Cover image supplied
In 1989, Gerald Shand spent NZ$50,000 - an impressive amount of money for the time - on a Straight Strike (USA) filly who would be named Straight Show (NZ). On Saturday, more than 35 years after the purchase, the now 90-year-old Shand notched up a first Group 1 win with a homebred when Straight Show’s descendant First Five (NZ) (Almanzor {Fr}) flew home to take out the G1 TAB Telegraph at Trentham.
The victory - also a first at the top level for trainer David Greene - is the just reward for more than three decades of breeding patience from Shand, and a lifetime of passion for the sport.
Gerald Shand | Image supplied
The boy from Huntly
Shand’s granddaughter Jenna McLeod has always known Shand as ‘Pop.’
“I think even the racing fraternity call him ‘Pop’,” she said. “Him and I have always had a real shared connection around horses. He grew up in Huntly, which is a small town in North Waikato, and he started off riding ponies. His father owned racehorses, they had a racecourse at Huntly back then and he would ride the odd one down to the track. That’s how he got started.”
“Him (Gerald Shand) and I have always had a real shared connection around horses.” - Jenna McLeod
Shand got his start in ownership by buying a race filly named Ukiah (NZ) (Five Arrows {GB}) from the family of McLeod’s dad, Philip Rogers - who would eventually marry Shand’s daughter Jackie - and it was a case of once bitten, twice as keen, with the racing industry stalwart heavily invested in breeding and racing thoroughbreds ever since.
Jenna McLeod | Image Supplied
“When my mum was a teenager, they sold one of her ponies to buy that filly,” McLeod said. “Pop has always bred and raced horses, and he has bought at the sales as well. My dad trained some horses for him as well, and they had some pretty good success as a team.
“When my mum and dad were my age, they had a really good horse called Jurango who ran second in the New Zealand Derby, and I think at the time, they thought, ‘well, this racing game’s easy’ - with basically the first horse they have bred, they get within a nose of winning a Group 1.”
“I think at the time, they (Philip and Jackie Rogers) thought, ‘well, this racing game’s easy’ - with basically the first horse they have bred (Jurango), they get within a nose of winning a Group 1.” - Jenna McLeod
Shand bred Jurango (NZ) (Taipan II {USA}) alongside Jackie almost a decade before his purchase of Straight Show; the gelding recorded four wins and was twice pipped to the post at Group 1 level, first by I’m Henry (NZ) in the 1983 G1 New Zealand Derby, and again by Imaprince (NZ) in the 1984 G1 New Zealand St Leger.
“They’ve been chasing the Group 1 dream ever since,” said McLeod. “It’s taken another 40 years for Pop to get that Group 1 win with a homebred. Even though he did everything but breed Stolen Dance, who was out of a mare that Gerald bred and gifted to me, and was by Alamosa, who he had a share in.”
The big purchase
“Pop and my dad bought Straight Show as a yearling at the sales for $50,000, it was a significant amount at the time at the Claudeland sales in Hamilton,” McLeod recounted. “I don't think they did much research before buying her pedigree wise - she was a cracking type, but when they saw the page they were like, ‘did we really pay $50,000 for this?”
“She (Straight Show) was a cracking type, but when they (Shand and Rogers) saw the page they were like, ‘did we really pay $50,000 for this?’” - Jenna McLeod
“My dad trained her at first and she had four wins, then she went to Lloyd Burdett who had previously trained Jurango and Megabucks who was a very good horse for Pop, and she went on to win another two races for him before she retired”
At the end of Straight Show’s racing career, Shand sent her to stud, and in 1999, she produced Lady Pay (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) who was sent to Richard Collett, father of jockeys Jason and Alysha Collett. While her time on the track was brief - collecting two wins in 10 starts - Lady Pay made quite the impression.
“She was really quite talented,” said McLeod. “At the time, she was one of only a handful of Zabeel offspring to win a race on debut as a 2-year-old. That was very rare for a Zabeel filly, so she had a lot of ability.”
