Helen Jolly wins our owner of the month for April with Sanblas and Morvada Sanblas winning at Morphettville Helen talks to Richard about Sanblas and Morvada and the Jolly racing story. Helen shared this with us about Sanblas Sanblas takes his name from a group of islands in Panama where his breeder Robert McIntosh lives. Robert is a lifelong friend who we met when living on the farm at Dingabledinga while he worked for Dalgety in Mount Compass. We have been racing horses together for more than fifty years. Sanblas who is by Casino Prince out of Canny Me, came to into our Morphettville stable to begin his career but he proved to be a real handful so he was sent  to Heather and Graham Lehmann at Murray Bridge for his first preparation. They were able to get him to win his maiden at Naracoorte and then after a short spell took him to Darwin where he was able to win the Northern Territory Derby. On his return to SA, he was spelled and then was transferred back to Morphettville with Peter (husband Peter Jolly) taking over the training. During this prep he was able to win at Strathalbyn, Murray Bridge and then Morphettville. He was being set for the Onkaparinga Cup and a possible return to Darwin for the Cup but unfortunately went amiss and has gone out for a long spell. Sanblas has so far won five races with two seconds and two thirds from 13 starts and has earnt stakes money of almost $190,000. His dam Canny Me (by as the name would suggest Canny Lad) was a four-time winner and has also produced Androssa (by Testa Rossa) dam in turn of Barossa Rosa (by Adelaide) who has so far won 4 races and almost $300,000 The granddam is the Scenic mare Vista Vincere also produced Jemison (by Commands) who in turn produced the Group 1 Hong Kong Champions Mile winner Contentment Helen along with Peter and with Robert McIntosh have also had recent success with the old warhorse Morvada. With his win in the listed City of Adelaide handicap he took his wins to 9 as well as 21 minor placings and his earnings are now a tad short of $800,000. Morvada is by Mossman out of the Carnegie mare Carnegie Ministrel, and has so far given his dam four stakes race wins spread over 6 years. As an eight-year-old he is still tough as they come and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Morvada is the highlight of his dam’s stud performances with the Wonderful World gelding Gotyacovered being the next best. The granddam Fiddle De De (by Palace Music) also left a stakes winner in Scarlet Vanhara who won a listed race in New Zealand. Helen is the matriarch of the Jolly training dynasty with grand daughter Chantelle joining her dad Richard in the training ranks with Helen’s other son David and husband Peter also trainers. SAROA wishes the family continued success.

Manhatten Times getting the job done. Listen to Shannon talking about his racing story. Our Owner of the Month award winner for February is Shannon Martens part-owner of Manhatten Times, Shannon has this to say about his racing story: Hey Richard here’s a couple of paragraphs on myself and Manhatten! My first ever horses were with you and Sanguine, from there I went to Leon Macdonald’s stable and have been with him since 2011, got the privilege to own and race On A Dream and now Manhatten Times so I have been extremely lucky in my eyes with my horses ! Manhatten Times was purchased from the 2020 Adelaide sales for $70k, his name had to be spelt with a “E” rather than an “A” because of copyright issues with the paper in America, I’m pretty sure! To date he has the stats of 10-4-1-1 with around $240k in earnings. It is worth noting that Manhatten Times has $96,000 in Racing Rewards bonuses. He is by Manhattan Rain out of the Flying Spur mare Daily Flyer. He was bred in SA at Willow Grove Stud by the Satchell family. The dam is also the mother of Table of Wisdom (by Duporth) a winner of 8 races and almost $170,000 and Manhatten Times’ stable mate Daily Spirit (by Zebedee) who has earnt almost $150,000 The grand-dam who comes from the well performed St Klaire family, is Gemadaily (by Strategic) whose breeding barn exploits are highlighted by Daily Flyer. The third dam St Katherine (by Barathea) left three stakes winners and the fourth dam St Klaire (by Bletchingly) also leaving three black type winners, Bonanova, Fraternity and Telesto each winning a Group 1 along the way. Manhatten Times is a relatively lightly raced three-year-old and at the moment the sky is the limit for Shannon and the other owners. We look forward to seeing how he progresses.

