Cambridge based mare New York Minute (Iffraaj[GB]-Zenno Queen) showed black type ability at her second only start as a three-year-old, however it was not until the closing stages of her five-year-old season that she managed to score her first black type win.
That was in the Listed Tauranga Classic in late June, improving on her second placing last year, and for good measure she backed up at her next start and won the Listed Opunake Cup, a race she was placed third in last season. At the start of this season she was placed third in the Gr3 Winter Cup
She has also won on six occasions and was placed second in the Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes, and the Gr.3 Marton Metric Mile. Her three-year-old black type placing was a second in the Listed O’Leary Fillies Stakes.
New York Minute is raced by former racing administrator Bernard Kelly OBE, his wife Josephine, their son John and his wife Margaret. She was purchased by the Kelly clan in 2013 at the NZ Bloodstock National Weanling and Broodmare Sale for $15,000. Initially she was trained by Bernard Kelly’s niece Ilone, but this campaign she switched to the powerful Baker/Forsman stable.
The daughter of Iffraaj is the 10th stakes winner this season to be raised at Little Avondale Stud, in the Wairarapa, where she was bred by the Spyglass Hill Syndicate. According to Little Avondale Stud’s Sam Williams that syndicate no longer has any mares, but their major shareholder John Gilbert is still very much involved.
The Spyglass Hill Syndicate raced the good gelding Irish Moon who won ten and was stakes placed four times, while Gilbert with his son Mike and friend Wessel Van Der Scheer raced the Group One winner Xanadu.
The Spyglass Hill Syndicate bought the unraced Zenno Queen(Zenno Rob Roy[JPN]-Joie De Vivre), from her breeder Sam Kelt in a deal brokered by Bruce Perry Bloodstock. Unfortunately she slipped to Iffraaj(GB) on her first mating, but returned the next year.
“Her second foal was New York Minute who they sold as a weanling, they weren’t having much luck so they put her in foal to Nadeem and back in the sale,” recalled Sam Williams.
“As it was the first year Nadeem was at stud for me, and when she was only going for $3,000 I decided to buy her back and John stayed in as my partner. That foal was a filly Codecracker, which John races out of the Ken and Bev Kelso stable, we then put her back in foal to Nadeem and sold her to Karen and Wayne Stewart.”
Karen Stewart of White Robe Lodge fame, was at the May broodmare sale, with her great family friend the late Pauline Deacon, on the lookout for a good mare. With a good eye and pedigree knowledge no doubt nurtured by her father Brian Anderton, Stewart had had quite a bit of luck buying mares from Karaka who have gone on to leave stakes winners.
Stewart picks up the story; “I have always been a fan of Sunday Silence(USA) and that blood is hard to get in New Zealand, and she was out of a Zabeel mare, with a good mix of speed and stamina. She was youngish and her first foal was still to race.
“She is a big raw boned mare and Pauline Deacon who always joined me at the sales said she looked the part and that was good enough for me.”
Stewart paid $14,000 for the mare and subsequently sold the Nadeem(AUS) filly she was carrying to John Foote for $28,000, named Indian Rani she is very close to racing from the Darren Weir stable.
The Zabeel mare that Stewart alluded to is Joie De Vivre a winner of five races and a full sister to the dual Group One winner Bazelle. Bazelle has gone on to leave the multiple stakes winner Show The World.
While based at White Robe Lodge Zenno Queen has visited their sires Ghibellines(AUS), and Gallant Guru (AUS) and has produced fillies to both of them. The Ghibellines(AUS) filly has recently been sold to a local syndicate and is currently being broken-in in the stable of Brian and Shane Anderton. While Stewart thinks she may keep the Gallant Guru(AUS) filly.
“Those two fillies are big like their mother and New York Minute,” said Stewart, “so that prompted me to send her to Raise The Flag(GB) to get a better type, and I will see what we are going to do with her in the next few weeks when she comes down from the winter farm. It’s quite exciting that we now have lots of options. That black type makes a lot of difference.” - Michelle Saba
