Cover image courtesy of Glenn Lee Thoroughbreds

Rod and Mikayla Day’s Glenn Lee Thoroughbreds will take on the role of vendor for the first time when it presents a 13-strong draft at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale at Riverside Stables from February 7-9.

A glowing endorsement of its evolvement in such a short space of time is that its consignment includes a number of youngsters to be offered on behalf of powerhouse New Zealand nursery Waikato Stud.

Glenn Lee was established a little over a year ago, but there is no shortage of experience behind the sales preparation, spelling, rehabilitation, agistment and weaning and handling operation based at Bell View Park Stud.

“We started in 2019 and we look after Bell View’s mares as well and this will be our very first draft,” Mikayla Day said. “This is our big intro so we’re pretty excited."

Day has been immersed in the thoroughbred industry since finishing her education.

“I did three years at Bell View Park as a stud hand and then I went to Newhaven Park as the Yearling Manager and following that did a year at Lime Country Thoroughbreds as Yearling Manager again,” she said.

“I was back at Newhaven for a couple of months before we started up Glenn Lee Thoroughbreds.”

The name of the property is taken from family ties – Mikayla’s father is Glenn and Lee the father of Rod.

“Rod was always into motor sports and we’ve been together for five years and got married early last year and he’s had a one-stop education with horses. We’re both totally hands-on and Rod can do everything I can so we make a good team,” Mikayla Day said.

“Seven of our draft are from Waikato Stud, we’re doing two for Edinglassie Stud, one for a client and three of our own.

“Mark Chittick’s horses arrived on December 11 and have done really well. I’ve never met Mark and we’re grateful for the opportunity he has given us.

“I know Waikato Stud’s Yearling Manager Jaimee Gowler and I know Mike Rennie (Business Manager) quite well and it’s a shame Mark can’t be here.”

A son of the Matamata farm’s resident stallion Tivaci, Lot 239, has made a strong impression on Day.

“He’s my favourite and he’s a lovely type with a great body and he’s going to be a good racehorse going forward,” she said.

The colt is the first foal out of the winning Savabeel mare Popular (NZ) and she is out of a sister to the four-time Group 1 winner and late sire Sacred Falls (NZ).

Popular is also a three-quarter sister to the G3 Thoroughbred Club S. winner Splashing Out (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), who has produced Group winners Splurge (NZ) (Savabeel) and the siblings Shopaholic (NZ) (Pins) and Packing Pins (NZ).

“The Waikato Stud horses are a great bunch, they're well put together and all have excellent attitudes,” Day said.

They include two other Tivaci colts with Lot 474 out of a sister to Group 2-winning siblings Vigor (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) and Joey Massino (NZ), while Lot 559 is the first foal of the stakes performer Date Night (NZ) (Savabeel).

Lot 14 is a son of Savabeel and also the family of Sacred Falls and recent Listed Gingernuts Salver winner Milford (NZ) (Savabeel) and Lot 39 is by Ocean Park (NZ) and from a half-sister to G1 Queensland Derby winner Lachlan River (Desert King {Ire}).

Savabeel’s son is Lot 69 and he is a grandson of G3 Frances Tressady S. winner Breezy (NZ) (Pins) while Lot 575 is by Sacred Falls out of the G2 Kewney S. winner Do Ra Mi (NZ) (Savabeel). She is a half-sister to G1 Australasian Oaks winner Marju Snip (NZ) (Marju {Ire}).

“We’ve also have got two mares and Lot 646 is out of one of them and we pinhooked a Nicconi filly, Lot 4, and a Jukebox filly, Lot 651,” Day said.

Lot 646 is by Smart Missile out of Kamili (Bernardini {USA}) and is from the family of Group 1-winning half-brothers and sires Arazi (USA) and Noverre (USA).

Pinhooked fillies

The daughter of Nicconi is a half-sister to a winner and their dam Gibraltar’s Gift (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) is from the family of The Cloisters (Godswalk {USA}), winner of the Listed Keith Mackay S. and twice Group 1-placed.

The filly was purchased for $25,000 out of Rosari Farm’s draft at the Magic Millions Weanling Sale where the daughter of Jukebox was bought from Aquis for $15,000.

She is out of the Group performer Kyria (Encosta De Lago), dam of two multiple winners, and the family of the G1 VRC Derby winner and sire Benicio, whose half-siblings Romneya (Red Ransom {USA}) and Roheryn (Lonhro) are Group winners.

Lot 648 is a Shooting To Win filly to be sold on behalf of a client and is from the family of dual Group 1 winner Malaguerra (Magnus).

Glenn Lee will also offer Lots 717 and 763 on behalf of Edinglassie with the former a Foxwedge colt out of a half-sister to Listed Bel Esprit S. winner Office Bearer (Officer) and the latter a Shooting To Win colt, a grandson of the G2 Eight Carat Classic winner Alagant Satin (NZ) (Al Akbar {NZ}).

