'I am just very grateful for the team... for supporting my crazy idea.' - Wall keeps her Promise

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

Offered by her co-owners Rosemont Stud as part of their draft, Promise Of Success was knocked down for an extraordinary $1.35 million to Yulong.

For the mare’s former owners it has been a journey of a lifetime, among the former ownership is the Gloucestershire, South West England-based Hannah Wall.

Wall is well-versed in the world of international bloodstock and serving her 17th year working for David Redvers, owner and managing director to Tweenhills Stud.

“My official title at Tweenhills is bloodstock manager but it is a varied job from the stud side which includes nominations and marketing for the stallions and the bloodstock that we manage for Sheikh Fahad of Qatar Racing and other partners at Tweenhills,” Wall explained to TDN AusNZ.

Wall and Redvers also joined forces to create Redwall Bloodstock, which involves the process of pinhooking weanlings in Australia and in the Northern Hemisphere.

“David (Redvers) and I travel the sales circuit internationally and we are always working and watching the international bloodstock market. It’s a pretty full-on role that has changed significantly from when I started in 2006, but it’s certainly a good one.”

Modest beginnings

The Promise Of Success story starts in the United Kingdom, bred by Godolphin and sent into training with Saeed bin Suroor, the then-filly had four race starts for the operation before the decision was made to move her on at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mare Sale.

Promise Of Success was purchased by Chris Wall, Wall’s uncle, and Ted Durcan of Durcan Bloodstock for 30,000gns (AU$59,700) and sent into training with Chris Wall who was training at Newmarket.

“My uncle, Chris (Wall), was never able to run Promise Of Success because she had a few small setbacks; a couple of times she was close to running and was going very nicely in her work but the setbacks persisted.”

Owned by a syndicate that ultimately elected to return the daughter of Dansili to the sales ring, Promise Of Success entered the ring again in the 2020 edition of the Mare Sale.

“Promise Of Success was a 4-year-old maiden mare at that stage in 2020. Chris had mentioned to me she was coming up for sale and her half-sister Summerbeel had won a trial for Gai Waterhouse in Australia.

“She was the last lot through the ring on Tuesday of the Mare Sale at nearly 10pm at night. On paper, Promise Of Success wouldn’t warrant a huge amount of money being a 4-year-old maiden who hadn’t raced for a long time,” Wall said.

“I rang Ryan McEvoy, a great friend of mine and the bloodstock manager at Rosemont Stud, and I suggested that I had a plan and we could win a maiden in Australia because she’s well able. I told David about this great plan to send a maiden mare to Australia and he looked at me sideways but thankfully he went along with it and she has repaid everybody in spades.”

With Rosemont onboard, Promise Of Success was knocked for 27,000gns (AU$53,700) to Rosemont Stud and David Redvers with Wall a part of the partnership.

Some could have thought Wall may have been looking through a crystal ball but she explains simply in this game you have to be looking for new angles and approaches.

“She was by Dansili whose progeny notoriously do better with age, she had a lovely pedigree and was a gorgeous type.

“I just saw an opportunity with the mare, by no means was she one I had to have. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but there was an angle in her and I didn’t think she was on many people’s radars and in everything we do we are looking for angles, upside and different approaches to add value. It’s very easy to just try and buy the obvious horse with the big pedigree or big race profile,” Wall commented.

“I am just very grateful for the team at Rosemont Stud, Nigel Austin and Anthony Mithen, for supporting my crazy idea to purchase Promise Of Success in the first place.”

With the new purchase signed, sealed and delivered, what was the plan for Promise Of Success and her latest ownership?

“We bought her for Rosemont Stud and subsequently we decided we would send her to Australia to race in conjunction with David and I.

“The thing is we’re always looking at value any end of the market and basically she was a lovely mare with a pedigree and being by such an outstanding sire who is also an outstanding broodmare sire, if she happened to win a race she was always going to be a lovely long-term broodmare prospect,” Wall told TDN AusNZ.

“I have to credit my uncle, Chris Wall, for all his background information on her. I know it was frustrating for him that he couldn’t get the mare onto the racetrack as he knew she had ability.”

Sent Down Under

Sent to the land Down Under, Wall was content to let Rosemont Stud decide on the trainer of the Northern Hemisphere-bred mare. It was decided the Randwick-based John O’Shea was to be elected as the recipient of Promise Of Success.

