| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 2006
 |
| Sue Martin & Nicole Thorn |
Martin's no stranger to such requirements though, because for years she shared a partnership with Neil Brady on both a professional and personal basis, and during that time the couple won a lot of races with the likes of Franco Ice and Sweet Talking Man. Back them Martin stayed backstage and out of the spotlight when it came to acknowledgement, quite content that she'd played her part behind the scenes. But these days she has got no choice, because things have changed. Brady's no longer in the picture, and Martin part-owns and trains a horse that is going to put her onto the victory dias time and time again. His name is Gotta Go Cullen.
"When Neil went to Australia in 2004, I thought he was just going on another one of his stints," Martin said, remembering when she and Brady parted ways. "But he didn't come back. He probably thought the place would fall apart without him - and that only made me more determined to do it, to succeed." Gotta Go Cullen is ample proof that Martin's certainly doing that. She bought the colt and his dam Sparkling Burgundy from a northern broodmare sale when he was still a foal at foot, and now the son of Christian Cullen has won five of his seven raceday appearances after taking out the $50,000 Group 2 Bromac Lodge NZ Welcome Stakes at Addington last Friday night.
Parked early before being taken to the front by Nicole Thorn, Gotta Go Cullen settled beautifully in the role until Thorn asked him to stretch out inside the last furlong. Fergiemack temporarily looked a threat when he burst from the pack 100 metres out, but Gotta Go Cullen revelled in having a new challenger and pulled clear again by half a length at the line. "It was good to feel him kick again," Thorn said afterwards. "He has been knocking off inside the last fifty metres of his races, because nothing has been sticking with him. He really flattens out when you ask him - like Christian Cullen did when he used to get let down. It's unbelievable being associated with Gotta Go Cullen, because he is just a super, super animal. And not that he isn't already, but he is going to be a very nice horse; I mean, look at him - he's like a three-year-old now," Thorn said.
Gotta Go Cullen had only raced at Cambridge and Alexandra Park prior to last Friday night, meaning little more than a twelve hour round trip from his home in Pakiri Beach, and last week's trek to Christchurch was also Martin's first venture south "on my own." Victory speech included, she was pleased once it was all over. "It's pretty scary coming all that way," she said, highlighting that the time between leaving home and arriving in Christchurch was over 37 hours. I was concerned, because it's a long way for a baby. But he just eats everything, and takes it in his stride. We stayed at Lavros Lodge, which was really good, and on arrival his tail was up and he was prancing around - the guys that shipped him said they had never seen a horse get off the truck looking so good. But I couldn't have done this without the help of Nicole and her fiance Dean (Molander), who have been great," Martin said.
The trip was a good dress rehearsal for when Gotta Go Cullen will return to Christchurch again in May fo the Sires' Stakes Final, and Martin says he will be off to Australia for the Breeders' Crown after that.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 5Apr06
YEAR: 2006
 |
| The ATC 2006 Synd after the win |
Margaret came up from Ashburton for the big event, though the race was not particularly clear to her. She has impaired vision and cannot walk. She can't read and can't see television. "I lost it all about five months ago...it's awful," she said. "But I love being part of the syndicate and having the horse to race. It is my only interest, and Rob Carr has been so good. He phones me and tells me what is going on," she said. As it happened, Margaret bought the last share in the syndicate. "Rob told me there were two men interested but they hadn't paid the money. So next morning, I was down at the bank first thing and had the money away that day," she said.
Margaret will be back at Addington this week, but she is not so confident that Changeover will match it with Gotta Go Cullen. Trainer Geoff Small thinks the same as Margaret. "We have got a nice horse who has improved slowly all year, but Gotta Go Cullen is very, very good."
Changeover was bred by Carr and Don Kirkbride, who bought her dam Chaangerr off Bunty Hughes and Alan Meadows after they had bred seven foals. "She didn't come cheap," said Carr, who manages all the ATC Syndicates. "She was in foal to Artsplace, and they kept the foal she had. We sold Changeover for $28,000, and I had gently suggested to the trainers selecting for the syndicate that they avoid buying one that I had bred," he said.
