Melbourne-based businessman Adam Nelson is part of a syndicate of mates and business associates who tuned in on television as their pride of joy, who is prepared by John Bary, charged through to claim the 1400 metre feature by 0.75l leaving some top quality gallopers in his wake in the first Group 1 race of the New Zealand season.
It was a success made even sweeter for Nelson by the fact that he had gifted a share to his dad, Barry, a while back, allowing the pair to share a special success.
"I come from a very horsey family. My grandfather was a jockey and lived and breathed horses all his life. That washed down to my dad. We had a very small share in horse together in the mid-1990s in WA. It couldn't run out of sight on a dark night and it was a very long gap between that and our next horse," Nelson told TDN AusNZ.
Callsign Mav was initially bought for just NZ$3000 through the New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Bloodstock Sale by Emily Holmes. From the first crop of the ill-fated Mapperley Stud stallion Atlante, he was out of a half-sister to G1 New Zealand S. winner The Party Stand (NZ) (Thorn Park).
Equine physio Jeremy Cross, a friend of Nelson's, was part of the purchase and the story started from there.
Callsign Mav (NZ) is by the late Atlante
"It was one of those good luck things. Jeremy and Emily hadn't inspected the horse but she'd been given the green light to spend up to $4000, and he walked into the ring and was a nice horse and the rest is history, They couldn't believe they got him for $3000," Nelson said.
"I ended up buying out Emily's share after I was initially put into the horse by Jeremy Cross. I gifted five per cent of the horse to my dad, and another five per cent to my business partners and a few friends."
It was when they got Bary involved as a trainer that they got the sense that they might have a bit of a bargain on their hands.
"John had always a good opinion of him. He was very complimentary early on and said he always had a good stride on him. He's quite a big strong horse and ever so slightly turned out in his off-fore, but he just seems to deal with that," he said.
"John had always a good opinion of him. He was very complimentary early on and said he always had a good stride on him." - Adam Nelson
"He's been very sound, apart from when he was a very young horse when he tried to high jump the outside fence at John's and landed square in the middle of his back and cracked his wither. We were lucky not to lose him at that stage.
"But he spent a good deal of time out in the paddock after that which allowed him to grow into his body. He is quite a big horse. He's 550kgs. We’ve just been patient. John has always been patient."
The temptation to sell
Bary wasn't scared to throw Callsign Mav in the deep end and after he won two of his first three starts, he tackled the G2 Hawke's Bay Guineas, where he finished second to subsequent Group 1 winner Catalyst (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}).
"We were all there on track that day and John turned and said to us 'Congratulations, you have the second-best 3-year-old in New Zealand'," he said.
Callsign Mav (NZ)
"Afterwards, we thought we might get offers for the horse, be it Hong Kong or Australia, but reflecting on it, we thought, why would we? This is a once in a lifetime chance and to have Dad and some really close mates involved in a horse that can do very well.
"Thank God we didn’t sell, because we would have missed out on yesterday."
A surreal experience
Nelson had long dreamed of winning a Group 1 as an owner, but he could never have envisioned he would be sitting at home on his couch in Melbourne with his wife and baby, and not trackside.
"Even not being able to be there and being at home, I’ll never forget that experience," he said.
"It was surreal. The first person I called was my dad and all he wanted to talk about was what price he was and how well he'd done on the punt and I said 'dad, it’s not the money, you've got a Group 1 badge now!'"
Nelson and his dad will be watching on TV again when Callsign Mav tackles the G1 Windsor Park Plate early next month, after which point the plan might be to give him some more time to mature with grander plans afoot for 2021.
Adam Nelson will never forget sitting at home watching his first Group 1 winner on TV instead of being trackside
"If he goes well in the Group 1 at the mile, we will put him out, give him a light autumn campaign and bring him back and try and stretch out to 2000 metres. That would likely mean putting him on a plane and bringing him out to Australia," he said.
Bary has a bit of unfinished business with the G1 Cox Plate having been edged out for second with Jimmy Choux (NZ) in 2011, and Nelson would not be surprised if Callsign Mav is targeted towards the weight-for-age race next year.
"In the back of his mind, the 2021 Cox Plate has been on the radar for John," Nelson said. "Tactical speed, sits on pace, a short straight, why wouldn’t he love Moonee Valley!"
