20: Zabeel

Zabeel, the great New Zealand champion stallion, was officially retired from stud duties today by Sir Patrick Hogan at Cambridge Stud.   I last had a proper conversation with Sir Patrick at the Green Moon celebration party on Melbourne Cup night at Crown Casino.  We had talked about the need for me to come and photograph the stallion again, but it's proved impossible for me, with my growing schedule here in Australia and commitments with my children, and now further complicated by the added drama and workload of an interstate move.  I feel disappointed that I was unable to get across again.

In other news, my friend Lyn drove by our new house yesterday. She took this photo and sent it to me this morning. Do you like it?  I still haven't even laid eyes on our house, which is probably why, 2 nights ago, I had a nightmare about the move.  In my dream we arrived at the house, only to find it wasn't all ours at all, and that it was actually a group house.  That thought alone filled me with horror, but worse was to follow, because there were no rooms for my kids and no room for our any of our stuff.  Talk about night demons...  They've been circling a little bit lately anyway.

My back is still sore today.  However I called into the chemist for something for it, and my neck, which is threatening me in a sinister fashion that it's about to pinch a nerve.  As a result of the antinflammatories, it's beginning to feel a little bit more bearable.

The legendary stallion Zabeel.  Sire of the great Octagonal and Might and Power.  Grandsire of Lonhro.
 




Sir Patrick Hogan at Cambridge Stud with champion Zabeel
Our new house...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legacy of Eight Carat: From the Vault Volume I

Image
We have been back in lockdown here in Victoria. Lockdown 5.0 to be precise and as a result it made us go back to feeling like sad sacks.  After having seen off Lockdown 4.0 a teeny tiny bit triumphantly, where we saw off both Delta and Kappa variants (evil beasts that they are - curse you stinky COVID - curse you), we had literally only just gotten back to work before being very suddenly plunged back into Lockdown 5.0 after the visit of those very nice removalists.   'Thanks very much!!!!' we all shouted indignantly!!!!  A key difference with Lockdown 5.0 was that half the country also into lockdown at the same time which made us feel slightly less sad.  The Victorian Government doesn't muck about anymore when it comes to outbreaks.  Their reaction is swift and severe and not at all namby pamby.  I just wish the same logic would be applied to Sydney which continues to deteriorate, much to my dismay.  This week we took our first tentative steps out of ...
Read more

Vale Sadler's Wells - champion stallion dies in Ireland.

Image
One of the most important racehorses, and later stallions of our time, the great Sadler's Wells died in Ireland on the evening of Tuesday 26 April 2011.  He died at Coolmore's Tipperary Stud in Ireland, his home since his retirement in 1984.  The stallion was retired from breeding in 2008. His legacy worldwide is immense.  He has left sons and daughters,  and three of his stallion sons, in Galileo, Montjeu and High Chaparral, are leading stallions in the Northern Hemisphere.  In Australia, Galileo and Montjeu had less success, however the impact of High Chaparral was immediate, and immense.  While the horse still has to repeat the success he achieved with his New Zealand bred runners, from which the Group 1 winners, and champion So You Think, were conceived, High Chaparral is still leading the Australian General Sires Title with only a couple of months of racing left. In Europe, Montjeu and Galileo have both sired Epsom Derby winners, in Authorized and Ne...
Read more

The physical drain of riding horses

Image
Most people agree that the life of a jockey is a difficult one.  There are a handful that rise to the top, and do extremely well out of the Sport of Kings.  The vast majority however struggle with their weights, and do their best to avoid and/or overcome injury.  Anyone who has ever been pelted off a horse would know that it doesn't tickle!  And of course the older you get, the more it hurts!  We used to fang around on our ponies, bareback, in headstalls and leadropes, never wearing a riding hat.  Completely fearless, and I am sure that on the odd occasion I parted company with my horse, I used to bounce.  In fact I rarely used to fall off, unless the horse came down as well, I guess all those years of galloping around bareback meant my balance and ability to swing my body with the horse was pretty good.  I'd like to say that I could still ride the same, but age and the maturing mind catches up, and you start thinking of the consequences of 'what...
Read more