Shellshocked Jacqui talks to Richard about Shellshocked and her background in racing Jacqui told us this about Shellshocked: We purchased Shellshocked in Tasmania. He was set to go through the Magic Millions sales but he was withdrawn because he had a swollen knee at the sales. We had a vet check his x-rays and thought we would take a risk. We offered the vendors $10,000 and they accepted. He has gone on to win his maiden at Strathalbyn, and his last three starts have been in the city for a win a second and a third. He has yielded nearly $50,000 for his 10 starts. Shellshocked could end up being a real bargain buy for Jacqui and her partner trainer Gordon Richards. They have had quite a bit of success from purchases made at the Magic Millions sale in Tasmania and have headed there again this year where they will bring home four. Three by the Snitzel stallion Stratosphere and one by Heroic Valour who is a Fastnet Rock horse.   Shellshocked has now won 2 from eleven starts and has placed on another four occasions. He is by the More Than Ready stallion War out of Racy Alice                 (by Langfuhr). Racy Alice was a handy race mare winning 7 races from 33 starts and earning over $125,000. Her progeny also includes the eight-time winner Labuan Star (by Bel Esprit) who has won just shy of $270,000. The granddam is Katie Bay (by Kingdom Bay) who was bred in New Zealand and has also left seven-time winner Mythical Bid (by Shepherd’s Field). Shellshocked adds another solid performer to the Gordon Richards / Damien Moyle stable and we wish Jacqui the best of luck with him and the other stable horses in which she usually takes a share.

Great Leveller. Leeann talks to Richard about her horse and her time in racing. Our Owner of the Month award winner for December is Leeann Harbridge for Great Leveller. Leeann gave us these comments about racing and Great Leveller: I guess you could say that my interest in racing started at a very young age.  There are photos of me attending the Port Augusta races as a 2yr old, there to watch my Dad, Bryan Harbridge (most people knew him as Popeye), who was riding at that meeting.  A few years later Dad took up training horses at Port Augusta and from that time on I was hooked having a shares in a couple of horses that he trained.  On Dad’s retirement he transferred his racing silks to me and they are used on another horse I own a share in Angaston. I currently have an interest in 4 horses all trained by Jon O’Connor at Morphettville.  Great Leveller is one of the 4, and he has given us a great ride so far by winning his last 3 starts.  Jon purchased him at the Sydney Inglis Classic sales in 2019 as a yearling.  I am fortunate to be involved with a great group of owners who race ‘Thomas’.  He is a lightly raced 4 yr old who showed some promise early but lacked maturity as a younger horse.  Fortunately he is now starting to put it together winning 6 races from his 16 starts.  We are certainly looking forward to watching what he does from now on. We are very grateful and appreciate the hard work and fabulous care that Jon’s team give to our horses.  So to Jon, Kim, Sammy, Shae, Korey, Angus and Stacey, we love your work! Great Leveller is a four-year-old gelding by Stratum from the Snippetson mare I’m Capable. At the time of writing his record is 16 starts for 6 wins and five thirds, and stakes earnings of just over $160,000. The mare is deceased and has left only Astrolith (by Stratum Star) who has only had the one start for a second at Wellington. The granddam Capable is by the Luskin Star stallion Covetous, she was lighty raced winning one from six starts. Her record at stud is unremarkable. The third dam is Miss Leader (by Conquistarose) and she is also the dam of Kymatt (by Forest Glow) a six-time winner SA winner. As mentioned by Leeann, she is also a part owner of the Ambidexter gelding Angaston who has won four times and placed a further eleven times so far from 31 starts, his current earnings are similar to those of Great Leveller. His dam is Oneredtwored (by the Queensland champion Falvelon) who has several unraced progeny. The grand dam Money Spider (by Sovereign Red) has also produced Takings (by Show A Heart) winner of seven, the full sister Web of Love, winner of five; another full sister Sure of Heart is the dam of Don’t We Love it (by Falvelon) who has so far raced 91 times for nine wins, 17 seconds and 10 thirds with earnings of just over $200,000. Yet another full sister Coinage has left a solid money earner in Golfing (by Statue of Liberty) who is a ten times winner. We wish Leeann well with her racing pursuits.

