Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Of the 24 stallions on the Australian first-season sire table right now, only two have delivered stakes winners. It’s not an unusual statistic for this time of year, given the title is largely decided in the autumn, but it’s interesting to note who they are.
Harry Angel (Ire), Darley’s well-received shuttler, currently heads the table, with Arkansaw Kid providing the bulk of his sire’s prizemoney. Arkansaw Kid won the R. Listed Inglis Banner in October, and he is one of two winners for Harry Angel from seven total runners.
The only other stallion to have delivered a first-season stakes winner is Written By, who is currently fourth on the table behind Trapeze Artist and Brave Smash (Jpn).
Written By | Standing at Widden Stud
Written By, like Harry Angel, has had two winners from his six runners to the track, and they have included the G3 BJ McLauchlan S. winner The Novelist.
The Novelist is undefeated in two starts for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, and he’s one of a number of good progeny by Written By that has emerged. These good types include Gangitano who, trained by Amy and Ash Yargi at Mornington, was third to Little Brose (Per Incanto {USA}) in the Listed Merson Cooper S. in late November.
While the first-season sire premiership is decided by prizemoney, there is plenty of merit behind the number of winners in this category, especially in light of the big juvenile prizes on offer like the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper. As such, Written By is kicking along nicely post-Christmas, and the man who is best qualified to comment on that is Grahame Begg.
The Cranbourne-based trainer handled Written By during his brilliant, two-and-a-half seasons on the track and, before that, it was his father, Neville Begg, who bred the horse.
Written By won the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts & Geldings), G1 Blue Diamond S., G3 Pago Pago S. and G3 Sapphire S. He was additionally placed at Listed level and fourth to Estijaab (Snitzel) in the 2018 Golden Slipper, and his retirement to Widden Stud in the Hunter Valley occurred ahead of the 2019 breeding season.
Bad luck for Written Bligh
When we catch Grahame Begg on Tuesday morning, he’s on his way home from Tuesday trackwork. It’s been an ordinary morning because Written Bligh, his 2-year-old Written By filly, has drawn the widest marble in this Thursday’s Blue Diamond Preview (Fillies).
“We won’t be running her,” Begg said. “It’s very hard running them from the outside gate at their first start, and Sandown is a quirky track. Even though it’s a long run in, they hit the turn very early, so I think I’ll be waiting with her. They’re inexperienced horses at this point of their careers.”
“It’s very hard running them (2-year-olds) from the outside gate at their first start, and Sandown is a quirky track. Even though it’s a long run in, they hit the turn very early, so I think I’ll be waiting with her (Written Bligh).” - Grahame Begg
Written Bligh was the only horse that Begg had in this week’s two Blue Diamond Preview fields. She drew 15 of 15 runners, which would be a tall ask for the unraced filly.
Written Bligh is a daughter of Lady Bligh, by Redoute’s Choice, and she was bred by John Muir’s Milburn Creek and Muir’s stud manager, Scott Holcombe. She is raced in Begg’s all-red colours on lease.
“She was bred by John at Milburn Creek and he took her to the Melbourne Premier Sale last year,” Begg said. “When he didn’t sell her, he called me up when I was on my way home to see if I wanted to lease her. I said it would be a pleasure.
Grahame Begg | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“I must be something of a go-to when it comes to the Written Bys, although I do train for John. He has that good filly Magic Time with me, so we’ve had a good association for a while.”
Written Bligh has hummed along for Begg since coming into his stable. She’s one of about five progeny by Written By that he has charge of.
“She’s shaping up well,” the trainer said. “She’s had a couple of nice jump-outs, which was why we had her in the race on Thursday. But with the barriers it hasn’t worked out, so we’ll sit that one out and nominate instead for the Chairman’s.”
Written Bligh will tackle the G3 Chairman’s S. at Sandown on February 4, a 1000-metre sprint that has been won by the likes of Redoute’s Choice, Extreme Choice and Golden Slipper winner Crystal Lily (Stratum). It leaves the G3 Blue Diamond Preview (Fillies) without a Written By on Thursday.
Written Bligh as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
However, the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Colts & Geldings) still has Peter Moody’s 2-year-old colt Scorsese in contention, a son of Written By from the Snitzel mare Hollyweird. Scorsese was a $180,000 purchase for Moody and Dalziel Bloodstock at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale when sold by Newhaven Park.
Ringside results
If Begg has become a go-to for Written By progeny, it’s to be expected. The Begg family retained a significant interest in Written By’s stallion career, and Neville Begg, at 92 years young, still makes tracks to the Widden Valley to visit his horse twice a year.
Last week, at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Grahame Begg put his money where his mouth is and went in for $170,000 for a Written By colt from the Snitzel mare Estate. Consigned by Newhaven Park Stud, the chestnut colt had all the strong presence of his sire, and he was bought in partnership with Begg’s racing manager, Rohan Hughes.
