A former member of the Toorak Park Partnership, the Adelaide-based Robertson has revelled in racings riches over the years via his involvement with numerous Group 1 winners, including dual Group 1 winner Rebel Dane, G1 Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed (Southern Image {USA}), G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Undoubtedly (Redoute’s Choice) and G1 Turnbull S. winner Devil Moon (King Cugat {USA}).
The latter three gallopers were all products of Robertson’s co-owned and operated Toorak Park Stud, which stood Mannerism’s (Amyntor {Fr}) three-time Group 1-winning half-brother Always Welcome during the 1980s.
“There was three of us in the partnership (Trevor Robertson, Rod Fairclough and Harry Perks) and when one of the partners died, we decided to go our separate ways and that was the starting point for my wife Beth and I to start doing our own thing,” Robertson told TDN AusNZ.
“The partnership operated Toorak Park (Stud) in the Adelaide Hills for quite a while before that, and when we decided to sell the property 20-odd years ago, we moved all our horses down at Mill Park Stud, and Beth and I have continued that on since the partnership broke up.”
Celebrity status
Following the dissolution of the Toorak Park Partnership, the Robertson’s opted to invest in young talent and in turn secured Instant Celebrity’s dam Celebrity Girl (Starcraft {NZ}) for $500,000 at the 2010 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
Trained by Mark Kavanagh, Celebrity Girl won twice at Listed level and was placed in the G2 Edward Manifold S. before retiring in October 2012 after just 10 career starts.
Celebrity Girl when racing
Her first foal Pirapala (Sepoy) netted the Robertson’s a healthy return when knocked down to China Horse Club for $850,000 at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Celebrity Girl's second foal Watch Me Fly (Sebring) was retained by the Robertson's after failing to meet a reserve of $400,000 at the 2016 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, while her third foal The Hand (I Am Invincible) sold to Sun Bloodstock for a healthy $300,000 at the 2017 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
However, an educated decision by Robertson to send Celebrity Girl to Not A Single Doubt in 2016 would produce exactly what he was looking for.
“The mating that produced Instant Celebrity was purely down to size as she (Celebrity Girl) was a big mare that threw big foals, and while the first few she threw had ability from second-hand reports they seemed to have little, niggly problems,” Robertson said.
"The mating that produced Instant Celebrity was purely down to size as she (Celebrity Girl) was a big mare that threw big foals." - Trevor Robertson
“She (Instant Celebrity) was always a nice, smaller, athletic type, and I was really keen to keep a filly out of her (Celebrity Girl) as we had kept Watch Me Fly, who sadly died in a paddock accident, and at the time Celebrity Girl was becoming a problem breeder which led us to sell her in 2019.”
Sending Instant Celebrity to burgeoning Adelaide and Pakenham-based trainer Phillip Stokes was an easy decision, according to Robertson.
Phillip Stokes | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
“I had a couple of horses before with Phillip (Stokes) and it was really a two-fold thing because one, if she didn’t measure up, we could see her run in Adelaide and if she did, Melbourne wasn’t all that far away for us to go over just for the raceday and watch her,” Robertson said.
“I did know Phillip from way back and at the time he had made a pretty big move to shift camp to Victoria and I just wanted to be a part of that while having one foot in the camp at Adelaide.”
Instant Celebrity kicked off her career last June with a dominant 1.9l victory in a 2-year-old H. over 1050 metres before overcoming an arduous run in transit to take out the Listed Oaklands Plate in fine fashion.
Her third career start when making up a significant margin over the concluding stages in a competitive BM72 at Morphettville put her name front and centre leading into the G1 Thousand Guineas.
She went on to claim the G2 Tranquil Star S. at her following start before running on strongly into third behind Odeum (Written Tycoon) and Personal (Fastnet Rock) in the G1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield.
However, her crowning hour came during the recent Adelaide autumn carnival over sprinting trips winning the G1 Robert Sangster S. before running second behind Savatoxl (Kuroshio) in the G1 Goodwood H.
“Seeing her win that Group 1 (Robert Sangster S.) was such an amazing experience as it's alright to think you have a Group 1 horse, but until you’ve got it you haven’t, and once you’ve got it they can’t take it off you,” Robertson said.
Instant success
Robertson credits a large portion of Instant Celebrity’s success to the work of Phillip Stokes' son and Adelaide-based foreman Tommy and his jockey partner Kayla Crowther.
“Kayla (Crowther) who did a lot of her (Instant Celebrity’s) early work is one to avoid telling people if she thinks their young horses are good because they can often be disappointed, but she said from day one that she (Instant Celebrity) was a bit special,” Robertson said.
“The horse obviously has ability, but gee Tommy (Stokes) and Kayla (Crowther) put some work into her early, they would do various innovative things to get her right. So, it was great for Tommy that she was able to come back to Adelaide and get that Group 1 here.
"The horse (Instant Celebrity) obviously has ability, but gee Tommy (Stokes) and Kayla (Crowther) put some work into her early, they would do various innovative things to get her right." - Trevor Robertson
“Tommy and Kayla are both only very young but they’ve got old heads. Tommy will certainly make the grade in the training ranks as he’s a great thinker.”
Robertson is expecting a bold showing from Instant Celebrity on resumption in the G3 Cockram S., saying she can rise to the occasion and measure up against a class mare like Probabeel.
“She’s well-placed resuming over 1200 metres on Saturday and if she runs well Phillip (Stokes) is leaning towards targeting her at the $2 million The Invitation while I’m leaning to the Golden Eagle,” Robertson said.
“Tommy (Stokes) and Kayla (Crowther) always thought her best distance is 1400 metres and I tend to agree but I do believe she can get out over 1500 metres to a mile because she got way back in the (G1) Thousand Guineas and did really well to run third with the ground she had to make up.”
Craig Williams and Instant Celebrity
Robertson said he plans to retain Instant Celebrity when her racing career comes to a conclusion.
“I’ve had people tell me that I should sell her and cash in when she retires, but I’ve been in the game too long and know how hard it is to get a horse like this, and I think we’re all but certain to hang onto her.” Robertson said.
“So, hopefully we can get another Group 1 or 2 along the way.”
The Robertson’s currently have three broodmares, city winner Miracleofmiracles (More Than Ready {USA}), Fast And Loose (Fastnet Rock) and Snow Surrender (Sepoy).
“They all throw nice types and are getting a good chance because I’m sending them to the good stallions,” Robertson said.
“Two of them will go to Farnan and one to Toronado, I really like Farnan, he’s a (G1) Golden Slipper-winning son of Not A Single Doubt, and of the new stallions he was an easy pick.”
