Photo Credit: Race Images South
Winning a group race is a great thrill for any owner, but when that owner also bred and trained the horse in question, that thrill is even more exhilarating.
No one knows this better than Ashburton-based Bevan Wilson and his wife Robyn who bred, train and race Lord Darci (Darci Brahma – Madam Victoria), winner of the Gr.3 CJC Winter Cup.
“It really was a great thrill for us,” Wilson enthused. “I held my breath a wee bit as he came down the straight, it’s been a bit of a trick of his to get knocked off after getting to the lead too early, but he held on.”
He held on indeed to win by two lengths with a further six lengths back to the third horse, and he became the first Canterbury trained galloper to win the race in the last 22 years.
The win was the fourth career victory for the lightly raced five-year-old who broke his maiden in October last year. From 13 starts he has been out of the money on only two occasions. His form leading into the race was pretty solid with a last start second in the Oamaru Cup (1600m) preceded by two wins over that same distance at Ashburton and Canterbury.
It was a special win for Wilson, a former All Black who played fullback from 1977 to 1979, and his wife Robyn, the daughter of Racing Hall of Fame inductee Rex Cochrane, as Lord Darci hails from a family nurtured by the Wilsons for nearly 40 years.
“My father and I bought Regalatis (Regalis II [GB] - Atomise), and as I was actually too young to race her, she raced in my mum’s name,” Wilson recalled.
“She won her first two starts and I was hooked. It might have been better if she hadn’t, anyway she won five races and we bred a couple of fillies and it went on from there. Regalatis is the fifth dam of Lord Darci.”
As well as winning five races, Regalatis was third in the Otago RC Listed Champagne Stakes before going on to have four foals, three of which were winners. Her unraced foal, Regal Splendour by Noble Bijou (GB) however was the gem of the produce record, going on to produce nine foals, eight to race and seven winners including the stakes performers Nearly’s Pal, Bashful Lady and Queen’s Guard.
Lord Darci is the first foal of the very good High Chaparral (IRE) race mare Madam Victoria, the NZB Southern Filly of the Year in 2013-14 and winner of eight races including the Listed CJC Inglewood Stakes, Warstep Stakes, Timaru Stakes and Otago Breeders Stakes. She was placed second in the Listed Hororata RC South Island Breeders’ Stakes and was fourth in the Listed Timaru Cup and the Gore Guineas.
Madam Victoria was trained by Teri Rae, as she raced at a time when the Wilsons were moving from their large family land holdings in Omakau and Robyn had given up riding track work. Since then they have moved to their smaller 36-hectare property just outside Ashburton and with new track work riders Emily Wilson and Cherie Trembath on the team, retirement from training didn’t last long.
Madam Victoria’s second foal is Victor Rouge, by Darci Brahma’s three-quarter brother Burgundy, is also a winner having won a maiden for the Wilsons last month. He was galloped on in that race but according to Wilson he is coming right and should be returning to the track very soon.
Her third foal is a three-year-old as yet unnamed colt by Charm Spirit (IRE) who is in work at Cambridge with Roger James and Robert Wellwood. While her fourth foal, a Belardo (IRE) filly is undergoing early education on the Wilson’s property.
Following the Belardo filly, Madam Victoria was left empty for a year and then last year failed to get in foal to Darci Brahma.
“I’m not sure what happened last year,” Wilson said, “She missed to Darci and we have already booked her to Circus Maximus as we have decided to go to a younger stallion.
“We haven’t actually been to the same stallion twice, although after Darci she went to Burgundy who is in fact a three-quarter brother to him, but that’s the closest we have got to doubling up.”
Despite having bred and raced Madam Victoria’s dam Royal Madam who won seven races, Wilson had to actually buy her back about 16 years ago after she had commenced stud duties in Australia.
“About 18 years ago we sold up a lot of the family including Royal Madam to a stud in Australia,” Wilson explained. “We kept four fillies, one of which was Royal Miss (Volksraad [GB] - Bashful Lady), but unfortunately we lost them all, so we decided to buy back Royal Madam.
"It didn't start out that well. Her first foal wasn't very big, then she left Royal Governess also by Volksraad. She was quite promising, but all sorts of things went wrong with her, she won three races and left three winners, unfortunately we lost her and her foal last year. We do have her as yet unnamed three-year-old colt by Belardo in work on the farm.”
Madam Victoria was her next live foal and then to Thewayyouare (USA) she produced the winners Royal Dapper and Born A Royal.
Royal Madam was one of three foals produced by Queen’s Style (by Cautious Style [USA]), herself a winning daughter of Regal Splendour, the unraced daughter of the aforementioned Regalatis.
Her progeny included the stakes winners Nearly Pal’s (by Palatable [USA]) which Wilson trained to win 13 races including the Gr.3 White Robe Lodge Stakes, the Listed CJC Churchill Stakes and the Timaru Cup, and Bashful Lady by Imperial Guard (GB).
Bashful Lady won eight races including two at Listed level the Gore Guineas and the Otago RC South Island 3YO Championship Stakes. She went on to produce Royal Miss (by Volksraad [IRE]) the 2004-05 South Island Filly of the Year, and her sister Eftee One who was Group Two placed in the ARC Royal Stakes and Eight Carat Classic, she in turn left the Gr.2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes winner Fazzle (by Johar [USA]).
Another daughter of Royal Splendour by Imperial Guard (GB) was Queen’s Guard, who won three races and was placed in the Listed Princess Mellay Stakes, before being sold to the States where she left a stakes winner in Laguna Queen (Sir Session [USA]) and the stakes placed winner Kolob (by Consgiliere [USA]).
Madam Victoria is now the only remaining mare from this family owned by the Wilsons, but they do have two other mares from good old South Island families that will also be off to stud this season.
Zawhip (Zacinto [GB]-The Persuader), a winner of five races and a descendant of The Vision, a member of the illustrious Dennis Brothers’ family, will visit Ancient Spirit (GER) at White Robe Lodge, while Wize Act will travel north to visit Contributer (AUS).
Wize Act, a winner of six races is also by Zacinto out of the Volksraad mare Sound Decision, a winning granddaughter of the 1992 Southern Filly of the Year Sequel Sound, a sister to the stakes winning mare Ultra Sound, the dam of the 1994 New Zealand Filly of the Year Tartan Tights.
As for Lord Darci the current star of the Wilson family’s beloved family, he’s off to the spelling paddock for a few weeks with a tilt at the Gr.2 Couplands Mile at Riccarton in November on the radar. - Michelle Saba, NZTBA