“We purchased that colt for my father, actually,” Begg said. “We really liked him. We thought he was one of the nicer Written By colts in the sale and, obviously, this is a successful cross thus far, with The Novelist being from a Snitzel mare. This fellow was a big, strong lad and a good-coloured horse. We thought he looked a likely type.”
“We thought he (Lot 837) was one of the nicer Written By colts in the (Magic Millions) sale and, obviously, this is a successful cross thus far, with The Novelist being from a Snitzel mare.” - Grahame Begg
Lot 837 was the first foal from Estate. There’s more to this pedigree that meets the initial eye.
Estate is a three-quarter sister to the Champion filly English (Encosta De Lago), and a half-sister to English’s dam, Court (Anabaa {USA}), a three-time Group winner herself. Further along is the European champion Grand Lodge (USA).
“I thought he would have brought a lot more money, to be truthful,” Begg said. “But anyway, we were very happy to purchase him at the price we paid.”
Lot 837 - Written By x Estate (colt) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
From Sunday, Written By has two yearlings at Karaka, a filly from the Manhattan Rain mare Financial District (Lot 184), consigned by Carlaw Park, and a colt from the Northern Meteor mare Northern Saint (Lot 378), consigned by Beckam Equine. Both are Australian-bred youngsters, and Begg has already sent Rohan Hughes over for a look.
“Rohan is there as we speak,” the trainer said. “We’ll certainly keep an eye on the Written Bys but you can’t buy them all. My father has bred quite a few mares to him so we’ve got some coming through the system this season.”
“We’ll certainly keep an eye on the Written Bys (at Karaka) but you can’t buy them all. My father has bred quite a few mares to him so we’ve got some coming through the system this season.” - Grahame Begg
Written By has two fillies in the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale catalogue. At the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in a fortnight’s time, he has 22.
At the Magic Millions Gold Coast just gone, the stallion had 17 youngsters sell, the most expensive of which was Lot 99, a colt that went to Darby Racing and de Burgh Equine for $280,000.
The stallion’s first progeny emerged on the sale circuits last year, with 19 popping up at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. At that sale, they averaged $214,705, a figure that had climbed to $270,000 by the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in April.
To date, Written By’s most expensive yearling has been Torre Egger, a colt that Bjorn Baker paid $410,000 for on the Gold Coast last January. He’s yet to race but was a narrow second in a debut trial at Warwick Farm in September.
Torre Egger, the most expensive yearling of Written By, was purchased for $410,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Making a stallion
Written By is the first time Begg has nursed a family homebred from the farm to the track to the stallion barn. This is surprising, given the length of time the Begg family has been entrenched in racing.
“It has been a really interesting experience for us,” the trainer said. “We think he’s started off at stud really well. He’s had a Group 3 winner and a Group 3 placegetter, and he’s had a couple of winners. You’d have to say he’s tracking along well at this early stage.”
Written By when racing | Standing at Widden Stud, image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
For Begg, the whole experience has been very different to his usual obligations as a trainer. He gives all his horses equal attention, no matter their pedigree, but watching the Written By stock as an investor in the horse’s future is another facet to the game.
“You’ve got to have patience and a lot of luck,” Begg said, “but I knew that anyway. But more so with breeding, I think. These days, it’s such a fashion business. If you think about the hot sires on the yearling market two years ago, some of their progeny were hardly in the sale last week.
“But I get it. People have to breed what’s fashionable, and they have to be clever enough to get it right ahead of time. But there’s no doubt that things have changed considerably in the last few years.”
“These days, it’s (commercial breeding) such a fashion business. If you think about the hot sires on the yearling market two years ago, some of their progeny were hardly in the sale (at Magic Millions) last week.” - Grahame Begg
From Begg’s perspective, studs are too quick these days to move stallions on. He cites Epaulette as a good example, a horse that sired a Blue Diamond winner last year but who now stands in Turkey. Scissor Kick is another.
“I know that studs have to go on the support they get, particularly the commercial studs,” Begg said. “But they do tend to move horses on very quickly these days.”
Begg is at the mercy of breeding fashion both with Written By and in his role as a modern trainer.
“You’ve got to be on top of it all the time,” he said. “And that’s because your clients are more aware of what stallions are doing well, they’ve got access to more information than what they did in the past, and so you’ve got to be on top of the direction the industry is moving.”
Begg won’t be at Karaka this week, but he’ll be ringside in Sydney for the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in a fortnight. He’ll be looking for value, as he always does, be it with Written By’s progeny or any other in the catalogue.
He says his father, at 92 years old, will be across the whole lot.
“He’s certainly well-abreast with what’s going on with his stallion and all the progeny,” the trainer said. “It’s keeping an old man very young, I can tell you that."