2017 Tattersall's Tiara winner Tycoon Tara and her breeder and owner Tony Krushka are living their best post-racing life in the picturesque south-west Victorian town of Port Fairy.
Krushka, the former trainer turned Group 1-winning breeder, runs a boutique accommodation business in the tourist town. In between, he likes to keep a close eye on Tycoon Tara, who as a racehorse was a winner of 10 races and over $1.1 million in prizemoney.
Her win in the final Group 1 of the 2016/17 racing season proved her penultimate start, with Krushka and the other owners, including long-term friend Ross Pierce, electing not to sell her and continue on the journey with her as a broodmare.
"We brought a couple of owners into her, guys who I had always trained for, and we got so much pleasure out of it, we decided to breed with her. If she was 100 per cent mine, I probably would have sold the first foal, but they wanted to keep that and so we are just going to continue on breeding with her," he told TDN AusNZ.
It is little wonder Krushka and Pierce are keen to continue the story, having been involved with the family for over 30 years, when they purchased a filly called Finest Moss (Twig Moss {Fr}), which Kruskha, then based at Mornington, trained.
"We bought a mare in foal with Finest Moss and I trained her and she won a couple of races and then we bred Mosstara out of her, who was Tycoon Tara's dam," he said.
Mosstara (Encores) would win four races for Krushka, including a race at Flemington at $51. He bred with her and her third foal, a filly by Written Tycoon, would arrive a couple of months after he had elected to call it quits on his training career.
"It’s one of those working families. The mother was a handy mare and there were a couple of others out of the family as well. We just made the right call going to Written Tycoon early before he started kicking his main goals, but she was one of the first flagbearers for him," he said.
"We just made the right call going to Written Tycoon early before he started kicking his main goals, but she (Mosstara) was one of the first flagbearers for him." - Tony Krushka
Named Tycoon Tara, the filly kicked off her career under the care of Bill and Symon Wilde at Warrnambool, winning six races from that stable, including both the G3 Bellmaine S. and G3 Mannerism S. at just her ninth and 10th starts.
"When Symon Wilde had her, she raced well and won a couple of Group races in very good times. She then injured herself and had nearly a year off, after we had to cut half her hoof off, but her times were always good," Krushka said.
A new beginning
It was at that point, Kruskha and the other owners made the decision to send the then 6-year-old north to Sydney to Peter and Paul Snowden.
"We felt she might be better off up there and results proved it. She raced well down here, but Peter and Paul Snowden were really able to get her to that next level," he said.
"We felt she (Tycoon Tara) might be better off up there and results proved it. She raced well down here, but Peter and Paul Snowden were really able to get her to that next level." - Tony Kruskha
In her first four starts for her new stable, Tycoon Tara won a trio of Group races, the G2 Missile S., the G3 Show County Quality and the G2 Golden Pendant.
She had built quite a deal of residual value through her five stakes wins, and while she was initially entered into the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2017, the goal was not to cash in, but instead double down and try to get that Group 1 win in the Tiara.
Tycoon Tara wins the G3 Show County Quality
Under a perfectly rated ride from Kerrin McEvoy, she jumped to the front and held off subsequent Group 1-winning pair Prompt Response (Beneteau) and In Her Time (Time Thief) on a memorable day for Krushka and the other owners.
"It's an unbelievable feeling when you get a horse up to that level, especially the way she won her races and the horses she left in her wake. She had some very good horses behind her," Krushka said.
The next generation
As her dam Mosstara only had one filly before she died foaling in 2014, it made sense to breed on with the family through Tycoon Tara.
Given pride of place in the paddock of Krushka's Port Fairy property, she has now produced two fillies, a 2-year-old by Zoustar and a yearling by Pride Of Dubai, both of whom have been retained by Krushka and the other owners.
Her first filly, Zeminnika, is closing in on a debut for trainer Peter Moody.
"She has had a couple of jump-outs and they have both been pleasing. She is just a little bit immature. Her knees are still a bit open, so we have decided to give her a little break and she will go back in work in another couple of weeks and she’ll go and race then," Krushka said.
"She's done enough to make us happy. She will need some time and she won't be one of those ones that will burst onto the scene. She will be productive, but as she gets older, she will get better."
The Pride Of Dubai yearling filly, named Hillion, has followed her dam's footsteps to Peter and Paul Snowden.
Peter Snowden, Paul Snowden and Tony Krushka
"She's gone up to New South Wales to Peter Snowden. She's just going through that preparation he gives his 2-year-olds. They go in for a while and have a bit of break. He gets them well educated and works out what stage they are at."
Tycoon Tara subsequently missed to Impending and will make the relatively short 200km journey to Rosemont Stud this spring to visit its new addition Hanseatic.
"We were always very impressed with his racing performances as well as his pedigree. He was unlucky not to win the Blue Diamond and if he had, there would be every chance he'd be up in the Hunter Valley at triple the service fee," Krushka said of the son of Street Boss (USA).
Hanseatic | Standing at Rosemont Stud
A safe harbour
Tycoon Tara is kept company on Kruskha's property by a handful of his other racehorses which spell there as well, with Krushkha extolling the virtues of south-west Victoria for both equine and human health.
"Port Fairy was voted the most liveable town in the world under 20,000 people, and that's how we see it. It really is such a picturesque town, such a great community, with good restaurants, cafes, beaches, you name it, it’s got it," he said.
While he misses some of the aspects of stable life, having traded in his training career to work in tourism and hospitality a decade ago, he is very comfortable with his decision.
"I really enjoyed training. It was a great profession to be in and the people you meet, it was just fantastic. But once it became a stage where you are racing every day and night. It made it a bit of a chore," he said.
"There's a lot involved in it, it’s very labour intensive, and I'm happy doing what I am doing."
