts of the stable can look forward to.

Northern Meteor(Left) and sebring(Right)

For two stallions to achieve 30+ individual winners and 16 stakes horses whilst competing with each other in the same season is something that will rarely be repeated...




behind the scenes:With stable hand suzy horvath

With consistent rain beating down on Sydney’s race tracks throughout April there was a lot of debate as to how Gai’s superstar two-year-olds Over-reach(Exeed and Excel x Bahia) and Sweet Idea(Snitzel x Flidais) would fair against each other on the muddy tracks in Australia’s richest day of racing, the Tooheys New Golden Slip-per at Rosehill Gardens. Sweet Idea, with a proven record on a wet track formed a big part of the spotlight in the build up to the Slipper. But Sweet Idea still had to contend with her

stablemate Overreach, the clear favourite for the historic win.However the debate wasn’t just amongst the punters and the trainers, as the nerves began to show for those closest to the young fillies. Suzy Horvath is one of Gai’s lead-ing stable hands at her Desert War Stable at Randwick Racecourse. Suzy has been with Gai for 12 years now and experienced her first Group One win when she strapped Arlington Road who won the All-Aged Stakes at Randwick in April, 2003. Suzy not

only starts work at 3am six days a week, managing Gai’s stable

IN the NeWs

“Strapping champions like Overreach and Arlington Road is what makes the hard work so rewarding”

article by Madison Whantsuzy and Gai with OverreachPhotograph by Bradley Photography


Desert War, but also leaves the track at 8am every morning to manage a restaurant in Bondi. Running a res-taurant and a stable housing a great number of horses involves a lot of hard work and dedication - attributes that seem to flow naturally amoungst many of Gai’s staff at the track. When asked how she copes with such a busy life style Suzy was buoyant, “Strapping champions like Overreach and Arlington Road iswhat makes the hard work so reward-ing”. Suzy had been with Overreach

at her Desert War stable since January this year and had high hopes for the filly’s two-year-old career but admits, she was probably as nervous and excited as jockey, Tommy Berry, for the race to come. “The atmos-phere was tense but filled with excite-ment,” she recalled of the mornings lead up. But despite all the nerves, on April 6 at Rosehill Gardens when Overreach flew to victory a spectacular five lengths in front of Peter Snowden’s runner up Sidestep(Exceed and

Excel) all the hard work paid off for a person like Suzy. When asked what the atmosphere was like in the after-math of Overreach’s win Suzy shook her head, “You can’t describe it. You have to go through it to know the feeling”. Suzy is just one of the many stable hands working for Gai and represents the rewarding nature of the industry not only for the trainers and owners but for the people behind the scenes, with the horses every day. The people we don’t necessarily always see, but couldn’t do without.


(above) tulloch after his 1957 VRC Derby win. he was probably laughing at how easily he won. (above Right)t.J. smith and Jockey Neville sellwood.

Tulloch in the 1957 Caulfield Cup

BACk IN The dAy

“tulloch’s time of 2.26.9 for the 12 furlong race was not only a race and track record, it was also the fastest 12 furlong run ever recorded in austra-lia (imperial era) and the fastest 12 furlong run ever recorded in the world on a grass track.”



tulloch really was a magnificent type. His build and stride indicate versa-tility and that was definitely one of the key ingredients of the then colt’s success.

Tulloch is one of the best horses to ever run in Australia and probably the greatest all-round horse the country has seen due to his dominance as a two, three, five and six year old. Tulloch was the greatest horse ever trained by T.J. Smith and the very venue that has since housed Gun-synd, Kingston Town, Pierro, More Joyous and Desert War is named after Tulloch. He was a national icon and one of the five original inductees into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.As a three-year-old, Tulloch won the 1957 Caulfield Cup very easily. But this win was far far greater than the simple four lengths romp it looked. Here are some facts and figures that show exactly how great this win was.A three-year-old had not won the

Caulfield Cup for 22 years before Tulloch in 1957. Only five have won since. Tulloch’s 7.8 is the greatest weight ever carried to victory by a three-year-old in the history of the Caulfield Cup. Tulloch at 6/4 on, jumped as the shortest priced favourite ever in the Caulfield Cup. Tulloch was at one stage of the race, forced back to last in a field of 17 hard, older handicap-pers. In working through the field, Tulloch suffered three bad checks; as we all know from backing horses over the years, one bad check is usually enough to end a horse’s chances. So to win after three bad checks is a truly remarkable feat. It is also important to note that the second and third place getters, which Tulloch rushed by, were two really

good horses. Mac’s Amber won a Toorak Handicap and a Chipping Nor-ton Stakes and Sailor’s Guide once beat Rising Fast in New Zealand as well as winning a VRC Derby, Sydney Cup and a Mackinnon. Tulloch gave these two great horses a cold when he went past them! Debate still rages about why Tulloch did not run in the Melbourne Cup where he was acclaimed a certainty. T.J. Smith desperately wanted to run his colt in the two mile feature, especially after Tulloch won the VRC Derby untouched by eight lengths. But in the end, Tulloch was scratched from the Melbourne Cup because his owner Mr Haley felt the two miles of the Melbourne Cup would be too gruelling on his young horse. So that was that.

Neville Sellwood and Tulloch at the Caufield Cup, 1957


sunDaY at tHe staBLes

harry evans with visitors Bill and Janette shea holding Bounding away’s Golden slipper

John and stephen Lewis, harry and Bev evans and George Bedwani with star thoroughbreds equator

tony Mitevski with Fiorente Gai and Donna Kolivos discuss the preperation for Projectile

John Watts casts his eye over star thoroughbreds Certitude Gai, sue hardie, Nash Rawiller, Chris and Jane tohl, anne howlett, adrian Bott and star thoroughbreds Driefontein

John and anne McDonnell inspect star thoroughbreds Pitcrew Jeff and trisha sheehan celebrate the victory of star thoroughbreds Charing Cross

With Gary Beecroft

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Find out more about racing a horse with Gai Waterhouse at … · 2013-08-14 · trust my judgement. Travel broadens one’s mind, and I have no doubt travel has made me a better trainer