The Melbourne Cup is hardly seen as a stallion-making race, but for Thompson, Shocking wasn’t a one dimensional prospect having also won quality weight-for-age races and he had no hesitation in signing the horse to the Rich Hill roster.
“If he’d only won the two mile race and hadn’t won below 2000 metres you might have possibly been wary,” he said.
“The simple fact of the matter was he won the Makybe Diva S., which at the time was a Group 2 mile and it’s now a Group 1 because horses like Shocking won it.
“He also won the G1 Australian Cup over 2000 metres and the Melbourne Cup actually made the horse more viable, believe it or not.
Watch: Shocking win the 2009 Melbourne Cup
“To win a Melbourne Cup a horse has to be sound and tough to run out the distance, and it actually made him cheaper than if he hadn’t won it.
“I weighed up the other factors about the horse and they clinched it for me. He’s by Street Cry out of a Danehill mare and the fact that he won the Melbourne Cup was a major bonus.”
“He’s by Street Cry out of a Danehill mare and the fact that he won the Melbourne Cup was a major bonus.” – John Thompson
Shocking, whose son Surprise Baby (NZ) is a leading Australasian chance in Tuesday’s Cup, received a warm welcome from breeders when he first retired to Rich Hill and served 154 mares in his opening season.
“In the initial years he was very popular and then it dropped off a bit like it does with a lot of staying stallions,” Thompson said.
“I’ve been through that with Pentire and Zabeel went through it. It’s that patch when they’ve got 2-year-olds and early spring 3-year-olds and people wait and see and numbers can drop off.
“He’s always had the support of the syndicate and then he got the G1 New Zealand Oaks winner Fanatic from his first crop.”
Shocking | Standing at Rich Hill Stud
Thompson has been in the game long enough to know and accept the fickle nature of the breeding industry.
“He was struggling a bit for numbers earlier this season, but he’s getting some momentum again with some nice results,” he said.
“I remember when Pentire sired Xtravagant and Prince Of Penzance to win the 2000 Guineas and the Cup in the space of a week and he suddenly got 40 extra bookings.
“I remember when Pentire sired Xtravagant and Prince Of Penzance to win the 2000 Guineas and the Cup in the space of a week and he suddenly got 40 extra bookings.” – John Thompson
“There’s always people with mares that haven’t foaled yet and may decide to mate their mare with Shocking if he’s at the forefront, which he is at the moment.”
Surprise Baby aside, Shocking’s daughter Vegas Jewel (NZ) has emerged as a top hope in Thursday’s G1 VRC Oaks following her recent runner-up finishes in the G3 Ethereal S. and in last Saturday’s G2 Wakeful S.
Vegas Jewel (NZ) as a yearling
Out of a half-sister to the dam of the champion Winx (Street Cry {Ire}), the filly was bred by Rich Hill with Totara Park Stud and sold at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale for NZ$130,000 to Laurence Eales.
He raced Shocking, and has remained in the ownership syndicate of the stallion, and like his Cup hero, Vegas Jewel is trained at Flemington by Mark Kavanagh.
The Rich Hill-bred and sold Surprise Baby (NZ) will attempt to emulate his sire and win the Cup on Tuesday and credit the farm with its second breeding success after Prince Of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire {GB}) triumphed in 2015.
Unwanted at sales
Surprise Baby had originally been passed in by the stud at the 2016 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Yearling Sale with a NZ$20,000 reserve and he failed to meet a NZ$35,000 reserve at the 2016 Ready To Run Sale.
“He didn’t breeze up well,” Thompson said. “I put him in work with Margaret Falconer with the idea of winning a trial and getting him sold.
“He proved a bit difficult and he never got to the trials early in his 3-year-old season, so I thought we’d missed the boat.”
Surprise Baby was subsequently listed on gavelhouse.com and bought by his Australian part-owner John Fiteni for a mere NZ$5500, but that’s not something Thompson dwells on.
“It would be a fantastic story for us and the New Zealand industry if Surprise Baby won,” he said. “It would be great to be part of it.”
“It would be a fantastic story for us and the New Zealand industry if Surprise Baby won.” – John Thompson
Melbourne Cup history is initially what ignited Thompson’s racing passion and the first step to becoming a multiple Group 1 winning breeder.
“When I think back, what got me interested in breeding was when I was a kid and Mum and Dad had a yearling to sell at Trentham and it was from Think Big’s family,” he said.
“Just before the sale Think Big won his first Melbourne Cup and then again the next year and that was part of getting me so enthusiastic about breeding.”
Think Big (NZ) when winning the Melbourne Cup
Thompson and his wife Colleen will be in the thick of the action on Tuesday, having taken up a Victoria Racing Club offer to be on course.
“We’re lucky to have tickets to the Chairman’s Room, which the VRC provided us with. They came to the farm to film Pentire a few years ago and said if you ever come over let us know and true to their word they have provided Colleen and I with tickets.
“It’s a great day and we’re looking forward to it. A win from Surprise Baby would be the icing on the cake.”
