Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
The modern Stud Book has been shaped by some very good Australian families in recent history, but in the discussion about the very best of them, one, in particular, is loyally present.
On Wednesday, the bloodstock industry was reminded of it when Strawberry Hill Stud, the breeding operation of John Singleton, announced the death of 19-year-old Tuesday Joy (NZ) (Carnegie {Ire}). She was put down on humane grounds, surrounded by human friends.
Bridie Sparkes and Duncan Grimley | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
For the crew at Strawberry Hill, in particular manager Bridie Sparkes, it was a tough day. Sparkes has been with the stud for the best part of 17 years, so Tuesday Joy had always been there, be it racing with Gai Waterhouse through the 2000s or breeding a colt and five fillies over the last 12 years.
“She’d had a few issues that we’d been trying to deal with, but in the end, it was the best thing for her,” Sparkes said. “She was retired from breeding last year and we would have loved for her to have a much longer retirement here at the farm, but unfortunately that wasn’t to be.”
“She’d (Tuesday Joy) had a few issues that we’d been trying to deal with, but in the end, it was the best thing for her.” - Bridie Sparkes
Tuesday Joy will be remembered at Strawberry Hill Stud with a plaque in her honour, tacked on to a sandstone rock that bears the plaques of all the farm’s important horses before her.
A Joy in name and everything else
Tuesday Joy was bred by John Singleton in 2003. By the Irish sire Carnegie (Ire), she was a daughter of Joie Denise (Danehill {USA}), herself a daughter of Denise’s Joy (Seventh Hussar {Fr}).
So successful has this family been that it’s easy to lose track of the stakes winners, broodmares and champion racehorses that have emerged from it, but in her simplest form, Tuesday Joy was a half-sister to Sunday Joy (Sunday Silence {USA}), in turn, the dam of More Joyous (NZ) (More Than Ready {USA}).
Sunday Joy (mare) | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
She was sent into the care of Gai Waterhouse in early 2006. On debut, she was fifth in a Rosehill maiden, and then she ran second next time out to fellow Strawberry Hill-bred Universal Queen (NZ) (Scenic {Ire}) in the G2 Sweet Embrace S. Thereafter, Tuesday Joy raced through a total of 24 lifetime starts for $3.25 million in prizemoney, in days well-before the big Sydney purses.
She won the G2 Wakeful S. in 2006 and was second to Miss Finland (Redoute’s Choice) in the G1 VRC Oaks. She won the G1 Coolmore Classic in 2007, along with the G1 Ranvet S. and G1 The BMW, in the latter putting away Princess Coup (Encosta De Lago) for a second successive time.
Watch: Tuesday Joy winning the G1 Coolmore Classic
Tuesday Joy won the G2 Apollo S. and G1 Chipping Norton S. in 2009, and that year she travelled to the Gulf to contest the G1 Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba. She was unplaced, and it proved her final start before retirement to Strawberry Hill in 2009.
“As horses get older, people tend to forget what they actually achieved on the track,” said Sparkes. “It’s nice to remind people what she actually was. She was an amazing race mare, and when you actually look it all up and list what she did, there are her Group 1s and her stakes wins, and also all of her stakes placings. Over $3.2 million in prizemoney, she was just wonderful.”
“It’s nice to remind people what she (Tuesday Joy) actually was. She was an amazing race mare, and when you actually look it all up and list what she did... she was just wonderful.” - Bridie Sparkes
Tuesday Joy was Group-placed on nine occasions, and those races included Fiumicino’s (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) AJC Derby and Rena’s Lady’s (Arena) AJC Oaks.
She ran into Casino Prince, Racing To Win (Encosta De Lago), Weekend Hussler (Hussonet {USA}) and Littorio (Bellotto {USA}), and there was nothing protected about her career. She tackled all comers in all conditions in Sydney, Melbourne and Dubai.
