IN late 1997 my parents went on a tour which took them to Woodlands Stud, the magnificent horse facilities owned by the Ingham brothers. These are a few photos from this trip.

Brief Truce

Canny Lad

Grand Lodge

Sire of unlucky Victoria Derby and Golden Slipper placegetter Shogun Lodge.

Quest For Fame

Sire of champion 2 year old Dracula. Note the similarity in colour!

Octagonal

Australia's biggest stakes winner, and now successful first season sire.

Mares and Foals

A mare named Unashamed, with her Night Shift filly, named Harpy. She was in foal to Canny Lad at this time.

A nice image of this Hunter Valley paradise.

Here is Slight Chance, a black mare who in her youth won many stakes races. At the time of the photo she was in foal to Danewin. With her is a mare who I believe is called Idol. She was 23 years old at the time the photo was taken, and in foal to Danehill.

Slight Chance with me, my sister and my brother (who seems scared of her!)

Slight Chance with my sister, who wishes to be known as 'Julia'...

On their trip to Woodlands, my parents also got to meet a horse called Night Shift. He just happens to be the sire of our star, Late Whisper. Speaking of stars, you'll notice he has one, right in the middle of his forehead. This is a characteristic which seems to have been inherited by many of his progeny, including Noddy.

As if part-owning nine horses wasn't enough. Here's a selection of other people's horses that I love.

Pedro

This is a lovely horse called Prevailling Knight, who is trained by our trainer Sally Rowe. He is a year older than our horses, and shares a birthday with Noddy and Koala. As you can see, he is a handsome brown gelding, and he has won a few races, including a very exciting 1900m race at Canterbury in December 1998, where he was ridden by Kevin Moses. He is a very friendly horse, and always says hello when we visit the stables.

So Precise

So Precise is a three year old grey gelding, and unlike most other grey horses, he shines in the sunlight, making him look like he's made of silver! He is a son of Spectacular Spy and Lillaflicka, making him a full brother to Quick Flick. He won a couple of restricted class 3 year old races last season, before coming back recently to win two nice cup races at Hawkesbury. He looks to have a good future.

Spectacular Spy

Here is the grey sire of many fine racehorses, including Quick Flick, Eyes To Spy, and So Precise (above). He passed away in 1994. He is one of my favourite sires, due to the high number of greys he has produced.

Spectacular Bid

The sire of Spectacular Spy, Bite The Bullet, and others. He still stands at stud in New York and is almost 24. He narrowly missed out on taking out the rare American Triple Crown.

Shogun Lodge

I have been a fan of Shogun Lodge since his gallant fourth placing in the 1999 Silver Slipper. I got 25 to 1 for the Golden Slipper that day, in which he was an unlucky third. He emulated the feats of Dracula in taking out the Spring Stakes at Newcastle before defeating the brilliant mare Sunline in the George Main Stakes. He was desperately unlucky in the Victoria Derby, where he had to be checked when winner Blackfriars took his running. He will something special in the autumn.

Katima

A very spirited young filly! She won the very first two year old race of her season, the Gimcrack, but dashed her Golden Slipper aspirations with some atrocious behaviour. She carted Shogun Lodge off the track when running third in the Silver Slipper, and had to be scratched from the 2 Year Old Classic at Kembla after some dreadful misbehaving at the barrier. She came back a much calmer horse in the spring, where she performed reasonably well in some of the top 3 year old fillies races. She should be exciting to watch in the autumn.

Unidentified Horse

Prior to the Gosford Slipper, which was won by Night Shift's best performed Australian son Align, this clever horse decided it didn't think much of Shane Dye. Face first into the bougainvilleas he went. Good on you, equine friend!.

Surely the most important part of any race is the finish. It may be important to owners to know that their horse was in the lead at the 5 metre mark, but if it's not there at the finish post, well, that horse just won't go home with a pretty ribbon round his neck! Here is a selection of race finishes featuring horses I like.

