A Pretty family and a firm believer: O’Brien’s breeding success

Cover image courtesy of Gooree Park Stud

Dr Denis O’Brien’s faith in Yes Yes Yes was rewarded again on Monday when Fuadee swept from last to win at Warwick Farm, rounding out an October long weekend that produced six individual winners for the sire.

Fuadee, who picked up his fourth win in nine starts for Jim and Greg Lee, is one of several promising horses by the stallion bred by O’Brien. They include dual Group 1 placegetter Firm Agreement and Everlasting Grace, who was well fancied for this year’s G3 Gimcrack Stakes before being scratched on race morning.

Breeding and racing with his wife Claire under the Clairden Racing banner, O’Brien has backed Yes Yes Yes from the start. With results on the track and in the sales ring rewarding that support, it is a well he is happy to visit again.

Better with age

Five-year-old Fuadee is out of Blue Sky Baby (Choisir), a full sister to G3 The Nivision winner Diamond Earth. A $140,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale graduate, Fuadee has required some patience from his trainers, but that patience is beginning to pay off. In three starts this preparation, he has won twice and was beaten just a length and a half in the other run.

“He has a pretty special pedigree, he’s out of a mare by Fantastic Light, who was one of the very few horses to beat Galileo,” O’Brien said, when recalling what made him take the plunge on Yes Yes Yes in the spring of 2020.

“Fantastic Light adds a bit of stamina to the page. And then Yes Yes Yes was an out and out champion racehorse himself. He was one of the best 3-year-old sprinting colts I have ever seen. He broke the course record for 1200 metres at Randwick from his Everest win.”

Seven years after the original event, the record still stands - however David Hayes has declared beating it part of the target on October 17 for defending G1 The Everest champion Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}).

O’Brien feels that, despite the results produced by the sire as his progeny grow older, he continues to remain underestimated. What appeals the most is their attitude to racing.

“I love the way that they savage the line,” O'Brien said. “I've watched a lot of them racing and when the jockey says, ‘go’, they absolutely go.”

That would be an apt description for Fuadee’s Monday effort, coming from 12th at the 400-metre mark to win by over a length.

“They get better with age,” said O’Brien, who breeds and races under Clairden Racing with his wife Claire. “They can win as 2-year-olds, but they are better at three, and then they are better again at four. His oldest crop just turned five and I think we will see they will be better again this season.”

Fellow first crop foal Firm Agreement, who was third in the G1 Spring Champion Stakes before running second in Aeliana’s (NZ) (Castelvecchio) G1 Australian Derby, tipped over $800,000 in prize money when winning in Queensland in July. He is one of a handful of winners for Yes Yes Yes out of mares by So You Think (NZ); his dam Money Magic is a city-winning half-sister to Listed Dulcify Handicap victress Moqueen (Uncle Mo {USA}).

“It’s a fantastic cross, with So You Think,” O’Brien said. “He gets winners with an incredible variety of sires, but with So You Think, all of his runners have been good ones.”

On O’Brien’s behalf, Coolmore Stud offered the full brother to Firm Agreement at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where he was purchased for $225,000 by Proven Thoroughbreds and Hayfields Racing.

“He’s been broken in and I have heard the breakers are very happy with him,” O’Brien said. “He has just gone to the trainer’s stable, Charlotte Littlefield, and they are very excited with him. And Ed Cummings has the 4-year-old, See See Magic, and he thinks the world of him.”

A Pretty special family

Everlasting Grace - a $200,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale purchase for Cannon Hayes Stud and Goldfront Farm - is the latest flagbearer for O’Brien’s breeding program. The Clinton McDonald trainee won a jump-out at Cranbourne before travelling up to the Kensington juvenile trials in September, where she was second by a long neck to Runaway Diva (Anamoe).

“Jamie Melham rode her for her trial at Cranbourne and she was very impressed,” O’Brien said. “She gave Clinton the green light to go to the Gimcrack.”

An irregularity on a routine pre-race blood test saw the filly not able to take her place at the starting line for the Gimcrack, but she is back in active work and O’Brien believes she will make up for lost time later in the spring carnival.

