After being named the Leading Small Breeder for the 2020/21 season at last week’s Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria awards, Ivan Holloway is looking forward to more success with his local band of four broodmares.
Holloway and his wife Martina, who operate Holloway Equine, won the Kentucky Equine Research and Barastoc Leading Victorian Small Breeder on the back of Hong Kong Galloper Excellent Proposal which they bred.
Although unplaced at last Sunday’s Group 1 Hong Mile, the five-year-old galloper has won seven races and $2.5 million in prize money. He is a winner of the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
Holloway said it was an honour and thrill to be presented with the award, which made things a little more worthwhile to be recognised in the category of breeders with fewer than five broodmares.
He is hoping to breed another quality galloper.
His Group 2 winning mare Mamzelle Tess is in foal to So You Think and his Listed placed, Sophia’s Choice, is also in foal to the same stallion.
Named after his daughter Sophia, the five-year-old mare was bought by Holloway for $240,000 at the 2018 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
A winner of three races, she was retired to stud after having a final start at Mornington in January for Robert Kingston who has since retired as a trainer.
Fastnet Rock mare Fading Shades is in foal to Toronado and Forgotten Dreams is in foal to another Swettenham Stud stallion, I Am Immortal which Holloway has a stallion share in.
“I like their breeding and also liked them as racehorses as well,” he said.
“They are going really well.”
Holloway said he didn’t experience a great time with his broodmares last season, but does have a Merchant Navy from Forgotten Dreams and another couple he has bred in Ireland.
“It’s the only one I have on the ground this year, but I have an Exceed and Excel and a Zoustar yearling that are hopefully going to hit the boat sometime in March that I have bred overseas,” he said.
“They are just getting broken in now.
“I bought a horse over here about six or seven years ago, a horse called Zilbiyr out of a Dalakhani mare, and she won a few races, and then I bought the mother and I have bred three foals to her now. The first two have been winners and I have a Holy Roman Emperor on the ground and a Highland Reel filly.
“The dam was Zaziyra.”
Unfortunately Zaziyra died after giving birth to the Highland Reel filly in Ireland.
“I hope to keep the family going with the filly,” he said.
Irish-born Holloway, who heads a global infrastructure company, bought a mare in foal to Fastnet Rock at the recent Goffs Sale and she’ll most likely also head to Australia.
While Holloway had hoped to get a foal out of Mamzelle Tess last season after paying $110,000 for the Group 2 winner as a broodmare, he put her back into racing after she didn’t get into foal to Merchant Navy.
She failed to be placed in her five comeback runs, which convinced Holloway the nine-year-old mare was ready for the breeding barn again.
He had ambitiously hoped to get enough public support for the daughter of O’Lonhro to make the All-Star Mile field, but she failed to get enough votes.
Holloway had mixed success with Excellent Proposal’s dam, Pivotal (GB) mare Procrastination (GB) which cost him $180,000 at the 2016 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale.
He said the mare, which was in foal to Exceed and Excel when he bought her with what was to become Excellent Proposal, won two races in France and was stakes placed and more interesting was out of Rubiton mare Dilly Dally which won two Group 2 races over 1200m in Australia.
Holloway sold the Exceed and Excel colt at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $200,000 to Bill Mitchell who bought him for a Hong Kong client.
Unfortunately the dam died after the second foal by Vancouver – the second bred by Holloway – was retained by the breeder and is now trained by Matt Laurie at Mornington.
Now a four-year-old, the horse is named Potato Pete as Holloway explained he names the horses after his children. Sophia’s Choice is named after one of his daughters.
Holloway laughed when he explained that Potato Pete is his son’s nickname.
Now a four-year-old, Potato Pete has been unplaced in his three starts, but will return to racing as a gelding.
Holloway said he likes to breed to race and also has shares in a couple of horses, including with Adam Sangster.
“The feeling you get with a winner for yourself, it’s the same feeling when you breed one and see it win,” he said.
“It’s good when you have actually bred one and it goes to the racecourse and wins.”
Holloway said he would need to turn over a couple of the horses and he’ll probably sell one of the mares in foal at the Inglis Digital Sale and another one would head to the sales.
“But if anything is a filly, I’ll probably keep it and the colts I’ll probably sell.
“I like the fillies as they can hold their value if they are breeding propositions.”
Holloway admits that racing has been a lifetime obsession and love which started when he went to the races in Ireland as a child and was then attracted to the gambling side of the industry.
He then owned and raced a couple before buying a couple of broodmares in Ireland.
After being based in Australia for eight years, Holloway’s love for racing and breeding continues to grow.
He likes to bring out at least one horse a year from Ireland in the hope they’ll make in on the track or the breeding barn.

The lightning raid of Sydney gelding Looks Like Elvis at the Pakenham Cup meeting netted the seven-year-old’s owners a big payday.

As well as the first prize of $96,250, the Victorian-bred gelding picked up an owner’s bonus of $23,000 and a nominator’s bonus of $7,000 for winning the VOBIS Gold Bullion (1400m) which was restricted to VOBIS Gold qualified horses.

Bred by Doug McLennan and Mark Casey, Looks Like Elvis was sold through Rosemont Stud’s draft at the 2019 Inglis Classic Yearling Summer Book.

The gelding was purchased for $110,000 by Eagle Farm trainer Bryan Dais, on behalf of stable clients, but has been under the care of Warwick Farm trainer Jarrod Austin since August, 2020.

