Chassis
Hunter Valley-based breeder Jo O’Gorman went to the Magic Millions broodmare sale last month and things didn’t go to plan. But so far, she’s certainly not complaining.
O’Gorman, of the boutique Parsons Creek Farm in the lower Hunter best known for breeding Doomben 10,000 winner Mazu (Maurice), ventured to the Gold Coast hoping to sell five mares and come home with perhaps two.
In the end, she could only sell two, bringing three home who didn’t meet reserve. While that was a disappointment, she also picked up a couple.
One was the Better Than Ready four-year-old Gypsy Isle, a one-time Rockhampton winner bought from the Newgate consignment, in-foal to Stay Inside, for $200,000.
The other was two years older but still racing – Chassis (Al Maher). Offered by Ciaron Maher Racing, she was a last-start winner of a Sandown Benchmark 78, who’d been placed twice at Group 3 and once at Listed level. Parsons Creek bought her in association with renowned bloodstock agent Dermot Farrington for $230,000.
With the mare staying in Maher’s stable, her new owners were hoping to perhaps pick up another race with her somewhere before the coming breeding season. On Saturday she went far better, adding a first stakes win to her resume by pushing up along the fence from behind the leader to gamely take the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic (1200m) at Ipswich by a length.
The victory recouped $92,000 of that broodmare purchase price. She may now pursue another one, in the Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday week, in her likely swansong. Success would yield a further $174,000. That would put the six-year-old’s ownership team roughly into the black, in what would likely be their mare’s only two starts for them. But the value-add from the black type is of course already immense.
“We were pretty pleased to get her for $230,000,” O’Gorman tells It’s In The Blood of Chassis, who’d won five Melbourne city races all up. “And she had won her last start, so we were thinking, ’Do we leave on a high note?’
“We had a chat to Ciaron, and he said he’d actually just got her right again, for that last start win, so why not keep going and see if we can get another city win for her, or maybe even some black type?”
Chassis was nominated for two Listed races on the Ipswich Cup program – the Waterhouse and the Eye Liner Stakes (1350m). She was also entered for a Benchmark race at Rosehill that day, but a close-up third in a Doomben barrier trial swung Maher’s mind.
“She trialled really well, so that gave the stable a lot of confidence, and she drew better in the Gai Waterhouse, so we went there,” O’Gorman said. “It all worked out amazingly well. It’s nice when things like that happen. It was also the first stakes win in our colours, so we’re very happy with that.”
The Parson’s Creek operation – with its distinctive silks of white with an old gold falcon symbol – has only been running since 2017, after O’Gorman’s parents Marc and Lindy De Stoop bought out and began transforming 330 acres of dairy farms and vineyards to create the stud seven years ago.
O’Gorman has been studying breeding assiduously ever since. An early stellar result was to send Chatelaine (Flying Spur) – the dam of Group 1 winner Headway (Charge Forward) – who Parsons Creek had bought as a 17-year-old for $54,000, to Maurice. The result was Mazu, a $180,000 yearling buy for Triple Crown Syndications, who’s now won almost $6.9 million, with thirds in an Everest and two Group 1s, alongside his 10,000 triumph.
The operation’s broodmare band now sits at 15. O’Gorman was seeking to change that last month, but reserves were not met for three of her offerings at the Gold Coast: Celtic Glory (Toronado), Ineffable (Smart Missile), a half-sister to Capitalist who’s in-foal to Ole Kirk, and Think Icon (So you Think), who’s in-foal to Acrobat.
“It was tough selling,” O’Gorman says. “One – Queen Zyrah – did OK, selling for $200,000 in-foal to Russian Revolution. The others, not so good. It was a tough market up there for farms and mares in our bracket, down from the big ones and the really top mares.”
At least she and Farrington clapped their eyes on Chassis, who has a big one.
“Dermot’s a really good judge, and he showed us a bunch of mares, but Chassis stood out the most,” O’Gorman says. “She was race-fit, and looked a big, strong mare who was good and roomy. I based it a bit on Chatelaine, who was the same. I just liked her, and decided to go for her. I thought she’d go for more, so I was pretty happy, and we’re especially happy now she’s won black type.”
Though Chassis is in top form, there’s no temptation to keep racing her as a seven-year-old. O’Gorman already has in mind an initial cover from break-out sire Dundeel, a size match since he’s more compact than the roomy mare, but also because of the Arrowfield stallion’s stunning record for two-year-old success this season.
Bred by Victoria’s Nicol Transport, Chassis has become the 35th Australian stakes-winner for rising 22-year-old Al Maher, no relation to Ciaron, who’s standing at Victoria’s Stockwell Thoroughbreds for $8,800, and who’s enjoyed something of an Indian summer of late through his fifth individual Group 1 winner Private Eye.
Out of the Hussonet mare Poco Gusto, Chassis has a fairly straightforward pedigree, with her only five-generational cross being a 5m x 5f of Sir Ivor. His mating with the great American blue hen Best In Show led to Al Maher’s third dam Show Lady and his second dam Dancing Show, who also threw two Group 1 winners in Hurricane Sky (Star Watch) and Umatilla (Miswaki).
And as a mare with a black type win to her name, alongside an enviable list of city victories, it’s likely Chassis will provide Parsons Creek with some handsome returns in the sale ring, as she already has on the track.
“You’re only as good as your mares, and to have those quality racemares, like Chassis, is what we’re looking to do,” O’Gorman says. “We’re never going to be huge, but it’d be nice to get a really good, tight bunch of racemares back to the farm and breed some good racehorses.”