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Horse racing is much more than an excuse for gambling. It is a love for the beauty, grace and speed of the horse. It can also be an intellectual battle of examining competing facts and trying to formulate the future from results of the past. In some ways it is an investigation, as performed by an eager detective. And in other ways it can be the thrill of a crossword puzzle, with multiple possible responses, but ultimately only one correct answer. It is a thing of beauty as much as it is a matter of commerce. I have been involved with horse racing in both practical and intellectual ways. From time spent as an apprentice jockey, to later the research of bloodlines in the multimillion dollar world of thoroughbred breeding and sales. And for the past twelve years I have provided speedrating information to the racing industry and public through my company: Speedratings (www.speedratings.com.au).

Cerise and Smytzer

July 20th 2008 07:27
Patinack Farm has nominated 240 horses for the 2009 Golden Slipper Stakes. It is the largest individual entry in the 50 year history of the 2 year old classic and is more than 10% of the total nominations for the race.

Murtajill: a recent acquisition for Patinack Farms
Murtajill: a recent acquisition for Patinack Farms



(photo: stallion.com.au)

Nathan Tinkler is the youngest man in the BRW magazine Rich 200 (2008). It is estimated that he has a fortune of $426 million which he amassed through his involvement in mining.

The ubiquitous (from Karaka to Keeneland) Nathan Tinkler is in the process of creating a racing empire on a scale that is unusual in Australia. This possibility of multiple acceptors for classic races draws parallels with the Coolmore-Ballydoyle operation overseen by Aidan O’Brien in Ireland where two, three or more runners from this enterprise will feature in an Irish Oaks or Epsom Derby.

In Australia we have had the Ingham’s (Cerise army) of Woodlands Stud cut a swathe through Australian (mostly juvenile) racing with many Golden Slipper winners and representatives. Of course this is to change also now with Sheikh Mohammed's Darley taking over this Australian icon. Nathan Tinkler will have an equally imposing (and already established) classic-race opposition in the shape of Darley-Woodlands.


But with such large operations a minor aspect of operations should not be overlooked. Woodlands Stud employed Suzanne Philcox to name all of their numerous two year old debutantes each year. And she was set the task of imposing a clever and concise single word as a racetrack name: Octagonal; Viscount; Over; Lonhro; Strategic; Commands - the list is exhaustive - and impressive in its quality.

You only need contrast this with the debacle that was Tony Santic’s decision to give his horses the prefix Smytzer. At one time there seemed to be so many of them, and their individual identity becomes confusing and blurred. Smytzer this and Smytzer that. Please - I am dizzy. Thankfully Makybe Diva was spared this terrible fate (even though her name is saved by having the luck of Diva being among the letters on offer from the initials of his office staff - thankfully he did not employ three Janes, a Zelda, two Marys and four Kates’. The mind boggles at that anagram).

And there is my friend who used the name of his stud as a prefix (advertising) for most of his horses. Also confusing - but less so an appealing advertisement when you sell the slower stock and they appear in far north Queensland muddying the potent advertising tool with mediocre performance.

So let us hope that Nathan Tinkler is well advised in naming his equine arsenal. What they announce (what is spoken and pronounced) will say much about the man and the venture.
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