Colombe D’or Racing Photos
Colombe D’or, bred by Musk Creek Farm and sired by Swettenham Stud’s Rubick, has proven a consistent commodity for her connections who have reaped the rewards after purchasing her as a yearling for just $32,000.
Out of the New Zealand mare Lashezz, a mare described by Musk Creek’s Scott Williamson as ‘very large’, Colombe D’or looked to be the replica of her dam when foaled down.
Knowing the mare was in need of a speed injection, Williamson and the team at Musk Creek decided that early-running two-year-old and Schillaci Stakes winner Rubick would be the perfect fit.
“The mare was a very large Zabeel mare. She was every bit of 17’1, 17’2 (hands),” Williamson said.
“We wanted to put a smaller, speed horse into her and Rubick was that and had the pedigree as well.
“When she foaled, she produced a clone of herself. Colombe D’or has taken a bit of time, but she has had the speed injection from Rubick and looks to have some ability,” Williamson said.”
Sold via Widden Stud at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Weanling Sale, Sullivan Bloodstock’s Sherah Sullivan was elated about the pinhook prospects of the filly. She believed that the filly looked as if she would improve from a weanling to a yearling, with a Zabeel-like frame.
“She was bought out of Magic Millions (Weanling Sale) through Widden’s draft on behalf of Musk Creek. We paid just over $30,000 for her. It was Brian McGuire, myself and Thompsons Creek Thoroughbreds,” Sullivan said.
“I was actually looking at a lot of weanlings with Matt Houldsworth, so I was knocked down under his name. She was very Zabeel-like to me, and with me being a Kiwi, she really appealed. I loved her frame and I loved her pedigree.
“The idea was to pinhook her back. She made the Magic Millions main session, and ended up having an x-ray problem that was never going to worry her, but was going to worry buyers.”
After withdrawing Colombe D’or from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Sullivan and the ownership group decided to keep the filly and syndicate her themselves.
“We just thought that we would syndicate the filly and we all stayed in the ownership,” Sullivan said.
A debut winner in heavy conditions at Ballarat in June of last year, the Ciaron Maher and Dave Eustace-trained filly was given a spell before coming back and running two honourable second placings on less favorable firm ground.
Over 12-months out of the winner’s stall and still lightly raced, the then three-year-old filly proved too strong when fresh in July this year, keeping her unbeaten record on heavy ground in-tact.
“She does need a little bit of cut out of the ground, so credit to the Ciaron Maher Racing team who have done a super job with her. They have had to be so patient with her and just wait for conditions to suit,” Sullivan said.
“She’s only been out the money three times so she’s been a really good filly for us.
“Ciaron has had one before out of the sister to the dam of our filly…he does have an affiliation with the family.”
Her last start win at Geelong took her record to three wins and two placings from eight career starts, banking over $86,000 in prizemoney. The connections are hoping for some rain around across the Melbourne Spring Carnival to give their mare her best chance to secure a well-deserved metropolitan victory.
“We’d like to aim her at a nice city race, but we do need the conditions to suit. They have her nominated for a couple of races, but it is very much going to be dependent on where we can find some chop out of the ground.”
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