The emergence of unbeaten filly Proxima Dea has added another chapter to a breeding venture that began with the racetrack deeds of outstanding mare Montefilia and has its sights set firmly on producing elite middle-distance horses.
Proxima Dea, a daughter of Westbury Stud stallion Tarzino and Redoute’s Choice mare Invisible Coin, has won all three starts for Rosehill trainer David Payne and is now being aimed towards the Gr.1 VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington in November.
The filly was bred and is raced by Andy Giles, Hugh Docherty and Caroline Vincent through Transtasman Breeders Pty Ltd, with Vincent’s partner Richard Kurland the driving force behind the group’s involvement in thoroughbreds.
“Richard has been into horses since he was a kid,” Sydney-based Giles said. “He’s from South Africa and moved over to Australia.
“I met him 20-odd years ago in a law firm, and Hugh was working for a company in the same building. We all got to know each other well, and Richard and Hugh decided they wanted to buy their own horses rather than being involved in 10 percent syndicate-type scenarios.”
One of those early purchases was Bona Dea Tapit, who failed to make the grade on the racetrack but has subsequently produced Sydney winner Hereward.
The other was Montefilia, who became one of Australia’s leading middle-distance mares, winning four Group Ones for Payne including the Flight Stakes (1600m), Spring Champion Stakes (2000m), Metropolitan (2400m) and Ranvet Stakes (2000m).
“It all basically kicked off with Montefilia’s success,” Giles said. “Richard and Caroline said, ‘Let’s buy a few more horses and do a bit of breeding.’
“We rode the Montefilia wave and Richard went crazy on Gavelhouse in New Zealand, along with a few purchases over here in Australia.”
Among those purchases was Invisible Coin, a daughter of Redoute’s Choice who would prove particularly well bought.
Crucially, the group secured her before the deeds of her daughter Gypsy Goddess had significantly enhanced the mare’s value.
“We purchased Invisible Coin before Gypsy Goddess started winning,” Giles said.
“All of a sudden she was an early favourite for the Australian Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m), which she went on to finish runner-up, and then she won the Queensland Oaks (Gr.1, 2200m).
“On the back of her success, it was a pretty quick decision that Tarzino was a good option.”
Not only had Tarzino produced Gypsy Goddess, he was also the sire of Jungle Magnate who had advertised his ability to sire high-class staying three-year-olds with victory in the Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m).
The resulting foal was Proxima Dea, whose name means “Another Goddess” in Latin, a nod to her celebrated older sister.
The initial intention was commercial, with Proxima Dea offered for sale at the Sydney Easter Yearling Sale, but she never changed hands.
“There wasn’t much appetite for that type of horse here,” Giles said.
“She’s very skinny and she’s still got a long way to go, but we sent her to our old mate David Payne.
“As a South African, Richard was very much in awe of Payne’s deeds as a trainer in South Africa, where he was champion trainer before he relocated to Australia.”
Sending Proxima Dea to Payne is once again looking an increasingly shrewd decision.
After an extensive education through the trials, Proxima Dea caused a 50-1 upset when winning on debut over 1400m in Sydney in July. She followed with another victory over 1600m at Gosford before maintaining her unbeaten record with a determined performance over 1800m at Rosehill last Saturday.
The further she has gone, the better she has looked, and her spring programme is expected to continue along those lines.
“The Victorian Oaks on November 5 is the main goal,” Giles said.
“I think David’s other plan is the Gloaming, which is a Group Three over 1800m, and he is also interested in the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m), which might be an option.”
The philosophy behind Transtasman Breeders is similarly geared towards stamina.
The operation was established to manage a broodmare band spread between Australia and New Zealand, with mares having been based at Rich Hill Stud and Haunui Farm in New Zealand.
“We decided to incorporate an entity to take care of all the breeding side of things, so we called it Transtasman Bloodstock as we had mares on both sides of the ditch,” Giles said.
“The idea was not to mess around breeding sprinting types just because it’s very competitive. The ultimate goal is to get that Melbourne Cup winner somewhere along the line.”
The broodmare band has been trimmed to more manageable numbers, with Invisible Coin recently sold in foal to Anamoe, while the group also sold its breeding right in the champion son of Street Boss.
“We’ve got about six mares that we would say are active or slightly active, and then we’ve got two other broodmares that are just living out their days elsewhere,” Giles said.
“We needed to reduce the numbers a little bit. Richard and Hugh are both getting older and it was getting too big to manage.”
There are still youngsters coming through that fit the Transtasman model, including another Tarzino filly out of Colleraine that Giles hopes can progress through the grades.\
And while a Melbourne Cup winner remains the long-term ambition, a VRC Oaks at Flemington would be a pretty handy stepping stone. – NZ Racing Desk
