Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Hirsch and his bloodstock advisor Mark Dodemaide were scouring the Godolphin mares on offer through the Inglis Digital July (Early) Online Sale last year when they came across a Lonhro mare with a familiar pedigree.
Obsequious
A couple of years prior they had secured Commands mare Sycophant for $30,000 through the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, and now they had an opportunity to purchase her dual stakes-winning daughter, who at that point, had produced three winners, Courtly (Street Cry {Ire}), Submissive (Street Cry {Ire}) and Deference (Exceed And Excel).
"She came up through that Sale. She was a really good racemare and she had been a reasonable broodmare to that point. She had a couple of horses that had won including Courtly, who had won four races," Dodemaide told TDN AusNZ.
"I went up to where Darley had a little parade at Northwood and had a look at her. I then had Eddie on the phone, when she was going through the Online Sale.
"I went up to where Darley had a little parade at Northwood and had a look at her (Obsequious). I then had Eddie on the phone, when she was going through the Online Sale." - Mark Dodemaide
"As I remember, I bid $20,000 and then we bid $27,500. We thought she might make around $50,000-$60,000, but there were no more bids. She was a great buy. She had won those couple of Group races, the Light Fingers S. and the San Domenico S. and they are good races."
In 14 starts for then Darley trainer Peter Snowden, Obsequious had shown plenty of racetrack talent, running second in the G2 Reisling S. and then eighth in the G1 Golden Slipper S. as a 2-year-old. Early in her 3-year-old season, she won the G3 San Domenico, ran second in the G2 Roman Consul S. and then returning in the autumn to win the G2 Light Fingers S. and running second in a Listed Typhoon Tracy S.
Retired to the Godolphin broodmare band, she visited Street Cry (Ire) her first two seasons producing the winners Courtly and Submissive. It took her three trips to Exceed And Excel to produce a foal, the dual winner Deference before she foaled an as-yet-unnamed Dawn Approach (Ire) colt.
Deference
In 2017, Obsequious visited then first-season Darley sire Frosted (USA), the mating that would produce Ingratiating, while she would then go to Sepoy, getting just her second filly, Surrenders, in 2019.
An opportunity
When Godolphin looked to offer 41 mares and race fillies for sale through the Inglis Digital platform in July last year, Obsequious was among the highlights, offered in foal to Frosted again.
While Hirsch knew the family well, having purchased her dam Sycophant, who had produced a Star Turn filly, it was the lure of getting access to a quality Lonhro mare that drew him in, according to Dodemaide.
"The decision to buy Obsequious wasn't really driven by already having Sycophant. She was a really good Lonhro mare, who was in foal to Frosted and we felt she was worth the punt on her getting a good horse or two," he said.
"Good racemares like that are always a chance to come up with a good horse."
"Good racemares like that are always a chance to come up with a good horse." - Mark Dodemaide
Discussions with Godolphin at the time indicated that the opinion of Obsequious' soon to be 2-year-old colt was that he was 'nice', but what he has been able to do since has exceeded all of Dodemaide's expectations.
Less than three months later, Ingratiating came out and won the Listed Maribyrnong Trial on debut before going on to then run a narrow second in the G3 Maribyrnong Plate.
In the autumn, he proved himself one of the most consistent 2-year-olds in the land, running second in the G3 Chairman's S., winning the Listed Talindert S., before running an excellent second in the G1 Blue Diamond S. He then showed his true versatility, going to Sydney and running third in the G1 Golden Slipper S.
On Saturday, he showed his continued progress by charging home from last to win the G3 Vain S. at his first run back as a 3-year-old, a performance which was reminiscent of what stablemate Bivouac, a future triple Group 1 winner, did, albeit by a larger margin, when he won the same race two years ago. As a result, Ingratiating's odds for spring features such as the G1 Golden Rose S. and G1 Caulfield Guineas have been slashed.
Bivouac
For Dodemaide and Hirsch, every big performance he puts in further franks the upside of the decision they made to buy his dam.
"He's developed into a really nice horse. Seeing him in the mounting yard on Saturday you could see that," Dodemaide said. "You would have to say at the moment, he'd be a chance to win a Group 1 race."
Building the family
Obsequious foaled a brother to Ingratiating for her new owners last spring, but while he would be highly anticipated at any yearling sale in 2022, Dodemaide said Hirsch is keen to retain him.
Obsequious is set to foal to Russian Revolution this spring and there are no prizes for guessing where she is headed to after that.
Russian Revolution | Standing at Newgate Farm
"From Eddie's point of view you have Ingratiating, and he a has a nice Frosted colt, so it’s certainly worth another try. The way Ingratiating is going, it only makes sense to go back," he said.
In what looks a bumper return for its double investment in that family, Sycophant is in foal to Frosted, with what would be a three-quarter sibling to Ingratiating and she is also headed back to the son of Tapit (USA).
"Frosted looks like he's doing a really good job. If you look at his numbers and you measure him up to that crop of horses, they shape up pretty well," he said.
Frosted's first Australian crop has already produced five winners from 15 starters, with Godolphin pair Cloudy and Ingratiating both stakes winners, and Translation and Frost Flowers both stakes placed.
Frosted (USA) | Standing at Darley
The chance for Hirsch to source his own racetrack success with that family may come soon with Sycophant's Star Turn filly, Psycho Star, having just turned three and building up to her debut with trainer John Salanitri. She is also a potential third string to the breeding bow in time.
The turn of good fortune with Obsequious and her extended family comes as Hirsch ramps up his thoroughbred interests after purchasing Woodside Park Stud last month.
The Victorian operation, the base from which now Yulong Stud stallion Written Tycoon was able to generate the lion's share of the success which led to him becoming Australia's Champion Sire in 2020/21, will stand Foxwedge, Rich Enuff and Tosen Stardom (Jpn) in the upcoming season.