Brutal Power winning at Port Lincoln Greg Stewart is our winner for November with Brutal Power – he spoke to Richard about some of his racing experiences Greg also told us about Brutal Power:  I purchased Brutal Power last year from Michael Moroney’s stable at Flemington. He was only lightly raced 6-year-old, having only had 10 starts for one win and four seconds. I sent him to Lisa Whittle in Alice Springs where he ran 3rd at his first start, which showed promise. However, he suddenly took a disliking to the dirt, dust, flies and heat, to name a few reasons suggested for his poor performances.  So, after lengthy discussions about what to do, Lisa suggested sending Brutal Power to Gary and Nichole Searle and try him back on the grass. Gary and Nichole decided to take a 50% share and race the horse at Port Lincoln. Once arriving at the seaside resort his attitude changed, his work improved and he started to race consistently. He ran second on the 12th November beaten .1 of a length (a head). It was then we realised he did not like the whip and he seemed to get his head up when it was used, which cost him that race. Next start, with no whip use he won by a head. Gary, Nichole and their daughter Brianna Callanan have done a great job with him and full credit must go to them. Brutal Power is by The Factor from an El Prado mare Oubliette who was imported from the USA. At the time of writing Brutal Power has now won 2 races from 24 starts with 6 seconds and 3 thirds. Oubliette is also the dam of Adalita (by Congrats) who won $96,000, and Brutal Power’s full sister Tinny Bar Blue who is also trained by Searle Callanan racing but in different ownership. The second dam is Miss Lenora (by Theatrical) who was a winner of five races including the Bewitch Stakes at Keenland. Her dam L’Attrayante (by Tyrant) who was the only horse to win both the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and the Irish 1000 Guineas, after moving to the USA, she won the E.P Taylor Stakes in Canada. L’Attrayante left several stakes winners including Madeleine’s Dream a full sister to Miss Leonora who like her mother was able to win the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches. Greg has been involved in racing for many years having horses with a number of trainers including Mick Whittle and Pat Barnes but now mostly with Lisa Whittle and the Searle Callanan stable. His best horse is undoubtedly Periduki (by Perugino) who won over $700,000 from 25 wins. We wish Greg the best of luck with Brutal Power and his other horses.

Exalted Ambition Owners of the Month for October – Ken & Helen Smith with Exalted Ambition We include interviews with Ken and Helen, and at their request with their new trainer Tyson Cowan Ken & Helen’s Interview Tyson Cowan Helen wrote this for us and explains how the “Exalted” came into being: In case some of you are wondering about the dozens of “Exalted” horses over the years, we will explain briefly.  About 25 years ago the Advertiser stopped printing names of the owners of horses in their form guides.  We were often in trouble with friends and acquaintances for not informing them of our runners (especially of course if we had a winner!).  Exalt was a stallion way back in the breeding line of our mare Alleged Lady (3rd generation from a purchase made with a couple of friends).  So after a few names descended from Lady, we decided on the Exalted prefix for all progeny.  So all the Exalted horses are related – grandmas, aunties, nieces, daughters, mums etc.  Alleged Lady bred every year until she was twenty, leaving lots of beautiful progeny. Exalted Ambition is out of Exalted Dream by Good Journey.  He is a full brother to Exalted Ruth who is currently racing.  He is the last gelding, aged 5, out of Exalted Dream who died after a float accident and he was born at Cornerstone Stud. Ambition was broken in, educated and pre-trained by Tyson Cowan at Meadow Park, Narrung.  Grant Young is his trainer.  He won his second start at Gawler ridden by Todd Pannell.  He has had 38 starts, winning 6 races, second in 7 and third in 4. Ambition is a lovely horse, well behaved and always trying hard.  