Prince Echo sold to Australian interests

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 34

Prince Echo sold to Australian interests

PA Wellington Prince Echo, sire of the boom two-year-old, Phillipa Rush, has been sold to Australian interests. The 10-year-old Raise A Native-line stallion, whose oldest stock are four-year-olds, is to take up residence at Cheiandry Stud, Darling Downs, in Queensland. He is scheduled to leave New Zealand in May. Jim Campin, the proprietor of Cambridge’s Chequers Stud where the stallion is based, said he was approached by an agent acting on behalf of Cheiandry Stud during the yearling sales last month. “He explained that Len Madden, the studmaster at Cheiandry, had put together a couple of big partnerships that had spent around $4 million on some very good mares, and that, he was on the outlook for a proven sire. “He then put in a substantial offer for the horse that I thought was too good to refuse. “Clients and friends of mine have told me I'm mad to have sold him, and that they were going to send some of their better mares to him this season.

“But it’s the old racing dictum: ’Get a good offer, accept it’.” Campin said Phillipa Rush’s devastating win in the $500,000 Magic Millions Sires’ Stakes (1200 m at Trentham on January 21, and rumours she would be set for the Golden Slipper this autumn, had heightened Madden’s interest in the horse. Campin pointed out that Prince Echo’s stock had, in number, enjoyed great success this summer, on both sides of the Tasman. The three-year-old fillies, Echo Lass and Anne Of Stratford, were to the fore in features over Christmas, while Royal Handout beat several strong sprint fields in Sydney over the same period. Prince Echo took a commanding lead in the two-year-old sires’ premiership after Phillipa Rush’s win in the rich Trentham race. He had finished second in the same premiership as a newcomer during the 1986-7 season. His sons, Empire State and Vapour Trail, both now in Australia, won the first two juvenile events staged that season, one

marked by the feats of the hardy filly Jennifer Rush, a sister to Phillipa Rush which won four juvenile stakes races. Campin said Prince Echo’s books had im'proved each year since his arrival. “He has some pretty good foals on the ground, and some very well-bred yearlings around. Campin is not in a hurry to replace Prince Echo. “I definitely won’t be out looking, but if a good one came along I’d give it some thought. I’m quite content to stick with my young horse Bahkaroff and Vice Regal for the time being.” Meanwhile, Campin said a decision to take Phillipa Rush to Sydney for the Golden Slipper would be made after the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200 m on Saturday week. He would not be perturbed at having to pay a sAust4o,ooo late entry fee for the March 18 event, but is aware that first prize in the sAustl2s,ooo Brambles Classic (1200 m at Kembla Grange on March 7 carries with it a late payment for the Slipper. 'dX'