Tony Noonan Racing

TONY’S COMMENTS: It is fair to say that in the past many of my clients have been critical of the fact that I don’t buy 2YO types and I think that it is fair to say that on most occasions I tend to buy the 3YO classic type of horse. It is not that I have anything against 2YO’s or 2YO racing it is probably my bent and really with the 2YO that I have had we have had good success over the years with Blue Diamond Prelude winners and such. I’m quiet comfortable training 2YO and so for that reason this year I am going to make a concerted effort in trying to find 2YO types that I think are likely to run early. This sale in the past has been a very good sale for 2YO types, obviously it is the first sale and 9 times out of 10 the horses are more forward.

The thing I try to look for when buying a 2YO type, is that it is important if you can find a dam that her herself was successful at 2 and her off spring have been successful at 2 and that is what lead me to lot 23 the bay or brown colt by STRATUM/ACES ROYALE. As you can see on the pedigree Mum herself won at 2 and then was able to race on. In her time as a broodmare has produced 8 foals of which 5 have raced and are all winners and when you look at that the significant factor there is that this horse’s half sister is CARLTON SPIRIT and CARLTON ACE have both won at 2. Carlton Ace has then been able to produce a 2YO winner. Looking at the family even down to the third dam you can see that a major part of the progeny from this family have all raced with success at 2.

As a type I thought that this horse looked a real running horse. He has a tremendous fore-arm on him and has a tremendous head. The stallion himself was able to win at 2 and even though it is early doors as far as the stallion is concerned, I have another Stratum filly in the stable that has impressed me and is very close to trialling this time round. This colt as an individual is most impressive, not an over big horse but is powerful, he looks like a natural runner and he is a good walker. His confirmation was good and there wasn’t much to fault in the horse and I think at the sort of money we were able to purchase him at this year and the fact that he is related to two early types and without tremendous pedigrees behind them that this horse has every chance to make a running 2YO. With a little bit of hope and luck we may even look at him as a Magic Millions horse next year.

TONY’S COMMENTS: Lot 566 at the Magic Millions, Gold Coast sale 2010, was the FASTNET ROCK out of SEIRIAN who is by Saddlers Wells. What has attracted me to this filly to be honest is the fact that I bought the half-brother last year at the Melbourne Premier sales by Cape Cross. It is a similar cross for the Cape Cross to See The Stars – the best horse in the world. This Cape Cross horse was broken in when I purchased him and he always looked a 3YO type and of course because of what he has shown us at home I was quiet interested to inspect this filly and when I did I was pleasantly surprised with the type of filly that she is.

I think that being by Fastnet Rock makes this filly look a lot more precious, I don’t think that she will require the time that the Cape Cross horse will require. She looks a lot more balanced and a lot more forward in herself. She is a lovely filly, she really had great presences about her, she has a tremendous walk on her and she has got an international pedigree that down the track would hold up strongly enough in any major catalogue in Australia if and when she goes to stud as a broodmare.

There is plenty of up side on this filly, as I said knowing the fact that I have her half brother at home looking at the form of a lot of progeny and the fact that there are only two dams on the page I think for our purchase price she was very good value. One of the reasons she probably didn’t bring the money was the Saddlers Wells aspect. The filly to be honest is probably a little bit slopey in the pasterns; the Cape Cross horse was the same and that is very much from the Saddlers Wells aspect of her pedigree. I have bought a lot of horses with Saddlers Wells in their pedigree in the past and never had any concern with them I think it is an aspect of their conformation and I have never found it to be a problem. It is always hard to buy a horse with a perfect conformation often you will find one that looks perfect that unfortunately doesn’t have the motor.

This filly looks a real athlete she is a great walker she is very balanced she has a good sharp head a nice fore-arm and shoulder and a good hind quarter all of those things that I look for in a nice filly. I think that the cross is an interesting cross and I would think that we would be looking at a similar outlook as the good filly Irish Lights that David Hayes produced last year that won a Group 1 who is a daughter of Fastnet Rock that was able to get to a mile. I think that this filly has plenty of upside; I think that she is cheap and I look forward to training her with great interest.

TONY’S COMMENTS: The PINS filly lot 281 held enormous interest for me before inspection as the mare HOLIDAZZLE was a good honest mare and was a stakes placed mare and won at 2YO and won from 1200m to 2100m. The interest for me as a purchaser is that the mare HOLIDAZZLE is a half sister to two horses that I have trained in the past. One being a horse called DAIRIO which is in the second dam. He was a colt by Anabaa and he had two wins from 5 race starts. He was a horse that was plagued with injury at the time. He was born with a cyst that developed in his stifles and these were operated on, he then incurred a wind problem and finally he succumbed to laminitis and he then had to be put down. Peter McMahon and Terry Mosse-Robinson owned Diario and from day one this horse looked a special horse and I don’t have any doubt that if the unfortunate circumstances had avoided this horse that he was definitely a group horse. We kept him a stallion, he didn’t race until he was nearly four and the reason that we did that was because I had no doubt that this horse had enormous ability and enough ability to one day stand as a stallion.

