Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
If flashy looks account for anything, the 2-year-old colt Man In The Mirror will have plenty of trackside fans as he continues his racing career with trainer Annabel Neasham.
At Warwick Farm on Wednesday the white-faced colt won his debut race, The Agency Real Estate H. over 1000 metres, which went a way towards justifying his $1.8 million yearling price tag.
Man In The Mirror is raced in the colours of Aquis' Park’s Fung family, which bought the racy colt at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He was bred and sold by Emirates Park Stud, and he was the joint-second highest-selling horse at that Sale.
Man In The Mirror as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
On Wednesday, Man In The Mirror came into his debut race with two very good trials behind him.
He’d first appeared in a Canterbury heat in late November where he was second to Hell I Am (Hellbent) and, a fortnight later, he won a 900-metre scamper against Mr Putin (Russian Revolution) at Rosehill.
Ridden at Warwick Farm by Tommy Berry, the colt came out of barrier one in respectable fashion. Neasham had expressed pre-post concern at drawing the inside marble for the colt, but it proved uneventful, and Man In The Mirror settled fourth behind the quick tempo of Mr Putin.
Man In The Mirror (white cap) and Hell I Am trialling | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Around the turn the leader kicked along with D’Arpano (Brazen Beau) at his flank, while the Godolphin colt Northumbria (Exceed And Excel) towed Man In The Mirror along.
In the straight, the Neasham colt had to peel off the rail to find room, and he showed plenty of dash from the 200 metres to reel in the leaders. Between horses the filly Paris Dior (Pierro) was very good late, but the final margins were Man In The Middle by 0.22l to Paris Dior, with Mr Putin staying put for third by 1.21l.
The time was 57.91s for the 1000 metres on the Good 4, the last 600 metres in 34.31s.
Too short, still won
By all accounts, the 1000-metre sprint was as sharp as Man In The Mirror is expected to run. Neasham said the colt would be better over further, which the narrow result seemed to suggest.
“He’ll get better over a little bit more ground,” the trainer said post-race. “The 1000 metres of today was certainly as short as we would have wanted to go. He’s a lovely colt and he’s got so much improvement to come, so this will be some nice confidence for him going forward.”
Man In The Mirror | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Despite two very good trials, Neasham said Man In The Mirror was still green in his race on Wednesday.
“It’s funny, they can look so professional at the trials and then you bring them to the races and it does show that they’re having their first start sometimes,” she said. “He was having a bit of a look around but he got there in the end.”
“It’s funny, they can look so professional at the trials and then you bring them to the races and it does show that they’re having their first start sometimes.” - Annabel Neasham
Neasham admitted that the hefty price tags on horses like this could often make their debut races a pressured experience. She said it was a relief to get this one out of the way.
“I’d probably be lying if it wasn’t,” she said. “It is always, particularly when you just know he’s a nice colt and you want him to deliver for connections. He was very well-selected by Shane McGrath and he’s an absolute beauty of a colt. Hopefully he can go on to bigger and better things in the autumn.”
Jockey Tommy Berry thought equally well of the colt’s debut effort.
Annabel Neasham
“I was a little bit worried about the 1000 metres with him because it’s short of what his best trip is going to be,” Berry said. “That’s why the winkers were put on today and, in both trials, he’s been outside of horses so he wasn’t comfortable where he was, which worried me in the run.”
The jockey said the colt wanted to lay in still when they found running in the straight, and he added that Man In The Mirror returned to scale like he didn’t know what happened.
“He’s one of those horses that I’ve ridden in jump-outs and such, and he just had that natural ability,” Berry said. “There was nothing that really stood out, he just oozed that little bit of class. He’s got a lot of improvement in him, probably more improvement than some of the 2-year-old winners I’ve ridden this year.”
“He’s (Man In The Mirror) one of those horses that I’ve ridden in jump-outs and such, and he just had that natural ability.” - Tommy Berry
The jockey added that Man In The Mirror had good things ahead.
“He’s obviously a Magic Millions horse so they’ve got that option, but he could be a little bit better than that hopefully,” Berry said.
Man In The Mirror and Tommy Berry | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Cool customer
Man In The Mirror was born and bred at Emirates Park Stud from his dam, the Group 3-winning broodmare One More Honey (Onemorenomore). She was raced by Emirates Park after she was purchased at foot with her dam, One Funny Honey (USA) (Distorted Humour {USA}), at the dispersal sale of Patinack Farm in 2014.
One More Honey was part of a three-horse package because her dam was in foal when selling to Emirates Park for just $50,000. The subsequent foal was the Group 1 winner Vega One (Lope De Vega {Ire}).
On the track, One More Honey was more than respectable.
She won the G2 Sweet Embrace S. and was fourth in the G1 Flight S. behind Alizee (Sepoy) in 2017. She ran consistently in stakes company throughout her career before retiring back to Emirates Park.
One More Honey when racing | Image courtesy of Sportpix
She went to Not A Single Doubt in her first year at stud, and the result was the flashy Man In The Mirror.
“You could see from his race today that he’s a very laid-back customer,” Bryan Carlson, stud manager at Emirates Park, said of the colt. “As he was walking around the parade ring, nothing really fazed him, and he was like that the whole way through as a foal and yearling. Even at the Sale, he was out plenty of times and nothing worried him.
"He’s a very cool, collected customer, and you could see that he only did enough to win his race. There’ll be plenty of improvement in him.”
“You could see from his (Man In The Mirror's) race today that he’s a very laid-back customer.” - Bryan Carlson
Carlson remembers Man In The Mirror as a cool kid on the farm. The colt always had his tongue out in photos, and the stud manager said the horse would likely gather something of a cult following with his big, white face.
Big money
Man In The Mirror’s $1.8 million price tag was a surprise even for Emirates Park.
“He was the first foal out of a good mare, but you never go to a horse sale expecting to make big money,” Carlson said. “We thought he’d sell well, but you never expect they’ll make $1.8 million. It was a great result, especially being the first foal out of a mare that we raised.”
“He (Man In The Mirror) was the first foal out of a good mare, but you never go to a horse sale expecting to make big money.” - Bryan Carlson
Carlson said the original Patinack purchase has turned out very well for Emirates Park.
“The three of them were a bargain buy,” he said. “But at the time, there wasn’t much going for the family. One More Honey wasn’t really the flavour so we decided to keep her and race her, and she turned out to be really good for us. She was a good filly and she was a beautiful type.”
With Man In The Mirror the mare’s first foal, One More Honey foaled a colt by Zoustar in 2020. That horse, now a yearling, is headed to the 2022 Inglis Easter Sale. Carlson said he’s a horse worth looking at.
Zoustar | Standing at Widden Stud
“He’s a lovely colt,” he said. “He’ll be well-looked at at Easter and, after his half-brother’s run (on Wednesday), we’ll be watching closely in the run up to that Sale.”
One More Honey has a filly at foot by Snitzel, which was born at Emirates Park on October 19, and she isn’t currently in foal.
