Stunning win by Ohoka's son
If you didn’t catch Eyre Crusher’s victory at Motukarara yesterday, gather around your computer screen and check out the replay.
Prepare to be amazed though, because it really does have to be seen to be believed.
Last of the bunch with 700 metres to run in his event, Eyre Crusher was giving his older rivals the sort of head-start that most 2-year-olds wouldn’t have a hope in heck of making up.
But once Kyle Cameron angled the Ohoka Arizona gelding into the clear soon after turning for home, they simply blasted past their opposition and won going away.
Four lengths was the official margin, and Eyre Crusher must’ve gone close to breaking 58 seconds for his last half-mile on the grass – but the most spine-tingling aspect of this 2-year-old’s performance was the vice-like grip that Kyle still had on him at the finishing line; not to mention his hood remaining in place, not pulled because it wasn’t needed.
As emphatic as Eyre Crusher’s win was, trainer Mike Brown has known for a long time that the gelding possesses oodles of talent.
“We broke in about seven of Ohoka Arizona’s first-crop yearlings last season, and he was one of the three outstanding types amongst them,” Mike recalled.
“They’re beautifully gaited and such natural pacers, and he’s just got so much sheer speed.
“We didn’t have a lot of options from that draw yesterday, and I thought that he could probably sit back and run past them – what surprised me is how easily he did it.”
Mike and his son Darryl Brown never doubted for a minute that Ohoka Arizona would be a successful sire.
So when the curtain finally came down on his racetrack career, together with Ohoka Arizona’s owner Katie Carville they put a lot of their own and borrowed mares to the stallion to help give him the chance they knew he deserved.
Eyre Crusher is in the latter category, being the first foal from the two-win Mach Three mare Lucasta Midfrew that Darryl loaned off John and Rebecca Mooney for a season.
And now the 2-year-old has just become his sire’s first winner in this country, adding to the multiple successes of Australian-bred juvenile Commanci Chief who won on debut across the Tasman in February and late last month also took out the Sapling Stakes at Globe Derby Park.
Talking of the Sapling Stakes, the New Zealand equivalent is actually the event that Mike originally scheduled into Eyre Crusher’s programme as one of his first major targets.
“He’d won a couple of workouts prior to Christmas, so I had every intention of first getting him qualified back then,” Mike admitted.
“He was still a colt at that stage and a very quiet horse, but then all of a sudden he started running the fence line and taking a great interest in the mares on the property; it’s like he changed overnight.
“So we had to geld him, and it seemed to knock him – he did it hard, and we lost ground.
“As we got him up to the workouts stage again, he developed a terrible cough and we lost another month, and he took a lot longer than normal to get over it as well.”
Mike dearly wanted Eyre Crusher to tackle at least one of the feature 2-year-old races on the calendar though, and re-focussed his attention onto April 5’s Welcome Stakes at Addington. Circumstances beyond his control meant he was in a race against the clock to get Eyre Crusher qualified in time, and many might’ve thought it was a big call to line him up in such a hot field on debut.
Eyre Crusher did nothing but vindicate the decision though, powering home under his own steam with a performance that was a lot better than what the ‘7’ in his formline reflected.
“He needed experience,” Mike said.
“When you go to the workouts you’re only up against two or three other horses, and do little else but learn how to lead and trail.
“I timed him to run his last mile of the Welcome Stakes in 1.56.8, and he was as quiet as a lamb afterwards.
“So, despite it being his first start under lights and all that, it didn’t jolt him at all.
“And he’s definitely come on since then, he’s improving all the time.
“It’s just been a case of having to wait until everything fell into place with him; yesterday he looked beautiful in the coat, and he was ready to go.”
Eyre Crusher’s stunning Motukarara victory certainly didn’t go unnoticed either, because his connections have been juggling a couple of offers from interested parties across the Tasman in the hours since.