I went back as I was so impressed with Diario that I bought a half sister to him by Belong To Me the following year. We paid $300,000 for the filly. She developed a problem as a late 2YO which meant that she was not going to continue to race but she was an outstanding filly and once again in the short time that she was in work she impressed me greatly as far as her natural ability. Because of that I have always taken a strong interest in the family and particularly Samantha Miss. This filly is a lovely filly – I would think by looking at her she is more likely to be a 3YO filly. I don’t think that she will be a precious 2YO jump and run filly in any shape or form. She has got good scope and she stands over a bit of ground. She is like a lot of the Pins fillies she is only plain to look at but what impressed me the most was her walk and the balance that she displayed in her walk she has a great length of reign and just a tremendous girth and shoulder on her. She looks a staying type of the future and I think that he has been a very good and underrated stallion.

This filly I thought was tremendous buying. Knowing the fact that the mare herself HOLIDAZZLE has a More Than Ready at foot and is back in foal to More Than Ready really ensures her future. I know that Lady Peony the half-sister to Holidazzle has got a tremendous foal at foot by Husson and looking at going to Street Cry this season. The fillies from this family are going to continue to get every opportunity. As I said I think that if you are looking at joining us in this filly I would be aware of the fact as I said she is more a 3YO filly that should at the end of the day end up being a staying type of filly at a mile to a mile and a quarter type. I was terribly impressed with her and thought that we bought really well.

TONY’S COMMENTS: When I was inspecting yearlings from this sale it was obvious that with the number of Testa Rossa horses in the catalogue and the luck that we have had with Testa Rossa’s in the stable I went with interest looking for horses that were similar to Ortensia in type. As I have seen with Hanna Rossa and Rose Syrah, Testa Rossa throws different types but at the same time you naturally look for those that you have had great success with and similar types to them. When I came to the TESTA ROSSA/MARDI’S CLASSIC colt I was absolutely taken by him right from the start.

When I saw John Capellin (part owner of Testa Rossa) at the sales I said to John ‘I would like you to look at the colt for me as you know more about the stallion and how he appeared as a yearling and I would like your feedback on this colt’. At the same time John asked me to go and look at another colt and when we came back to see each other John was of the same opinion as I, he was very much taken with him and thought that he looked very much like his Dad at the same stage and we both agreed that if we would buy one he was the colt to buy.

We were fortunate as was probably always going to be the case that he wasn’t going to be as sexy as the other Testa Rossa colts that bought more money. But in my eyes if you take the money out of the equation this horse would have always been the Testa Rossa colt that I wanted to buy. He is a great athlete; he has a tremendous walk and a tremendous attitude. I was very much taken by his personality. He was a very laid back colt, the weather was hot on the Gold Coast but every occasion that I got him out to inspect him to walk he just went about his work in a very professional manner. The mare is by Kenny’s Best Pal so you get the Star Kingdom line and it has been a great family. When you look at Racing To Win and Purrealist that cross has worked extremely well in the past with just about anything that the mares have gone to.

I’m wrapped to have this colt in my stable I think that he is just going to continue to flourish and it would be hard to imagine him being as good as his father but if he is half as good or three quarters as good we are going to be a pretty happy team!

TONY’S COMMENTS: As most people would be aware that I have developed a love affair with the Testa Rossa’s and especially the fillies over the last 2 years. I have had great success with Hanna Rossa, Rose Syrah and the more notable Ortensia. So it was with interest that I went to the Magic Millions sales in Qld this year to look at the Testa Rossa fillies of which there were going to be the majority at this sale rather then any other due to the fact of Gerry Harvey’s and Vinery’s interest in the horse.

We were terribly interested in this Testa Rossa filly out of the mare Fullazz a Redoute’s Choice city winning filly. She was a very good and consistent performer and I can remember her racing against Hanna Rossa on numerous occasions. She raced at 2 and then trained on at 3. This is her first foal. She is a typical first foal, she is not over big but she is a terribly balanced filly with good conformation, has a great walk and great presence and is a real running and racey filly that really caught my eye while we were inspecting the Testa Rossa fillies.

She is a grey filly like her mother and from all reports she is similar to her mother who wasn’t over big as a yearling who grew into a good size race filly. I’m sure that this filly is going to grow and looking at her she had good length about her and her point of measurement from her elbow to her fetlock joint showed that she had a fair amount of growth left in this filly. She is very athletic and has good residual value down the track as Fullazz has been well mated the family has been a very consistent and good family. It is with interest and great expectations that this filly comes to our stable.