Late on Wednesday evening news seeped out that the great sprinter Hay List, a hulking giant of a horse, had been put down due to laminitis.   The big horse was trained by John McNair and is best remembered as being the horse who pushed the champion Black Caviar the most.  He ran 2nd to her 3 times and their battles in the 2011 TJ Smith and BTC Cup, as well as the 2012 Lightning Stakes are now part of racing folklore.  Hay List, perhaps because of his size, was a chronically unsound horse with leg and feet issues.  He also suffered at least one serious bout of colic and fought back from the brink a number of times.  His trainer John and his wife Sue adored the horse and he had a large following.  In the absence of The Famous Pony Hay List claimed 3 Group 1 wins, the 2010 Manikato Stakes, the 2011 All Aged Stakes and the 2012 Newmarket Handicap, where he set a new weight carrying record of 58.5kg.  He died at his home on John McNair's centr...

I did my day trip to Nagambie today where I spent a couple of hours at Gilgai Farm.  I've photographed Helsinge a number of times now since 2012, however this was the first time she's not had a foal at foot, or been in foal.  It was also the first time we'd fussed about so much and made it all about her, and had her glammed up and looking gorgeous. Helsinge is a big mare.  She was foaled in 2001, which will make her 13 years old on the 2nd of September.  Glancing over her pedigree makes my eye pause on Helsinge's own dam Scandinavia.  With a start I realise that the little chestnut mare who started the whole Famous Pony legacy was foaled on 11 November 1994.  Rememberance Day, no less.  This makes her 20 years old this spring.  It makes my need to photograph her feel more urgent.  I take a deep breath and tell myself that my own mare Freelance is 20 and is in great nick.  Freelance hasn't had 12 foals though!   I stop ...

I've known for a number of weeks that this would be the outcome for "Jimmy", which is the nickname given to Black Caviar's unnamed and record breaking $5 million half brother.  I feel sad on a number of fronts.  This colt feels close to my heart.  I am now good friends with his breeder Rick Jamieson, and he is feeling the loss keenly.  But for me, it runs much deeper than just my friendship with Rick.  I first met the colt in April 2012.  There were so many promises..  Heartbreaking??  I suspect not just for me personally, but also for all involved in this colt.  I've taken a large number of defining images of his Famous Sister, Black Caviar, and all Helsinge, and all of her subsequent progeny.  A sample is below.  I'll let the images do the talking. "Jimmy's" demise will be tainted by rumour and deep suspicions, because of the collapse of BC3 and Bill Vlahos.  Not knowing the truth will be like pretending to trust the perso...