Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Day supplied one of the feelgood stories of the Festival of Racing so far, with Written By’s win in Victoria’s richest race for juveniles giving Hall of Fame trainer Neville Begg one of his finest – and most emotional – days in racing.
Begg bred and owns Written By, who kept his unbeaten record intact to deliver a maiden Group 1 success for Neville’s son Grahame since he relocated from Sydney to Melbourne.
The victory took Written By’s earnings past the $1 million mark after just three runs – not a bad return on the $3,000 investment Begg Snr made in the two-year-old colt’s dam, Yau Chin (though that paltry sum is rather dwarfed by his sire Written Tycoon’s stud fee – which currently stands at $88,000, and is set to rise still further on the back of Written By’s emphatic win).
Begg’s bold decision to turn down a substantial bid for the handsome yearling at last year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Sales, and instead send him to his son’s stables on the Mornington Peninsula, is thus paying handsome dividends with the Golden Slipper – a race he won in 1980 with Dark Eclipse – potentially the next lucrative target on the horizon.
Speaking on SEN radio earlier this week, Begg Jnr revealed that his father had no real desire to part ways with Written By.
He said: “From the moment he saw him Dad fell in love with the horse, so I’m not sure why he even took him to the sales!”
That view was reinforced by Neville himself, who admitted: “I’m not a great seller – I prefer to keep the horses for myself!
“It gives me a great deal of pleasure. The whole process takes several years and so many things can go wrong along the way, but that’s the beauty of the breeding game and when you get a good one, it’s well worth the wait.
“I bought Yau Chin by chance really, I was on my way home one day and happened to be passing the Scone Yearling Sales. I noticed her and like what I saw, so I followed her up to the ring and got her for $3,000.
“She was useful enough on the track without being a superstar, but so far she’s proving extremely successful as a broodmare. She’s had three or four foals and they’ve all won races, but Written By is obviously the standout.”
If that was a win for the small guys, on the same day Brave Smash delivered Group 1 glory for one of the powerhouses of Australian racehorse ownership.
Australian Bloodstock annexed the italktravel Futurity Stakes, with Tosen Stardom chasing home his stablemate – and fellow Japanese import – Brave Smash.
It was a first Group 1 for Brave Smash, who could bid to become only the seventh horse in history – and the first since Royal Gem in 1948 – to follow up victory in the Futurity Stakes with success in the Lexus Newmarket Handicap.
Trainer Darren Weir is yet to confirm whether Brave Smash will take his place in the race, for which he has been assigned 56.5kg, but the owners are leaning towards a tilt at the 1200m dash down the famous Flemington straight on Saturday, 10 March.