In this series TDN AusNZ will take a look at Group 1 runners before they were successful on the racetrack; speaking to breeders, breakers and trainers on their formative years.
Hanseatic
Street Boss (USA) x Itameri (Exceed And Excel)
Placed - G1 Blue Diamond S. 1200m
Winner - G3 Neds Blue Diamond Prelude - C&G 1100m
Winner - Listed Blue Diamond Preview - C&G 1000m
Winner - Listed T'bred Club Merson Cooper S. 1000m
Hanseatic
TDN AusNZ: What was Hanseatic like as a foal?
James Manning, Godolphin (Northwood Park, VIC): Hanseatic was a quality foal from day one. He always showed a lot of pizazz and athletic ability right from an early age, born to run you could say. He would run laps around his mother Itameri and anything else in the paddock. Besides showing some spirit and will, he was a very straight forward foal and didn’t take much to manage at all, he went through the system with relative ease.
TDN AusNZ: What was his foaling down like?
JM: The foaling process was very straight forward, except for the mare trying to be sneaky and not waxing up prior to foaling. Having said that, it all went smoothly. I was there when he was born and he stood pretty quickly, did everything well, pretty much straight away.
TDN AusNZ: What was Hanseatic like as a weanling?
JM: Growing out, he really was a straight forward colt. Although he had some spirit, he undertook the handling process very well. He was smart and picked everything up quite quickly. The one thing that really stood out about this colt is that he really loved to run. He was always galloping rings around the rest of his paddock mates. He showed good qualities of a born racehorse all the way through.
TDN AusNZ: Did he have any best friend or paddock mates growing up?
JM: I remember we had a number of Street Boss (USA) foals that year and Hanseatic was in a paddock with a few of these. They were a physically tough bunch that played hard together. He didn’t have a stand out, playing and running hard with everyone. He was always the second or third horse into the feed pens so he was high up on the pecking order.
Hanseatic
Education notes
TDN AusNZ: What was Hanseatic like as a yearling?
JM: In our system we breed to race, so they don’t do a traditional yearling preparation. All of our horses are all handed regularly from a young age and he handled everything with ease. He was a very good doing horse that always ate up well. He had a mini prep here and then he was transported to Woodlands in the Hunter Valley before entering breaking in at Kelvinside on March 11, 2019.
TDN AusNZ: What was Hanseatic like in his early days of work?
Scott Eeles, Godolphin (Breaking In and Pre-Training): Hanseatic took some time to settle in and was very excitable. He was a favourite for a few staff who rode him but not so much for others as he could be a handful. He was a different horse on the track and always looked like he would run early.
First impressions
TDN AusNZ: What was your first impression of Hanseatic?
Sam Freedman, Assistant Trainer: He was always a very sharp looking colt, a little fizzy out in his work but always gave the impression he would get up and go, we spent a lot of time putting him in behind other yearlings and 2-year-olds just trying to get him to relax.
TDN AusNZ: What was his temperament like?
SF: He has a ‘unique’ temperament, he’s quiet as a lamb most of the time, very relaxed around the stables and to handle on the ground, occasionally he has his moments as we’ve seen at the races, but it doesn’t seem to affect his performances.
Hanseatic
TDN AusNZ: Does Hanseatic have any particular traits that standout?
SF: His turn of foot. I remember his first improving gallop at Pinecliff and it was pretty clear straightaway that he had the ability to run times we’d rarely see there. He can quicken like no other 2-year-old we’ve had. It’s instant.
TDN AusNZ: How soon could you see something ‘special’ in him?
SF: We knew pretty early he had the ability, and we were very aware that he needed to relax in his work so rather than seeing him do what we knew he could all the time (run fast times) we focused on teaching him to relax.
TDN AusNZ: Was he a team favourite?
SF: Certainly, there’s always a buzz around the stables when he heads to the races, David Crofts, his strapper, knows him back to front and that’s a bond that’s very important, there’s an element of trust between them both and it certainly aids the horse, particularly on race day.
TDN AusNZ: What are the highlights of having him under your care?
SF: Probably his preview and prelude wins, they were dominant. It’s exciting having a horse that can win from un-winnable positions and hopefully he can give us many more thrills in the future.
