Australia’s oldest living Golden Slipper win Ha Ha has died at age 27 with Yvonne Clerke’s Glastonbury Farm announcing her passing last week.
Earlier this year she was the subject of a Breednet story as I was a part of that story, click here to read.
Trained by Gai Waterhouse for John Singleton, Ha Ha was a fast and natural juvenile that won on debut and raced through a busy first season with nine starts highlighted by her win in the 2001 G1 Golden Slipper when she defeated stablemates Excellerator and Red Hannigan.
An epic failure as a broodmare, Ha Ha was given the very best opportunities with the very best stallions and for her first cover was sent to Ireland for a mating with Sadler’s Wells that produced a colt.
He sold for $1.3million at the 2006 Magic Millions and went on to win one minor race over 1900m as Standing Ovation and after that it was all downhill for Ha Ha, despite the best efforts of all of those who cared for her.
He was her only winner and she had only two other named fillies by Encosta de Lago that amounted to nothing and her only active female descendant according to Australian Studbook is Light Bulb Moment, who was sold through Magic Millions Online last year for $600.
The Champion 2YO and 3YO Filly of her generation, Ha Ha was a rare unicorn whose genetics have stopped there with her after she was officially dropped from the Studbook in 2017.
Fortunately, she was a favourite of John Singleton and when Strawberry Hill was sold to Coolmore in 2023, Ha Ha and Sunday Joy (AJC Oaks winner and dam of the great champion More Joyous), were sent to Yvonne Clerke in the Hunter Valley to be cared for and live out their days.
Ha Ha… you will be missed.