“I was still involved with Promise Of Success racing in Australia but I very much left it to Rosemont to decide on the trainer. I’m delighted they sent her to John O’Shea, he and his team have just done the most outstanding job with her the whole way through her career.

“To be fair John (O’Shea) rang Mitho (Anthony Mithen) not that long into her first preparation and said, 'Not only will this mare win a maiden, I think she could be quite smart', and that’s when we first started to get quite excited about her future and plans.”

The astute O’Shea was not wrong in his assessment of Promise Of Success, sent to Warwick Farm on debut for her new connections, the mare won by 2l on a Heavy track, she would race six times in her first Australian preparation winning three races and never finishing worse than third, before heading for a spell.

With such a wonderful first preparation in Australia, O’Shea was confident in throwing Promise Of Success in the deep end in the G1 Coolmore Classic, the G2 Triscay S. and the G2 Guy Walter S., running brilliantly in each race, the mare proved she was capable of being competitive with that class of horse.

Promise Of Success would claim the scalps of some of the best fillies and mares in training in Australasia with rousing victories in the G2 Emancipation S. run at Newcastle in 2022 and the $2 million The Invitation hosted at Randwick.

“The Emancipation was an incredible race. It was just an outstanding performance that day and when you look at who she had behind her - Vangelic and Co., these fantastic racehorses. That was a very proud day indeed.

Despite not carrying black-type status the $2 million The Invitation attracted a top-class field that included the Inaugural winner Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}) and Forbidden Love (All Too Hard), the latter would top the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale selling for $4.1 million to Yulong.

“The Invitation, I must have screamed the house down and woke up everybody in my village very early in the morning. Promise Of Success just loves Randwick, it was just so outstanding and again she beat mares such Forbidden Love, Icebath and Espiona, a star-studded field of top-class race fillies and mares and she just brought her absolute A-game, it was one of the best days of my professional life.”

Wall maintains she feels one of Promise Of Success' best non-victorious runs was the G1 Queen of the Turf at The Championships in April this year.

“Every new preparation she seemed to return stronger and better. I actually feel one of the best races she ran for us was in the Queen of the Turf, she finished fifth but she travelled so beautifully and just kept getting pushed wider and wider around the bend. She had a lot of ground to make up but she flew home and just ran out of track that day.

“I was so proud of that performance, it was such a mighty effort and I do hope she can show everybody what she can do before she retires.

“I can’t wait to follow her progress for the rest of her racing career and the next chapter.”

Latest chapter

Fast forward to the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in May, Promise Of Success was knocked down for $1.35 million to join the vast and star-studded paddocks of Yulong, no doubt her racetrack deeds and pedigree will see Promise Of Success not lost in the crowd.

“Promise Of Success, didn’t owe us anything, the prizemoney and the value of fun and excitement she brought us on the track, she never owed us a penny. However, of course there is a certain expectation when your name is in lights down the side of the sale ring and you’re being sold as a racing prospect with Group 1 engagements and you’re a Group 2 winner there is going to be an expectation on value.

“But we couldn’t be more delighted about what she made and there was quite a lot of stress and worry in the build up to selling a mare like her.”

It was a bittersweet moment for Wall and the rest of the partnership.

“It’s a very hard feeling to describe because there is a huge part of you that is sad to not be owning her once the hammer drops.”

With the prospect of Yulong sending mares to the Northern Hemisphere to be served by the Juddmonte Farms’ superhorse Frankel (GB) and other top-class European-based stallions, Promise Of Success may end up back where it started in her native land.

With Promise Of Success’ swansong expected to be the G1 Tattersall’s Tiara at Eagle Farm on Saturday, June 24, Wall will be cheering overseas.

“I won’t be able to head back to Australia unfortunately, there have been too many trips this year. I’ll have to do some work at my desk and on the farm (Tweenhills), but I certainly look forward to cheering her on and following everything she does,” Wall laughed.

Reflecting with fondness on the career and time shared with the now 7-year-old daughter of Dansili, Hall said, “Promise Of Success has just been the most super mare to have anything to do with. We have been extremely lucky and very grateful.

“She was 100 per cent sound with John O’Shea. We never had an issue her whole time in Australia, she trained well and ate well.

“It was just two of the most fantastic years with her.”