If Small heard him, he didn't listen. "I had always wanted one from that family," he said. "He was early in the Sale, I had a budget and he made it. For Rob, it is a double coup," he said, adding that he was indebted to the usual high standard of help he had received staying with his old school buddy, Jeff Whittaker. By In The Pocket, Changover is expected to develop form that will make him a Classic chance at three.
Carr and Kirkbride have kept a Bettor's Delight filly from Chaangerr which is with Tony Herlihy, they have a weanling filly by Presidential Ball and the mare is in foal to Bettor's Delight,
Christian Warrior came off a nice trail on the outer to earn $33,150 for second, while Mombassa held his ground for third. They outclassed the others.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 17May06
YEAR: 2006
 |
But in the end and where it counted, Ferjiemack and Gotta Go Cullen were locked together as they hit the line - inseparable, even in today's world where technology can sort out the closest of race finishes. Both horses deserved their victories because they worked hard for them...Gotta Go Cullen burned plenty of early petrol into the first bend to wrest the lead that Thorn so dearly wanted, and Fergiemack had been parked from the outset before receiving cover from the only mover in the race (Christian Warrior) 800 metres from home.
At that stage, having gotten away with a couple of easy quarters and seeing where Herlihy was, Thorn let Gotta Go Cullen "go a little bit" and they sped down the back straight in 28.6. The final quarter was half a second faster still; Fergiemack peeled out of his one-one position on the last bend as Changeover surged through on the inside as the line drew nearer, only to fall a half-neck short.
It took what seemed an age before the dead-heat was declared, and even back at the stables you could tell that Thorn was still trying to get her head around what had just unfolded. "It has just started to sink in now," she said, knowing she had created her own little piece of history. "It feels like we lost, but we won. To even draw with Tony in a Group 1 is amazing though, because he is one of the best drivers in New Zealand."
Prior to the Sires' Stakes Final, Gotta Go Cullen had been the star 2-year-old all season, winning five of his seven starts and being placed in the other two. He had even proved to good for Fergiemack in his first three raceday appearances, but many believed that the gap between them had closed - especially since Fergiemack had won his next two starts, and the fact that Gotta Go Cullen had not raced for seven weeks.
Thorn's mind was at rest after the latter's slashing midweek trial at Rangiora. "It wasn't so much the way he went in the trial, but how he recovered," she said. "He showed he was ready for tonight, and that he wasn't stressed by anything. And it was so good to feel him try after he was headed, because he hasn't had to do that much. I was looking for Tony because I know his horse has always got that devastating finish, and my boy had not learnt to race them up until now. He is just going to keep getting better.
For Fergiemack's trainer/driver, he was quite happy to walk away with a shared victory in the Sire' Stakes Final rather than being on the losing end of a nose decision. "He just cocked his head a little bit and got sideways down the straight," Herlihy said, re-living how close Fergismack came to costing himself the race. He made us worry a little bit the first time I started him, and he has lugged out a couple of times since then too. Hopefully the trip down here will help him mature up a bit."
Also by super sire Christian Cullen, Fergiemack never burst onto the 2-year-old scene in the same fashion that Gotta Go Cullen did this season, but he is certainly making up the lost ground now. He has kept improving throughout," Herlihy said. "He has always been good-gaited, and he is still growing and strengthening."
Herlihy says he would definitely rate Fergiemack "in the top five" when it comes to the juveniles he has driven. "I have had some nice ones," he said. "Chokin was the best, and Montana Vance was another good youngster. Bella's Boy was a nice 2-year-old too, and had he not run into a freak like Light And Sound he probably would have won a lot more. "This fellow is pretty exciting though, because he has got a lot of potential."
Fergiemack and Gotta Go Cullen will resume their rivalry when they both step out in the NZ 2-year-old Championship at Alexandra Park on June 16.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 24May06