Changing of the guard as Parnham farewells Kay Cee

Written by Bren O'Brien

Cover image courtesy of Western Racepix

Having made the decision to retire his Group 1-winning mare Kay Cee (Playing God), Western Australian trainer Neville Parnham is making racetrack plans for speedy homebred filly Flying Missile (Cable Bay {Ire}) after her stakes breakthrough at Ascot last Saturday.

Kay Cee's 20-start career, which was highlighted by her victory in the G1 Kingston Town Classic S. in 2019, came to a close after she pulled up lame following her 15th in the G1 Railway S. and she will now join the broodmare band of her breeders and owner Greg and Kathy Edwards, after whose children, Kendall and Curtis, she was named.

Her importance to Parnham was not just because she delivered him Group 1 success as a trainer, but her Kingston Town Classic S. victory also replicated the feat of her sire, Playing God, a two-time winner of that race who Parnham also trained along with her dam Flirt 'N' Hope (McFlirt {NZ}).

"She's been a great horse and has been great for our stable and our owners. She's a Group 1-winning mare," Parnham told TDN AusNZ.

"I trained her mother and trained the sire and to get one of them to come out and win a Group 1 after following in his footsteps, it’s really pleasing from a personal point of view as well.

"Unfortunately, she is lame. It’s nothing noticeable and she trotted up quite free this week. It's a bit of a mystery, but whatever it is. It doesn't matter. She seems to have lost a bit of interest in racing, and she is ready for the breeding barn."

Parnham predicted Kay Cee, who is a five-time stakes-winning granddaughter of Group 3 winner and G1 Railway S. placegetter Lizzy Long Legs (Steel Glow), will make her mark in the barn as well.

"She's only young and there is plenty of ahead of her and she should be a pretty handy broodmare for Greg and Catty Edwards," he said.

A Flying start

The end of Kay Cee's racing career coincided with the emergence of the new star from Parnham's yard, the Cable Bay (Ire) filly Flying Missile, who narrowly prevailed in the Listed Placid Ark S. on Saturday with his son, Chris, in the saddle.

It was a deserved success after Flying Missile has been placed in both the Listed Belgravia S. and Listed Burgess Queen S. at her previous two starts.

"She's been a really good money-spinner for the stable. She was behind some really nice horses at her last two starts. Overall, you couldn't be happier with what we have seen of her," he said.

"We expected her to run well on Saturday, Chris has a good record on the horse, and she got the job done."

It was the 12th start for Flying Missile and her fifth win, while she has also been placed on five other occasions, underlining her consistency. She was placed at all three starts at her first campaign as a 2-year-old this time last year and then racked up four wins from five starts in the autumn, with her only defeat coming in the G2 Karrakatta Plate.

The 3-year-old campaign has built with every start, and she only looks to be peaking now.

"I think there more there. She is foolproof, she is sound, and she is not an overly big horse. Each campaign she has had, she has got a little bit taller and a little bit stronger. At this point, I think there is more to come from her," Parnham said.

Launching a Missile

Parnham purchased her dam, Magnus Missile (Magnus), for just $6000 through the Eliza Park draft at the 2012 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale and she showed him plenty of her short nine-start career.

"She ran a few placings early on in her 2-year-old season and had a bit of an issue and so we brought her back as a 3-year-old," Parnham recalled.

"Of the six starts that campaign, she won five of them and ran second in the other one. The last start when she won, she fractured her pastern, so that was the end of her career. She only had about nine starts all up."

Magnus Missile was from the family of Group 2-winning sprinter Scaredee Cat (Tale Of The Cat {USA}) and multiple Group 1 winner Kinjite (NZ) and Parnham retained her to breed with.

As a measure of the esteem she was held in, he sent her to Zoustar in her first season, with the resultant colt purchased back by Parnham Racing for $200,000 through the Mogumber Park draft at the 2018 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.

Named Missile, he has struggled with soundness issues in his two starts to date.

An excellent match

Her second mating was to then Woodside Park first-season stallion Cable Bay, who respected breeder Rick Jamieson was hand selecting mares for.

"I liked him as a stallion and I liked the way he presented in all the footage I had seen and with his record, and I thought he might match well with her," he said.

"That season, they were only selecting mares to go to him, they weren't taking just anything, and they thought the pedigree matched up well and they accepted her."

It was apparent from early on that that the resultant filly, to be named Flying Missile, was in a similar speedy mould as her dam.

She became the second Australian stakes winner for Cable Bay, who had four seasons in Australia but didn't return in 2021.

In 2018, Magnus Missile was then sent back to Woodside Park, this time to Rich Enuff, producing a colt, Demolish, who debuted for Parnham with a fourth in an early-season 2-year-old race in October.

"He got gelded and went out for spell. he showed good ability and has promise," Parnham said.

"There's a Lean Mean Machine filly, who is a really nice horse. I had her nominated in the yearling sale over here, but I bought her out the other day. When they made their final inspections, I decided to keep her."

Having missed last year, Magnus Missile is now in foal to Playing God.