Now with nine wins, 12 seconds and six thirds for $858,560 in stakes, it was Austin’s first win with the son of the Group 1 winning All American which was part-owned by Clinton Casey, a former Richmond president and brother of Mark Casey.

Austin said the big VOBIS money was the lure behind targeting the race which they finally got to after a couple of setbacks with planned lead-up races that never eventuated.

“It’s a funny story, but we originally had him set to run in The Gong (a $1 million dollar race) and then two weeks later he was going to come down and run in the VOBIS race,” Austin said.

“But he didn’t end up getting a run in The Gong and got balloted out and was the first emergency, so it changed all our plans and then we decided to run him the following week at Rosehill in The Festival Stakes and then when the heavy 10 came up we changed plans again.

“So we headed off to Melbourne. It was always on the radar but we couldn’t get a run anywhere. It looked like a nice race for him on paper, and the main thing was getting back onto a dry surface and it was such a long time since he’d been on one, but he showed what he could.”

It’s not the first time the owners of Looks Like Elvis have targeted a VOBIS race. The gelding ran third in the VOBIS Gold Star (1500m) at The Valley in 2019 and followed his two previous unplaced runs in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) and the Listed Cranbourne Cup (2025m).

Austin said the owners were always keeping their eyes on the VOBIS races.

“The VOBIS seems like a really good system and there is great prize money,” he said.

“It works well. You are getting an advantage by racing against restricted horses in that sense because they have to be in that scheme.

“It’s a big bonus to be in the scheme.”

Austin said he was lucky to get hold of Looks Like Elvis and a few others when owner Jim Critchley relocated to Sydney and took his horses with him.

And the Looks Like Elvis name has certainly given the horse a bit of a cult following and guarantees he attracts attention where ever he races.

After last Saturday’s 2.8 length victory over Winning Partner, Austin said Looks Like Elvis would probably return to Melbourne on New Year’s Day to have a crack at the Listed Chester Manifold Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.

“He has won a lot of money, and all of it is without winning a black-type event, and he has run numerous placings in Group and Listed races without breaking through,” he said.

“It’s a lot of prize money for a horse that hasn’t won black type so he has been a real good money-spinner.”

Austin Looks Like Elvis is in great form and has been happy with all four of his runs this preparation which includes a narrow second in the Group 3 Bill Richie Stakes at Rosehill and third in the Listed Ladies Day Stakes at Hawkesbury.

And winning jockey Brett Prebble couldn’t have been happier with the win and didn’t miss Rosemont Stud’s Anthony Mithen in his postrace interview after he was replaced by Jamie Kah on Way To Go Paula which finished fourth after starting as the second favourite at $4.40.

Prebble, who had ridden Way To Go Paula to second place at the mare’s previous start said: “That was enjoyable – when you get the a— off one and then you go and beat ‘em it’s a nice feeling.

 “He’s a lovely horse that’s been running in some pretty good 

races against good horses. He hasn’t been on a Good (3) for a long time and he loved it. When I let him go, he really showed a good turn of foot and just put them away.

“I watched all his replays, and he wants to please, but he’s been drawing bad barriers and had to go back, and in all fairness, he’s been running against good horses.” 

Mithen said they foaled down Looks Like Elvis at Rosemont as the mare Savalook (Savabeel x Look At Moiye) had a booking with the stud’s Starcraft. 

“We sold him at the classic sale,” he said.

“He was VOBIS because of us and then knocked off Way To Go Paula which was our big hope and I sacked Brett Prebble from Way To Go Paula which he was non-too pleased about and picked up the ride on Looks Like Elvis.

“He let me know all about it in the postrace interview. I text him and said fair call and hats off to you and Brett and he came back with a thumbs up.

“All is fair in love, war and racing, I suppose.”

Mithen said Looks Like Elvis, which had won its first race in two years with the Pakenham win, was a good representation of what they can breed down the Surf Coast way, although all the credit goes to McLennan and Casey.

And for breeder Doug McLennan it was a good result as they still have Savalook which has been a good producer for their stud.

Savalook’s first foal – American Diva – a full sister to Looks Like Elvis, was retained by McLennan and Casey who sent the mare, a winner of eight races, to stud last year and she has since produced a filly by Crackerjack King (IRE) and is in foal to Darley’s new stallion Ghaiyyath (Dubawi x Nightime).

Savalook, who is also in foal to Darley’s Ghaiyyath, was covered by All American four times, but missed one, year while a filly died in an accident before making it to the track.

The mare’s mating at Rosemont with Starcraft produced Ammoudi Bay which is still racing and has also won eight races, while the next foal, also by Starcraft, was sold to Hong Kong and races as Bond A Star but is yet to be placed from 10 starts.

The mare has two fillies by Crackerjack King, a colt by Sepoy and a filly by Artie Schiller.

 “The three-year-old Crackerjack King filly (Let’savalook) is in work and there is a four-year-old mare (Avenue Of Heaven) in work with John Smerdon on the Gold Coast and she hasn’t raced yet either but is ready to race,” he said.

 “We sold two at the sales, including Ammoudi Bay and Symon Wilde trained it and the full brother (Bond A Star) went to Hong Kong.

 “Robert Smerdon bought Ammoudi Bay ($80,000) but when he got rubbed out the horse went to Symon Wilde.”