The genesis of Everlasting Grace’s family is a mare that has been particularly fruitful for O’Brien over the years. He purchased Encosta De Lago mare Pretty Penny at the 2016 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale for $570,000, at which point she had already produced dual Group winner Sertorius (Galileo {Ire}), G3 Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes winner Clifton Red (Sebring), and dual Group 3 winner Dollar For Dollar (High Chaparral {Ire}).

Her offspring on the ground also included three further stakes performers, including Fortune Of War (General Nediym), now dam of HK$15.9 million (AU$2.91 million) earner Patch Of Theta (Zoustar) amongst three stakes horses of her own.

The foal inside Pretty Penny at the point of purchase became dual Group 2 winner Pretty Brazen (Brazen Beau) - whose Extreme Choice colt the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale this year when selling for $3 million to Tom Magnier - followed by two fillies by American Pharoah (USA).

One of those fillies was Pretty Amazing, who captured the G3 Kembla Grange Classic amongst five victories before retiring to the breeding barn. Her first foal is Everlasting Grace.

“She is a beautiful specimen,” O’Brien said of the fittingly named mare. “She was a spectacular racehorse herself.”

Pretty Amazing’s younger full sister Pretty Awesome (American Pharoah {USA}) showed glimpses of the same talent, but did not make it to the races. A benign tumour on her face necessitated two surgeries and the removal of part of her lower jaw.

“She had a lot of ability when we put her in work, but the jockey found her difficult to steer in a trial, because of the little piece of bone missing,” O’Brien said. “It was too dangerous to race her, but she was very like her sister.”

Pretty Awesome’s first foal, now a 2-year-old colt, is by Yes Yes Yes. O’Brien has retained him to race in his own colours.

“You can hardly go wrong by racing a Yes Yes Yes,” he said.

Pretty Penny was retired after delivering her final foal in 2021, a flashy chestnut named Pretty Powerful (Yes Yes Yes). He has committed to expanding the record built by O’Brien and the sire, winning three races in his first 10 starts.

When you really Want A Winner

Want A Winner (Yes Yes Yes) is another piece of proof for the cross with So You Think. The $85,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale purchase and now $592,000 earner is the first foal for metropolitan winner Ridicule (So You Think {NZ}), who is a daughter of G1 Winter Stakes winner Russeting (Commands). A half-sister to Ridicule has produced the Listed winners Elettrica (NZ) (Vespa {NZ}) and Chantilly Lace (NZ) (US Navy Flag {USA}).

“I thought the cross with So You Think was worth a crack,” said owner Walter Daly, who selected the colt as a weanling, with Adrian Hancock (FBAA) signing the docket. “I thought I bought him quite cheap.”

Daly and trainers Sean and Jake Casey have been patient with the 5-year-old, who has rewarded that faith with five wins in 10 starts, three placings, and never being beaten more than three lengths.

“I think you just have to take the good with the bad sometimes and have faith in your horse, and to be truthful I was just starting to lose a bit of faith in him,” Daly said. “But he’s fixed that now.”

On Saturday, he took out one of Western Australia’s premiere feature races in the Golden Saddle, with a first prize cheque of $400,000. Now having earned almost seven times his sales price on the track, the entire will look to have a shot at the G1 Winterbottom Stakes later this year.

“He might be a little short on points to get in just yet, but he ran 1:09.33s in the Golden Saddle and that time is not run very often over here, so that credential should help a lot,” Daly said. “So we will make sure we have everything in order so he can have a good crack.

“Sean says he’s a beautiful horse and he is still an entire, so if he could win a couple of good races, maybe somewhere will stand him over here. You never know. I have enough of my own mares that I would definitely send to him. It’s very much worth trying.”

Daly has always been a fan of the sire, and was keen to invest in his first crop. In the years since, he has sent several mares across himself.

“I owned Vega Magic who ran in the first two Everests,” he said. “Back then, not a lot of people rated the Everest form, but I did. I rated his Everest run as pretty good, and I liked Rubick as a sire a lot too.

