Images courtesy of Dan Himbrecht for AAP Photos
The concept of a handicap, and why it has such resonance in Australia, is to give every competitor a chance at racing glory, eschewing elitism and giving a dream to every breeder, owner and trainer with a good horse.
To call the story of Nettoyer's Doncaster win quirky may be a fair representation of the headstrong reputation of the 6-year-old mare, and for that matter her trainer Wendy Roche, but it does a disservice to the somewhat miraculous circumstances of what transpired in front of empty stands at Randwick on Saturday.
Roche has now written herself into history as giving one of the all-time great post-race trainer interviews, providing an honest insight on how hard it has been to focus the will of a horse who even after 30 starts still resists going to the barriers, and who just this week sent one of her handlers to the doctor for stitches.
The story of Nettoyer, and how far she has come to become a Doncaster winner, begins with her breeders, Greg and Jodie White of Robrick Lodge.
"It was a big moment breeding a Doncaster winner," Greg White told TDN AusNZ. "It’s something that brings the hairs on the back of your neck up. I'm thrilled.
"She was always a very late foal, the latest of her year as I recall. She was immature, lean, and she always bumped her knees together. She had little fluid bubbles on both knees. We don’t usually give the horses nicknames, but her nickname was Bubbles.
"She was always a very late foal, the latest of her year as I recall." - Greg White
"We investigated them and the feedback was that she would grow out of it and when she grew and expanded, they will go away and she will stop knocking her knees."
When Nettoyer was a yearling, White, the son of legendary breeders Geoff and Beryl White, was consolidating his family's thoroughbred interests and Nettoyer, out of city-winning mare Cleanup (Dehere {USA}), was included as part of Riversdale's draft at the 2015 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Nettoyer as a yearling, bred by Robrick Lodge and sold through the Riversdale draft at the 2015 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale
"We didn't expect much as she was very immature. We might have had $80,000 reserve on her, nothing huge and she passed in. John Crowley came by and offered $20,000 to Nick Hodges from Riversdale and I really wanted to sell her. I was happy to sell to John, because I knew him," he said.
A new home
Dr John Crowley and Roche have made a business out of buying yearlings and pinhooking them into the 2-year-old Ready To Run Sales. Nettoyer went through that process, but she again didn’t reach her reserve and Roche decided to keep her to train.
The Whites heard nothing of the filly until she debuted as a late 3-year-old in 2017, but after three starts, they realised she was well worth keeping an eye on.
"We thought then she was something a bit special." - Greg White
"At her third start, she won that by 10 lengths at Randwick. We had just been out to Newhaven Park to inspect Xtravagant and my wife was driving and I was describing her to her. I was saying, she was in front by one, two, three, four, six, eight, 10 lengths," he said.
Watch: Nettoyer winning by 10l at Randwick at her third start
"We thought then she was something a bit special. And we were excited because we were a little bit emotionally attached to her. It was great to see her hit the track that way."
Buying back in
Content to follow her from afar as she built her racing record to become a stakes-placegetter and then a stakes winner, White got a call from Crowley in early 2019 asking his advice on how he and Roche should progress if they wanted to sell the mare.
She was entered in last year's Gold Coast Magic Millions Broodmare Sale, but she was withdrawn and instead it was her breeder who invested with the intention of continuing to race her on the track.
"I bought back into her less than 12 months ago. John and Wendy were looking for partners for her," White said. "I told them if they couldn't find someone to buy into her, I’d buy a third of her and I did that.
"They are quirky people, a bit like the horse, and it’s been a fun ride since we’ve been back in." - Greg White
"They are quirky people, a bit like the horse, and it’s been a fun ride since we’ve been back in. She has matured so much as a racehorse. I don’t think she will ever mature as an easy horse to handle.
"It’s an interesting tale. I've never heard one like it. To their credit, they persevere and they work with those traits."
Jockey James Innes Jnr with trainer Wendy Roche after their G1 Doncaster win
A maiden Group 1 win for Roche wasn't the only highlight of the Doncaster win, it was also a first win at the elite level for jockey James Innes Jnr, who had never ridden the horse in a race before Saturday.
"He rode her perfectly the kid. We debated about jockeys during the week, we were only left with a few choices and he was the prime pick and I said to them they had to make a decision. He carried out the instructions absolutely perfectly. It couldn't have been a better ride and I applaud him for it," White said.
Mare set to Cleanup at Chairman's Sale
The timing is also perfect for the Whites, who have entered Nettoyer's dam Cleanup in the upcoming Inglis Chairman's Sale in foal to Arrowfield Stud stallion The Autumn Sun.
"I'm pulling back a bit and getting back to a handful of mares. I've got the Shamus Award sister, that again, while not as good as Nettoyer, has talent and needs time. I'll keep her and just a few others and pull back a bit," he said.
Cleanup has had four winners from five to the track, and the 3-year-old Shamus Award filly Mopitts has had three starts for Allan Denham.
The Doncaster win gave the late Widden Stud stallion Sebring his sixth Group 1 winner and was also great timing for the 21 members of his penultimate crop which will go through the ring in the Virtual Easter Yearling Sale this week.
Nettoyer's Doncaster win was the sixth Group 1 winner for her sire, the late Sebring
White himself has a filly and a colt by the stallion going through the Riversdale draft.
Lot 63 is a colt out of stakes-placed Mine Two (I Am Invincible), who is a half-sister to White's Group 1-winning mare Spright (Hinchinbrook), while Lot 401 is a filly out of Group 3 winner Danesiri (Home On The Grange).
"I'm pretty excited by that. The filly would run through brick walls. She is as tough as I've seen a yearling. The colt, he's a flashy, strong type and has a lot of Nettoyer-like similarities in him. Both are pretty nice horses and I'm excited to have them with Riversdale," he said.
