Racing pioneer Duncan hoping to turn Millennium Pink

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Part-owner and breeder of Arkansaw Kid relishing chance to race for Inglis’s women’s bonus at Randwick

Saturday’s Inglis Millennium (RL, 1200m) at Randwick will see one of three horses punch a considerable hole through barriers to entry for female participation in horseracing, as Inglis debuts its Pink Bonus scheme, promising $400,000 to be scooped by one of the contenders’ majority lady ownership groups. 

However, in Philippa Duncan, the trailblazing part-owner and breeder of one of those horses – Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel) – women in racing have been blessed with a pioneer long before such lucrative cash was floated to ensure their engagement. 

It was in 1970 that young thoroughbred enthusiast Duncan persevered her way into becoming the first female racing journalist in New Zealand, writing for the New Zealand Racing Conference’s racing calendar section, having persuaded first Haf Poland and then Alan Burnet to give her an initial chance in the industry. 

Four years later, Duncan was lured to Australia, and in 1982 set up her own bloodstock agency, becoming the only woman to be a foundation member of the Federation of Bloodstock Agents Australia when the group was established in 1988. 

Amassing a series of clients during the 1980s and 90s, Duncan then became the first sales ‘consignor’ at Inglis, preparing yearlings for other breeders, despite not having a property herself, a practice she continued up until only recently and revolutionised the art of selling thoroughbreds. 

Inspection cards at sales? First established by Duncan. Staff uniforms (cerise, of course) and the hospitality we’ve grown to love at sales complexes? A Duncan creation too.

Yet in a career that has now spanned more than 50 years, Duncan is more qualified than any other to marvel at the progress made in racing for equal opportunities between the genders. 

“Knowing how hard it was for me to get a foot in the door, and it was only because I was so determined to do so, it’s been amazing to see the progress of women in racing,” Duncan told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

“This includes women jockeys and if you go on breeding farms, the girls have got management roles and it’s the same in the stables. Female trainers have a much more prominent role, which, when I was starting out, was few and far between. 

“I had to talk someone into creating a position for me to catch my first break. So, I look at it today and all the various schemes like Darley Flying Start – I would have killed to have had an opportunity like that.

“I think [the lady-restricted bonuses] will turn out to be a good initiative. Perhaps there are a lot more women who would like to be involved in racing…  and this provides an opportunity for a group of girls to get together and go to the races and see what it’s all about and share the fun. I think anything that might introduce more people into racing and for them to see just how well it’s run is a good thing.”

The genesis of the story of how Duncan ended up retaining a quarter of the Ben and JD Hayes-trained Arkansaw Kid, who was purchased for $190,000 from the Sledmere draft at last year’s Inglis Classic sale, lies nearly half a century ago. 

Noticed by Colin Hayes of Lindsay Park, the legendary trainer ensured the booming South Australian industry of the 1970s did not miss out on Duncan’s talent, securing a role for her with South Australian breeders. 

And it was this connection with Lindsay Park and Jenny McAlpine, who put together the ladies’ syndicate in Arkansaw Kid, that required no hesitation for Duncan to stay involved in the ownership of the horse.

“Ben and JD Hayes’ grandfather, Colin, and I met early in my journalism career, and he followed what I was doing. It was Colin that decided the breeders in Adelaide needed to create a position for me and David Coles was responsible for creating a job as their public relations and research officer,” Duncan said.

“With Arkansaw Kid, he actually passed in when he went through the ring and then Royston [Murphy, Sledmere Stud] phoned me and said ‘the Hayes’ boys would like to buy him, but they’d like to know if the breeder would stay in’.

“It probably took me about 30 seconds to answer that, because I wouldn’t be in Australia if it wasn’t for their grandfather, something that [Ben and JD Hayes] had no idea of.”

Initially, it appeared the family from which Arkansaw Kid derives was one that got away from Duncan, as she failed to convince her clients to purchase the colt’s second dam Shindig (Danehill), a subsequent Group 1 winner, as a yearling.

However, in a rare occurrence for valuable mares a decade or so ago, she became available to the market once more, and Duncan made no mistake a second time.

“I loved her and followed her as a yearling and finally, when the previous owner died, I convinced my client that they were buying regardless. We kept her in training as a five-year-old and won the Group 1 Coolmore Classic with her,” Duncan said. 

“Florabella was Shindig’s last foal. Sadly, my client died a few years ago, when Florabella was a yearling, so I bought her out of the estate. By this stage she was part of my family as well. 