 The colt by Sepoy was bought by the owners of Looks Like Elvis.

And McLennan said the filly by Artie Schiller is what he describes as “a bit of class.”

 “I have also got a Frosted yearling filly out of (Group 2 winner) Antarctic Miss and I have a Street Boss yearling filly out of My Unicorn and the three of them are absolutely outstanding,” he said.

 “Even though the other two are by sires a little bit higher up the tree, the Artie Schiller is an absolute standout, and anyone who comes to the property asks ‘who is that.’

“Savalook missed to Artie Schiller last year.”

McLennan, who he says he is the best of mates with Casey, operates their 40 acre farm and usually breed from eight broodmares a year.

And while he said they’d often go interstate for stallions, he learnt that for all the costs they were better off to going to a good Victorian stallion.

“I normally to go a few stallions at Godolphin (Darley) and I think I’ve got three Frosted colts and a Frosted filly on the property and I’ve got a couple Street Bosses and this year one mare is in foal to Frosted, two are in foal to Ghaiyyath and a couple to Artie Schiller,” McLennan said.

“I still don’t know why people don’t rate Artie Schiller. You look at the results every week and he has two or three winners in town.

 “I think I’ve got two mares in foal to him again this year.”

 McLennan said Savalook was a New Zealand mare that they paid $60,000 for but she never made it to the races after shattering a shoulder.

 “She went up to Ballarat Veterinary Clinic and had it all put back together again, and I can remember taking the staples out, and I think there were 75 staples,” he said.

 “And that’s the reason she never raced.”

 And as for businessman Casey, he leaves all the horse business to McLennan.

 “I know is that they have four legs and that’s about it,” Casey quipped.

 “Doug does all the breeding and is my partner in the horse breeding.”

Glen Eden Stud has recently expanded and now boasts an increased 180 acres of premium horse country just outside the township of Kilmore.

“It’s perfect land for horses”, says Glen Eden founder Sonia O’Gorman when asked of the stud’s new expansion. 

“Big paddocks with copious feed and shade, which is essential for summer. 

Glen Eden stud began as a racehorse spelling property. The team has a deep affection for its mares”. 

“It’s a huge part of our business model,” says Rory O’Brien, a new partner in the business with Sonia.

When speaking about the expansion, Rory adds that it’s not just for mares “we intend on having more than just broodmares and are proud to welcome spellers too. We’d love to develop a strong relationship with some racing stables.” 

“There’s room, and the mares are glowing,” Rory says. “we’d like to increase the number of permanent and part-time residents on the farm by about 40-50”, he adds. 

Rory and Sonia also would like to take a moment to add thanks to all their clients and fellow thoroughbred businesses that continue to work with the stud. 

“We are all in this together, there are challenges every day, and we just want to wish everyone the best.”

For agistment enquires, please call Rory on 0478 796 770 or email sales@gleneden.com.au.

