Win Strikes a Chord

At only his second start, The Musician (3 g Minstrel Court - Carrots, by Ishiguru) showed great heart to win the Thames Valley Insurance Maiden over 1000 metres on Saturday Jan. 4 at Thames, and in doing so provided his stakes' winning sire Minstrel Court (Danehill Dancer) with his first winner.

Owned by the Te Akau Musician Syndicate, he was purchased by Te Akau principal David Ellis for $16,000 at the 2012 NZB South Island 2YO Sale, from the draft of Willow Glen Stud, who stands the sire in South Canterbury.

Given time to strengthen by Te Akau trainer Jason Bridgman since debuting in October at Hastings, The Musician resumed from a 72-day break after being held together when finishing third under his own steam in a recent trial at Te Aroha.

After showing good pace to lead, The Musician travelled on a nice rein for jockey Matt Cameron approaching the home turn and saw off his closest rival for a strong half-length win in 58.27 for the 1000 metres, last 600m in 35.4, and provided fruity odds of $9.80 & $2.80 on the NZ TAB.

“We don't have a lot of runners at Thames, but it's a case of having the right sort of horse and this horse fits the bill,” said Bridgman.

“We had trouble getting him to go slow enough, so I thought 1000 metres might be his go. I talked with Matt (Cameron) before the race and we agreed there was no point trying to hold the horse, just let him run. He flew the barriers and off a quiet trial we not quite sure whether he would have the goods under pressure but he certainly answered that today.

“We will try and find short course races for him. That will be the tough thing as they don't programme enough 1000-metre races in New Zealand, in my opinion, and we wouldn't have to send them around at the trials so much if they programmed more. Anyway, we will have to find a nice race for him in the next grade.

“It's a thrill for the syndicate that races him and also for Willow Glen Stud at Waimate, who stand the sire Minstrel Court - and it's his first winner. Minstrel Court was bought and trained by Te Akau and unfortunately went amiss, but he had a lot of speed himself and was a very good performer,” said Bridgman.

Purchased as a yearling by David Ellis at the 2007 Magic Millions Sale, Minstrel Court (Danehill Dancer - Tregurrian, by Rory's Jester) was prepared by Te Akau trainer Mark Walker to win with ridiculous ease on debut as a two-year-old before going on to success in the Matamata Slipper (Listed, 1200m) in the same season and finishing third to his stable-mate Tell A Tale (Tale Of The Cat) in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) at three.

“He (The Musician) is from his (Minstrel Court) first crop and while he was the pick of the draft we took to the South Island Sales I think there are some stronger, better bred and stronger types in his second crop,” said Barbara Cooney, from Willow Glen Stud.

“This boy (The Musician) is lucky he went to Te Akau because they have put him out a couple of times and allowed him to develop, and he looked strong and beautiful going down in his preliminary. It's great that he went to Te Akau because it provides great publicity for the stallion and it's good for people to see that Te Akau is buying our stock. David (Ellis) gives us great support,” said Cooney.

The Musician is from an unraced Ishiguru mare. His grand-dam, Greensleeves (Green Perfume) raced well fresh up over 1200 metres in winning six times and further back in the family Snuff (Deputy Governor) showed plenty of ability in winning ten races before becoming a good producer. Progeny from Snuff have won twenty-two races and more than NZ$1.5 million in stakes.

“I remember talking to the late Jim Campin who said he mated Greensleeves very well because he had such great faith in her,” said Cooney. “The family was always winning and they were such good types. We actually lost the mare (Carrots), after some implications, and he is the only foal out of the mare.

“Minstrel Court won the Matamata Slipper, which is a sire making race,” said Cooney. “The same race was won by Darci Brahma (Danehill) and other good New Zealand sires have also won that race.”

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