Offers flood in for Slipper-bound fairytale horse Shaggy
Phones have been running hot since Saturday afternoon’s Pierro Plate (1100m) at Allan Kehoe’s stable and Angus Lamont’s Kooringal Stud, but the same answer has emanated from both.
Shaggy (Sandbar) is not for sale.
Extremely lucrative offers from Hong Kong, and from Australian interests wanting a slice of a likely Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) runner, have been flooding in after the country two-year-old went to town on a field of city bluebloods in the Pierro, making it three wins from three starts.
But trainer Kehoe and breeder Lamont – who race the gelding together in a lease arrangement – are at present firm in their minds that the offers will be politely refused.
That doesn’t apply, however, to the other reason Lamont’s phone has been ringing, as clients move to either book mares into his relatively obscure $8,800 stallion Sandbar (Snitzel), or buy an interest in the nine-year-old, for whom Shaggy is the only runner so far.
Any money that does arrive could come in handy. Lamont and Kehoe aren’t in the habit of having Slipper contenders, so they hadn’t nominated Shaggy for the $5 million feature, and will need to pay a $150,000 late entry fee to have him in the Rosehill field on March 22.
“It’s a nice problem to have,” Lamont told ANZ Bloodstock News. “When you’re this close and you’ve got one this good, you’ve got to give it some serious thought.
“We don’t and we can’t nominate everything of course, and in fact I don’t generally push two-year-olds, so that’s why we didn’t nominate this bloke. Hopefully what I’ve saved by not nominating horses for the Slipper over the past five or so years can go into this late fee.”
The $170,000 first prize from Shaggy’s likely next target – the Todman Slipper Trial (Gr 2, 1200m) at Randwick on March 8 – would cover it as well, and based on the Pierro, Shaggy will likely be a short-priced favourite to take that out.
Entered for Inglis Classic but withdrawn after catching a cold, Shaggy was sent by Lamont to Kehoe to break-in and train under a three-year lease arrangement.
The Wyong-based trainer also prepares the gelding’s Kooringal-bred half-brother I Want This (Prized Icon), as well as half-sister Moonlight Grace (Scissor Kick) – who will have her first mating this year, with Sandbar, to produce Shaggy’s three-quarter sibling.
Kehoe has around 18 horses in his stables, with the former picnic jockey riding them in work himself, where his line in breaking and pre-training “keeps the training business afloat”. He’s never had a horse nearly as talented as Shaggy in a decade of training, who he suspected was good from the trouble-free day that he broke him in, even if his amorous early habits led to his naming – and his gelding.
After a Newcastle barrier trial win at the end of last year, Kehoe took Shaggy to Coffs Harbour for his debut in an 800-metre maiden on January 12, and he won by 5.71 lengths. He then took him up north and up in distance for a 1000-metre Sunshine Coast two-year-old handicap on January 25, where he sat wide and absorbed pressure in the straight to coast away by 2.5 lengths.
Stepping up in class and distance again on Saturday, Shaggy turned in a similar performance, exploding out to a clear lead, beating off a couple of challengers on straightening, then kicking again inside the 200 metres to deny other closing rivals and score by 2.23 lengths.
Bookmakers wound him into a $15 fifth-favourite for the Slipper, with the market still dominated at $3.20 by a colt from the other side of the tracks, the Chris Waller-trained and
Coolmore-raced debut winner Wodeton (Wootton Bassett).
As has been his way throughout, Shaggy recovered in nonchalant style, Kehoe said on Sunday.
“It’s been a big prep already, but you wouldn’t know he raced this morning,” Kehoe said. “He ate all his dinner, and he’s been mucking and playing and feeling really good about himself.
“I had him on a rope this morning and he rose up and almost caught me in the head with a front hoof. He wasn’t being mean – just feeling that good.”
Kehoe wouldn’t mind one day seeing Shaggy settle behind other runners, believing he’d be “deadly if he gets a sit and something takes him into it”. That hasn’t been possible so far, including when Adam Hyeronimus climbed aboard on Saturday.
“He had to go to the front – he started so well,” Kehoe said.
“Then Adam said when those horses went up beside him, the horse just went to sleep and came back under him. I’ve had tough horses before, but this bloke is really tough.
“I thought he could win. I certainly didn’t think he’d put them away like he did. He went up another notch.
“Going down to the line, he looked like he was just floating again and doing it easily. When you watch it, he just looks so balanced. He’s got a nice big stride for a little horse.
“He’ll get a strong 1200 metres, no worries. Every time I’ve stepped him out he’s gone up a little bit more in trip, and he was really strong over 1100 on Saturday when he got softened up. He’ll probably run 1400 I’d say, he’s that sleepy.”
