Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
The past 18 months in the broodmare career of Mabkhara have been fruitful to say the least.
By March 3 last year, she had already amassed an impressive record of five winners from six foals to race, spearheaded by the Group-placed Seewhatshebrings (Sebring), and within the space of two days she had added a pair of stakes winners courtesy of Wandabaa’s (Wandjina) victory in the G3 Newcastle Newmarket and Malkovich’s (Choisir) Listed success down the Flemington straight the following day.
Fast forward to the present day and Mabkhara has a perfect seven winners from seven foals to race, by six different stallions no less, and was provided with her third individual stakes winner earlier this year when Star Thoroughbreds’ hugely-progressive mare Olentia landed the G3 James HB Carr S at Royal Randwick.
Following an effortless first-up victory at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, trainer Chris Waller hailed Olentia as a Group 1 winner in waiting, news which will come as music to the ears of her breeder Bob Hannon, who retains ownership of her dam Mabkhara.
“She’s nearly a blue hen (mare), isn’t she,” Hannon said of Mabkhara. “We keep raising the bar with her and she has done a marvellous job.
“She’s had three stakes winners - Wandabaa, Malkovich and now Olentia - and a few other winners to boot, so she has bred some pretty special horses - but Olentia is shaping up to be the best of them so far.
“She’s (Mabkhara) had three stakes winners - Wandabaa, Malkovich and now Olentia - and a few other winners to boot, so she has bred some pretty special horses - but Olentia is shaping up to be the best of them so far.” - Bob Hannon
“She’s had a big variety of stallions along the way, but it doesn’t matter who you send her to, she just keeps producing the goods.”
It’s crazy to think with three stakes winners and a potential Group 1 star already to her name, but the best could still be yet to come from Mabkhara, who is currently in foal to reigning Champion Sire I Am Invincible and is booked to visit his dual Group 1-winning son Home Affairs during the upcoming Southern Hemisphere breeding season.
Bob Hannon | Image courtesy of Ascot Park
“She missed the year before last but she’s in foal to Vinnie now and the foal is due early September, so we’re all excited about that,” Hannon said.
“We sent the mare back up to Yarraman to foal down and I spoke to Harry (Mitchell) yesterday morning, he said she looks in marvellous condition and appears to be set to have quite a good size foal.
“We sent the mare (Mabkhara) back up to Yarraman to foal down and I spoke to Harry (Mitchell) yesterday morning, he said she looks in marvellous condition and appears to be set to have quite a good size foal (by I Am Invincible).” - Bob Hannon
“There are a lot of hurdles to jump between now and then, but we’re hoping for a nice foal. Whether it’s a filly or a colt, it doesn’t really matter, as long as we get a nice, healthy, well-conformed foal - the rest will fall into place.
“She’s booked in to go to Home Affairs this season. It’s a different stallion again, but I think we’re on the right track with those two.”
A helping hand
A multiple winner over 1300 metres and twice placed at metropolitan level, Mabkhara was shrewdly snapped up at the end of her racing career for $90,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2015.
It was leading bloodstock agent James Harron who signed the docket for the daughter of Anabaa (USA), someone with whom Hannon has forged a close working relationship over the years.
“I was up there on the Gold Coast with James (Harron) and his input in securing this mare was quite substantial,” Hannon recalled. “We looked at a few mares and he recommended Mabkhara.
James Harron inspecting | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“James and I have been working together for quite a number of years, he’s bought some other ones for us and it works very well.
“I bounce quite a bit off James these days. I bring him in to consult on matings and he does all our bookings for us. We’re pretty well aligned with our thoughts.”
“I bounce quite a bit off James (Harron) these days. I bring him in to consult on matings and he does all our bookings for us. We’re pretty well aligned with our thoughts.” - Bob Hannon
A half-sister to two stakes placegetters herself, Mabkhara is a direct descendant of the famed Easy Date (Grand Chaudiere {Can}) family, with the likes of Snippets, Not A Single Doubt and King’s Legacy all featuring down the pedigree page.
She is out of an unraced half-sister to G1 Sir Rupert Clarke S. heroine Rawaaya (NZ) (Singspiel {Ire}) and Saywaan (Zabeel {NZ}), whose three winners at stud are spearheaded by G1 Doomben Cup hero Sense Of Occasion (Street Sense {USA}).