Not that he needs any publicity, but Written Tycoon gave another subtle reminder of his greatness as a sire when the Ciaron Maher and David Eustice trained Enthaar returned to form with victory in the Listed Doveton Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The three-year-old filly smashed her rivals on debut in the Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) at Randwick last year and followed up with another Group 3 win in the Chairman’s Stakes at Caulfield, but was unplaced when starting favourite at her next start in the Group 1 Blue Diamond (1200m).
After a 36 week spell, the filly resumed with a third over 1000m at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day but returned to her winning best over the sprint journey at Caulfield to take her record to three wins and a third from five starts.
Asked about the Oakleigh Plate as a target, Maher said in his postrace interview “Possibly. I’d love it if it was 1000 metres but that handicap level as a three-year-old might suit her. And she was quite tractable today. We might be going in the right direction.”
Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray said it was great to see Enthaar back in form and winning another Stakes race.
“She was obviously a very promising early two-year-old, winning the Gimcrack and one of the lead-ups to the Blue Diamond and then I think she probably lost her way a little bit,” he said.
“Ciaron has done a fantastic job to get her to relax and get her back winning again.”
Asked if the 19-year-old Written Tycoon needs any more promotion after returning to Victoria after one season in New South Wales before being purchased by Yulong, Fairgray said:
“He just keeps on doing it himself.
“I mean he had that filly and he had the horse, Stageman, that ran second in the Group 1 (Winterbottom Stakes) on Saturday as well. “He is just such a consistent stallion who keeps on getting winners at all distances, all sexes, all ages. He is such a durable stallion.”
After serving 199 mares in New South Wales last year at a service fee of $77,000, the stallion’s fee was raised significantly to $165,000 on his return to Victoria to stand at Yulong.
“He has had a great season and has done really well in the serving barn,” Fairgray said.”
“He will have about 160 mares which is great, so he has been really popular.
“His fertility has been fantastic. He has always had really good fertility and has continued to hold that up which is really good for a horse of his age that he is so fertile.”
Yulong has sent more than 50 of their own mares to Written Tycoon and among them is some real quality.
Support has also come from breeders in Victoria, New South Wales and New Zealand and Fairgray said it was arguably the best book of mares the stallion has ever covered and that comes of the back of his one season in NSW where he also served some top-flight broodmares.
“The quality of crops he has got coming through I think year on year it just seems to get stronger and stronger as people start to take notice of what a great stallion he is,” Fairgray said.
“What he achieved with the low quality mares and that’s how he sort of developed his reputation and now he has got better quality he can certainly go to another level and with his sons at stud now he is really a sort of sire of sires with Capitalist and so forth.”
Fairgray said that Yulong would most likely retain a couple of Written Tycoon’s colts in the hope of producing a well credentialed performer which would hopefully join the Yulong stallion roster.
“But we will assess it at the time,” he said.
A multi-million dollar purchase by Yulong owner Yuesheng Zhang, Written Tycoon’s big service fee and the demand for his progeny when they are offered by the stud will recuperate the massive outlay on the stallion.
“It was a tricky decision to make, but Mr Zhang was very confident in doing it and what it would do for Yulong and it’s fantastic,” Fairgray said.
“It’s worked out well and it’s great.”
Fairgray said the purchase of Written Tycoon was based on several factors, including the fact he served 199 mares in 2020 and his fertility was extremely good – 88.9 per cent – and he was a healthy stallion.
“Stallions can keep breeding until they are 22, 23 and 24,” he said.
“Obviously, there are risks involved with it, and you just try and eliminate your problems, sort of thing, and then you just look at it and say he is still fertile, he is still fit and healthy, and he has got a great book of foals coming through.
“There were lots of positives to say that if you do it, you could actually finish up doing pretty well out of it because with a lot of our young mares as well going to a proven stallion like him you are giving them a great opportunity of producing a Stakes horse in the first couple of foals.”
Top Yulong mares served by Written Tycoon include prolific Group 1 winner Melody Belle (NZ) and Group winner Graceful Greysful Glamour who are both in foal to the stallion.
The Broken Shore, the dam of three-time Group 1 winner Shoals, already has a Written Tycoon colt at foot, is back in foal to the stallion. Victorian bred stallion Ole Kirk’s dam Naturale has also been served by Written Tycoon. And Extremely, the dam of Extreme Choice, is also in foal to the stallion.
“And that’s just a few of them,” Fairgray said.
“We have just managed him through the season and have just made sure he wasn’t overly taxed, and we are getting into December, and he is going to have an easy time in December because he has done so well through September, October and November.”
Fairgray said that they try to limit Written Tycoon to covering a maximum of three mares a day and he’d serve between 15 to 18 mares a week.
He said they had been extremely pleased with the support Yulong’s other five stallions had received from breeders,
Young first season sires Tagaloa and Lucky Vega had been well supported.
“Tagaloa had just over 145 mares booked to him and Lucky Vega about 130, so we are really pleased for those two young horses and Yulong Prince, who is probably a different level of horse, has still got to get an okay number of mares too.
“We have just been lucky that they have been well received in their first year at stud.
“And we are really happy with Alabama Express’ foals that we have got on the ground and they are his first crop. He is certainly stamping his foals and we are thrilled with what he is leaving.”
Fairgray said Grunt had his first yearlings headed to the Magic Millions next year and expects them to be well received.
He said while Yulong was keen to add another stallion to their roster, it was a case of finding the right one to benefit the stud and the breeding industry.
And Fairgray said it was an exciting time to be involved in the breeding industry and definitely agrees this is the best selection of high class stallions Victoria has offered for years.

A 50 cent TAB punting mother was the inspiration behind Eric Buttler’s passion for racehorses which lead to him buying a stud, Napier Park, at Euroa more than 30 years ago.

The 81-year-old Buttler passed away on Melbourne Cup Day after succumbing to cancer.

With no previous background in the horse industry, Buttler’s daughter Michelle Rix said her father’s love of the equine pursuits and breeding began with his mother’s modest bets.

“My grandmother, who nickname was Tottie, loved a punt and used to put 50 cents on the horses and would love to bet,” Michelle said.

“And when she passed away, she left dad a little bit of money and he put every cent towards getting a horse and started off with a little horse called Tot’s Pride that was trained by a local trainer here in Kilmore.

“And that’s sort of how he started.”

After being beaten on debut by 10 lengths, Tot’s Pride (True Statement x Starthos) came out at out at her next start at Bendigo and demolished the rivals by eight lengths at odds of $26. She won another race but ran second eight times and had one third.

After that big win, the racing bug bit even deeper for Buttler whose passion for breeding intensified which lead him to buying the 530 acre Rangal Park Stud 31 years ago.

At was at a time when the recession was hitting business of all types extremely hard, with many being force to close their doors rather than attempting to ride out the financial firestorm.

“Rangal Park Stud was actually called Napier Park Stud back in those days and basically went into liquidation and dad went in there and happened to takeover a lot of the broodmares and foals when he purchased the stud,” Michelle said.

“From there he just started the business up.”

For a man without that equine background, Buttler read a lot, researched a lot and put a lot of time of time and effort into becoming an expert in all facets of the industry.

“He did a lot of that reading and researching to make sure he knew what he was talking about,” Michelle said.

“There was a lot of research.

“He just loved it.”

Michelle said her father had grown up in the “poor part” of Toorak, and the family home has been at Kilmore for around 40 years. Buttler’s wife, Marlene, of still lives in that home.

A steel fabricator by trade, Buttler established two businesses which he operated at the same time.

His two sons, Charlie-Albert and Brett, took over the fabrication business – Buttler Engineering at Campbellfield – about 10 years ago, while Michelle helped her father run the stud for the past couple of years.

Buttler built the factory himself in Campbellfield and then extended it when his business began to grow before buying the block next door and building another factory to lease.

