Innehållsförteckning för January 2023 från Turf Monthly

Last month we looked at the great Yattendon. Now we turn our attention to arguably his greatest son in Chester. He was bred by Edward King Cox out of his impressively bred imported English mare Lady Chester by Stockwell which resided at his famed Fernhill Stud. King put the yearling through the sales of George Kiss and Thomas Clibborn on 18 April 1876. He was an outstanding type and took the eye of many onlookers including one scribe from the Evening News who described the colt in glowing terms. ““No grander yearling was ever seen at Randwick whilst his condition, and likewise all that offered from the same stud, showed that neither expense nor trouble had been grudged in bringing them to market under the most favourable auspices.” Another who…

Over 100 years ago, a French Cavalry officer by the name of Jean-Joseph Vuillier while researching pedigrees discovered that a very limited number of horses could be found in the pedigrees of the most successful racehorses. He termed these horses “chefs-de-race” which is quite literally French for the “leaders of the thoroughbred.” Basically though, Vuillier was concerned principally how often these “chefs” appeared in a pedigree, thereby conducting fundamentally a quantitative study. His results were exceptional, and he used these original dosage theories in the employ of the Aga Khan to establish one of the most successful thoroughbred breeding programs in the world. During the 1950’s, an Italian lawyer called Dr Franco Varola continued Vuillier’s study. His seminal work, “The Typology of the Racehorse” though was not published until 1974.…

Gold Trip won his way into Australian racing folklore by winning the 2022 Melbourne Cup on 1 November. The French bred stallion is another of the great results for Australian Bloodstock who have been importing overseas stayers into the country for some years. Despite Gold Trip now having earnings in excess of $6 million, the Cup was only his second race win and his first since arriving in Australia in September 2021. He was also rather harshly treated in the event, carrying top weight of 57.5kg in what can only be a reflection on the field this year. There were 13 Northern Hemisphere bred horses in the 23 horse field which was reduced with the scratching of the Irish bred Point Nepean. Gold Trip first faced the starter on 24…

Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld: 1872 - 1947), Friday 22 July 1927, page 12 AN EXTRAORDINARY SIRE. Though a great racehorse, I think it can be shown that Chester was something more than that as a sire, one that gained distinction that has not fallen to any other Australian sire. In the first place his treatment was unusual, he being almost confined to the little band of mares belonging to his owner at Kirkham, It is questionable if quite half a dozen of his progeny could be named apart from the home-bred ones, while a grand total of his sons and daughters to attain maturity would probably not exceed 70. This would be less than an average of seven a year for the eleven seasons he did stud duty if we Include…

Manzoice caused an upset in the VRC Derby winning impressively at the lucrative odds of $21. The colt, from the first crop of Almanzor, made $340,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling sale in 2021 when knocked down to a bid from Waller Racing and Mulcaster Bloodstock. His dam Choice by Mastercraftsman was a Group 3 winner in New Zealand with victory in the Eulogy Stakes at Manawatu. She was also twice placed in Listed races. Manzoice is her third foal, with her first by Night Of Thunder called Regal Ruby who won a maiden over 1400m, and a colt by Iffraaj called Raajoices who recently won a maiden over 1950m. His second dam was Femme Britannia by Encosta De Lago who had six foals for one winner. His third dam…

Chester was a son of Yattendon who we looked at in detail last month. The stallion was to win the Sires’ Title in Australia on four occasions and was fundamental in the development of his owner, James White’s Kirkham Stud during such an important time for the Australian thoroughbred. The end of the nineteenth century was a time of great consolidation for the industry and for the community as our resources were highly sought after across the world. The dam of Chester in Lady Chester represented a growing trend by breeders such as Hurtle Fisher and Edward King Cox to import the best bloodlines that England had to offer. Lady Chester was a daughter of the great Stockwell and she made an incredible mark on the Australian thoroughbred even without…