Olds Friends. Danewin at Emirates Park Stud.

I began photographing at the racetrack in 1993.  Just as I do now, in those early days, I had some favourite horses.  At first I had a long line of 'favourite boys'.  Lately, my special ponies have tended to be girls, with my Famous Pony Black Caviar, or 'Nelly', the wonderful mare More Joyous, the brilliant fillies Gold Edition and Samantha Miss, and of course my love, my darling, the mighty Sunline.

The great Danehill (Danzig - Razyana) in 1997

Danehill in 1997.  This image was widely published on his death.

 

Back in those formative years of my career as a racetrack photographer, my early 'favourite boys' were Naturalism, Schillaci, Jeune, March Hare and Danewin.  And it is the latter colt that this post is about.

Danewin (Danehill - Cotehele House) was a strongly made bay colt, hailing from the mighty stallion Danehill's first Australian foal crop.  He was trained by Bobby Thomsen, who later trained Shogun Lodge to multiple Group 1 successes.  Danewin won the Dulcify Quality and the G1 Spring Champion Stakes in October 1994 (with Shane Dye on board from memory), but was then, as a raging favourite, inexplicably defeated by Blevic in the 1994 VRC Derby when his jockey, Jackie Tse from Hong Kong, was perhaps out-muscled by Brett Prebble.

Danewin (centre) is run down by Blevic in the 1994 VRC Derby

In the Autumn of 1995, Danewin and Tse won the Rosehill Guineas.  In a little moment of digression, to put Danewin's career achievements into perspective, he was racing in an era of perhaps some of the greatest horses to have graced the Australian Turf, and later breeding barns.  The Autumn Carnival of 1995 was when future legends of the turf and breeding barn, Flying Spur (Danehill - Rolls) and Octagonal (Zabeel - Eight Carat), first stepped out as 2 year olds.  Flying Spur, a colt from Danehill's 2nd foal crop, won the 1995 Golden Slipper Stakes, and returned at 3 years in 1996 to win the G1 double of the Australian Guineas and the All Aged Stakes, and has since sired a Golden Slipeper winner in Forensics, and was crowned Champion Sire of Australia in 2006-07.

Flying Spur (inside) defeats Octagonal (outside) and Our Maizcay (rail) in the 1995 Golden Slipper

Flying Spur at Arrowfield Stud.  One of 'my boys'.

Octagonal of course became an Australian Legend, running an unlucky 2nd to Flying Spur in the Golden Slipper, before winning the G1AJC Sires Stakes, WS Cox Plate, Canterbury Guineas, Rosehill Guineas, Mercedes Classic (twice), AJC Derby, Underwood Stakes, Chipping Norton Stakes and Australian Cup.  Octagonal retired, in a fanfare of publicity and public outpouring of love for the horse, to his owner Jack and Bob Ingham's prestigious Woodlands Stud, located just outside the sleepy village of Denman in the NSW Hunter Valley.  Apart from the memories he left us as a racehorse, perhaps his greatest legacy will be through siring the mighty champion Lonhro.  This near black son of Occy was Australian Racehorse of the Year in 2004 and after only 3 years at stud, Lonhro has just joined the great Vain as the only former Racehorse of the Year to go on to be crowned Champion Sire of Australia, a feat he achieved in 2010/11.  Why is Octagonal so important to this story?  Because their paths crossed, and because Danewin's dam, Cotehele House (My Swanee - Eight Carat), was a half sister to Octagonal.

Danewin (J Tse) winning the 1995 Rosehill Guineas

But back to Danewin.  After his dominant Rosehill Guineas win, Danewin was expected to win the AJC Derby easily, but for the second time Tse was criticised for not having the strength to get the colt home after the colt ran 2nd to Ivory's Irish, trained by the master JB Cummings. 

In the Spring of 1995, now a fully furnished and magnificent stallion, Danewin won the G1 Caulfield Stakes, on the same day that Our Maizcay blitzed Octagonal in the G1 Caulfield Guineas.  The older Danewin, with Damien Oliver on board, was favourite to win the Cox Plate, but he was sensationaly knocked out of the race by the tiring Our Maizcay who fell back sharply through the field after leading.  The other 3 year old in the race, the later to be great Octagonal, circled the field under vigorous riding from Raymond Shane Dye, defeating Mahogany narrowly.  Danewin gained some consolation with victory in the G1 MacKinnon Stakes, on the same day that Octagonal, with Shane Scriven on board, ran a controversial second to Shane Dye on the Gai Waterhouse trained Nothin' Leica Dane.  That colt then ran a magnificent 2nd to Doriemus in the 1995 Melbourne Cup, and on the same day another great in Saintly was unveiled in the Carbine Club.  I missed the Derby and the Cup, as I was studying at ANU, an had an exam on Derby morning, a timing I will always resent having missed those 3 great races, not to mention Doriemus' Melbourne Cup!  Danewin then travelled to Japan and Dubai, but was unplaced in the Japan Cup and Dubai World Cup.  The Spring of 1995 may have been the last time I'd photographed the horse.

Our Maizcay wins the 1995 Caulfield Guineas

On the same day, Danewin (Damien Oliver) wins the 1995 Caulfield Stakes

Our Maizcay leads the 1995 Cox Plate field.  He fell back through the field, severely hampering and taking Danewin out of the race.  They later discovered the colt had a virus.

The Octagonal Legend commenced with victory in the Cox Plate of 1995

Danewin was retired to Emirates Park, and has been a very successful stallion, but was unfortunately plagued by fertility issues.  His full brother Commands, who was not even a Group 1 winner, has been a phenomenal success at stud, first for Woodlands and now for Darley.  Same bloodlines, just better fertility?  They were of course very different horses, but still..  Having said that, Danewin  has sired 6 Group 1 winners like Excites and Theseo as well as a host of stakeswinners as well.

Theseo

However during September 2011, Trevor Lobb, who I've known for many years now and is now at the helm of Emirates Park Stud, engaged me to photograph  his stallions for the first time.  So for the 2nd time in a month, I journeyed up the Hume and then New Englang Highway, to  a little town about 40kms north of Scone, called Murrurundi.  They are a new client, and it's a lovely property and there are big plans in foot for the stud.  The staff were wonderful, in particular their stallion manager Ejaz. But the biggest pleasure from the visit was reuniting with my old friend Danewin.  He's now 20 years old, but goodness, you'd never guess it.  He looks wonderful, does the old boy, and it was with genuine affection that I greeted him.  He's still an incredibly powerful and good looking horse, and he still knows how to play for the camera, and he relished his little paddock session.  Just as did Danzero, another famous stallion from that first Danehill crop of foals, he pranced around his paddock telling me, and telling me to now tell the world, through these images, that he's still got it, and that he can still do noble stallion.  Enjoy....

 

Still got it..