“I think life is all about those little chances and opportunities that came his way,” Michelle said.

“One of the stories at his funeral was when a company went broke and they had a big overhead crane which was a big part of what he needed to set his business up.

“The crane was worth $70,000 and he got it for $15,000 and that was the kick start to the business which he needed because he needed that crane to lift the big steel beams and move things around.

“It was being in the right place at the right time. He went to the auction and he thought there would be hundreds of people and there were two people there and no one was interested in the crane so he got for $12,000 – and he has still got the receipt.”

When asked if horses or the engineering business was his passion, Michelle said it was anything that he could put his hands on because he was always a busy man.

“He had a property up at Allambie and he’d pull out tree ferns and cut up black wood and plant pine plantations and whatever he was throwing himself into, he was just a man that had a lot of go.

“Whenever there was a hard working opportunity to come his way, he’d work hard and make it his passion. He had lots of passion.”

Michelle said her father had experienced the ups and downs of horseracing, like most in the game.

But he had bred and then raced horses in many big races, including the Melbourne Cup and Blue Diamond Previews. He also bred and sold yearlings that went onto win at the ultimate Group 1 level.

He bred and raced Lady Elsie (Rainbows For Life x Princess Kingston) which was a Listed winner that raced in the 1999 Melbourne Cup.

And he also bred and raced racing Northeast Sheila (Keltrice x Jovan) who won the first two-year-old race of the 1998 season by seven lengths and then won the Blue Diamond Preview.

Keltrice was a special horse for Buttler who he raced partnership.

The entire won the Group 1 Lightning Stakes at Flemington and he later stood at Rangal Park.

Other stallions to stand at Rangal Park Stud included Palace Music (USA), sire of 12-time American Group 1 winner Cigar, Naturalism and more recently Cliff’s Edge, Danerich, Boom Time and Soul Patch.

Michelle said her father loved the breeding side of the industry probably more than the racing side of it and was always keen to get the right mix of mare and stallion.

Buttler was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma 10 years ago and doctors didn’t think he would be able to fight it off but he did and went into remission. Then about three years ago he was diagnosed with a slow moving cancer that would cause immune system issues and was told he would was never walk again.

“He didn’t like to be told what to do and got himself walking,” Michelle said.

“He got the boys to weld him up some handrails and he blew everyone’s mind that he could get himself walking on a walking frame again.

“He was going really well and then on top of the cancer, a new cancer formed, probably three weeks prior to him passing and it was a brain cancer which was really aggressive.”

Buttler was forced to sell Rangal Park Stud during the middle of last year and a dispersal sale for his stock was held this year, while his stallions found new studs.

The success of Eric’s horse pursuits, wouldn’t have been possible without his loyal Stud managers, Graham Burley who worked for Napier Park and then worked for Eric for around 15 years and then Tim Jackson took over as Manager for the next 16 years. They both lived on the property with their families.

Buttler joined Kilmore Racing Club and was elected to the club’s board and later became chairman and was recognised for his service with life membership.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marlene and their four children Charlie-Albert, Keillianne, Brett and Michelle.

Eric was a doting grandfather to his seven grandchildren, Jade, Josh, Matthew, Christopher, Larissa, Declan & Blake.

Buttler was farewelled by his family privately at Kilmore Trackside on Monday, November 15.

