Cover image courtesy of Inglis
The veteran owner and former Port Stephens Mayor, whose horses all bear the 'Oakfield' moniker, is unashamedly sentimental when it comes to his horses, and it was no surprise that he was determined to take the Zoustar filly, offered by Clarke and Croft Bloodstock, home with him on the final day of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
At $450,000, history will record Lot 591 as the most expensive filly ever purchased at the Classic Sale, but that stat doesn't do justice to the two amazing stories which brought buyer and vendor together in the sales ring on Tuesday.
As the only member of the Classic Sale draft of Clarke and Croft, which is based at Uralla, some 475km north of Sydney, the Zoustar filly was led through the ring by Sam Croft herself.
Focussed on ensuring the filly handled herself in the ring in the manner of a top-quality yearling, Croft wasn't really aware of the escalating bidding war between MacKenzie and Star Thoroughbreds for the filly.
"I was concentrating on making sure she behaved herself. I heard the $400,000, and I thought that is what she deserved," she said.
It was at that point, MacKenzie, determined to land the killer blow, stepped up his game, advancing the bid by $50,000.
“I used to follow boxing and a quick punch knocks them out and they are down. So they went down, Brett (Howard) and Denise (Martin), didn’t they?" he joked.
“Everyone and their uncle was looking at her. I was going to take her home, full stop. I told her in the middle of the night. I said to her in horse language ‘I’m taking you back to Port Stephens’."
“Everyone and their uncle was looking at her (Lot 591). I was going to take her home, full stop." - Bruce MacKenzie
Five minutes after MacKenzie's knockout bid, Croft was still a little lost for words, reflecting on quite the incredible journey she has taken with the filly and her dam, Empress Zakynthos (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).
"The mare is a great story, we bought her in late December (2009) as a yearling. She had an accident and they were selling her online. It turned out she had a kinked neck from foal a crash accident," Croft said.
"We brought her home and got her teeth done and had some chiro done. She'd been to the chiro six times before and we were lucky enough to fix her. We fixed her and put her through the Scone Sale a few months later and she got $48,000."
Bruce MacKenzie | Image courtesy of Inglis
Empress comes full circle
Empress Zakynthos embarked on a racing career with Ballarat-based Mandy Shillito, winning five of her 23 starts, but some ongoing issues with barrier manners cut her career short, putting her back on the radar of Croft.
"She's a real ripper. She had a few barrier problems as a racehorse, which isn't that surprising for a horse that had a foal accident, but she was fast," she said.
"She was put in foal to Zebedee and was put online and I forget the price, it was around $26,000, I think. The Zebedee wasn't much as a foal.
"She then had a Star Turn, which was a little ripper (sold for $140,000). He is probably a bit quarter horsey and a 3-year-old sprinter type. Mick Price will give him a bit of time."
The mating with Zoustar made sense, given the physical characteristics of Empress Zakynthos.
"She really throws to the stallion and every foal is just like the stallion," Croft said. "I wanted to give her a bit of leg and with Zoustar she's got exactly that with this filly. She was just outstanding."
Having been given a year off after foaling a Zoustar filly, Empress Zakynthos is now in foal to Pierata.
Lot 591 - Zoustar x Empress Zakynthos (filly)
A special filly
It’s easy to see why MacKenzie was charmed by the Zoustar filly ahead of her going through the ring this week. As Croft speaks to media after the Sale, the filly leans out of her box, craving attention and a pat, almost swiping one journalist's mobile phone from his hand.
"She's not spoiled believe it or not, but does act a little spoilt," she concedes.
While Croft believes the filly would make an ideal juvenile type with scope for progression, she won’t see racetrack, or even a saddle, as a 2-year-old, according to her new owner.
“I have won 170 races and I have never, ever started a 2-year-old in my life and I never will, so she will be a 3-year-old. No 2-year-olds come out of my stable," MacKenzie said.
“I have won 170 races and I have never, ever started a 2-year-old in my life and I never will." - Bruce MacKenzie
“She will be broken in and she will be worked on a walking machine, she will swim and she will be on a treadmill, but she won’t have anyone on her back galloping until she is three."
That gives MacKenzie plenty of time to decide which stable she will end up in, with a choice between his usual trainers, Damien Lane and Kirsten Buchanan.
