Among the owners of Saturday’s G1 Flight S. contenders were big thoroughbred operations such as Go Bloodstock, Yulong, Kia Ora and Arrowfield, but for the connections of the winner Montefilia, racing is merely a hobby.
It was a dream result for Hugh Docherty, one of the filly’s owners, as she confirmed their long-standing opinion that she was a high-class horse.
“It was exciting beyond our belief, it was an amazing day,” Docherty said. “It’s hard to put into words when it happens what it does for you, but she’s such a favourite of the horses that we’ve got and it was just an amazing day.”
Docherty said he, his partners and trainer David Payne knew the daughter of Kermadec (NZ) was something special from the first time they laid eyes on her as a yearling at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, making the win all the more satisfying.
Montefilia as a yearling
Something special
“When we actually went up to the Magic Millions, we went up with six yearlings that we fancied and we’d spoken to David Payne a few months before and told him we were looking at putting a few horses with him,” Docherty said.
“When we were up there, we had Montefilia marked out and we asked David to come down and have a look at her.
“We liked her because she’s got a bit of Galileo on one side with Teofilo through Kermadec, and the other with Monsun we really liked as well, so that’s what attracted us to her.
“So we rang up David to come to the barn and have a look. He came down and they brought her out of the stall. She walked up and down, he walked up and ran his hands over her head, kissed her on the forehead and said ‘she’s going to be a good one’. Those were his exact words.
"She walked up and down, he walked up and ran his hands over her head, kissed her on the forehead and said ‘she’s going to be a good one’. Those were his exact words." - Hugh Docherty
“So we gave him our budget of $100,000 and the bidding started and she sold for $130,000, so we asked him who got it and he said, ‘You guys!’
“It was only about four months later that I was at the Wyong Gold Cup and David was there and he came up and said ‘she’s an Oaks filly mate, she is an Oaks filly’, that’s how early he saw the potential that she had.”
Docherty and the rest of the connections always knew Montefilia had talent but they believe she has only gotten better each time she has been to the races, which culminated in her landing the all-important Group 1 on Saturday.
“She was first-up at Newcastle at 66 to 1 in a field of five, then she went to a Group 3 race which she ran fourth in and then we put her out,” Docherty said.
“We just knew she was going to be such a good horse over distance and then she won over 1500 metres at Rosehill and then she went out again.
“When she came back in, she had one run over 1400 metres in the G2 Tea Rose S. and there were some really classy horses in that field but she ran a lovely race.
“We just knew, with the same horses in the race that ran second and third on Saturday, that the extra 200 would suit her but we also knew that after her first run she had improved by an extra two or 3l. Her coat had come through and she was absolutely blossoming so we really fancied her on Saturday.”
The next challenge for Montefilia is the G1 Spring Champion S. over 2000 metres on Saturday and Docherty believes she will relish another step-up in distance.
“Of course (she will be better over 2000 metres),” he said. “I spoke to David this morning, she has come through that race magnificently.
“She’s got an amazing temperament, you wouldn’t need to tie her up in the tie-up stalls before the race, she just stands there minding her own business.”
Montefilia after winning the G1 Darley Flight S.
Hobby not business
The group’s involvement in racing began with a mare called State The Obvious (Magic Albert) and Docherty and his partners have built up a band of around 20 horse, but it still remains a hobby rather than a business for them.
“Our first involvement was with a mare who we bought from a trainer Johnnie Roberts, who passed away just a few months ago, he had a Magic Albert mare called State The Obvious and no one could get near her,” he said.
“She was so moody and we couldn’t get anyone to ride her but one of the vets said that she would make a lovely broodmare so I got a group together to go into partnership and that was our first entry into racing.
“Since then, including mares and foals in the belly and the new ones born, we’ve got about 21 horses at the moment, so we have a fair old stable.
“With all our stock in the racing game, we’re really into the breeding side and the stayers. I love the breeding side rather than the punting side of racing and that’s what we’re about.
“We’ve had three mares up at Coolmore in the last three weeks. One is going to Justify, one is going to American Pharoah this week and the other is going to Magna Grecia.
“Our first mare had an American Pharoah foal just about a year ago so we’re going to race him and we’ll send him to David Payne. David is our trainer and he’s just magnificent.”
Lucrative offers
Docherty said the lucrative offers had come for Montefilia but they were all knocked back because the thrill of owning a good horse is worth more to them than a seven-figure cheque.
“We were offered $500,000 and it went up to $600,000 the next day," he said.
“She came out and won on the Saturday and they offered up $1 million on the Monday. We knocked it back.
“She came out and won on the Saturday and they offered up $1 million on the Monday." - Hugh Docherty
“But we only really buy fillies. Naturally, the American Pharoah is a colt but we’ll give him a race and he is magnificent. But we’ll probably go on and breed from Montefilia for sure.
“It’s a hobby first of all. We could run it like a business but basically, it is a hobby.
“We’re all in that age bracket around the 70 mark so it’s definitely not going to be a business but it could be for our families later on.
“We don’t go in big and because we’re mainly into the stayers so we don’t pay a lot for them. In the Australian side of things, they all go for the sprinters but I think that’s changing now.
“If we see something we like, we’ll go and get it and if we were in it for the money, we would’ve sold Montefilia.”
