Photo: Kenton Wright
A prophecy made about El Vencedor by his trainer Stephen Marsh in 2021 appears to be coming true.
Back then when the horse was an unraced two-year-old, Marsh told his long-term Wellington-based clients Mark Freeman and David Price that this would be the best horse they would ever race.
That would have been music to the ears of the young horse’s breeders, who had bought his granddam, the Star Way mare Take Silk, in the late 1990s.
Now as a five-year-old, the son of Shocking is enjoying a breakout season capped by victory in the Gr. 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie last Saturday.
That seventh career win followed a fourth placing in the Gr. 1 Trackside Otaki Weight-For-Age, second in the Gr. 1 Thorndon Mile and third in the Gr. 2 Rich Hill Mile. Prior to that he had won the Gr. 3 Eagle Technology Stakes at Te Rapa after running second in the Listed Fulton Family Stakes at Pukekohe Park.
At the time of their trainer’s prophecy, Freeman and Price had been made a ridiculous offer for their trial-winning two-year-old, a brother to their dual stakes winner Chocante, but he failed the vet test due to a small bone chip behind a knee.
“Our vet said we could remove it and sell him, but we decided to leave it alone and race him,” recalled Freeman.
“We had had a bit of luck with Chocante and his half-brother Sky Darci had just won the Hong Kong Derby, so we were happy to keep him.”
That happiness was elevated to euphoria last Saturday when the big gelding claimed his well-deserved Group One over the hot favourite Legarto under Irish jockey Joe Doyle.
“It was a massive thrill, Joe rode him perfectly and we beat a superstar, it’s pretty surreal to beat New Zealand’s best older horse,” enthused Freeman, who watched the race from his home.
“We didn’t think we would beat her but knew if he relaxed he would be hard to beat. We knew n- one in the race would be worried about us they would doubt he would stay the distance, but seriously we thought it would be hard to beat Legarto.
“This campaign he has been really consistent, he has raced in some high-quality races, and the plan was always to spell after this. Saturday was his end of season goal, and although Australia is very tempting, we will stick to the original plan.”
Price, however, did make the trip north to be on course for the big win.
“It was fantastic to be there, to lead him back, the atmosphere was amazing you can’t replicate a day like that,” he enthused.
“I did practically have to cut off my left arm to pay $815 to our national airline but I did have two runners on the day. (the other was New Zealand Cup runner-up Nest Egg, who was luckless in the Auckland Cup)
“El Vencedor and Joe Doyle get on like a house on fire, it really was a perfect ride. I was really, really stoked.
“I have always been relatively confident he would stay, given his brother won a Brisbane Cup and his half-brother by a sprinting sire won a Hong Kong Derby – it was just a matter of time.”
Backing that optimism, Price had done a gene test on El Vencedor that stated his optimum distance was between 1800 and 2200 metres. The blood test is conducted by Irish company Plusvital, analysing the DNA of a horse to identify its prime distance.
Freeman and Price became friends more than 30 years ago when they found they both enjoyed a punt and a red wine at their local pub in Wellington.
At the time Freeman had horses with Foxton-based Paddy Busuttin and the owner of Take Silk was wanting to downsize. He liked the fact the Star Way filly was out of a good mare Busuttin trained in Red Chiffon, a black-type winner at Ellerslie, Riccarton, Rosehill and Doomben.
"I didn't know David that well at the time,” Freeman recalled. “We used to bet in the same TAB and see each other at the races, so I asked him if he was interested in taking a share. She ran a couple of placings but that was it.”
Retired to stud, Take Silk went to O’Reilly a couple of times and Strictly Maternal was one of those foals, having acquired her name as she was destined to being a broodmare after injury prevented her from racing.
She didn’t have the best start as a broodmare but her third and fourth foals by Danroad both won races in Hong Kong. The fifth foal was the Gr. 2 Brisbane Cup and Counties Cup winner Chocante and her next foal Hermanito, also by Shocking, was a winner.
The next foal Sky Darci became the champion 4YO in Hong Kong after winning the Hong Kong Derby and Gr. 3 Lion Rock Trophy. El Vencedor was next, followed by Golden Darci who finished third in the Listed El Roca Trophy last season.
Strictly Maternal had been retired from breeding, but after Sky Darci hit form, at the age of 20 she went back to Shocking and produced a much-wanted filly. Nicknamed Joy, she is in work with Stephen Marsh, and who knows what the future holds for her?
