Canneza provides Listed reward for Johnson’s European bloodline passion

Cover image courtesy of France Galop

For the Perth-based owner and breeder, Canneza’s victory brought together several strands of an approach he has been developing for years. Buying European-bred mares from strong families, racing them in Europe and ultimately bringing them to Australia to build his broodmare band.

Johnson's journey with Canneza (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) started in 2025 where she was purchased for €180,000 (AU$295,000) via McKeever Bloodstock from the Aga Khan Studs draft at the Deauville Vente d’Elevage.

Canneza delivers in Deauville

“I picked her up and now we've just had a Listed winner in Deauville in France, which was just amazing,” Johnson said. about the Siyouni (Fr) 4-year-old mare that is out of the Listed-winning stayer Canndera (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who has also left the 2200-metre winner Canatiyann (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Canndera has a fantastic Aga Khan pedigree, being a full-sister to the dual Group 2, Group 3 and Listed winner and Group 1-placed Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who herself is the dam of the Group 3 winners Cankoura (Fr) (Persian King {Ire}) and Candala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}).

She is also a half-sister to the Group 1-winning stayer Canelari (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and the three-time Listed winner Canessar (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}).

Canneza now has two wins and three placings from 11 starts, with Saturday’s 1500-metre Listed victory in the Prix Isola Bella coming after a fourth placing in the Listed ParisLongchamp Prix Maurice Zilber.

“Winning a Listed race in Deauville on Saturday night was a lovely surprise, jumping up and down at 12.30 in the morning can be quite exciting in the scheme of things. It was great.”

The result is significant because Canneza is not simply a European horse Johnson happened to acquire. She is representative of the type of bloodstock he has deliberately pursued and of his belief that some of the strongest families in the world remain in Europe.

The $51 wager

The Listed victory was also accompanied by a memorable betting story, with Johnson attempting to back Canneza before the race.

Johnson had an account with a bookmaker and after deciding to have a small bet on Canneza at $26, found his wager would not be accepted.

“I have an account with a bookie with a bit of money in it and at about 6 o'clock on Saturday night, probably two rosés in, I decide I'll have a bet on Canneza and she’s paying $26.

So I got to my account and said, “Here's $500, put it on the nose." “Sorry, we’re not taking your bet," they say.

“A few weeks ago we had Beechworth go around for Waller and a similar thing happened. So during the week I rang the bookie and said 'I have an account with you, I’m curious, do you do betting?' They said, 'yes, that's what we do.' I said, ‘Funny, because you won't f**king do it with me'.

“Anyway, so I bounced (up the chain) to the supervisor, the next supervisor, the next supervisor and it comes back that on the day of the trading floor, they chose not to have a bet with me. Well, fair enough. I'm in the process of exiting the money from them and moving to someone else.”

Canneza eventually jumped at $51, and Johnson managed to get his wager on through his friend Pete Jones.

“It turns out that Canneza ended up jumping at $51. I'm not a big punter at all, but Louis (Blanchet), the trainer, is a lovely young guy and said, she’ll be top three. I’m looking at $51 and thinking something is right or wrong here. So I rang my friend Pete Jones and said, can you put a bet on for me?.

“He put on $500 for me and $500 for himself and then he put on $50 for his doctor. The next day, his doctor sent out a text message to all his mates - praise the Aga Khan!”

Following the European bloodlines

Johnson’s interest in the European breed has developed over many years, with Too Darn Hot (GB) among the stallions to have further strengthened his interest.

When Too Darn Hot did not shuttle in 2024, Johnson took the opportunity to breed to him in Europe to Southern Hemisphere time and return those mares to Australia.

The thinking, however, goes back much further.

“When I was breeding early days with the Listons, and Paul Willets, and I still do breed with the Listons at Three Bridges. Paul Willetts said to me, the best breeding in the world is in Europe.”

That comment stayed with Johnson and gradually became part of his approach to breeding and buying.

“That's where the bloodlines are and it was always running in the back of my mind. It must have been about six or seven years ago, the first mare I brought was Baba Ghanoush at Newmarket. I sent her to Invincible Spirit, then Kingman, then she went to Siyouni.”

Visits to the major European breeding operations only strengthened the attraction.

“Once when I went to Europe, I went to Deauville, I went to the Aga Khan Stud and saw these amazing bloodlines and amazing stallions, and it's like being a kid in a lolly shop.”

Johnson also credits the people he has met through the process, particularly Georges Rimaud, the former director of the Aga Khan Studs.

“I was fortunate enough in this process, forget about the success or failure that you have within this game to meet all these wonderful people, especially Georges Rimaud from the Aga Khan Stud, who is now retired, but he is still a huge influence.”

Rimaud also helped Johnson understand how major European breeding operations manage their bloodstock and why some of their well-bred horses become available.