Exciting mare Duchess of Dorset overcame a near fatal attack of colic to loom as a genuine Group contender for well-known Warrnambool racing administrator and identity Marg Lucas.
Trained by Symon Wilde, the mare didn’t start her racing career until March this year as a four-year-old but has made up for a delayed start to racing with four wins and a second from six starts.
The now five-year-old scored an impressive victory at last Saturday’s Ballarat Cup meeting in a benchmark 79 for mares four-years and up.
She lived up to her pre-race hype when she started as the $1.95 favourite and won by 2.8 lengths.
The mare’s only “blemish” was when she finished fourth at her second start, coming off her debut win at Stawell, on a heavy Warrnambool track.
Lucas bred Duchess of Dorset after sending her broodmare Commands Gold (Commands x Gold Tycoon) to Canford Cliffs (IRE) when the stallion stood at Blue Gum Farm.
But the mare nearly didn’t make it to the track.
“She got colic early on in her career when she was being pre-trained and that was the reason why she only started racing recently,” Lucas said.
“She got through the colic operation which was a bit of a process in the middle of 2019 and when I eventually got her home I thought what do I do with her now.
“I was paralysed with fear, but they did a fabulous job up at Symon Wilde’s satellite stable at Ballarat. It was probably lucky that they were able to walk her down to the vet clinic and I got a phone call in the middle of the night from a vet, Travis Smyth who was a surgeon at the clinic, asking what we were going to do.”
Lucas said that her initial thoughts was to put the filly down, but she rang her daughter, Phoebe Farrel, who she describes as the horse person of her four children, and she insisted that they attempt to save the horse.
After a successful operation, the filly was then sent to Laura Dixon’s rehabilitation property at Ballarat.
“It was a long process but it all turned out very well,” Lucas said.
But Lucas said that in the long months of Duchess of Dorset’s layoff the filly wasn’t developing her bones through work which left her a casualty of shin soreness.
“When we started to get her back into work, I got over being paralysed with fear over whether I race her or not because she is nicely bred and I thought I could breed from her without racing her.
“But I have a few mares I breed from and she was sitting in the paddock and I thought I’d give her a burl and she went into Symon’s and we got her to the track she did have shin soreness but she won her first race and then had another run on heavy track which didn’t entirely suit her.”
Lucas said the colic operation and shin soreness combined to give Duchess of Dorset a late start to her career.
“You learn something,” she said.
“I have been around horses all my life.
“But she has just turned out to be a lovely horse and if she was a person you would want her to be your best friend. You get those horses that are saying what do you want me to do next and she sort of races a bit like that.”
And Lucas finds it interesting that five-year progeny by Canford Cliffs are starting to pop up and be successful.
It wasn’t a hard choice for her to send Commands Gold to Canford Cliffs when he served his biggest book – 136 – at Blue Gum in 2015. As well as Duchess of Dorset, that crop included the talented Wicklow Town and Paul’s Regret.
“When he came upon the thoroughbred booklet, I loved the look of him and his pedigree and away we went,” Lucas said.
“All these things are good luck aren’t they?”
After serving only 30 mares in 2016, the Coolmore owned stallion didn’t have enough support to shuttle back to Australia.
Commands Gold started her racing career with David Hayes and had her first three starts in South Australia and then raced in Victoria before transferring to Charlie Goggin in Tasmania. The mare, which won six races and had eight minor placings from 36 starts, finished her career at Geelong with Nicholas Roe.
Lucas paid $9000 for the mare at the 2011 Inglis August Thoroughbred Sale.
She bred a Domesday colt – Bill The Conqueror – a winner of three races out of the mare, followed by Duchess of Dorset. The mare died in 2019, a year after producing a colt by Fiorente.
“The mare got travel sickness and died very quickly, and so for this little possum (Duchess of Dorset) we are just astounded with what we have achieved,” she said.
“We are very grateful for it, but she deserves it as well.
“I had been looking for a Commands mare for some time because I thought they were good. With her pedigree, she could run and I was hoping for something to happen.
“Her younger brother is by Fiorente and has just gone into work.”
Lucas has pushed for prizemoney for maiden winners to be increased in country races to a level of $45,000 as she believes there should be a bigger financial reward for that first win to compensate the high costs of breeding and just getting a horse to the races.
She was disappointed to be told by racing chiefs that her plan would cost $10 million, only to see a few weeks later three new pop races announced that would cost that amount.
“I have been breeding horses, and my mother bred horses before me and my father before me, it doesn’t make any sense not to be supporting that end of it,” she said.
“I won three races in a year and pocketed $36,000, but if I went and home and said I’ve won three races and have got $75,000 in the kit, I’d been feeling a lot better about myself and reinvesting.”
Lucas, who was on the Warrnambool Racing Club committee for 21 years and served as chairman from 2000 to 2009, has six active broodmares and several younger ones that have yet to be sent to stud.
One of her mares is the former Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott trained Diamonds and Rust (Medaglia x Gabbidon), a Sydney city winner which Lucas bought online for $27,000 and planned to send to stud this year.
Instead she gave the five-year-old mare to Wilde to train and he had success with her, winning at Geelong earlier this month.
The mares race under Lucas’ family syndicate -Looks Great Racing. She adopted the name from the horse – Looks Great – her brother James Nicol raced to 14 victories, including city wins and Group placings.
A former trainer, Lucas was one of the first females to be licensed in the 1960s and bred Looks Great (Nisku) from the mare Mirontina which she trained.
“I have had a few good horses and they have all been homebreds and mare called Russian Bond (Special Bond x Borodina) which I raced was very handy,” Lucas said.
She also breeds Welsh Mountain ponies and the family also have Poll Hereford cattle on their 400 acre farm, north of Warrnambool. Her daughter Phoebe Farrel runs a bigger, adjoining farm.
And Wilde described Duchess of Dorset’s win as “pretty painless.”
“I said this morning and even post-race, she’s such a reliable horse.” he said in his postrace interview.

“She’s bombproof in everything she does.

“She conserves her energy travelling up here and is a lovely quiet horse. She’s got good gate speed, settles well and she’s just a really good racehorse.

“I think she’s stakes quality. Her run at Flemington and probably highlighted that. A listed race or a Group 3 mare’s race is definitely not beyond her.

“And the way she races, putting herself in great positions, she’ll get her chance. It might be over in Adelaide, I’m not sure, but she’s definitely stakes quality.

“This horse had colic surgery which is why she hasn’t done a lot of racing and thankfully she did get that done because she’s got a really nice mare on her hands.”

Wilde described Lucas as a great racing person from the local area and said he was so pleased that she’s got a nice horse.