“At the time, she (Lady Pay) was one of only a handful of Zabeel offspring to win a race on debut as a 2-year-old.” - Jenna McLeod
Sent to Volksraad (GB) in 2006, Lady Pay produced Payette (NZ) - the dam of First Five - the following spring, who would emulate her second dam with six wins on the track, and a fourth in the Listed Newmarket Handicap. Collett again guided the mare’s career.
“She was a quick little mare, but 1400 metres was her sweet spot.” McLeod said.
Alas, Payette has not had much luck at stud. Shand sent the mare across the Tasman to Pierro for her first cover, but the foal had to be euthanised. Her subsequent matings to Tavistock (NZ) and Iffraaj (GB) yielded only one unplaced runner, but her fortunes would change once she visited Cambridge Stud’s Almanzor (Fr).
The mating that clicked
Ever hungry to improve his knowledge of all things breeding, Shand had befriended many of the New Zealand industry’s leading figures over the years, and his connection with Sir Patrick Hogan led him to repeatedly patronise Cambridge Stud’s stallion roster.
“Gerald was always a really good friend with Sir Patrick,” McLeod recalled. “So he has been lucky enough to have stallion shares in horses like Tavistock, Keeper and Almanzor with Sir Patrick, and Alamosa who stood at Wellfield Lodge - which is how we bred Stolen Dance.”
McLeod and her brother Brian bred G1 Thorndon Mile winner Stolen Dance (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}) out of Songbird (NZ) (Black Minnaloushe {USA}), Songbird had been gifted to the pair by Shand and she is a half-sister to The Fuzz (NZ) (Danasinga), who won the G2 Blamey Stakes and the G3 Geelong Cup when he made it to Australian soil.
Stolen Dance (NZ) | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
Shand’s share in Alamosa (NZ) secured the mating, and then it was to a Cambridge Stud resident that he turned to improve Payette’s stock in 2019.
“Gerald and Sir Patrick have always had good chats and a glass together, and shared a lot of opinions, so he bought a small half share in Almanzor.” - Jenna McLeod
“Gerald and Sir Patrick have always had good chats and a glass together, and shared a lot of opinions, so he bought a small half share in Almanzor,” McLeod said. “I always thought he would be a lovely stallion for Payette, because she was a little on the small side and her foals were like that as well. Almanzor could really put that strength and class into them.
“Obviously, that has resulted in First Five. He's really got that strength and then he's got that sprinting ability from his dam also, and then he's got his full brother Rambling On who's also doing very well who is big and strong as well. So that combination has really clicked.”
The late Sir Patrick Hogan | Image courtesy of Cambridge News
First Five’s 4-year-old full brother Rambling On was Payette’s last foal, and Shand sadly lost the mare in late 2021.
“The family has had some pretty handy horses, but he’s the first stakes winner in four generations, and now the first Group 1 winner, which has been amazing.”
The closest black-type relation is Straight Show’s daughter Pretty Vegas (NZ) (Viking Ruler), whom McLeod raced with her brother and parents.
“I was at university in Dunedin at the time, and Gerald decided he was going to sell a couple of yearlings, and she was one of them,” McLeod recalled. “Back then, we didn’t have access to live sales information, so I rang him to find out how she went and she didn’t get a bid, so I said, ‘can I have her?’ And he said yes.”
Although only twice a winner, the mare racked up five placings at Group level, missing out on the G2 Eight Carat Classic by a head.
“James McDonald rode her (Pretty Vegas) for second in the Eight Carat, he would have only been around 15 or 16, it was one of his first Group race rides.” - Jenna McLeod
“She was a little ripper - she was Viking Ruler’s first 2-year-old winner. James McDonald rode her for second in the Eight Carat, he would have only been around 15 or 16, it was one of his first Group race rides. He didn’t actually ride her to any wins, but he did ride her to a black-type placing - it’s funny how things work out!”
Pretty Vegas produced nine-time winner Pretty Good Excuse (NZ) (No Excuse Needed {GB}), raced by the same connections, and she delivered her most recent winner with Azilee Star (NZ) (Tivaci), who broke her maiden in October.
What’s in a name?
