Foot-perfect broodmare delivers a stakes double for Gillard

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Some broodmares just don’t seem to be able to throw a bad one. Of her three foals to race, Rose Of Mulan’s least successful is a six-time winner and, as Gillard reported, there are high hopes for her latest flagbearer. It was a double celebration for Gillard on Saturday too, since he picked the most promising to retain for himself and his family to race.

The Bjorn Baker-trained Shades Of Rose (Rubick) took out the G2 Sheraco S. at Rosehill and became a second stakes winner for Rose Of Mulan (and a seventh for Rubick). It was yet another success for the 4-year-old mare who has a smart record.

With seven victories to her name from just nine races, Shades Of Rose has climbed through the grades almost faultlessly and wasn’t far off remaining unbeaten in all her starts. But for an unexplained incident of ‘buckjumping’, in which she only ran 100 metres of a BM72 handicap back in July before beginning to leap in the air uncontrollably, she might be even closer to an unblemished record.

“She came through the grades. She broke the track record at Bathurst by a second in her second start. Then there was the buckjumping, so she probably should be undefeated,” Gillard told TDN AusNZ.

“We thought she’d win easily yesterday (Saturday) and it was a bit heart-throbbing in the end but she deserves a good break now.”

Making all the running under Rachel King in her first attempt at black type, Shades Of Rose was very, nearly collared on the line by Electric Girl (Declaration Of War {USA}). However, Gillard is confident that the margin reflects the end of a long season for his mare and not the height of her abilities.

“We think she’s very special, she was well over the top yesterday (Saturday),” he said. “If it was in her next campaign she’d have won by a couple of lengths, she’s a pretty good horse.

“Next prep she’ll be a special horse, Bjorn and I believe she has Group 1 potential.”

Having taken in six starts and a trial (to resolve the buckjumping) since the beginning of July, Shades Of Rose has indeed been busy and has now earned a break.

“She’ll have a break now, we’re going to assess her next week,” he revealed. “There’s no use going out then coming back too early for the autumn campaign. But whether we just freshen her up or give her a longer break, we’ll give her a couple of days to settle down and see how we go.”

Whilst the length of her break and any targets immediately following that are yet to be confirmed, Gillard did reveal his ultimate aim for the mare: “…certainly, she’s a TJ Smith horse for next autumn,” he said.

For Rose Of Mulan’s other Saturday winner, Scallopini (Snitzel), it was far from the first taste of black-type success. In taking out the Listed The Sofitel at Flemington, the 8-year-old gelding became a four-time Listed winner and gained his first stakes victory outside Queensland for trainers Steven O’Dea and Matthew Hoystead.

Although obviously more exposed, he too has been a thoroughly consistent horse, winning 11 of his 38 starts and just over $800,000 in prizemoney. He was sold by Gillard for $200,000 at the 2016 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and he retained a share, with the horse raced under Proven Thoroughbreds.

“He’s just a wonderful horse,” Gillard enthused. “He just needs the right conditions. If he gets a Soft track over 1400 (metres), I’d say he’s up there with the best in Australia. He showed that yesterday in the way he demoralised that field.

“The Proven Thoroughbred' when racing team have done a great job; they’ve spaced the starts as needs a bit of time between runs.”

A winning family

For all that Rose Of Mulan is certainly adept at producing nice horses, she herself was never raced. She is out the G2 AJC Light Fingers S. winner Lady Mulan (NZ) (Bigstone {Ire}), who was placed in multiple Group 1 events.

After Scallopini, her next live foal came in the form of a full sister to Shades Of Rose, who was sold at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and, perhaps unsurprisingly, picked up by Proven Thoroughbreds/Steven O’Dea Racing also.

She is the six-time winner Red Rubi (Rubick), who Gillard reported will soon be seen in stakes races too, perhaps to make up a perfect score of raced produce to stakes winners for the super mare.

Rose Of Mulan’s latest foal of racing age is a 3-year-old filly by Extreme Choice. Named Decisively, she was picked up by her trainer Danny O’Brien in combination with Yes Bloodstock at the 2021 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale for $420,000 and is yet to race.

“In hindsight, I think I shouldn’t have sold it,” Gillard said of her.

In something of a juggling act between commercial sense and enjoyment of the game, Gillard described how he likes to keep some fillies to race himself. Asked why he decided to keep Shades Of Rose, in what looks now like an incredibly astute decision, he said:

“I just liked her. I’d previously sold the sale-topper at Magic Millions, and we only got $35,000 for Red Rubi, so I said I may as well keep her. She was the nicest of the lot, and I do like to keep some as broodmares for later on.”

Keeping an eye on Danehill

With the prominence of Danehill (USA) blood in Australian broodmares, Gillard has been conscious throughout his mating decisions with Rose Of Mulan to keep her progeny as Danehill-free as possible, so as to add to the appeal of her progeny for future breeders.

That was the logic behind the mating that produced Shades Of Rose, and there can be no argument that she would be a highly prized broodmare should she retire tomorrow.

“Rubick’s done well, and if you look at the bloodline, she’s More Than Ready out of a Bigstone mare then we put in Rubick who’s only got the Rock Of Gibraltar Danehill line in there. It makes her even more special and valuable as a broodmare because they’ve virtually got no Danehill in them.

“I’m trying to keep the Danehill line out of it,” he explained “She’s recently had a beautiful Hellbent filly foal, Harry Mitchell loves it up there at Yarraman Park.”

With an excellent produce record and one that was boosted further by Saturday’s achievements, there’s understandably no messing around with this season’s mating plan for Gillard’s star broodmare, as she will visit the Champion Sire.

“She’s a blue hen now, I’m putting her to I Am Invincible,” Gillard said.

But would he keep the product of that mating? “It depends,” he said. “Imagine if it’s a top-class colt!”