The recent death of legendary show business icon Bert Newton brought back memories of his involvement in the Victorian racing and breeding industry.
Newton, an avid Fitzroy supporter, also had a deep love for horses and raced many over the years.
Former leading race caller and prominent racing identity Bryan Martin fondly recalls the good times he had with Newton who he had a lot of fun with over the years.
The pair first met when they worked for radio station 3DB in the 1980s.
Martin recalls buying a Victorian bred yearling at the Melbourne sales back in the 1980s, it was a filly by Cerreto (IRE) out of Lynne’s Star and raced as Cerlynne.
“Lynne’s Star (Star Affair) was a daughter of Our Lynne and I used to call her and there was Star Kingdom through the family,” Martin said.
“I said to another mate of mine Johnny Hallam who lived up at Beulah and was a trotting bookmaker, let’s buy one and see how we go.
“And Cerretos were going well with Ray Hutchins (Epsom trainer).
“We paid $10,000 for her and Hutchie bought her for us.”
Martin said it became apparent from “day dot” that the filly had ability and finished fourth, beaten half a length on debut over 1100m at Flemington at odds of $21.
The filly then finished second at Moonee Valley in a 1200m race at $5 and then won as the $2.75 favourite at her next start, also over 1200m, on July 20, 1985 at Caulfield.
After a spell, Cerlynne resumed with two unplaced runs before finishing a narrow second in the Melba Handicap (1600m) at Moonee Valley.
“It was over a mile and I had her going for a fortune in the quaddie and she laid off the track on the turn and Ming Princess got up in the inside and beat her by a half neck,” Martyn said.
“We took her to Adelaide for the Australasian Oaks (2000m) and she finished third, beaten by Miss Clipper and another filly in a three-way photo in the Auraria Stakes over 1800m at Cheltenham.
“She then raced in the Australasian Oaks with J. Stoker riding her and Miss Clipper won the race she and ran out of our skin to finish fifth.”
After the Oaks, Martyn said he was contracted by bloodstock agent Tim Stewart who was buying up the Star Kingdom line fillies and mares.
Stewart told Martin that he was buying for a big American breeder.
“He asked me if she was for sale and told him they are all for sale,” Martin said.
“I said she was for sale without chatting to the other owners and he said would $150,000 buy her and I said $150,000 clear and told him to add in his commission and everything else and that $150,000 clear would get her.
“I rang Bert and said remember that filly that cost us $3300 each? He said yeah and I said I can get you $50,000 for her.
“I think he said do we take her by taxi.”
Martin revealed that Hutchins was opposed to the sale and wanted to keep training the filly who he said was a great stayer that would win a Cup for them.
But she was sold and Hutchins pocketed $6000 from the cashed-up owners.
Cerlynne ran a couple of races in America before going to the breeding barn.
Martin described Newton as a great guy and friend who was the best entertainer the country had ever seen.
“And of course when we got the 50K we bought another, a tried horse, but he couldn’t win a maiden,” he said.
“But we put carpet throughout the house and had a holiday in Noosa.”
Martin said Newton raced many horses, including multiple city winner Predominate with Geelong trainer Kath Johnson, 1989 Kilmore Cup winner and Listed race winner Spacecraft which was trained by Geoff Murphy.
“He had a very good two-year-old called Lord Mornington that won the Maribyrnong Plate and was a brilliant galloper,” he said.
“Another one was Colin’s Choice and he had Lady Matthias with Bob Hoysted.”
Many of Newton’s horses raced in his Marist Brothers colours.
Martin said Newton loved the racing game, loved a punt, the characters and the racecourse.
“He just loved racing and he had success,” he said.
“And he had great success with a couple off very smart pacers called Major Lord with Teddy Demmler and a horse called Benjarbee with Ronny Peace.
“He punted huge, huge because he was the biggest earner in Australia at the time.”
Newton’s wife Patti was also part owner in many of the horse’s she raced with her late husband.
Martin said Newton loved the horses as an animal, probably just as much as the public loved the show business icon.

