Written by Jessica Owers
It’s a quieter time of year for 2-year-old pedigrees to emerge, which is exactly what happened at Ballarat on Tuesday when the Spirit Of Boom filly Honor Galore was successful on debut.
Trained by Cliff Brown and ridden by Linda Meech, the filly finished strongly over the top of the Grahame Begg-owned and -trained Written Bligh (Written By), coasting away for a 1.25l victory in a winning time of 1:05.14 over the Ballarat synthetic.
It was a good debut for Honor Galore, who had previously trialled at Moe on June 5, some 6l in arrears.
Brown had paid handsomely for the filly at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Consigned by Vinery Stud, she cost $440,000 as the first foal from the More Than Ready (USA) mare Meow.
“I loved her at the sales,” Brown said, speaking to Racing.com after the race. “Everyone always says that but we genuinely did. When it got to $400,000, and in fairness I said to Glenn (Whittenbury) that was plenty, that’ll do, I turned around and starting to talking to my son.
“Next thing she was knocked down for $440,000 and I said to Glenn that was a bit of money. He said, ‘Yeah it is when you’ve got to pay for it.’ So, credit to him. He kept going and I was willing to stop, but she’s a lovely horse.”
“I loved her (Honor Galore) at the sales. Everyone always says that but we genuinely did.” - Cliff Brown
Brown hinted that Honor Galore would likely head out after her debut effort on Tuesday. He said the filly had drifted from her original targets this preparation.
“That always worries you, but she’s done nothing wrong” he said. “She’ll go and have a break now and she’ll come back a bit later in the year. She’s a beautiful horse to look at so today (Tuesday) was really good. She’s a tall, leggy filly so she’ll come on.”
Honor Galore as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
An honest pedigree
Honor Galore’s debut threw light on a very good family for Vinery Stud because she is the first foal from Meow, who is owned by Vinery and its partners.
Meow was purchased by the group from Widden Stud for $200,000 at the 2017 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, which was one of the last sales at the old Newmarket complex at Randwick.
“Meow is a lovely mare with a great depth of family, where you’ve got lots of winners,” said Peter Orton, general manager of Vinery Stud. “She is a soft broodmare, perhaps not hard enough to be an exceptional racehorse but she had talent and she’s been a beautiful mare to deal with. Honor Galore is her first foal so she’s got off the ground beautifully.”
Meow as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Meow is from the dual stakes winner She’s Purring (Flying Spur), making her a half-sister to the stakes winners Global Warming (Agnes World {USA}) and Pure Purrfection (General Nediym).
The latter is the dam of Outback Barbie (Spirit Of Boom), making Honor Galore closely related to that smart, three-time stakes-winning filly.
“Meow was part of our effort at that time to buy nice fillies,” Orton said. “We’d had good success buying nice fillies out of the sales with good pedigrees at good value. Fashions Afield was one, Samaready another. It’s always good to buy a bit of pedigree and then try to put race performance on top of them, so the boys were keen to keep doing that and that’s how we got started with Meow.”
“Meow was part of our effort at that time (2017) to buy nice fillies. We’d had good success buying nice fillies out of the sales with good pedigrees at good value. Fashions Afield was one, Samaready another.” - Peter Orton
Seven-year-old Meow raced seven times during her career for a win and two placings. There was talent there but she wasn’t robust.
However, she represents a very lovely family, one that has been fostered by breeder Ian Cornell for a number of years. Cornell bred Meow from his mare She’s Purring, and it’s a family that continues to blossom.
“We’ve had a couple of different females out of the family and it keeps putting an exceptional type on the ground,” Orton said. “I’ve always been impressed by that. It’s consistent and an honest pedigree, which is what we survive on.
“People can tend towards the flashy, bright lights these days and sometimes there’s not true depth to it. But some of these families, like this one, have dams and daughters that have thrown winners, and that’s the best they can do. With a bit of luck we get an exceptional one.”
“We’ve had a couple of different females out of the (Meow) family and it keeps putting an exceptional type on the ground. I’ve always been impressed by that. It’s consistent and an honest pedigree, which is what we survive on.” - Peter Orton
Orton was watching the Ballarat race on Tuesday and he was impressed with what he saw.
“I was really impressed,” he said. “I thought she was still a baby, a bit green, but she did it so comfortably. She has beautiful action. They’re going to put her out now, which is great, and we’ll be really interested to see how she comes back.”
Honor Galore was the 20th 2-year-old seasonal winner for the Eureka Stud resident Spirit Of Boom, who currently leads the Australian 2-year-old sire race by winners. He is two winners ahead of I Am Invincible and Russian Revolution, and four ahead of arch nemisis Better Than Ready.
Spirit Of Boom | Standing at Eureka Stud
Planning on their feet
After Honor Galore, Meow foaled an Exceedance colt in the spring of 2021, and another by that stallion last spring. The first of them was aimed at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January, but a throat infection scuppered any plans.
“We decided to pull him out of the sale and take him home, and we got him over the infection, got him broken and pre-trained and everyone that touches him loves him,” Orton said. “A bit of luck with him, hopefully, and she’s got another Exceedance on the ground and an Ole Kirk on the way.”
Meow visited Ole Kirk in December on a late cover. This is a mating that Orton is equally excited about.
Exceedance x Meow (colt) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“The Ole Kirks are a bit special,” he said, and so much so that Vinery is considering sending Meow back to the stallion this spring.
“It’s a bit early yet but the way that the Ole Kirks were looking, we may go back there again,” Orton said. “We haven’t finalised our matings, but we’re happy supporting our horses where we can, and particularly when we’ve got the mares and stallions here on the farm.
“We can wait until she foals and then make that assessment at the time, whether Exceedance is better for that mare or Ole Kirk. All those things come into play when you make up your mind on the ground.”
