I Spy favoured to win broodmare title

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 42

I Spy favoured to win broodmare title

By

DAVID McCARTHY

Eye Full’s Hawke’s Bay Cup win, and her full sister Peach Melba’s Riccarton victory in the Race Images 1600 at Easter, should be enough to elect their dam, I Spy, as “South Island Broodmare of the Year” for this season.

The award, for the mare which has done most to promote the South Island breeding industry, will be decided in the next few weeks by the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association which presents the award annually at a special function during Grand National week. I Spy faces stern competition from Joyarty, Quake, Kind Thought and Amatrice. The Fantasy, dam of The Phantom, is another contender. Joyarty’s claims rest with the Group Two wins of Tawrrific, the only horse to win St Legers in successive years. Tawriffic won the South Australian St Leger (Group Two) last season and the A.J.C. St Leger (Group Two) this season when the three-year-old age restriction on the race was lifted. As the victories were in our major export market, Joyarty’s claims are increased under the criteria for selection. Quake is the dam of Gallipoli, winner of the New Zealand Cup (Group One) but it may not be enough to balance the fact that the race was held in the South Island. Kind

Thought is the dam of Saveur, winner of the New Zealand St Leger (Group Two). Amatrice has come late into calculations through the deeds of Spangles and her outstanding Sydneytrained two-year-old, Stargazer, which lost the Castlemaine Stakes (Group One) of sAust32s,oQo in a photo last month. Victory in that race, added to Spangles’ success in the listed event, the James Hazlett Stakes may have altered the complexion of the contest. The Phantom won the Awapuni Gold Cup (Group Three). I Spy has impressive credentials for success since she has left two Group winners this season, one in each island. The Hawke’s Bay Cup is Group Three as is the Race Images 1600. I Spy has left nine winners in all, the most recent being Tip Off which scored at Riccarton in May. Beside Peach Melba and Eye Full she left the Group-placed Dainty Dish, Search, a winner here and in England, Spy Troop (dam of Scoff), Super Spy, and My Little Eye, a winner in Perth. Super Speed and Eye Say are the only two of her offspring to race which have not won and the latter has been lightly raced to date. I Spy has a rising three-year-old colt by State Of Kings, a Palatable colt rising two and a Palatable filly, a rising yearling.

While the mares listed are likely to dominate the judge’s discussions, others have promoted South Island breeding with distinction this season including Forecast, dam of Red Back and The Snob; Robanna, dam of Robinski (Benson and Hedges Gold Cup, Group Three); Forever Amber, dam of Dixie Kid; Aegean Sea, dam of Syrian Sea (Wellington Stakes, Group Three); and Lynda Mary dam of the Gpsford Cup (Group Three) winner Regal Prize. However from the many factors the judges must take into account I Spy looks a warm favourite to succeed at this stage. Eye Full and Peach Melba are both back at Riccarton Stud after their incident packed trip to Queensland but their owner-trainer, Mick Murfitt, has no definite plans for either at this stage. “They have picked up quickly since they got home. The conditions were all against tkum on the trip,” he said. The heavy rainfall in Queensland this year produced sodden tracks unsuitable for both mares. Eye Full had got down on the plane on the trip over but held her condition better than Peach Melba which did not acclimatise at all well. Eye Full had been tentatively booked to Truly Vain in the spring but Murfitt will wait before making a definite decision on her immediate future.