Cover image courtesy of Trackside Photography
It’s hard to buy black-type, and bloodstock agent Cameron Cooke has managed to secure one on the cheap, paying just $22,500 for Tony Gollan-trained 4-year-old Savagery Vibe (Brutal {NZ}), winner of Saturday’s Listed Helen Coughlan Stakes and over $300,000 in prize money.
The mare just scraped into the Eagle Farm race’s field, being the fifth emergency, but some serendipitous rain brought about enough scratching for her to make it to the barriers. Cooke had seen glimpses of the turn of foot she demonstrated to beat Listed Silk Stocking Stakes victress She’s Got Pizzazz (Zoustar) at the very first time he saw her, in a jump-out at Flemington.
From the jump
Savagery Vibe is the fourth foal out of American mare Kiss Moon (USA) (Malibu Moon {USA}), who arrived in Australia in foal to Frankel (GB) in 2017. Kiss Moon won the G3 Mint Julep Handicap at Churchill Downs and three Listed races, and is a half-sister to Listed winners Kiss Mine (USA) (Mineshaft {USA}) and Mischievous Kiss (USA) (Into Mischief {USA}).
Kiss Moon’s dam Kiss The Devil (USA) (Kris S {USA}) won the same G3 Mint Julep Handicap as her daughter. After Savagery Vibe, she delivered a full brother named You Are Mind, and foals by North Pacific and Prized Icon before passing away in January.
Savagery Vibe | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
Savagery Vibe is the best-performed of her dam’s three winners to date, but when Cooke first saw her, she was an unraced juvenile at the jump-outs.
“I actually first saw her at an unofficial jump-out at Flemington when she was trained by Chris Waller,” said Cooke. “I decided I would have a bid when she came up online and see if I could get her nice and cheap, then put her through my system and see if she could make mid-week grade.”
From the first crop of Newgate Farm’s G1 Doncaster Handicap winner Brutal (NZ), Savagery Vibe was offered on Inglis Digital in the February of 2024 by her ownership, and Cooke was able to buy her for $22,500.
“I liked what I saw in person, but you do like to have some pedigree to support what you see as well.” - Cameron Cooke
“I liked what I saw in person, but you do like to have some pedigree to support what you see as well,” Cooke said. “Brutal was fairly young in his career at the time, so it was a bit more of a punt. I nearly had her for $7000 at one stage, and then someone else chimed in and we had a bidding war up to the $22,500. I was still happy to buy her at that level and take a punt on her.”
It is a punt that has paid off well.
“Sometimes you have to trust your eye,” Cooke said. “And this time it has really worked out. I was happy to buy her off of what I had seen, but you still make the phone calls around. People in the industry are fairly transparent and I find you can normally rely on their word to be the case.
“Sometimes you have to trust your eye, and this time it has really worked out.” - Cameron Cooke
“Inglis Digital is a great platform to buy on. Obviously the statistics and the returns for sellers speak for themselves. They do a wonderful job. And one of the employees at Inglis actually jumped into her and took a share as well.”
Cameron Cooke | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
Time in the sun
The filly impressed in her first two jump-outs for new trainer Nick Ryan, and she dutifully delivered on her promise on debut in the August of the same year, rattling home in a Bendigo maiden to win by three and a quarter lengths.
“She had those two jump-outs and went really well, and I got called by quite a number of syndicators and other agents who were looking to try and buy into her,” Cooke said. “I mostly kept her for my own existing clients that have been with me for years.
“We had Mark Zahra come sit on her for a trial one Tuesday morning and he said she was well above average, and she should go win her maiden quite comfortably, which is exactly what she did.”
“We had Mark Zahra come sit on her (Savagery Vibe) for a trial one Tuesday morning and he said she was well above average.” - Cameron Cooke
Savagery Vibe steeply stepped up in grade for her next start, running sixth to First Settler in the G2 Danehill Stakes before again running sixth in the Listed Crockett Stakes, both by less than three lengths. She scored again in Victoria before the decision was made that she might appreciate a change of scenery in the north.
First Settler winning the G2 Danehill Stakes | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“We thought she had kind of met her mark in Melbourne,” Cooke said. “She arguably should have run a placing in the Danehill and just had no luck. It didn’t help that she was having some trouble holding condition, so we thought the change of environment and a bit of sun on her back might help her.
“Then she came up here to Queensland, and she has just kept on improving.”
In nine runs since her move to the Sunshine State, Savagery Vibe has only been out of the placings once, and that was when very unlucky in the running of the Listed Bright Shadow Stakes won by Cigar Flick (Churchill {Ire}).
“She got decked a couple of times in the runs,” Cooke said. “But she still wanted to show some cheek and find the line strongly at the end.”
Off the wall performance
Eight runs is a huge preparation - particularly when performing so well at almost every start - for any horse, so by rights, Savagery Vibe would have normally headed to the paddock.
“But Tony (Gollan) said she just kept eating up, she kept improving,” Cooke said. “She held her condition well and there was no reason to put her out yet.
“So when we saw she was the fifth emergency for Saturday, we thought we’ve got no chance of getting a start. And then with the rain, the number of starters began to fall away a little bit for the race. I spoke to Tony on the Friday afternoon before the race, and he said, ‘what are you thinking?’ I said, ‘well, we're in the field, let's try for some black-type’.
“(Gollan) said, ‘what are you thinking?’ I said, ‘well, we're in the field, let's try for some black-type’.” - Cameron Cooke
“And he said, ‘there's no reason why we shouldn't. She's bouncing off the walls here’.”
Tony Gollan | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
With the tick of the black-type box, Savagery Vibe has significantly increased her value beyond what Cooke paid two years ago. Her fifth win in 17 starts took her to a tick over $317,000 in prize money.
The congratulations that meant the most to him after the victory came from Ryan.
“Nick had her in good order before she came up to Queensland, and after the race, the phone rang straight away from him, full of congratulations for my owners and me,” Cooke said. “He couldn’t have been more happy for me, so huge kudos to him”
A decision hasn’t been made yet on whether Savagery Vibe heads to the paddock, or lines up once more during the Queensland winter carnival.
“The initial thoughts for me and Tony are to look at her over the next couple of days,” Cooke said. “If she's held condition, if she's bounced through the run, then we may look for another race, because there's no reason why she needs to go to the paddock if she's eating up and holding condition.
“If she's (Savagery Vibe) bounced through the run, then we may look for another race, because there's no reason why she needs to go to the paddock.” - Cameron Cooke
“Tony is a great trainer, he knows his horses inside out, and his staff do as well, so we're in great hands. He thinks he hasn’t gotten her all worked out yet either, so once he works her out and she continues to mature, then hopefully she might get to another level.”