We hope to have an exciting future with him, and thanks to all who have shared in his care and well-being. Exalted Ambition has shown plenty of ability having now won over $230,000, with all his wins being over middle distances, ranging from 1,700 to 2,250 metres. His dam Exalted Dream who is by the SA stalwart sire of some years ago – Blevic, won three of her 33 starts. As Helen mentions the dam has also left Exalted Ruth, a full sister to Exalted Ambition and a winner of 4 races and over $150,000, there are also unraced offspring by Valentia and Ambidexter. The grand dam is the aforementioned Delgado mare Alleged Lady, she has been a marvel at stud being the dam of 3 stakes winners, they include Exalted Time (by Belloto) winner of the Adelaide Cup and the SAJC Birthday Cup and more than $500,000, Exalted Lad (again by Blevic) winner of the City of Adelaide Stakes and Auraria Stakes winner Exalted Miss (by Keepers). Exalted Miss, a seven times winner, is also the dam herself of the five-time stakes winner Exalted Ego (another Blevic) who won 11 races and just over $550,000. Alleged Lady, herself an Auraria Stakes winner, had 16 foals in all, fourteen of which were named. Other progeny with some success either on the track or in the breeding barn include Our Dear Lady (by Southern Appeal) – granddam of Exalted Keetah (yet another by Blevic) winner of the listed VRC Cadbury Roses Stakes;        6-time winner Exalted Beau (by Bellotto); Exalted Madam (by Blevic) winner of almost $100,000; Exalted Blaze (by Tayasu Tsuyoshi) dam of the stakes winning Exalted Lightning (by Blevic) winner of another SAJC Birthday Cup – amongst his 12 wins and earnings just shy of $400,000. It is fair to say that Alleged Lady has created a dynasty for Ken and Helen, bearing in mind that the cursory view of her progeny above does not drill down to any extent into the exploits of a number of her other mares both on the track and at stud. There will be plenty of Exalted’s heading to the races in the future and we wish Ken and Helen every success with their charges.

Our Owner of the Month for September is Heide Hartnett part-owner of Pollyanna We spoke with Heidi’s daughter, trainer Ashton Downing who gave us this interview Heidi was nominated by Brian Hoey, Ashton told us this about Heidi and Pollyanna. Heidi has been involved with racehorses her whole life. Her father, Otto Sames, bred and raced horses, which is how she initially became involved. She has an active interest in breeding and loves looking up pedigrees. She chose Dexelation at the Adelaide Magic Million Sales, the Ambidexter gelding has now reached nearly half a million dollars in prize money with a recent win at Moonee Valley. She also is involved in the breeding with the family’s mares, this year they produced two foals by Sir Prancealot. Her Daughter, Ashton Downing trains and Heidi keeps a small share in most of the horses in Ashton’s stable, Pollyanna being one of them. She tries to attend as many meetings as possible but as she runs the Hahndorf Kaffeehaus, it is hard for her to get away. Heidi was lucky enough to be at Oakbank when Pollyanna won which was a great thrill for her. Pollyanna has been an exciting horse to be involved with, she showed a lot of promise early but took a little while to get back in form this time in. We have high hopes for her in the future. Heidi went to Sha Tin on her honeymoon in 2003 and was lucky enough to attend the 2013 Kentucky Derby on a family trip to America. Pollyanna is a five-year-old bay mare by Epaulette out of Love Shuttle (Zizou), her record stands at 2 wins and three seconds from 16 starts. Her dam Love Shuttle won 4 from 17 with five thirds for earnings of over $140,000. She is also the dam of the three-year-old filly Beep Test (All Too Hard) who has won 2 of her five starts. The mother of Love Shuttle is the dual stakes winner Sky Love (by Octagonal) who won five times and earnt over $230,000. Her progeny include Love Commands (by Commands) who is the dam of the promising Deep Field filly Sky Command.   Third dam is the stakes producing mare Suggestive (Al Hareb) who is the dam of four stakes winners including Sky Cuddle (Snippets) winner of 4 Group races up to the Group I Emirates Stakes, herself dam of the dual stake’s winner Champagne Cuddles (Not a Single Doubt). Other stakes winners from Suggestive are Highly Recommended (Fastnet Rock); Sky Love mentioned above and Undeniably (also by Fastnet Rock). We trust Heidi and Ashton will have continued success with Pollyanna and with others in the stable.

