Quick thinking leads to success at Motree Thoroughbreds

by Renée Geelen

The enthusiasm at Motree Thoroughbreds is infectious, and their stallion line up now includes three Gr1 winners with the arrival of dual Gr1 winner Yulong Prince this season. “It’s been quite a journey over the last fifteen years,” said Mandy Gunn whose first horse was a 50% share in White Yard (Partners ChoiceScottish Lass, by Devon Flyer) who cost Gunn and her sister only $7,000. She won a Magic Millions race and they spent the $5,000 bonus voucher on a black filly named Morell (West Quest-Waminda, by Fearless Pride). “Morell is Gaelic for black and she’s a black filly. She won once and has been a super broodmare for us. Mandela Effect (Turffontein) is a Listed winner who has earned over $700,000, while her third foal Galenus (Magnus) has won nearly $300,000.”

It was Gunn’s third racehorse that really hooked her on thoroughbred racing. In 2009, Gunn spent $2,100 to buy a yearling who she named Banca Mo (Tough Speed-I Gotcha Babe, by Mukddaam). “He’s what really corrupted me. He won a bunch of cups and $820,000. He took me all over the place and gave me amazing memories.” Banca Mo won twelve races including the Listed Mornington Cup, Listed Warrnambool Cup, the Pakenham Cup, and placed in the Gr3 Hobart Cup and Gr3 Launceston Cup and Listed Ipswich Cup.

“It was then that I decided to try and breed another horse like Banca Mo, and even named the farm in his honour. I started out with three broodmares, and Chris at Blue Gum Farm told me not to get more than twelve mares. Now I have around fifty broodmares on the property, so that advice wasn’t listened to!”

The first foals for Gr1 Australian Derby winner Quick Thinker are eagerly awaited this spring at Motree Thoroughbreds. Quick Thinker showed his racing ability early, winning the Listed Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie for two year-olds at only his second start, and was sent to Australia for his three year-old campaign. He opened his account with a win in the Gr3 Ming Dynasty Handicap over 1400m, then ran third to future Gr1 winner Shadow Hero in the Gr3 Gloaming Stakes. Back in the autumn, Quick Thinker won the Gr2 Tulloch Stakes and the big one, the Gr1 Australian Derby. As an older horse, he added the Gr2 Chairman’s Handicap, making him a stakes winner from 1400m to 2600m. Quick Thinker’s sire So You Think was a brilliant racehorse and has followed it up as a sire with 53 stakes winners including eleven Gr1 winners. His sire sons are only young and Quick Thinker is one of the first handful to retire to stud. Quick Thinker’s dam Acouplamas was a stakes placed winner and she’s also left Gr3 winner Seasons (Sebring) and group placed winner The August (I Am Invincible). This is the family of Gr1 winner and quality sire Blackfriars (Danehill) with the family continuing to produce stakes class horses such as this season’s Listed winner Bengal Boy.

“I was never ever having a stallion here at Motree and then I saw Quick Thinker for sale at an Inglis Digital Sale. I just love staying horses, and OTI Racing helped me out with the purchase. Just after that, I was out mustering sheep and Phil Campbell rang and said, ‘I see you’ve bought a stallions and you said you’d never have one, so how about two?’ I laughed, but then he offered me Turffontein who is Mandela Effect’s sire. Both Quick Thinker and Turffontein are good natured, easy to deal with stallions and I have Sean O’Donovan as stallion manager now.”

Dual Gr1 winner Yulong Prince moves to Motree Thoroughbreds for this season. The handsome son of Champion South African Sire Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready) covered 84 mares in his first season, who are rising yearlings. Yulong Prince won three of his first four starts, improving at three to run second in both the Gr1 South African Classic and Gr1 South African Derby before winning the Gr1 Daily News 2000 Stakes. He travelled to Dubai on his way to Australia, where he won the Listed Furphy Stakes before ending his career with a win in the Gr1 Cantala Stakes with Cascadian in second, and several other Gr1 winners in the beaten brigade. From a strong European family, Yulong Prince carries damsires Diktat, Shirley Heights, and Crepello, with group horses like Endorsement, Mores Wells, Milly Moss and others in his female pedigree.

“I bought a couple of mares in foal to Yulong Prince, then rang Yulong Farm to tell them how good the colts were that we ended up with. They offered Yulong Prince for lease, and Sean said, ‘Absolutely not. No more stallions.’ But we went to inspect him, leaving it to Sean to make the call. He loved him when he met him, saying he’s a real athletic horse with a huge overstep.”

Proven sire Turffontein has seven stakes winners. He was a winner at two, a group winner at three, and won both the Gr1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and Gr1 William Reid Stakes at five. His winners average more than three wins each, so breeders looking for a value sire who can leave a tough horse that wins multiple times, Turffontein is worth a look.

“It’s been a great journey over the last fifteen years, I have met some great people and been to some fascinating places. I have these stallions as they are good enough to upgrade my own mares, so it’s commercially sensible for me. With the number of mares on the farm it makes sense to have Gr1 horses right here.”

Motree Thoroughbreds 2023 Roster

Quick Thinker (AUS) (So You ThinkAcouplamas, by Al Maher) $5,500

Turffontein (AUS) (Johannesburg-Spirit of Grace, by Dr Grace) $4,400

Yulong Prince (SAF) (GimmethegreenlightCongestion Charge, by Diktat) $5,500

THREE GR1 winning stallions from the world’s leading sirelines

Multiple Gr1 winner of over $1.4 million, 2yo winner over 1200m. Defeated 7 Gr1 winners including Cascadian in the Gr1 Cantala Stakes.

Yulong Prince is by champion sire

Gimmethegreenlight whose sire the great More Than Ready has left two Golden Slipper winners and two Magic Millions 2yo winners.

From the More Than Ready line

Yulong Prince

From the Storm Cat line

Turffontein

Multiple Gr1 winner of over $1.27 million, 2yo winner, a crack Australian performer at elite levels. Proven multiple Group producing sire of millionaires Fontein Ruby $1.05m, Widgee Turf $1.26m, Fontiton, Lyuba etc, winners of over $21million. Sire of over 61% winners to runners.

Quick Thinker

Gr1 ATC Derby winner, 2yo winner, multiple group winner from 1400m to 2600m.

Stunning individual by Australia’s leading classic sire So You Think from the family of outstanding stallion Blackfriars.