Tait’s twin roles make him a major player

Image: (Credit: Twin Hills Stud)

As the owner of Twin Hills Stud and manager of Wathnan Racing, Olly ‘Two Hats’ Tait has become very adept at juggling roles and after a weekend which saw both organisations make their mark on opposite sides of the world, the highly respected breeder could play a central role in the upcoming spring carnival.

Having checked out the competition at the Hunter Valley stallion parades last Saturday morning, Tait settled in to watch Buccleuch (Peltzer) carry the family’s famous colours to a resounding win at Sandown that afternoon before burning the midnight oil to watch York’s time-honoured Ebor Handicap (1m 6f), in which a pair of Wathnan runners filled the minor placings in a blanket finish.

Had Hopewell Rock (New Bay) stuck his neck out just a touch further, the cheers from the living room might have woken the entire Tait clan from their collective slumbers. As it was, the family patriarch was left with a nagging feeling of what might have been after the northern hemisphere four-year-old was narrowly denied a golden ticket to the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) by another son of New Bay (Dubawi) in Daiquiri Bay, who like Wathnan’s other placegetter Opportunity (Frankel) won’t be making the trip to Australia.

By way of compensation, Hopewell Rock’s runner-up finish at least saw him successfully pass the ballot clause for the Melbourne Cup – so now the $10 million question is whether George Boughey’s emerging stayer will be assigned enough weight by the chief handicapper to guarantee a place on Australian racing’s grandest stage.

All will be revealed when the weight scale comes out in mid-September, after which Hopewell Rock’s connections – on the assumption that he has passed the necessary vet checks – will make a final decision over whether the gallant gelding makes the very short trip to Newmarket’s pre-export quarantine facilities to commence his Australian adventure.  

“It was hugely disappointing to be beaten a short half-head in the Ebor, it’s a great race and we would’ve loved to have won it,” Tait told ANZ News. 

“So it was frustrating to have come so close, but for Hopewell Rock it’s still a big stepping stone towards the Melbourne Cup. I’ll leave the planning to George [Boughey] and his team, but at this stage it’s very much the intention for the horse to come out to Melbourne. I believe the veterinary procedures will commence this week, so as long he clears all the scans then it’s all systems go.

“It’s such a balancing act between getting a weight that allows him to be competitive but still gets him into the race – although I’m sure after the weekend the dye has been cast and the handicapper has made up his mind, so what will be will be. But we do think he’s the right sort of horse for the Melbourne Cup, so hopefully he gets his chance.”      

Given that Wathnan’s retained rider James Doyle is unlikely to make the weight allocated to Hopewell Rock, a general $26 chance in Melbourne Cup markets, local son of a gun Zac Lloyd could be the beneficiary having successfully linked up with Boughey on several occasions during his recent riding stint in the United Kingdom. 

But Doyle, who tasted elite-level success in Australia aboard subsequent Telemon stallion Jungle Cat (Iffraaj) in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), will have first refusal on Wathnan’s Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) contender Map Of Stars (Sea The Stars). 

Following a series of impressive performances in Europe, headlined by his victory under James McDonald in the Wolferton Stakes (Listed, 1m 2f) at Royal Ascot, the Francis Graffard-trained galloper is provisionally booked to board the first shipment of international raiders which is due to touch down in Melbourne at the end of September.     

“You couldn’t call him progressive because he’s been a good horse for a while now, but he’s come back in excellent order this season after being gelded,” Tait told ANZ News.

“His win at Royal Ascot was fabulous, and then he backed it up with a very good run the other day in the Group 3 race at Deauville. He’s put some very consistent performances together this season and he’s a magnificent looking horse, so we’re excited to see him come over. You have to be a very good horse to win a Cox Plate so he’ll have to bring his best form here, but we think it’s well worth giving it a shot.     

“He has a high rating in Europe so I’d be very confident he could compete against the best weight-for-age horses in Australia. If you look at the markets, he’s rated around the $15 mark so the bookmakers would agree. I also think the fact that the Cox Plate is run at Flemington this year is an advantage for him, because he’s probably more suited on bigger tracks.”  

Closer to home, Tait and his Twin Hills team have been busy welcoming around 20 fresh foals to the world, with many sired by their well-regarded stallion Daumier (Epaulette). 

The buzz around Daumier’s first crop, which have just turned two, is starting to grow louder and Tait is fervently hoping that anticipation can translate into some early results for the 2022 Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner, who will stand for an unchanged service fee of $16,500 (inc GST) this season.    

“If you’re in this industry, it doesn’t get any more exciting than to stand a stallion whose first crop is about to hit the racetrack,” he told ANZ News. 

“Our dream is that he’s going to become a great stallion, so hopefully his two-year-olds can perform well. He’s produced lovely foals all the way through, they’ve sold well so far, they look the same as him and importantly they’ve got great temperaments. It’s still early days but the feedback we have received so far is very positive, so it would be nice to think he could have some early success. It’s an incredible opportunity for any stud farm to stand a Blue Diamond winner, and we take that opportunity seriously. 

“He was a very good two-year-old, so you’d hope that his progeny are as precocious as he was and the early signs are good. Anthony Freedman always said that one of Daumier’s main strengths was his noteworthy demeanour, which he seems to have passed onto his progeny. At this stage his oldest horses have only been broken in, so all you can really judge them on is their temperament and whether or not they move well. He’s ticked both of those boxes so far, so fingers crossed they have the ability to match.”     

With a pair of stakes winners from his very first crop in Thanks Gorgeous and the aforementioned Buccleuch, Daumier’s fellow resident Peltzer (So You Think) has made solid strides since joining Twin Hills’ foundation stallion Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) on the farm’s boutique roster. 

If the Patrick Payne-trained Buccleuch – bred by Tait’s famous father Sandy – can continue to rise through the grades and potentially make his way into Group company this spring, it would undoubtedly help his old man attract some better mares.   

“He’s always been a good horse and it was a huge thrill to see him come back like that, especially for Dad,” Tait told ANZ News.

“He was an outstanding two-year-old, he easily beat Observer at his fourth start and won a stakes race at Flemington by more than three lengths at his fifth start, which is no mean feat. He didn’t come up during his three-year-old season, but he had some throat issues so there were legitimate excuses. He had a long time off after his wind operation, but at the weekend he won like a good horse – which is what we think he is.   

“It was only a Benchmark race, but the way he won it [by 4.5 lengths] would suggest there are bigger and better things in store for him this spring, so hopefully he can give Peltzer a timely boost. For a stallion operating at his service fee [$11,000], he’s built a good record but another stakes win alongside his name would look very nice.”