So there’s every chance that the son of Ohoka Arizona could soon be winging his way to a new home, and if not then next week’s Sires’ Stakes Heat is in the pipeline.
“It will be a shame if he’s sold because he really is an exciting horse,” Mike says.
“He’s naturally fit, good-winded, and he’s got a great temperament too which is half the battle.
“He’s done a prep with me, one with Neil Hamilton and now had a couple of starts at the races – so this is still only his third preparation.”
Other Ohoka Arizonas the same age that Mike spoke highly of are a colt out of Star Of Fulham; Arizona Eyre, a gelding from Perfect Passion that he said is “better” than Eyre Crusher but will just need a bit more time, and an unnamed filly out of Kliklite.
The stallion has actually had four to the races thus far, and they’ve all shown talent… Saharazona, Miss Arizona, Bay Emerald and Eyre Crusher – plus a couple of qualifiers in Ohoka Benson and Jumped Up Johnney.
First winner for Ohoka Arizona
When it comes to sport, we don’t like getting beaten by the Aussies.
Well, they’ve gotten one over us again – Ohoka Arizona’s first winner… is an Australian!
The horse is Commanci Chief, and Port Pirie trainer Lyndon Hall lined him up for the first time at his local meeting last Friday night. The 2-year-old gelding led easily in a Prelude of the South Australian Kindergarten Stakes and then ran away from his opposition, scoring by nearly eight metres as he recorded a tick over 2.02 for the mile.
“We didn’t even let him down either,” Lyndon enthused.
“If anything, he switched off over the last fifty metres because there was nothing sticking with him.
“And he doesn’t have to lead; he could well be a better horse from behind.”
Commanci Chief was bred and is raced by Lyndon’s Victorian stable clients Terry Cook and Barry Bottams, who hail from Mildura. Ohoka Arizona’s semen was shipped across the Tasman to them and a handful of other breeders the first season he was retired to stud, and this son of the Golden Greek mare Lamri is the first of his six registered Aussie foals to surface to date.
Prior to his debut, Commanci Chief won both of his trials so he’s still unbeaten. Lyndon has even had to adopt a different approach to the gelding’s training at times, because of how good he is.
“He’s so far in front of my other 2-year-olds, I’ve worked him with my C1 and C2 horses occasionally – and he’s put them away too!
“If we opened him up he could probably beat the others his age round here by thirty or forty metres, but there’s no need.
“He’s never had the whip on his arse – so he doesn’t know how fast he is himself.
“I think you’re going to hear a lot about this horse," Lyndon said, adding that Commanci Chief's primary target this season is a $50,000 Final of the Southern Cross Series at the end of July.
The Port Pirie trainer is disappointed that there isn’t any Ohoka Arizonas in the Sales over here later this month, because he would’ve “jumped on a plane to come and buy them”.
“He’s just a beautiful horse, in a lot of ways – big and strong, with terrific conformation, and really nice manners.
“Yeah, he’s all class… workmanlike, professional, and there’s no biting or kicking when you’re putting the gear on or giving him a hose-down.
“And he’s great around the grandkids as well, because he’s always putting his head over the fence and wanting a pat.
“He looks the real deal.”
Lyndon’s never taken much interest in breeding horses himself, but says he “wouldn’t hesitate” putting a couple of mares to Ohoka Arizona next season.
Sire's first 2yos readying for battle
Ohoka Arizona is heading into one of the most exciting stages of his career.
First there was Ohoka Arizona, the racehorse – the pride and joy of breeders Katie and the late Dave Carville who burst onto the scene in 2007, winning the Sapling Stakes, Kindergarten Stakes, Welcome Stakes, a Harness Emerald and over $235,000 on his way to being a unanimous choice for 2-Year-Old Pacer of the Year.
His dominance looked set to continue when he won first-up as a 3-year-old, but unfortunately ‘Zona’ (as Katie affectionately calls him) battled injuries pretty much from that point onwards and never had the chance to return to his former glory.
