In the late eighties when Garry Chittick was morphing Thornton Park into Waikato Stud, he made the bold decision to buy Star Of The Knight (Sir Tristram[Ire]- Celebrity II[FR]) a stakes winning mare who has gone on to produce one of Waikato Stud’s most iconic families.
In winning the Listed Gosford Gold Cup recently, Another Dollar (Ocean Park – Make A Wish) became the latest stakes winner in this illustrious family, having Star Of The Knight as her third dam.
If you think the name Make A Wish sounds familiar, that would be through her 2017 Savabeel (AUS) colt who topped the NZB National Yearling in 2019, selling for $1.4 million. He remains the highest priced colt sold by Waikato Stud.
Another Dollar is bound for the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale later this month giving someone the chance to buy into this illustrious family that has so much black type on the page that it almost makes your eyes blur.
She is now the winner of four races, but more importantly, as a three-year-old she was Group One placed in the Queensland Oaks, after running second in both the Gr.2 The Roses and the Gr.3 Gold Coast Bracelet at Doomben. At four she added another Listed placing in the G H Mumm at Eagle Farm, and at five in the Spring ran third in the Listed Ballarat Cup.
Another Dollar is the third foal from the Pins(AUS) mare Make A Wish, a daughter of the stakes winning mare and top producer Starcent (Centaine[AUS]- Star of The Knight), and her best performer to date.
She is a half-sister to two winners, Twenty One Times by O’Reilly and Any Time by Savabeel (AUS), another filly, Trevi Dreams, also by Savabeel, has been placed four times from six starts.
Their grandam Starcent was a leading three-year-old filly of her year, winning the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes and the Gr.3 Lowland Stakes before finishing second in the Gr.1 One Thousand Guineas and Gr.1 Beyer Classic. At two she won the Listed Classic Stakes at Avondale.
As a broodmare she left 14 foals, 12 to race and 11 winners including the stakes placed Patrick and Ambitious, a Group One placed winner of two races. Starcent made a name for herself as a broodmare leaving Strike The Stars (Savabeel[AUS]) who won the Gr.3 Gloaming Stakes and was Group One placed in the Australian Guineas, Australian Derby and South Australian Derby. As well as left three other stakes placed winners along with the dam of the Group Two winner Adelaide Ace (Savabeel[AUS]-Ampin) and his sister, the dual Group Three placed Savy Yong Blonk.
A year after Starcent was born her full sister Professionelle came along and was sold to Australia where she only won one race but produced four stakes winners in Sportsman (AUS), Prisoner of Love (AUS), Hoystar (AUS) and King of Prussia (AUS). She is also the grandam of the Group One winning sire Vanbrugh.
The next mating, also to Centaine (AUS), produced Night Star who was retained by Waikato Stud but didn’t race. She produced a stakes winner in Plaudits (Danasinga [AUS]) and her stakes placed daughter Irish Nova (O’Reilly) produced the champion sprinter Sacred Star (Flying Spur [AUS]).
However, it is perhaps another of her daughters that is the most famous - Bling (O’Reilly), who produced the Champion Three-Year-Old Colt Embellish now at stud at Cambridge Stud, and the Group One winning mare Diademe, along with the stakes performers Roop All and Deadly Shadow.
Star of The Knight died in 1995 having produced seven named foals, with only three racing and they were all winners. As a racehorse she won seven times including the Gr.2 Queensland Sires’ Produce Stakes, and the Gr.3 Queensland Guineas.
She was one of only two winners from the French mare Celebrity II who was imported to New Zealand by esteemed breeders Jack Higgs and Sir Patrick Hogan. By Meadow Court (IRE) she was out of Celestial Gold (GB) (Golden Cloud[GB]-Cellular[GB), who also left the Champion Irish Filly Kathy Too.
Buying Star Of The Knight was a big investment at the time for Chittick but has proved worthwhile with the mare forming a dynasty that brings us back to Make A Wish. Not surprisingly she rates with high esteem with Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick.
“Make A Wish is one of my favourite mares, and it’s definitely one of our favourite families,” he said with obvious pride as he talked about her and the mating with Ocean Park.
“At that stage of Ocean Park’s career (first season) he deserved a really nice mare. A lovely filly was born, and she went through the sales, we really considered keeping her, but she was such a nice advertisement for Ocean Park that we decided to move her on, besides she was only her third foal.
“She was bought by Chris Waller and sharing in the ownership are great supporters of Waikato Stud Francis Cook and Noel Greenhalgh and Frances Cook is also in the ownership of Any Wish (Make A Wish’s fourth foal) who is a recent winner by Savabeel(AUS) in Australia.
“Obviously before Saturday, the highlight of Another Dollar’s career was running second in the Queensland Oaks, pipped at the post by her stablemate Youngstar.”
“Make A Wish missed last year, and then this year she has absorbed as well, so it looks like she is getting to the stage where she has an uncertain breeding future and we may not get another live foal.”
There has been an element of bad luck surrounding this family something that Chittick is hoping will change.
“We kept Cupid, her first foal, along with our Bloodstock Manager Kerrie Cox and we sold a lovely colt out of her at Karaka the same year we sold the million dollar Make A Wish colt (her sixth foal now named No Limits)” recalled Chittick.
“Cupid didn’t get back in foal, but did again in the third season to Savabeel(AUS), but unfortunately she was found dead in the paddock one morning. At that stage we made an approach to buy Another Dollar back, but we felt the price was too high, and we also made an approach to buy Any Wish but they wanted to race her on.
“We have however managed to buy into Trevi Dreams her fifth foal, so we have got a daughter back.
“Kerrie has taken a small share in that mare as well. She had a share in Roop All (Savabeel- Bling) who was placed in a Listed race on Melbourne Cup day as a three-year-old, but then was injured while she was spelling and couldn’t be saved. Kerrie has been involved on two occasions and she is determined to be involved in this one.”
Another Dollar’s win in the Listed Gosford Gold Cup caps off an amazing few weeks for Ocean Park and a stellar season for the Cox Plate winning son of Thorn Park (AUS).
Just the week before Oceanex (Ocean Park- Danex) added the Listed Port Adelaide Cup to her tally of wins this season which also includes the Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes. While late last month Tofane (Ocean Park-Baggy Green) scored in the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes, and earlier in the carnival Star Of The Seas (Ocean Park-Stella Livia[GB]) won the Gr.3 Maurice McCarten Stakes.
Earlier in the season another of Ocean Park’s star Kolding (Ocean Park-Magic Star [AUS]) won the prestigious Gr.1 Epsom Handicap and the Gr.3 Bill Ritchie Handicap, after winning the Gr.2 Queensland Guineas last winter.
“Ocean Park’s year in Australia has been huge,” enthused Chittick.
“He has had five stakes winners and two group one winners there, it’s just massive. That has certainly been recognised by breeders with the demand for nominations this year. He has certainly come right at the right time, and at $20K is good value for a horse in the top 10 in the Australian Sires premiership,” he concluded. -Michelle Saba, NZTBA