Sparkes said that right to the very end, the people in Tuesday Joy’s life were devoted to her.
“Dave Meijer, who was her strapper, has held onto this absolute love for her through all these years,” she said. “I still touch base with Dave about bits and pieces when it comes to these horses, More Joyous too. He is still so passionate about them and I’m sure he’s really sad right now.”
“Dave Meijer, who was her (Tuesday Joy) strapper, has held onto this absolute love for her through all these years. I still touch base with Dave about bits and pieces when it comes to these horses, More Joyous too.” - Bridie Sparkes
Meijer was also the unsung hero in the More Joyous story until, by the close of that mare’s career in 2013, he was almost as well-known as the horses themselves.
“The amount of care and dedication he put into those horses, especially these two great mares, is something I’m so grateful to him for,” Sparkes said. “When you get people like that looking after your horses, and obviously Gai did a tremendous job with them too, you feel quite lucky.”
Foundation family
At stud, Tuesday Joy produced foals by More Than Ready (USA), Street Cry (Ire) and Snitzel. The best of her progeny was Girl Tuesday (Street Cry {Ire}), who won six races and was multiple times stakes-and Group placed.
Girl Tuesday | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Girl Tuesday never made it to stud for Strawberry Hill as she died last year, while Daisy’s Joy (Street Cry {Ire}) was sold to Jon Freyer at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2017 and Tuesday Special (Snitzel) was sold at the same sale in 2019 to Australian Bloodstock.
“It’s been a very tightly held family by John (Singleton) over the years,” said Sparkes. “Tuesday Joy would definitely be one of the best mares that’s come out of it, and it’s a female family that keeps throwing females that succeed on the track. We were devastated to lose Girl Tuesday last year, and we do have some other daughters but she was the best-performing.”
“It’s been a very tightly held family by John (Singleton) over the years. Tuesday Joy would definitely be one of the best mares that’s come out of it, and it’s a female family that keeps throwing females that succeed on the track.” - Bridie Sparkes
The Strawberry Hill broodmare band numbers about 25 these days. It’s boutique, and around half of it is carved from the Joie Denise family.
In recent times, sale ring returns have been strong on the bloodline, showing a healthy appetite for this extraordinary family, even all these years later.
At the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, the Strawberry Hill draft numbered seven, and three were from the Joie Denise family. There was a son of Woman (Frankel {GB}), the latter a daughter of More Joyous, who made $650,000 when going to Chris Waller and Guy Mulcaster, and a Fastnet Rock colt from Sunday Joy that sold for $450,000 to the Freedman Brothers via Mick Wallace.
Snitzel x Woman (colt) purchased by Chris Waller and Guy Mulcaster for $650,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
There was also a Zoustar colt from History Repeats, Tuesday Joy’s fourth foal, and he made $160,000 when going to Proven Thoroughbreds and O’Dea Hoysted Racing.
“We still have many daughters of daughters on the farm,” Sparkes said. “I never knew Denise’s Joy, but Joie Denise was here when I came 17 years ago, and every mare that’s come out of this family has just been the most wonderful individual. They were all beautifully natured and we never had any dramas with any of them.”
At Strawberry Hill, Sunday Joy is still kicking around at the age of 23. She is retired from breeding duties, her last foal being a Dundeel (NZ) colt in 2021.
“She’s looking absolutely amazing,” Sparkes said. “She’s older but she’s thriving, and this summer she’s all dappled up, fat and healthy. She’s loving life, and that’s what you wish for all of them.
“She’s (Sunday Joy) looking absolutely amazing. She’s older (23 years old) but she’s thriving, and this summer she’s all dappled up, fat and healthy. She’s loving life, and that’s what you wish for all of them.” - Bridie Sparkes
“I’ve been involved with this farm and this line for so long now, and these mares become like family. As sad as it was yesterday (Wednesday) with Tuesday Joy, it had to happen and it couldn’t have been a more peaceful ending for her.”