This is reflected in the fact that he only made 11 further appearances over the next 36 months, taking his tally of wins to eight from 20 starts, and the last time ‘Zona’ saluted the judge was at Addington in October 2010 when he paced 2600m from a stand in a 2.00 mile rate.
Performances such as this proved that when he was good, he was very good. Katie knew that her horse had nothing left to prove on the racetrack though, so she put the next part of her and Dave’s dream into action and stood him at Wai-Eyre – giving us Ohoka Arizona, the sire.
The son of Christian Cullen was popular right from the word ‘go’, serving nearly a hundred mares in the 2010/11 season. That first crop of foals have just turned two years old, and one man that’s happy to have a few of them around him is well-respected mentor Greg Payne.
“I’ve got about half a dozen Ohoka Arizonas,” said Greg, who’s putting the shine on “about forty or fifty” youngsters in readiness for their upcoming 2-year-old season.
“Obviously there’s a fair way to go yet, but at this stage they’ve got the whole package… gait, speed and manners.
“Some of them have a bit of fire in the belly, but once you get past that it seems like they want to get on with the job.”
Greg’s just-turned 2-year-olds have done two preps thus far, and he’s quite keen to see how the stock of Ohoka Arizona progress from here on in.
“Most of the ones I’ve got are for a client of mine, Billy Cameron,” he continued.
“There’s an unnamed filly out of Arma Atom that goes good, and Arizona Sunset is a filly from Millwood Dusk which is a nice type too.
“I broke in a colt for Billy called Jimmy Hunter (out of Millwood Tennessee), and liked him so much that I bought him straight away and syndicated him.”
Greg’s primary income in harness racing stems from sourcing yearlings at the Sales and then turning them into racehorses to sell on, either privately or through avenues like the Ready To Run.
He’s been doing it for years, and knows full well the importance of a proper education. He also knows that equine babies should really be displaying ‘something’ in the way of natural ability early on, and in this respect he says the Ohoka Arizonas tick a lot of boxes.
“Compared to other youngsters I’ve done over the years? Yes, they’re right up to the mark.
“It’s still early days as I said, but they certainly look the goods.”
Breeders rapt with their Ohoka yearlings
Numerous promising reports are starting to surface from breeders who sent mares to Ohoka Arizona in his first year at stud at Wai-Eyre Farm in 2009/10.
The resulting foals turned a year old on August 1, and one man that couldn’t be happier with his Ohoka Arizona is Dunsandel horseman Rex Keats, who’s got a colt from Truly Smooth called Shakey Loch.
“He’s fantastic – a real cracker,” Rex says.
“By far and away he’d be the best colt I’ve ever had,” Rex added, a list which includes his former top juvenile Black Loch who won four of nine appearances as a 2-year-old including the Sapling Stakes when launching his career in the same season as the legendary Christian Cullen.
By Smooth Fella, Truly Smooth has already left the likes of Stormy Loch and Union Gap who’ve won four races apiece. All the signs are there that Shakey Loch will surpass the deeds of his older siblings.
“He’s just absolutely brilliant, I can’t fault him… the way he holds himself, the way he prances around the paddock, everything!
“His conformation is perfect, and he’s a well-grown individual who’s really filled out and muscled up as he’s gotten older.
“I don’t know, you just get a feeling about a horse; there’s a real presence about this one.”
Further south, Otago breeder Peter Ponsonby is also rapt with the two yearlings by Ohoka Arizona that he’s got in the paddock.
One is a filly out of the Tricky Dick mare Tricky Ex, the other is a colt from Tricky Ex’s Armbro Operative daughter Myex, and Peter only needs one word to sum up his opinion of the pair.
“Outstanding,” he says.
“The filly is a good size and she’s well-muscled, with a beautiful nature too. And the colt is a lovely, big strong type with a great nature as well.
“They’d be as good a foals as we’ve had in the forty years we’ve been breeding.”
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