Such an illustrious pedigree is part of the reason why Harron was so keen to secure Mabkhara as a broodmare prospect, and Hannon still counts his lucky stars that he is able to house a mare of her quality on his Pitt Town property on the outskirts of northwest Sydney.
“She’s by a good sire in Anabaa out of a mare by Jeune, so she had a little bit of staying power in the pedigree,” Hannon said.
“She’s (Mabkhara) by a good sire in Anabaa out of a mare by Jeune, so she had a little bit of staying power in the pedigree.” - Bob Hannon
“It’s a cross that we thought would work, but there’s no guarantees in this game. You need a bit of luck and thankfully we’ve had a bit of luck with her.
“We’re very fortunate to have ended up with her and it’s all worked out pretty good.”
To complement their deeds on the racetrack, Mabkhara’s daughters have started making a splash in the sales ring too, with Wandabaa fetching a handsome $800,000 to the bid of Yulong’s Tagaloa Syndicate during Inglis’ 2022 August Boutique Online Sale.
Wandabaa | Image courtesy of Inglis
Her half-sister, G3 Tesio S. runner-up Seewhatshebrings, sold for the same amount at last year’s Inglis Chairman's Sale when offered in foal to Darley stallion Bivouac, having made $450,000 only a year earlier at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Seewhatshebrings | Image courtesy of Inglis
Hannon is hoping more of the same with Mabkhara’s recently-turned 3-year-old filly by Deep Field, named Mary Ellen, who became her dam’s highest-priced yearling to date when selling to the Australian Bloodstock, Kris Lees Racing and Yes Bloodstock combination for $575,000 at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Hannon has retained a share in Mary Ellen with a view to breeding with her at the culmination of her racing career, a move which the successful breeder hopes will help continue Mabkhara’s legacy at Ascot Park.
“Kris Lees has got Mary Ellen and we actually stayed in her,” Hannon revealed. “She’s due to trial next week, which we’re excited about too.
Mary Ellen as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“She’s a lovely filly and hopefully she can gallop. From what I hear, she’ll go pretty good I think, but you never know until you get them to the track.
“She’s a cracking type and brought quite a bit of money at the sales. One would think she would gallop and hopefully we can win some nice races with her in the future.”
Based on the trajectory of Mabkhara’s career as a broodmare and the huge potential of Olentia, there is every chance that Mary Ellen will do just that.
Punching above its weight
Unlike her fellow stakes-winning siblings, all of whom were sold by Ascot Park at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, Olentia was sold under the Tyreel Stud banner on behalf of Hannon and his team at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where she fetched a handsome price of $310,000.
Each of Mabkhara’s last three yearlings to go through the sales ring have been consigned by other farms as agent for Ascot Park, with Hannon happy to entrust the progeny of his star mare with farms better resourced than his 75-acre property on the Hawkesbury River.
“We’ve only got a small farm and we haven’t got the staff numbers to do it all ourselves,” he said.
“We’ve only got a small farm (Ascot Park) and we haven’t got the staff numbers to do it all (yearling preparation) ourselves.” - Bob Hannon
“In the last few years we’ve used Brian Nutt at Attunga and we’ve used Linda (Monds) at Tyreel - they do a very good job for us.
“We’re happy with the way we go about it all and it helps when you use good people.”
A small farm it may be, but Ascot Park continues to produce big results from its small but select band of broodmares. In addition to Wandabaa, Malkovich and Olentia, Ascot Park has also produced the likes of Shamus Award, Cosmic Force and Shaquero (Shalaa {Ire}), while last season’s dual stakes winner Razeta (Deep Field) is another who will be flying the flag for Hannon in stakes company this campaign.
“We’ve had a pretty good trot with our runners of late,” he said. “Yesterday we had Olentia and also Mansiere, who ran third in the opening race in Melbourne and he looks quite promising.
“We’ve got Razeta, who has won a couple of stakes races for us. She’s due to race next Saturday I believe and Kris (Lees) is confident that she’ll have a good prep.
“She has trialled nicely and it’s exciting to have her going back around. The 1100 metres might be a little bit short for her, I think her best distance might be 1400 metres to a mile, but you’ve got to start them off somewhere.
“I know Kris is very happy with her, so here’s hoping.”