“I have about four or five of them now, they are all young enough, and I bought Clear Approval in South Australia last year. He won as a 2-year-old. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

Keeping momentum

A 26th individual winner for the season arrived on Thursday when Yes Siree (Yes Yes Yes) struck at Orange.

The momentum is set to roll on this coming weekend, where two runners will line up for Yes Yes Yes in stakes company; Listed Sir Colin Meads Trophy winner and agonisingly close G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas runner-up Affirmative Action has curried favouritism with punters after drawing barrier three in the G3 Spring Sprint at Hasting and progressive mare Oui Oui Oui is poised to strike in the G3 The Nivison at Rosehill.

Pam Gerard, who trains Affirmative Action, believes the horse who will show up on Saturday is a “different horse” than the immature runner of last season.

“He did a lot of racing and travelling as a 3-year-old, so he had a good spell,” she said. “He’s a very big horse, so we have had to be patient with him, but with how he performed last year, we are more than happy to be patient.

“He has been super since he came back. I was really impressed with his fourth in the Foxbridge Plate against the older horses. I am really happy with him going into this weekend, I feel he’s in top order.”

Oui Oui Oui is majority owned by her breeder and race sponsor, Kate Nivison, who believes she might finally have a chance of taking the Nivison trophy home.

“I have to say I felt a little bit sick when we drew barrier six,” she said. “Jason (Attard, the trainer) said we wanted somewhere from four to eight. Tom Sherry made him commit to the race before she even trialled and he wanted the same, and we have drawn right in the middle. It’s not often a plan comes together.”

Nivison had hoped that her speedy four-time winner Nesrine (Denman) could have been the one to bring home the win, but after the mare suffered a career-ending injury, her hopes turned to the daughter of Yes Yes Yes.

Nivison is of the belief that Oui Oui Oui has come back bigger and stronger as a 5-year-old, and points to her trial performances for the evidence.

“The trials were pretty impressive,” she said. “The first one was meant to be just a quiet trial, but she jumped so well that she had a solid hit-out. The second one was also good, so I am manifesting a good result for this weekend.”

Nivison shares the mare’s ownership with old friends Jo and Mike Watson, the latter of whom will be trackside on Saturday.

“I said to Mike, ‘you know, I'll shove you out of the way (if we win), I'll be presenting the trophy to myself’!,” she said. “The sash is yellow and black, it’s my mum and dad’s colours. The Nivison is the one raceday every year that I definitely go to, so I am quite excited for it.”

Believe the breeding

Oui Oui Oui is one of a handful of Yes Yes Yes progeny bred by Nivison, who was a believer from the first season.

“I have supported him really heavily,” she said. “Danzsin has won two, it’s just taken a while for the penny to drop. I gave Demmo Dermy, who’s from Tie The Knot’s family, to Ed Cummings and he won first up this preparation. I have a few more coming through as well that are looking exciting.”

A dedicated student of pedigrees, Nivison was drawn to Yes Yes Yes for more than the race record.

“I went hard on him because of John Cobcroft, who bred Sin Sin Sin and Hot As Hell and developed that family,” she said. “I think he is one of the most underrated breeders in Australia. I have always wanted a piece of that female line but I have never been able to buy one of the fillies.

“I think he really works well with good, tough colonial families like Dark Jewel’s family and any of the tough running families. They might not always have black-type in them, but they can run and they always come back up every now and then.”

The key is sending a mare that could run - or at least showed she could run, even if she never made it to the track. Oui Oui Oui’s dam Buon Auspicio (Bernardini {USA}) certainly could run; she won five on the track and is a half-sister to dual Listed winner La Chasseuse (Lion Hunter), from a female line cultivated by the Nivison family which traces back to Dark Jewel (Star Kingdom {Ire}).

“That family was developed by my grandparents on my mum’s side, which is quite cool,” Nivison said. “My mum and uncle Sandy won the race with Spinning Hill not long after it became the Nivison, and I cried before, after, and during the race.”

Nivison might be reduced to tears again, should Oui Oui Oui emulate the feat on Saturday and add another black-type performance to the record of a sire she so believes in.

“Even if she comes second or third, that would still be really special,” said Nivison.