Kermadec’s relocation from New South Wales to Darley’s Northwood Park in Victoria has been perfect timing with the stallion producing the winner of the VRC Oaks – Willowy.
The Godolphin racing team, under trainer James Cummings, produced at least one winner on each of the four days of the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Makiv said the Godolphin stable had a great week.
He said they ran an unlucky second on Derby Day with Alegron (Teofilo x Algria) and were beaten in a photo in the Group 1 Cantala Stakes with Cascadian which then ran second in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes on the final day of the carnival. Colette (Hallowed Crown x Libretto) backed up her victory in the Tristarc Stakes at Caulfield with the victory in the Group 1 Empire Rose, also on Derby Day.
Willowy shot to favouritism for the Oaks with her victory in the Wakeful Stakes on Derby Day.
The Godolphin team finished the carnival with a winner on Stakes Day when Alcyone (Teofilo x Purple) won over 2000m
“So we had winners on all four days so the carnival was fantastic,” Makiv said.
“The spring has been great and goes back to Anamoe winning the Guineas.”
As well as winning the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas, Anamoe (Street Boss x Anamato) finished a controversial second in the Cox Plate to State of Rest.
Veteran jockey Damien Oliver couldn’t have been happier with his resurgence over the carnival and was full of praise for Willowy which had won a 1600m Newcastle maiden before tackling the Wakeful Stakes.
“I thought the second horse had us cold inside the 200. I tried everything. Maybe I took the roaring to another level, but she responded well and I can only take some of the credit,” Oliver said after the Oaks.
“James (Cummings) and the Godolphin team in Melbourne, Reg (Fleming) and all the guys, they have to take the credit too. It was my first sit on her today, I couldn’t ask for any more.”
Cummings said the Oaks win was great for the team first and foremost.
“There is a hell of a lot that goes into producing a horse like Willowy on days like this. It’s a great effort from the guys at Crown Lodge where she first started off,” Cummings said.
“She has just kept improving all the way, enough for us to send her to the Wakeful. We didn’t nominate many for the Oaks, but we had her earmarked as one that could stay.
“It takes a filly with a great temperament and a great constitution to do what she has done in the past week and she has been able to deliver.”
Cummings realises the importance of the win for Kermadec.
“That’s massive for Kermadec who had the favourite in this race last year, in Montefilia, who won the Metropolitan 12 months later,” he said.
“He’s producing these Classic fillies. It sets him apart being able to get a horse like that and we are looking for stallions like that, like anyone.”
Darley Victoria’s Andy Makiv said the entire organisation was delighted with the results of the carnival which culminated in Willowy’s Group 1 Oaks victory.
“We are delighted and it’s been a great week for a number of reasons,” Andy Makiv said.
“Willowy winning the Oaks was a real standout for us.”
Makiv said the swapping of states and stallions barns for Kermadec (Teofilo x Hy Fuji) and Street Boss (Street Cry x Blushing Ogygian) were part of managing Darley’s rosters in NSW and Victoria.
“Standing stallions is a long game,” he said.
Although Kermadec was moved to Victoria, Makiv said it was a horse that they still had faith in him in New South Wales, but was relocated to Victoria with view that the Victorians would have the opportunity to support the stallion on the back of Montefilia’s performances last year.
He said Willowy’s victory in the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes and then winning the Oaks four days later had franked that decision for breeders.
The David Payne-trained Montefilia finished third in last year’s VRC Oaks, but won two Group 1 races in 2020 – the ATC Fight Stakes and the Spring Champion Stakes.
And this year the mare won the Group 1 ATC Metropolitan Handicap (2400m) in October and then finished fourth in the Caulfield Cup.
Mikov said the victory of Willowy said a lot for Kermadec as a stallion and also their operation’s breeding program.
“For a number of reasons it’s a great team effort all the way through from the stallion to the great old broodmare (Dextrous), to the training team, to the stud team,” he said.
“So that was the highlight, a fantastic highlight and everyone in the whole organisation got a buzz out of it.”
Makiv said Dextrous, which died last year, had been a great broodmare.
Her progeny include Group 1 winner Skilled (Commands), Group 2 winner Ambidexter and dual Group 2 winner Sidestep (Exceed and Excel).
Makiv said Willowy, a November 25 foal, is an immature filly that had won the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes (2000m) and the Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) in a week.
Now with three wins, one second and a third from six starts – plus $822,065 in prize money – Makiv said he’d expect the filly to target similar sorts of races during the autumn.
“But who knows where it leads beyond that, I suppose,” he said.
“Even the Verry Elleegants and the Winxs and those sorts of horses had to start somewhere didn’t they?
“She has got a wonderful pedigree and is a well credentialed filly.”
Makiv said Kermadec (NZ) had received good support in his first season in Victoria this year. He served 67 mares in New South Wales last season, but could double that number when the stud season finishes in Victoria this year.
“He has had two Group 1 winners this spring and I am not sure how many stallions have had two individual Group 1 winners this spring.”
“He is an up and coming horse who can get a classic horse and I’d say he’ll cover around 100 or maybe a few more. And maybe on the back of Willowy, it might head to a bit more.
“He has been well received this year and we are pleased.”
Makiv said Godolphin and Darley was an international business and certainly a national business with two farms in Australia and the stallion rosters had to be balanced.
“To move Street Boss north wasn’t for any other reasons than we had Frosted, Brazen Beau and Blue Point all in a similar price bracket here (in Victoria) and didn’t there (NSW),” he said.
Makiv said the thinking behind moving Kermadec to Victoria was that they also had a few horses in that similar price bracket in NSW.
Standing at $11,000, Kermadec has shown what he can produce for a reasonably priced fee.
“He has shown that he can get a good horse,” Makiv said.
“That horse of Lindsey Smith’s Tuvalu (three wins and two seconds from five stars) I think it is very talented. He was matching motors almost with I’m Thunderstruck through the winter and he has gone onto be one of the class horses of the spring.
“I am looking forward to seeing Tuvalu in the autumn and I think that he is an exciting prospect. Add him to the mix if he goes on and does it and by April/May next year he may be a very hot horse.
“If they pass on a bit of talent, you are half-way there, I think.”
Makiv said Godolphin would support Kermadec with their own broodmares this breeding season.
“You can broadly talk about what numbers you want to do but at the end of the day you want the mating to work and the physical to work, but the mating has to work too.
“We try to breed with a bit of purity and try to breed racehorses at the end of the day which we are lucky to do.
“We are not driven by the commercial sales ring as much, but we are driven by what is best for the mare and hopefully the best is to produce a Willowy.”
Makiv said the numbers for the Darley stallions had been great this season and while second season sires could be difficult, Blue Point (Shamardal x Scarlett Rose) and Too Darn Hot (Dubawi x Dar Re Mi) to their credit both their progeny had outstanding profiles from all reports and what Darley had seen.
He said they’d knocked back as many mares to Blue Point and Too Darn Hot this season as they did last year. Blue Point covered 128 mares last season, compared to Too Darn Hot’s 130. They both stand at $44,000.
“They are just really highly credentialed horses,” Makiv said.
“It’s a privilege to stand them and we are very lucky to have access to them, Bivouac is the same. We just get these elite champions that people want to send their mares to.
“We are in a fortunate situation at the moment on the track, both here and up north, and as a result our rosters are in a really healthy place and our bookings and business is in a healthy place. We are in good shape.”