Johnson bred the daughter of Sooboog, and such was his belief she was a potential star of the future he decided to retain a share in her when she was purchased by Dalziel Bloodstock/Peter Moody Racing at the 2021 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale $50,000 - a price tag Johnson readily admits he was disappointed with at the time.
“I thought she was something special. She was pretty well friendless at the sale except for Peter Moody and Wylie Dalziel. I really liked her as a yearling and we don’t keep shares in a lot of horses but we kept a leg in this filly when Wylie bought her,” Johnson told the TDN AusNZ.
“I thought she (Boogie Dancer) was something special. I really liked her as a yearling and we don’t keep shares in a lot of horses but we kept a leg in this filly when Wylie bought her.” - David Johnson
“I was pretty disappointed with what she made but my judgement has been a little bit vindicated on her, which is good.
“We prepare a lot of yearlings every year and you get a few come through every year that are straight forward, tough, they eat, they work, do everything right and she just had that good swagger about her. There was just something about her.”
After finishing fifth on debut at Sandown-Hillside on June 11, Boogie Dancer has not looked back since, breaking her maiden on her next start at Donald and came into the race off the back of an impressive 3.75l triumph at Sandown-Hillside on July 13.
David Johnson
The filly is out of the winless Quest For Fame (GB) mare Search For Fame, making her a half-sister to Miss Exfactor (Your Song) – the winner of the 2020 G3 Birthday Card S. Boogie Dancer’s second dam, Catecombe (Papal Power {USA}), has thrown four-time stakes winner Impaler (Dracula).
Johnson said she was quite a big-framed yearling which he believes may have put some buyers off, but after seeing her for the first time in the flesh since he sold her, he said she had grown into herself.
“The feedback I got at the sale was that she was quite a big filly, but I think people forget that she was an early August foal and she was a big strong filly with plenty of bone.
Boogie Dancer as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“I hadn’t actually seen her since I sold her until I saw her today (Saturday) at Caulfield and she hasn’t actually got that much taller but she has filled into the frame that she had. She is a really good-looking filly.”
The last yearling Johnson offered at a sale and retained a share in was Mystery Love (Eurozone), who they sold for $75,000 at the 2017 edition of the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale. She subsequently went on to win four races, headed by a victory in the Listed Bendigo Guineas and Johnson said Boogie Dancer, after a break, will also get the chance to add a stakes race to her record, with a potential tilt at the Thousand Guineas on the horizon.
“The stable paid up for third acceptances for the Blue Diamond with her and she got shin sore a few days before, but they thought enough of her to do that.
"Talking to Peter Moody today (Saturday), I think she will go down to Lauriston at Mornington for a freshen up on the beach and be aimed at the Thousand Guineas. It is very exciting. It is nice to be racing good horses, it is what we do it for,” explained Johnson.
"Talking to Peter Moody today (Saturday), I think she (Boogie Dancer) will go down to Lauriston at Mornington for a freshen up and be aimed at the Thousand Guineas. It is very exciting. It is nice to be racing good horses, it is what we do it for.” - David Johnson
Much to Johnson’s self-professed ‘disgust’, Search For Fame is no longer amongst his broodmare band at Rushton Park. After the mare failed to get in foal after producing Boogie Dancer he sold her to Baddock Bloodstock for a mere $800 on the Inglis Digital December Sale in 2020 and earlier this year she was offered again on the same platform, realising $3250 to the bid of Viv Oldfield.
"Boogie Dancer would be a filly we would obviously love to have back on the farm, but I think I might struggle to buy her now! She is owned by a big syndicate, so she will probably be going to a broodmare sale at some stage, but it is still nice to be involved," he said.
Boogie Dancer was one of two juvenile winners for Kitchwin Hills resident Sooboog on Saturday, with 2-year-old gelding True Crime taking out the first race and only race run at Randwick.
Such is Johnson’s admiration for the stallion, he purchased a breeding right in him.
“I loved him when I first saw him up at Kitchwin, he is such a good-looking horse. We loved him so much, we actually bought a breeding right in him,” he said.
“He is such a good physical and I think he is quite underrated at the moment. He is doing a good job for where he is at.”