Before he could make it to raceday, First Five - the result of that 2019 visit to Almanzor - needed a name.
“We have always named our colts, when they’re foals in the paddock at home, after All Black players,” McLeod shared. “First Five’s nickname was Carter, after Dan Carter, who was a very good first five, with the number 10 jersey, for the All Blacks.
“My pop has always loved rugby, and he has taken a lot of rugby trips with friends, particularly racing friends. I thought that First Five would be quite a fitting name for him, since we had nicknamed him Carter, he had the good looks and it paid homage to Gerald’s love of rugby too.”
“I thought that First Five would be quite a fitting name for him, since we had nicknamed him Carter, he had the good looks and it paid homage to Gerald’s love of rugby too.” - Jenna McLeod
It was additionally fitting that First Five has been described as stronger and more good looking than his dam’s previous foals, akin to his human namesake.
First Five (NZ) | Image courtesy of Kenton Wright (Race Images)
“And then he went to David, who was a good rugby player and played first five as well in his time, so it’s all blended together.”
And the magic saddle cloth carried by First Five when lining up on Saturday? That lucky number 10. The same number he wore in his Group 3 win at his previous start. Sometimes, it just all comes together.
A first for Greene
David Greene also celebrated a milestone on Saturday with First Five’s victory in the Telegraph being his maiden Group 1 win. Greene has long been one of the main trainers for Shand and McLeod’s family syndicates; he prepared Stolen Dance to victory in the G2 Cal Isuzu Stakes, but it was Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman at the helm for the mare’s Group 1 swansong.
“We've always had a really close relationship with David,” said McLeod. “Gerald raced a lot of horses with Richard and Judy Collett, and had a lot of success with them. In more recent times we have had David train a few for him, as does Andrew Forsman, and Roger James and Robert Wellwood.
"We always try to match our horses to trainers based on their personalities and quirks, and what we see from them growing up, and it was a great thing that we matched those two.”
“We always try to match our horses to trainers based on their personalities and quirks... it was a great thing that we matched those two (Greene and First Five).” - Jenna McLeod
All of McLeod’s horses grow up on the Rogers family farm near Taupiri - some head out to other farms as yearlings to be prepared for sale, but First Five was a keeper.
David Greene and Jenna McLeod | Image courtesy of Peter Rubery (Race Images)
“David has always had such a great opinion of him right from the get-go,” McLeod said. “Twelve months ago, we had a conversation and he said to me, ‘I think this horse could win a race like the Telegraph’. He wanted to stick to the shorter races with him, because he was finding that when First Five was having that short, sharp work, he was just enjoying it so much more.
"First Five has always been my favourite from day dot, so it’s been amazing for it to work out like this for us and for David.”
“Twelve months ago, we had a conversation and he (Greene) said to me, ‘I think this horse (First Five) could win a race like the Telegraph’.” - Jenna McLeod
In a remarkable feat of breeding, good form and racing excellence, the victory comes on the back of four consecutive weekends of winners for the family syndicates - twice courtesy of First Five, who took out the G3 J Swap Sprint ahead of his Group 1 triumph - and interestingly all four winners have been by the in-form Almanzor.
As well as First Five and Rambling On, Dance The Night (NZ) and G3 Great Northern Challenge Stakes victress Mary Shan have saluted the judge.
The dust has yet to settle - and the celebrations are far from over - but the tentative plan is to progress to the G1 BCD Sprint at Te Rapa on February 7 next.
“He must be one of the few horses to win the Telegraph that has never previously won over 1200 metres,” McLeod said.
“Before the Telegraph he had won five races at 1400 metres and one at a mile. He loves the hard summer Te Rapa track. It’s always been the plan to go to the Telegraph and then on to the BCD Sprint, it really does look a great race for him, especially on the back of a Group 1 weight-for-age win.”
The high of a homebred Group 1 will help the family syndicate ride out the month wait for a start in the Sprint.
“The Telegraph is such a time-honoured race in New Zealand, it has been run since 1890,” said McLeod. "Winning has been an absolute pleasure and culmination of a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears by everyone involved."
