Photo: Cornege Photography
Loyalty is a core value for Sandy Moore, and he is now reaping the rewards from that virtue with his Group One-winning mare Bonny Lass.
Growing up with Trentham Racecourse on his back doorstep, racing has always been a passion for Moore, which he took with him when he moved to Auckland and got involved in racing administration.
“I was on the board of the Auckland Racing Club for 15-odd years and that kept the interest going very strongly,” he said.
During this time, Moore had a few horses in training, including Centaine mare Silver Cent, and while she never made it to the races, she became his entry into the breeding world as his foundation broodmare.
“I never really intended to get into breeding, but when I had a horse called Silver Cent I thought I had to keep racing fillies, but she didn’t do any good so that is when I decided to put her to stud. I got the bug a bit after that and started to pursue it a little bit more,” he said.
Looking for a potential mating for his mare, Moore drove south to Hallmark Stud near Te Kauwhata where he struck up a friendship with the Baker family, and it is an association that has lasted to this day.
“Right from the very start when I got interested in Le Bec Fin, the horse they (Hallmark Stud) had standing there, I got chatting away to Denny (Baker) and he has got stories about everything,” Moore said. “I thought he was a great guy to talk to and his son, Mark, had taken over (the farm).
“They (Mark and Vicki Baker) are a lovely couple, they are very honest and straightforward and they just love the animal. I have just stuck with them the whole time, I haven’t been anywhere else.
“I am one of those people where if I get onto something and I feel good about it then I just stick with it, I am pretty loyal. They have been great to me and they have got a very nice property.”
Moore duly sent Silver Cent to Le Bec Fin, which resulted in a filly in Posh Bec, who went onto win three races and place in the Listed Soliloquy Lodge Stakes (1400m).
Upon Posh Bec’s retirement from racing, Moore had well and truly caught the breeding bug and after sending his mare to Haunui Farm’s Ego in her maiden season, he decided to head back to Hallmark Stud the following year to support their new stallion Super Easy.
Posh Bec was subsequently served by Super Easy in nine of the following 10 seasons, with the only break in their partnership coming in 2020 when Moore leased the mare to Hallmark Stud, who sent her to Rich Hill Stud stallion Shocking.
Posh Bec and Super Easy became a potent combination, leaving seven-win gelding Super Posh, stakes performer Clark Kent, and Group One winner Bonny Lass.
During his time on the Auckland Racing Club board, Moore established a good friendship with Brent Cooper, which extended into racing horses together in the latter’s Social Racing syndicates.
Moore enjoyed racing a couple of horses with Social Racing and was only too pleased to offer up his own breeding stock to be raced on lease through the syndicator.
Bonny Lass was one of those horses, and she has taken her 50-strong Social Racing Starting Gates Syndicate on the ride of a lifetime, recording eight wins and eight placings from 21 starts for trainers Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall.
She won the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at just her second start before placing in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) and Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) as a juvenile. In her three-year-old term she won the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and placed in the Listed Mufhasa Stakes (1400m).
As a mare, she continued on her upward trajectory, winning the Gr.3 Sweyneese Stakes (1215m) first-up as a four-year-old and placed in the Gr.3 Counties Bowl (1100m). Earlier this year she showed her true class when runner-up in the Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1200m) on New Year’s Day and third in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) a fortnight later before breaking through at elite-level when taking out the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa in February.
Her connections were hopeful of a strong spring preparation and she kicked that off in emphatic style at Te Rapa last Saturday when taking out the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa, much to the delight of Moore.
“It was her first start after quite a long break and she did very well. She always goes well fresh,” he said.
The Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings on September 7 remains her next major target and Moore hasn’t ruled out campaigning his mare in Australia before she is set to retire to the broodmare paddock at the end of the season.
“We had a big debate about that (Australia) last year, but I think we will just pursue the local industry a bit longer and support that a bit more,” Moore said. “The money is fantastic in Australia, but it is getting a lot better here too. It (Australia) is certainly on the cards at some point.
“My intention is to keep her racing this season and then probably pull the pin after that. There has been quite a bit of interest from various people who own stallions trying to convince me that she would be a good for them.”
While breeding from Bonny Lass himself is tempting, Moore said he may offer her to the market given her status.
“We might breed from her, but I think she will be quite desirable,” he said. “Although her breeding is not particularly strong, her performances are, and sometimes it is not all about flash breeding, it is how good they can run.”
If Moore does end up selling Bonny Lass, he still has plenty of the family to carry on with. However, with Super Easy no longer standing at Hallmark Stud, Moore will be forced to make a mating decision for the first time in more than a decade with Posh Bec.
“I am only in breeding in a very small way, I only ever have one or two horses at any one time,” Moore said. “I am just lucky that the homebreds are doing so well at the moment.
“Posh Bec is the only mare that I have got. She has probably got a couple more (foals) left in her, but I think she is near the end of the line with that. She has been a great broodmare.”
