Group Three winner Ears Back provided John Blackadder with fond memories on the track, and following her retirement from racing she is being offered as a broodmare prospect in Gavelhouse.com’s latest auction.
Blackadder raced the daughter of Jakkalberry on lease, and she went on to win nine of her 48 starts, including the Gr.3 Metric Mile (1600m) and Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m), and earned just shy of $360,000 in prizemoney.
“She was a great mare,” Blackadder said. “She loved the Central Districts. She won the Listed race at Wanganui and the Group Three at Wellington, which was her biggest win.”
While rapt with those two black-type wins, Blackadder said she had plenty of other highlights in the South Island.
“Winning the Southland Stakes was one of the highlights for me, it was over 1400m, which wasn’t quite her distance,” he said. “She also won the Timaru Cup (1600m), it was a very good field and it’s a shame it wasn’t a Listed race.”
Blackadder also gave Ears Back an opportunity at elite-level in last year’s Gr.1 Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham, where she was unplaced in a hot field.
“She deserved to go there, but as it turned out it was one of the best Group One fields we have had for a long time,” he said.
Blackadder continued to race her last season but decided to call time on her racing career following her unplaced run in the Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m) on ANZAC Day.
“My lease ran out at the end of the season, and with her barrier manners, she was just telling us that she had enough,” he said.
Novara Park Stud, who stood her sire, currently leads the bidding at $15,250, and Blackadder believes she will make a great broodmare.
“When you dig deep into her breeding on her dam side, it is a pretty amazing breed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Blackadder was set to line-up a couple of runners at Riccarton on Saturday, however, following heavy rain overnight he said he will likely scratch Mr Fortrus and he will wait until raceday morning before deciding whether Atullibigeal takes his place in the Listen Live On Sportnation.nz Open (1600m)
Mr Fortrus has been a standout on the synthetic over winter, particularly in his last two starts where he has won more than $66,000.
While he won’t take his place on Saturday, Blackadder said he will likely have one more run before having a freshen-up in preparation for a tilt at some stakes assignments during New Zealand Cup Week.
“I don’t think I will start him because we have had a lot of rain,” Blackadder said. “I will wait for the 12th (of September), where there is a nice open sprint, and then I will tip him out for a couple of weeks.
“We will keep him to the open sprints and if he carries on, we will probably look at the Pegasus (Listed, 1000m) and the Stewards (Listed, 1200m).
“He is very fast and he likes to be out in front, which takes the luck out of things when you are up on the pace.”
Atullibigeal has had just two starts for Blackadder since returning from Hong Kong, finishing sixth on a Heavy10 track at Oamaru last month before placing on Riccarton’s synthetic track over 1400m last week.
“When he went to Oamaru it was a really sticky track and he didn’t handle it one bit,” Blackadder said. “He was very unlucky last start, he couldn’t get out at all.”
“I won’t know until Saturday morning whether I will start him. He has won on the Heavy up in Auckland as a two-year-old before he went to Hong Kong.”
Atullibigeal won two of his five starts in New Zealand for former trainer Carl Henderson, including the Listed Futurity Stakes (1400m), before being sold to Hong Kong where he won a further four races.
“He has won $2.5 million, so he’s not a bad horse,” Blackadder said.
Looking ahead to spring, Blackadder is looking forward to the return of stakes performer Show Pony, who is on a path towards the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) at Riccarton on the middle day of New Zealand Cup Week in November.
“Show Pony had a very good trial on Tuesday and he just needs good ground,” Blackadder said. “The TAB Mile is his main aim, and he will go to a 75 1400m