“He said, Gary, every year, whatever foals we have on the ground, we need to disperse some of them. They can’t keep them all. So then with Johnny McKeever, who I’ve used for the last five or so years, they said, in these cases, you’re one (generation) removed from an upgrader in any family from the Aga Khan or these other big breeders.”

That thinking has become central to Johnson’s approach at sales such as Deauville and Newmarket.

“So you turn up at these sales, Deauville or Newmarket, and you pick up Siyounis, Lope De Vegas, Dubawis, who are just one away from being successful, and Canneza is exactly that. I picked her up and we've just had a Listed winner in Deauville in France, which was just amazing."

The European pedigree challenge in Australia

The success has also highlighted the contrast between the European bloodlines Johnson values and the preferences of the Australian commercial market.

“That’s the highlight of it as much as there's lowlights. You bring this European bloodline attitude to Australia and try to take it to the market. They want speed on speed. You take them to a Magic Millions or Inglis and if you turn up with a Siyouni out of a European mare… I did that this year and I couldn’t get a bid.”

Johnson retained that horse rather than allowing the sales ring to determine its future, with plans to take it to the races himself.

“I’ve retained that horse, he has been broken in and I will take him to the races myself. My thinking is that he might prove a Cox Plate winner or Derby winner, but without that speed on speed which Australian trainers find it's easier for them to get out of, then I may end up with them.”

It is a frustration, but one that has not changed Johnson’s commitment to the European approach. Instead, he is increasingly looking at ways to combine his European mares with Australian stallions.

European mares, Australian stallions

Johnson’s current plans with his mare include Anamoe, Tentyris and Bivouac, with the European mares providing the foundation and selected Australian stallions supplying a different genetic influence that has more commercial appeal.

“European over European, not so much. I’ve got a Baaeed because we look at his performance in Europe. He was just a freak. I will retain him, but going forward as I foal down my European mares with European blood on board, I will then take them to locals and get a blend of blood.

“We’re going to Anamoe, Tentyris, Bivouac, I have a lifetime breeding right to him. We're going to have some fun this year, that's for sure.”

The broader strategy is to acquire horses in Europe as proven racehorses, give them their racing opportunity there and then return suitable mares to Australia for breeding.

“That is what I look to do, Canneza will race on, I'm thinking she may race on for another year now, then she may go to Night of Thunder. And then come down here in foal to Southern Hemisphere time.”

Johnson’s enthusiasm for Anamoe grew after a visit to the Hunter Valley with Andy Makiv, where he inspected the stallion’s weanlings.

“I was fortunate enough to go to the Hunter Valley with Andy Makiv and I had a look at their Anamoe weanlings. Unbelievable. All thrown completely to Dad. They are going to be freaks, and I know they're going to be up and about this year, but Anamoe, son of Street Boss, and he has everything in his favour.”

Johnson has already supported the nine-time Group 1-winning Champion son of Street Boss (USA).

“Last year I sent Savoureuse, which is a beautiful European Siyouni mare to him. This year I've got three going to him and Tentyris, for me and my band of girls from the Northern Hemisphere, we think Street Boss is a great mix. We brought a lifetime right to Tentyris too. The rest, you just sit and wait.”

For Johnson, the breeding equation remains a balance between the mare and the stallion.

“You'll talk to some people about the advantage of your broodmare versus the advantage of the stallion, and it wouldn't matter what you sent that broodmare to. She's always going to throw a good one. But I'm still sitting on the fence. I think it's 50% stallion and 50% broodmare. And if you get the genetics right, you end up with a blue hen, don't you?”

Taking a little more control

Johnson has also changed the way he manages his young horses, keeping more of the development process in-house rather than relying on the commercial sales process to determine their future.

“The other thing we do. We used to take a horse to the sales and invariably you'd end up retaining a leg or a half because a trainer will always try and exit that horse at the sales as quick as he can. Then someone puts a pair of blinkers on you and you don't hear anything for weeks and months, and then all of a sudden it's no good or you go to the races or whatever.”

The horses are now kept on the farm for much of their early development, with breaking in, further preparation and pre-training carried out in stages.

“So we've taken that journey back in house and we keep them on the farm. We'll send them to the breakers early, to Adrian Corboy. He is a freak. Absolute freak. So he does the breaking in, then they come back to Three Bridges. And they have amazing 50-acre paddocks and just knock around with each other and grow up as young kids. Then they go back to Corboy for second preparation. And then back to Three Bridges, and then we'll find a pre-trainer, like Taige Weir.

“We then get to a point where we decide where the horse is going to go, to trainers like Chris Waller or Archie Alexander or others. We’ve found we've not had as many vet bills and just preserve the journey of the horse or exit the horse early if he’s not doing anything.”

The objective remains the same, however: finding the horse capable of making the strategy work on the racetrack.

“But you're still looking for that diamond in the rough, let me tell you.”

The in-house approach, Johnson believes, simply gives him greater control over when that decision is made.

“But you've got more control over when you're going to exit or when you're going to pick it up and go hard with it.”