I was almost as pleased as the Ingham brothers and John Hawkes when Arena came from behind and flew to the front to claim the 1998 Victoria Derby. The Danehill colt firmly cemented his champion status, won a place in the Melbourne Cup, and made the form of our horse Late Whisper look all the more impressive. Despite the fact that he ran only 15th in the Cup, he still did himself, and his connections, proud.

First up, we have the lovely grey mare Lahar winning her first significant race, the Christmas Cup at Rosehill in 1998. She was 20 to 1 so I was rightly pleased! I keenly followed every start from then on, and she turned in some super performances. Second to Intergaze in the Doomben Cup. Third to Tie The Knot in the Sydney Cup. She travelled to Melbourne for the spring, where she performed only fairly in the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. In the race that mattered most though, the Melbourne Cup, regular rider Corey Brown was back on board. He had her in the perfect spot, and if the race had just been fractionally longer, it would have been hers. As the photo shows, she was agonisingly close to winner Rogan Josh. It was a Cup I'll remember for many years to come. Hopefully she and her stablemate Pasta Express can quinella is next year!

On October 10 1998, this 5 year old stablemate of Lahar ran second in his comeback race at Kembla to a horse called Late Whisper. He then proceeded to win his next four races, each time stepping up in distance. On this day, he won a 2800 metere race by over 5 lengths. No prizes for guessing what Paul Cave's long-term plans are for this horse! Pasta Express has an impressive trademark finishing burst, where he likes to come from behind and sprint down the outside, making his competition look rather embarrassing. Unfortunately he suffered a broken foot in the Summer Cup, in which he placed an amazing and very brave second. His races since his return had been rather ordinary, with a single win at Canterbury, although he did run a great third to Tie The Knot on George Main Stakes day. The true Pasta Express was back on November 21 however. With an insane 60.5kg impost, he won the Kembla Grange Cup in track record time, emulating the win of stablemate Lahar 12 months before. It will be great to see him reach the heights she has achieved.

On the 28th of February, 1998, I was introduced to Quick Flick. I watched a handsome grey gelding being walked around the stalls, over and over again. He was first into the parade ring for the Apollo Stakes, by some minutes, and first onto the track. I watched with some amusement as he galloped rather quickly to the barrier. A bit too quickly, I thought. When the field jumped, he went straight to the lead and drew out several lengths on the field. By the time they hit the home straight he was I don't know how many lengths in front, and the crowd got to their feet and *applauded* him over the line. You would have thought he'd just won the Melbourne Cup! I'm not sure what race he was winning in this photo, but doesn't he look impressive. :-) Unfortunately, after a lacklustre series of races in 1999, Quick Flick suffered an intestinal problem, and after an operation had to be retired. Hopefully he will be become a clerk of the course, so his fans can still see him now and then :)

On the 28th of February, we had Wave A Wand racing at Warwick Farm. She was very agitated in the parade ring, and working up a sweat. In contrast, I noticed a little grey filly walking along just behind her. She was very calm, looking almost sleepy, and didn't seem to be affected by the heat. Her name was Rubicall. She of course ended up winning the race (Wave A Wand came near the tail, poor girl). Since that day I've been following Rubicall's progress. In this photo she is winning the Sweet Embrace Stakes, which earned her a place in the Golden Slipper. She was in the process of coming home extremely well in this race, when Mick Dittman shifted out for god knows what reason on Shovhog, hitting her so hard she dipped onto her nose. She was lucky not to fall, and if she had fallen there is no doubt she would have been seriously injured. Shovhog ran second and Rubicall managed to beat one horse home. Despite a nice second in the Silver Shadow Stakes in her comeback after the Slipper, she has never really regained her 2 year old form. Well... until she won a stakes race in early February of '99, that is! In a beautiful piece of irony, she was ridden to victory by, you guessed it, Mick Dittman. Connections had but one thing to say to him after the race - "You owed us that one!"

Umm... well this is what has to happen before you have a race finish :-) This one was at Rosehill on November 22, 1998.