There was no-one more stunned at the SATB Awards night on Saturday than McAuliffe when he was announced as the latest recipient of the Matrice Award. He had attended the night at the insistence of his wife Christine and her father and previous Matrice Award recipient, Leon Macdonald, but had no inkling he would end up being one the stars of the show.

"It’s a little overwhelming to say the least, when you look at the honour roll. The likes of Colin Hayes and even my father-in-law, Leon Macdonald. The great horses that have been awarded it, Makybe Diva and Without Fear, who was an iconic stallion here for the Hayes family all those years ago. It’s quite overwhelming," McAuliffe told TDN AusNZ.

It was a night where the other major awards went to G1 Victoria Derby winner, Warning (Declaration Of War {USA}), bred by Harry Perks, who was named SA Breeders Horse of the Year.

McAuliffe has been a fixture in the South Australian racing scene for nearly 30 years, working initially as a racecaller and, more recently, in a broadcast role for Racing.com. In that time, he has built a level of respect amongst those within the industry, which was able to pay tribute to him at the annual awards night.

"You are ultimately just doing your job and earning your living and you get a pat on the back here and there. You feel blessed that you have the opportunity to work in an industry you love and that you have a real passion for. You don’t really expect to be honoured in this way," he said.

McAuliffe's media career began on a whim over 30 years ago, when he opted to follow his passion for racing rather than continue on a more conventional career path.

"I was working in a bank when I made the decision at 20 years of age to give it away and take up a position as a racecaller. I started at the very bottom of the rung and was lucky to call one meeting a week. But you eventually just keep climbing the ladder," he said.

"I never expected at 20 years of age (when I started as a racecaller), that I would call 20 Adelaide Cups and a lot of other great feature races in my home state. I look back and I think, wow, this was not where I expected to get to. There's a lot of satisfaction in that."

A world-class mentor

Key to McAuliffe's early development as a racecaller was a man who would become one of Australia's most feted sports broadcasters, Bruce McAvaney. Like McAuliffe, McAvaney had cut his teeth as a racecaller in Adelaide with an attitude that every experience was a benefit to your long-term development in the media. His mentorship enabled a young McAuliffe to develop his own craft.

"I felt my own style has evolved but it evolved from the people I looked up to and aspired to be like. Being based here in SA, I was very fortunate to be introduced to Bruce McAvaney right at the start of my career, when I was only calling trials. Bruce has always been there as an ear to listen, when I wanted to look for a bit of advice," he said.

"In particular in those first five years, when I was evolving and finding my own style, Bruce was invaluable then. I didn't have a lot to do with him once I was up and going, but I still keep in contact. We are having lunch tomorrow (Wednesday) and he reached out to me this morning (Tuesday). To have someone like that who has been there for my entire 35 years, it’s invaluable. He's been the one real constant the whole way through."

McAuliffe's passion for thoroughbreds was developed as a kid, growing up next to Morphettville racecourse, where the buzz of the racetrack captivated him. It's something that still keeps him going until this day.

"That passion that I had from a very early age, that evolved from the fact that we had horses over the back fence. I'd go around to the stables and from an early age, I was watching how hard a game it can be and what it takes to not just win a race, but just to get a horse to the races," he said.

His appreciation for everything that goes into the preparation of a racehorse has only been enhanced since he met Christine, his future wife, and gained an insider's view of one of South Australia's most successful racing stables, headed by Australian Racing Hall of Fame trainer, Leon Macdonald.

"Through being married to Christine for 20 years and watching Leon, and now with him training with his other son-in-law, Andrew Gluyas, I can see how much effort it takes," he said.

"They have a big team, they have 40-50 horses in work, and they rely on good staff, and trackwork riders and jockeys. They are tremendously loyal people. You look how loyal Leon was to a person like Clare Lindop. Clare was there day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out. That's why Leon always did his utmost to keep Clare on a horse wherever it was possible, even when they travelled interstate. I certainly have a good understanding of those things now."

A change of course

McAuliffe made the decision in mid-2019 to change his career course, opting to take a job as a Racing.com presenter, and stepping down from the commentary box after 20 years as South Australia's leading racecaller.

"I felt comfortable at the time I gave it away, that I had made the most of it," he said.

"I've really enjoyed moving across to Racing.com the past 18 months. I wasn't quite sure how long I wanted to continue to keep calling for and then an opportunity presented itself anyway, so it was a perfect fit for me.

"I guess when you do something for a long time, while I loved it, the constant meeting after meeting, I was maybe starting to feel it as I got older. But I've had a real new lease of life since I joined Racing.com, and that's been nice and really good."

Part of that 'new lease' has been because of the on-air partnership he has developed with form analyst James Jordan.

"He's only a young bloke in his mid-30s, and I've got 20 years age on him, but I sit next to him and learn from him," he said.

"I was initially thinking, I'm coming down stairs from the broadcast box, and I've got 20 years on this bloke and he's going to be able to teach me nothing but it's amazing what he has been able to teach me along the way as well.

"He's very, very strong with his form and is right into his breeding of horses these days. You always need to realise, you are never too old to learn."