Graceful Eagle winning at Murray Bridge Congratulations to Bryan and June Terry our Owners of the Month for August with Graceful Eagle I spoke to Bryan about his racing experiences. Bryan also wrote this account for us: We would like to thank Leigh and Brian Hoey for nominating us for SAROA Owner of the Month It ‘s been a very long 5 and a half years since we had our last winner Wilander Princess. I went to the yearling sales with a list of over 30 yearlings to examine. Lot 131 a Free Eagle filly was not on that list. As soon as I saw that filly parade in the sale ring, I liked the wat she looked and moved. I started bidding but she was passed in with my last bid of $15,000. I then said to my new trainer Karen Byrnes that I was going back to the stalls to have a closer look. I was able to buy her for $18,000. I was aware that while she was a good size, she might need some time to mature as she was a late foal and was by Free Eagle. After she was broken in and had some short preps, she began to show us that she might have some ability. Her first two starts however were disastrous as way too many things went wrong. I started to have a few doubts. At her third start and now with blinkers on, she was a very different switched-on race horse. Although she was slow away, she came from well back to pass the favourites to win by half a length at 40+ to 1 odds and still quite green. She will spend a couple of months in the paddock. June and I can not wait for her to return and hopefully she can on with it. Graceful Eagle is by Free Eagle from the Lonhro mare Taransay. Taransay was a handy race mare winning 3 from sixteen starts and earning a little over $100,000. Her other progeny include Housay (by Zebedee) winner so far of three from seven and $130,000 and the promising Prince of Fences (by Magnus). The granddam is Heather (by Grand Lodge) and very well performed winner of 7 races and $380,000. Her wins included the Group 2 Emancipation Stakes and the listed Gold Coast Goldmarket Handicap. She has left Tulla Touch (Exceed and Excel) winner of 5 and almost $100,000 and Frosty Heart (by Frost Giant). The third dam Clochan (by Haulpak) who had two stakes winners, Heather as mentioned and Peat Bog by Canny Lad who won a Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes. SAROA wish Bryan and June the very best with Graceful Eagle.

Zoushine in her July win. Our Owner of the Month award winners for July are Elizabeth and Brenton Parker, part owners of Zoushine, who they also bred. Brenton gave us this background: “Liz and I have been racing horses since the early 80’s and are now also involved in breeding thoroughbreds with about 6 mares. Generally, we like to keep a percentage in the horses that we have bred after they are sold and this is the case with Zoushine who was sold to the Tony and Calvin McEvoy. Zoushine who sold very well at the Inglis Premier sale in 2019 and had been stakes placed twice before she broke through for her maiden win at Morphettville and she has since won at Caulfield followed by SA Rewards 3 YO race at Murray Bridge. Keeping shares in horses that we breed and sell means that we end up having an interest in many horses and being involved with a variety of trainers all around Australia. Our most successful involvement has been with one of our first attempts in breeding with our mare Madame Flurry who has left 4 individual stakes winners namely Happy Trails, Danish Twist, Heart of a Lion and All Too Huiying. From our point of view, it is great to see the progress that is being made in South Australian racing over the last 12-18 months.” Zoushine as the name suggests is by Zoustar from the Parker’s mare Ravenous Lass. Her record at the time of writing stood at 11 starts for 3 wins, 3 seconds and a third and stakes of just over $220,000. She is also part owned by Yulong Investments and races in their green and white colours. The dam Ravenous Lass was by Stratum, she was a handy mare who won five races and she has so far also produced Just Stars (also by Zoustar) who was sold to Singapore where he races as Wishuponastar and the unraced Limited Risk            (by Astern). The granddam Munchie (by Snippets) has produced a stakes winner in San Nicasio (by Hard Spun) who won three of six before being sold to Hong Kong, as well as 7 times winner Kronos (by Helmet) and the cleverly named Bezos (by Written Tycoon). Brenton mentioned his mighty broodmare Madame Flurry (by Perugino) whose progeny have won in excess of $5.5 million between them, with the standout being Happy Trails. Congratulations to Elizabeth and Brenton, worthy winners of the SAROA owner of the month.