A similarly impressed Lamont said seeing Shaggy see off “some serious contenders for the Slipper” was heartening with a view to the Rosehill feature – especially in looking for validation for paying the late entry fee.
It was also “really encouraging” in terms of what he’s been trying to achieve at Kooringal, somewhat off the beaten breeding path at Wagga.
The farm stands five stallions for $13,200 or less in Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock), Finance Tycoon (Written Tycoon), Prized Icon (More Than Ready), The Brothers War (War Front) and Sandbar. Understandably, there’s been one attracting more interest than the others in recent days.
“This morning and last night, I’ve been dealing with people wanting to send mares to him,” Lamont said. “He’ll certainly be a lot busier this coming season.
“I offered shares in him when he first went to stud. People are wanting to buy into him now, and buy breeding rights.
“There’ll be a number of our better mares going to him in the coming season, and I’ll be looking to buy a few that suit him too.”
Lamont is now hoping Shaggy has written the first chapter in showing Sandbar to be an astute buy who slipped through the cracks.
Bred by Strawberry Hill Stud, Sandbar was a $650,000 Gold Coast yearling buy for the subsequently disgraced Damion Flower’s Jadeskye Racing, BK Racing and trainer Gerald Ryan.
Sandbar missed a Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) prep after a minor injury, but he then won his first two starts and ran second in the Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) before an eighth in the Slipper.
He won the Rosebud (Listed, 1100m) first-up in his following campaign, but scored only once more before Lamont bought him online for around $150,000, after 21 starts for four wins, mainly because of a desire to stand a son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice).
“Snitzel has been such a dominant force in Australian racing for such a long time,” Lamont said. “He gets tough horses, they handle the wet, they get sprint trips and further, they’re two-year-olds, three-year-olds and upward.
“Just a really fantastic sireline, and it’s stood the test of time.
“I was on the hunt for a son of Snitzel. I was in negotiations for one in Sydney, which I thought was a bit overpriced and out of my league, and then Sandbar came up and I thought he suited me a lot better.
“I loved his bloodlines, his race performance, and he was out of a beautiful family.”
That beautiful family is highlighted by Slipper winner Farnan (Not A Single Doubt), and Lamont is hoping Sandbar can take some similar steps to his three-quarter brother, now an exciting Kia Ora Stud sire.
Sandbar carries the usually unfancied double-male inbreeding to Danehill (Danzig), at 3m x 4m, via Redoute’s Choice and Lion Hunter. Putting him with Shaggy’s dam Moonrush (Encosta De Lago) has brought a third strand of Danehill. At least this time it’s female, via Moonrush’s unraced dam.
Lamont wasn’t concerned about Sandbar’s double-male Danehill, arguing other factors ameliorated it, such as 14 appearances by his influential third dam Natalma (Native Dancer), and 16 from her dam Almahmoud (Mahmoud).
More important, though, was the presence of Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector), and/or his damsire Halo (Hail To Reason). Machiavellian, who has Natalma as his third dam, comes in strong in Sandbar as the sire of his damsire Street Cry.
“Sandbar has got a fair bit of Danehill, but the fact he’s got Machiavellian there going back to that Natalma/Almahmoud female line, it allows you to add a bit more Danehill if you like,” he said.
“Shaggy’s second dam is by Danehill. It’s close, but with Machiavellian or Halo there, it just seems to work.”
Having stood for $8,800 in each of his four seasons, Sandbar has had live foal crops numbering 41, 34 and 22.
He’s yet to have a yearling sold at auction, coming closest through a Kooringal filly passed in from Book 2 at Magic Millions Gold Coast last year just short of a $15,000 reserve.
Sandbar will have two colts go through the ring at next month’s Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale when Kooringal offers one colt from city-winner Moss My Name (Mossman), and another out of the stakes-placed Trupt (Krupt).
Still, his lack of sales representation – from relatively low numbers – is no sign Sandbar’s stock lack precocity. While Lamont has never been overly keen on pushing horses too young, his Sandbars are urging him in another direction.
“I’ve never seen a group mature as quickly as his progeny have,” Lamont said.
“The trainers who’ve got them have told me they’re four months in front of any two-year-old they’ve got in the stable, so that’s pleasing. They’re just nice, clean-jointed individuals, with good wind and are nice little horses. We’re really thrilled with them.”
Lamont said his phone had been ringing hot in the past week, and especially after the Pierro.
“We’ve had a few more offers from Hong Kong last night, and locally, from people wanting a Slipper runner and things like that this morning,” he said.
“But he’s not for sale. Allan’s been great to us, taking the risk with the horse and doing all the work with him. I don’t want to take that away from him.
“We don’t generally push our two-year-olds – we like to see ours racing as older horses – so it’s nice to see them when they’re naturally wanting to do it.”