Buller Bay another Palatable star?

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 35

Buller Bay another Palatable star?

By david McCarthy One of the reasons why the Canterbury-based stallion, Palatable, has attracted strong support from breeders, and won the admiration of many ■ trainers, is his ability to ' produce fine handicappers from relatively unexpected sources. , Palatable has attracted < few mares of classic ; standard and has to make his mark from partners whose breeding is stout rather than fashionable. In a few cases, most notable perhaps Blovinski, he j has produced top handicappers from a distinctly ' moderate background. I The latest son of the horse to emerge from ’ relative obscurity as an ' older horse, Buller Bay, is - not by any means from a * ’ nondescript '’"family ” but J one typical of the tribes - with which Palatable has 1 made his mark. J Buller Bay may have < stouter bloodlines than j some Palatable stock and < the way he measured up < to open company at BlenJ heim on Tuesday suggests * he will go on with the j good work. o Buller Bay is not a

difficult horse to handle according to his trainer, Terry McManus, but he is his own worst enemy in the paddock. Fences have been anathema to him and after his seventh paddock injury to the same leg last year the expert advice was that as his racing future looked bleak, and he might not make an ideal hack, more drastic measures should be considered. Inside twelve months of that advice the horse has won four races. His dam, Orowaiti Lady, had ability winning the Shantytown Stakes but according to McManus her temperament brought about her downfall. “She was good once she got on the racetrack but getting her there was the trouble. In the end we gave up and'retired her,” he said. Orowaiti Lady was by Crest Of The Wave, a top sire in his time and now a leading broodmare influence. The McManuses sent her dam, Star Keys, north to that horse and the latter remained there. Star Keys won four races to 1600 m for McManus and her breeder, Bert Gribben, now of Grey-

mouth. Orowaiti Lady died five months after foaling Buller Bay, her only offspring. Crest Of The Wave was a successful sire of durable horses, Guest Star, Far Time, Curly Wave and Mer’cler being among his best performers. He was bred and raced by the Queen and trained by Cecil Boyd-Rochfort in England where he was lightly raced winning a race in Glasgow worth more than £lOOO but not measuring up to top company. He was by the brilliant but unsound, Crepello, the champion English sire of 1969 which might have been anything as an older race horse but for his delicate forelegs which were kept intact due to the great skills of trainer, Noel Murless, until after he had won the 1957 Derby and Two Thousand Guineas. In the Derby he beat Ballymoss and Pipe Of Peace. Among the alsorans was Messmate (sixth) which did well as a sire here. Crepello was by Donatello II to which Orowaiti Lady is line bred as her dam is by Gate Keeper,

by Donatello H’s finest son, Alycidon. Donatello had a quite remarkable stud career. He left six foals from his first crop of 18 mares none of which won and his stud fee steadily dropped from 4000 guineas to 198 guineas. Out of more than 100 live foals he eventually left fewer than 40 won a race of any description, but he is regarded as a major influence in modern breeding, especially of staying horses. Star Keys, which McManus said had more ability than her record shows, has also left Scotch Crest. Star Keys is a sister to Keyman, winner of six faces for McManus before a fractured sesamoid ended his career. Their ■ fflpti, Magic Rose, was a half-sister to General Boy, an outstanding handicapper on the West Coast in the late 19605, trained by Pat Corboy. General Boy won the Westland Anniversary Handicap twice and the Kumara Handicap, the forerunner to the Nuggets in 1970. Magic Rose left only three foals, the third

being Master Keys a winner for McManus before also injuring a sesamoid. His dam, Free Trade, was purchased out of the Trentham catalogue in 1954 and trained in Southland. She was from an English mare, Calpe, which only left two foals, she being from the family of the great Australian stallion Magpie. Palatable has now left 37 winners this season. He was trained in England by John Dunlop who underscored the high opinion he held of the Tom Rolfe horse on his recent visit to New Zealand. Palatable broke down badly in May 1976 when Dunlop had him pointed to greater things. He had recently won a good handicap by five lengths though he appeared to have stamina limitations when he did not stay the 2400 m of the Predominate Stakes at the Goodwood meeting just before his accident. He has done well as a sire here though with only 12 live foals now three-year-olds and 22 two-year-olds his momentum can be expected to slow for a

time in the future. The McManus stable intend to run Buller Bay on the second day at Nelson (next Monday) and then at Riccarton next month before putting the strapping chestnut aside. They refused a substantial offer for the horse after the Riccarton Easter meeting and there was considerable northern interest in him after his Blenheim races. His win there on the first day marked the twenty-fourth year since Terry McManus had campaigned his first horse at the meeting. That was Taxman which was given to McManus by Arthur Clouston after proving disappointing from bigger stables. Taxman thrived under the Westport trainer winning several good races. The success of Buller Bay will be noted in Southland for the Calpe family is probably best known through the deeds of Free Lady, a half-sister to Magic Rose, which has left seven winners including Connie Lawn, Connie Beaufort, Rhubarb, Surf Call, Free Call and Rain Again.