Somewatt Fabulous SAROA Owner of the Month award winner for June is Paul Ninnis, part owner of Somewatt Fabulous and Magic Max. Paul was nominated by his partner Peta who told us this: Paul has been nominated for Owner of the Month thanks to Magic Max (Gordon Richards Racing) and Somewatt Fabulous (Richard Jolly Racing). Somewatt Fabulous is a 2 year old filly by Astern out of Megawatt. She has had 2 runs to date with a first at Morphettville (5/6/21) and a third at Flemington (19/6/21) and is currently spelling. Magic Max is a 2 year old gelding by Magnus out of Vain Sonata. He has had 3 runs with a first at Caulfield (29/5/21) and two thirds (Murray Bridge 5/5/21, Morphettville 15/5/21,) and has returned to the stables for another preparation. Paul was onsite at the Magic Millions (Adelaide) and was particularly taken with him as he went around the sales circle and jumped on the ownership very quickly, to say the least. Paul has been a passionate horse owner for a number of years and most recently has been able to introduce a new syndicate to both Gordon Richards and Richard & Chantelle Jolly. The new owners were able to celebrate with Paul as the two horses they syndicated were in fact Magic Max and Somewatt Fabulous. A Magic Fabulous way to start your syndicate journey with their new trainers indeed! “Paul brought new clients to our stable through the success he has had with us. Those new clients had instant results which is great for our business.” Richard & Chantelle Jolly “Paul has been an asset to our stables. Not just as an owner but as a passionate racing enthusiast.  He is dedicated to promoting us and has introduced new owners to our stable. The trainer also loves him because he provides us with the best red wines 😂” Gordon & Jacqui Richards Paul is definitely looking forward to an exciting spring with some great new runners and will welcome back some local super stars – Gytrash, Bold Star, Alleboom and All Banter with great enthusiasm! Somewatt Fabulous a product of Astern and Megawatt (by Shocking) has had a promising start to her career. She is interestingly bred with dad being an outstanding two-year-old and now a first season sire and a reverse shuttle sire with Darley whereas her maternal grandfather won a Melbourne Cup. The dam Megawatt was a handy three-time winner and her oldest progeny is the two-year-old Somewatt Fabulous. The grand dam Dear Diary (by Desert Prince) was born in Ireland, she has left one stakes-winner Pocket Diary (by Jungle Pocket) winner of five including a one at Listed level in New Zealand. All of her progeny were foaled in New Zealand and only Megawatt has a presence in Australia. In contrast to Somewatt Fabulous, Magic Max is by the very established sire Magnus from a Keltrice mare Vain Sonata. Very much a long-term Australian blood line, the dam has had only three named progeny, with so far only Magic Max getting to the races. The grand-dam Royal Sonata (by Royal Academy) was a listed winner in Perth and has left seven-time winner Horacio (by Ne Coupez Pas) who earnt just shy of $250,000 and the eight-time winner Pinyarda, a gelding by Pins. The third dam La Musique (by Belloto) provided some black type with Royal Sonata as well as Hazardous Harmony, a six-time winner by Dangerous. SAROA acknowledges Paul’s work to get new owners into SA racing and is sure he and Peta will have continued success with their horses