Heart beats strong in Glenlogan Park's success

Cover image courtesy of Glenlogan Park Stud

Both the Tony and Calvin McEvoy trained 5-year-old Over Exposure and Peter and Paul Snowden-trained 2-year-old Barbaric are out of mares by Show A Heart, who is serving out semi-retirement on Glenlogan Park after a brilliant stud career, which has seen him produce over 550 winners, including 25 at stakes level.

Also significant for Glenlogan Park was the fact that both of the winners were from mares raised on the Beaudesert farm, taking the number of stakes winners produced by Show A Heart's mares to 13.

From a strategic point of view, and given Glenlogan Park moved away from standing its own stallions three years ago, the narrow victory of Barbaric in the Black Opal S. was also important, with the farm involved in a colts partnership which races the son of I Am Invincible.

"For us to be involved in this partnership with Newgate, this is the first crop of 2-year-olds we have had and we are having the time of our lives. It’s fantastic," General Manager Steve Morley told TDN AusNZ.

"The win of that horse in particular was a very satisfying moment for us. He's out of a mare called Mimi Le Brock, who is a Show A Heart mare that was raised on the farm. We sold her at the Magic Millions Sale and she then went on the following year to win the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.

"She was a really good mare and it was wonderful to get that satisfaction to see a Show A Heart mare doing the job."

Barbaric emerges as top 2-year-old

Some major names in the thoroughbred industry are involved in the ownership of Barbaric, headed by China Horse Club, whose colours he carries, as well as Newgate, Go Bloodstock, G1G Racing and Breeding, Nick Vass Bloodstock, Aston Bloodstock, Grant Bloodstock, Horse Ventures, Carpe Diem and WinStar Farm.

He was bred by Segenhoe and Gerry Harvey, sold for $900,000 through the Segenhoe draft at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and booked his spot in the G1 Golden Slipper S. with his hard-fought win at Canberra on Sunday.

"He's a lovely horse and he's the most magnificent animal anyone could see and hopefully he can step it up a bit more and get to the next level," Morley said.

"I'm not sure he could have done much more than he did the other day. It might have been a narrow victory, but he put himself in the right spot, he had some contact in the straight and got unbalanced, but he was as strong through the line as any horse in the race."

Given his type and emerging ability, not to mention his pedigree, Morley already feels like Barbaric is shaping as a terrific stallion prospect.

"I would think that he's already got a value there somewhere standing at stud, being by I Am invincible out of Magic Millions winner. He's now won a Black Opal and he's a proper horse. Conformationally he is magnificent."

3YOs building stallion credentials

Glenlogan Park has an interest in another leading stallion prospect, G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner Exceedance (Exceed And Excel), as part of a syndicate headed by Vinery Stud.

That colt was without luck when finishing sixth in the G1 Newmarket H. on Saturday, but Morley believes he is on track to make an impression against the leading sprinters in the land over the next couple of months.

"The horse's run was terrific. There is a reason that only one horse in 100 years has won the Newmarket first-up and that is because it is nearly impossible to do," he said.

"I was thrilled that Bivouac won because history shows us that there is not a lot between him and Exceedance. Given a better run, and the fact he had an opportunity to have that run into the Newmarket, he improved off that. It's really positive going forward and the team is really happy with Exceedance."

The Chris Waller-trained Reloaded (Snitzel) is another colt part owned by Glenlogan Park who is set to make an autumn splash, having run fourth in the G1 Randwick Guineas on Saturday.

"He ran terrific. They only collared him in the last 80-100 metres and he wasn't beaten far. It was an excellent run. It was great to see him up on the pace and working like that. He's proven again that he's Group 1 quality," Morley said.

Pride in homegrown stakes winner

Over Exposure, as a 5-year-old gelding bred and raced by Glenlogan Park, is not in the same profile as the above trio, but his win at Morphettville on Monday was very satisfying.

Morley decided to stay involved in the ownership of the son of former Glenlogan Park resident Rothesay after he was sold for $75,000 to McEvoy Mitchell Racing at the 2016 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale.

"He was a magnificent yearling and I loved him and Tony McEvoy took a bit of a shine to him at the same time," Morley said.

"I walked up and asked Tony if he had an owner for the horse and he hadn't at that particular time. We really liked him, and we felt he'd undersold a bit, and we asked if we could keep anywhere up to 50 per cent in him and Tony was happy to do that.'

Beaten narrowly in both the Listed Adelaide Guineas and the G3 RA Lee S. as a 3-year-old, Over Exposure spent 18 months sidelined by an injury before returning last November, having six runs before his fast-finishing success on Monday, which was his first win since April 2018.

"It’s a real credit to the horse to have had 18 months off. He started this campaign back in November and he's raced in Victoria, he had a trip up here to Brisbane, then ran on Magic Millions day, went back to Melbourne and then to Adelaide," he said.

"To get a stakes win for that horse after so much patience, it was a great thrill for us, especially being by a stallion we stood, by a Show A Heart mare."

The mare, Show A Princess, has proven a bit problematic as a breeding prospect for Glenlogan Park, but Morley hopes Monday's win by her first foal can prove a turning point.

"She's a hard mare to get a foal out of. She's difficult to keep in foal and the only other yearling we have ever taken to the sale out of her was a Rich Enuff colt that sold for $100,000 at the recent Classic Sale," Morley said.

That colt was picked up by Hong Kong-based Upper Bloodstock.