“It’s been very nice to have kept one from the family and bred from her. I was always confident she would come up with a nice foal for me.

“I’m a small breeder now and when you’re a small breeder, it’s always exciting to get horses to these valuable races.”

For her first two matings, Florabella was paired with Rothesay (Fastnet Rock), a stallion Duncan took to sale as a yearling, but she purchased back the first of the mare’s next two foals by Lonhro (Octagonal) when Cateechee, a $200,000 yearling filly, drew $40,000 on the Inglis Digital platform. 

Duncan then went to Darley’s first–season shuttler Harry Angel (Dark Angel) for Florabella. A dual Group 1-winning sprinting sire that at an opening fee of $22,000 (inc GST) was ‘exceptional value’, and provided a complete outcross to Danehill (Danzig). 

Arkansaw Kid is the first produce of three by Harry Angel out of Florabella, and he will be looking to provide another boost to his yearling sister ahead of her sale next week within the Classic sale, where she will be offered through the Sledmere draft as Lot 428. 

But in a thoroughbred world with commercial realities, therein lies the conundrum for ‘purist breeders’ when mating their mares. Go with what will sell or what will match up best?

“I wouldn’t say, commercially, going back to Harry Angel was the best idea,” said Duncan. “But a) I liked the first colt I got and b) I liked the full-sister I got, so I looked around and thought the best value lay back with Harry Angel. 

“The question was whether I could be brave enough to go back a third time. And I was, and I have a very nice colt on the ground.”

Duncan has navigated similar dilemmas with her second of two ‘foundation’ broodmares since her recent renaissance to the breeding scene. Valencay (Rothesay), whose second and third dams are both Group 1 winners, while her third dam is the revered Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight), is from a family Duncan describes as ‘none better in the stud book’. 

However, rather than sending the maiden mare to a more proven stallion, Duncan opted for Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) for her first two covers, a decision that paid off handsomely, with the sale of her second foal for $260,000 to Ciaron Maher. 

“I’ve been very lucky and got some good results. With Valencay, I sent her to Shooting To Win because I wanted to get that Eight Carat double cross for her. I got $260,000 for that filly, which was a pretty good return on service fee. 

“If I’m going to the sale ring, I know I’ve got to breed a type and survive the x-rays and the scoping. But you’ve got to have a stallion that appeals to the buyers and one that hasn’t fallen off a cliff, and these days they fall off pretty quickly. 

“They’re all covering such huge books of mares, that if they don’t sustain the performances on the racetrack, the buyers have already bought a handful of them, that they’re moving on to another stallion.

“But I like to think I’m a breeder that develops a family, versus perhaps those that are traders.”

Arkansaw Kid, who races in the colours of Rupert Legh, arrives into Saturday’s race having won his only other start in the Inglis Banner (RL, 1000m) at Moonee Valley back in October, winning by a half-length from Mexico (Capitalist) who also lines up again this weekend. 

Bookmakers have him priced as a $19 chance to claim the $2 million feature, and the $400,000 Pink bonus that would go with victory, a price that Duncan said ‘bewildered’ her, despite his barrier 18 draw. 

“He didn’t really handle Moonee Valley. He struggled to get around the corner and I thought we were under awful pressure and he still pulled out the goods,” Duncan said.

“I didn’t ever imagine he would be such an early two-year-old. I think his yearling sister is more of a two-year-old type than he was, at the same stage. 

“He likes to settle, he’s not really a push forward horse. Shindig was the same. She still holds the track record at Rosehill for 1500 metres and that record’s stood since 1976. She was a tough mare. And I see a little of her in Arkansaw Kid.”

Inglis yesterday gave further impetus to their Pink Bonus series, announcing Fox Sport NRL presenter Yvonne Sampson as its new ambassador. 

Sampson’s grandfather was a trainer at Warwick Farm and also owned Wild Oaks Stud, while Sampson herself was a keen equestrian rider in her youth.

“I have loved, ridden, worked with and owned horses all of my life so I feel unbelievably proud to be an Inglis Ambassador and help bring that joy to other women,’’ Sampson said.

“Most women have a love for horses but as adults may not know how to go about getting involved in the thrill of ownership so I want to help them be a part of it through the Inglis Pink Bonus Series.

“The Inglis Pink Bonus is such an amazing incentive for women to get involved in such a great industry and I’m so excited to work with the Inglis team to spread the word and get people involved.’’