Lanskey hoping for another shot at the big time with Litzdeel
It might be a touch premature to save space for a second Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) trophy on his mantelpiece just yet, but hobby breeder Paul Lanskey is daring to dream after the half-sister to his 2019 Cup hero Vow And Declare (Declaration Of War) made her black type breakthrough last weekend.
Litzdeel (Dundeel), who like Vow And Declare was passed in at the yearling sales, became the third stakes winner from the ten foals produced by her dam Geblitzt (Testa Rossa) when she outstayed her rivals in the SA Fillies Classic (Gr 3, 2800m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
By emulating the stakes success achieved by her half-brothers Vow And Declare and Lycurgus (Star Witness) – both also bred by Lanskey and trained by Danny O’Brien – Litzdeel continued the recent hot streak for the progeny of Dundeel (High Chaparral) who has now sired 37 individual stakes winners, including ten this season.
Connections had considered the prospect of pushing onto the Queensland Oaks (Gr. 1, 2200m) with Litzdeel, but instead of venturing north to Lanskey’s home state she has instead been sent for a month-long stint in the spelling paddock.
While she is recuperating from a prosperous preparation which has yielded close to $150,000 in prize-money, Litzdeel’s connections will ponder their spring aspirations with a filly whose somewhat slender stature masks a prodigious staying prowess.
Jockey Zac Spain had trouble pulling up his mount after she had just been edged out in the VRC St Leger (Listed, 2800m) at Flemington in late-April, which suggests that a two-mile contest on the first Tuesday in November could be within her capabilities.
“I did jokingly say to Danny a little while ago that I hope lightning can strike twice in the Melbourne Cup,” Lanskey told ANZ Bloodstock News en route to Barwon Heads, where Vow And Declare is busy preparing for the next phase of his career as an equestrian horse.
“She has raced predominantly in her own age group until now so it will obviously be a much bigger test when she turns four and races against the older horses in the spring, but the genetic testing showed that she’s got very good stamina which is why Danny was keen to step her up to 2000 metres and beyond very quickly.
“She’s done a great job so she deserves a rest, we did consider the Queensland Oaks but the drop back to 2200 metres probably wasn’t ideal for her. So she’ll have a nice time in the paddock, then Danny will start getting her ready for the spring. We haven’t finalised the plans yet, but the aim at this stage would be to kick her off over 2000 metres then we’ll go from there.”
Perhaps ironically, had Lot 440 reached her reserve price of $150,000 at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, Lanskey might now be experiencing seller’s remorse instead of the sense of excitement generated by Litzdeel’s boundless potential.
As it was, there was little or no interest in the filly, perhaps due to her slight frame as a November foal or perhaps due to a staying pedigree which, at least in a jurisdiction as obsessed with speed as Australia seemingly is, might be considered less desirable by prospective buyers.
Either way, Lanskey was rather reluctantly forced to bring her home and form an ownership syndicate comprising friends and family members, including his two sons Thomas and Joe.
A fast-finishing fifth on debut was solid rather than spectacular, but Lanksey felt much better about life when she broke through at start number two.
“I was pretty disappointed when there was no real interest in her, it causes a fair bit of heartache when you put in so much time and effort into researching pedigrees and choosing the right match, then there’s no support at the sales,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to compete with the big farms at the sales these days, and maybe it didn’t help that there used to be a theory about Dundeel throwing better colts than fillies. But that has certainly levelled out over time and the way his fillies are going at the minute, the opposite may even be true now. In any case, given her mother’s previous record we were happy enough to keep the filly and race her ourselves, and in hindsight it’s looking like a real blessing in disguise.”
With an unraced juvenile filly called Kissattack (Too Darn Hot) showing plenty of promise, as well as a Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice) filly on the ground and a Zousain (Zoustar) foal set to be born later this year, there is ample opportunity for another chapter to be written in the remarkable tale of Geblitzt.
Purchased on Lanskey’s behalf by trainer Mick Price, Geblitzt would go on to enjoy a reasonable racetrack career firstly with Steven O’Dea in Queensland and later in New South Wales with Joe Pride, before she was retired from racing having won for the fifth and final time towards the end of 2012.
In many ways that was when her story began, as her very first foal, Lycurgus, a colt by Star Witness (Starcraft), subsequently won the 2017 Galilee Series Final (Listed, 2400m). Two years later, Lycurgus’ half-brother would claim Australian racing’s ultimate prize, breaking the international stranglehold on the Melbourne Cup with a performance which mixed bravery with brilliance.
Since Dermot Weld’s Irish raider Vintage Crop (Rousillon) paved the way for the internationalisation of the Melbourne Cup with his pioneering victory in 1993, just six locally-bred horses have won Australia’s most famous race and Lanskey is rightly proud to have contributed to its folklore thanks to a mare who cost him just $20,000 as a yearling.
“She’s been an amazing producer for us,” he said.
“After she won on debut so brilliantly over 1100 metres, she was never tested beyond 1400 metres in her career but if genetic testing had been used back then, I think she definitely would have been just as comfortable in middle distance races. Anyway, we’ll never know but she’s obviously produced some very strong stayers.
“Vow And Declare’s win in the Melbourne Cup showed how good a broodmare she is. I liked Declaration Of War as a type and as a racehorse but he hasn’t set the world on fire as a stallion, so I think she can take much of the credit for him. Almost all foals she has produced have gone on to become pretty good racehorses, no matter which stallion they’re by.
“I do spend a lot of time on researching sire lines and matching pedigrees, because I’ve always been more into breeding than racing. I tend to focus more on strong dam lines when selecting a stallion, then once I’ve drawn up a short list I might consult with Sheamus Mills on what type of deals he might be able to do with the stud farms.
“She’s 18 now so she’s probably getting towards the end of her time as a broodmare, so I’ll have to think carefully about which stallion we choose for her this year. I would have loved to send her back to Too Darn Hot, because he is one of the best-looking stallions I’ve ever seen, but unfortunately his price has gone through the roof.
“Luckily we got in first time round before he became too expensive for us, and his filly might just be one out of the box. She hasn’t raced yet, but Grahame [Begg] has got a pretty high opinion of her so hopefully we can have some fun with her.
“We didn’t take her to the sales after our experience with Litzdeel, and I plan to keep and race any other foals the mare produces. If Litzdeel keeps going the way she has been, I’m sure her siblings will prove pretty popular so I shouldn’t have too much trouble syndicating them out.”