9 minute read
Ruby Racing & Breeding
from 2024 MMWA Magazine
For a young operation - selling commercially only since 2020 - Ruby Racing & Breeding has been quick to make a favourable impression, already achieving the dream that many take years, even decades to achieve… Group 1 success!
Purchased as a pin-hooking prospect from Mungrup Stud for $32,500, Bustler was sold by Ruby to Ridgeport Holdings for $130,000 at the 2021 Perth Magic Millions with the farm’s Jaime and Daniel O’Bree (whose parents Rod and Bridie fostered their thoroughbred passion)making the wise decision to remain in the ownership
A decision which saw them in the winner’s circle after the running of the Group 1 Railway Stakes at Ascot In November… with a horse from just their second ever commercial sales draft
And what a day it was, Ruby also represented by another two winners at that feature meetingOnemoretwomany and Starry Heights both Ruby graduates
Sold at last year’s Perth Magic Millions for $70,000, Onemoretwomany - who had been purchased by a client for $12,000 at the previous year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale - has raced on two occasions
And both times he has proven too fast and too classy for his rivals, at debut taken on but finding plenty to win over 1100m at Ascot before rising in class and taking out the Magic Millions Gai Waterhouse Crystal Slipper by 1 ¾ lengths
Meanwhile Starry Heights was just as impressive recording his sixth consecutive victory from just eleven starts
“We sat there hoping the first horse would win and then thinking there is no way we could get a second winner. And then the grand final, a Group 1… I had a sore throat for a couple of days!”
Bred by Ruby clients Ellie Giles and Premium Bloodstock, the speedy and talented four-year-old was sold to the Grant & Alana Williams stable for $35,000 at the 2021 Perth Magic Millions
That was some day for the stud with Daniel telling us that it all felt rather dream-like
“We sat there hoping the first horse would win and then thinking there is no way we could get a second winner And then the grand final, a Group 1… I had a sore throat for a couple of days!”
Daniel recalls being very happy to remain in the ownership of Bustler after the sales - “he was probably the nicest colt of our crop that year and we had a lot of faith in Playing God which ended up coming to fruition ”
Bustler is not the only horse Ruby have remained in after the sales - cleverly keeping a share in an Extreme Choice colt bred by them and sold to the Newgate Colts Syndicate Cheering Tiger Of Malay home to wins in the Gr 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Group 3 Up & Coming Stakes, they are now happy to support him in his stud career
“We could not let a horse like him go and we were lucky that during the depths of Covid that Newgate bought him and let us stay in Breeding and racing a horse like him - then being able to breed foals by him, it’s the stuff dreams are made of for a new farm ”
And Daniel is delighted with the quality of Tiger Of Malay’s first foals - “they are just like him, and just like Extreme Choice; laid-back dudes who you can do anything with They are never stressed, never out of their comfort zone ”
Whilst their parents were hobby breeders - breeding only one every year or so - their son and daughter are ambitious in their desire to really make a go of the commercial world - a move to a bigger, better farm last year part of the long-term plan
Settling in well on 2000 plus acres outside of Geraldton, they are happy to be further north than most studs, making the most of a temperate climate and the sort of land that builds strong horses
“It is perfect horse land,” Daniel noted - “massive paddocks, hard ground, rocks, streams… our horses always look great, especially in winter; their coats are always more forward than horses bred further south ”
“Committed long-term” to the horse industry, Ruby is home not only to thoroughbreds but to polo cross horses and stock horses - providing around the clock care for foals, a service much appreciated by breeders across the state
Ruby Racing & Breeding is a lovely mix of the commercial and the sentimental, the horses so professionally prepared for the sales and for their racing careers whilst the love of the animal and the family’s history with them is so appreciated
As indicated by Jaime and Daniel’s choice when naming their venture… Ruby the nickname of the first foal they have a memory of, a Surtee filly bred by their parents when they were young
Named Emerald Dancer, she was no superstar - winning a couple of races at Geraldton - but she was much loved… and still is, at the age of 22 happily gracing the family’s paddocks
Looking forward to the 2024 Perth Magic Millions, Ruby present an impressive draft of twelve yearlings by a variety of stallions including Bustler’s sire Playing Gold, the late and much missed I’m All The Talk (his final draft), Xtravagant, Snippetson, Rommel, Microphone and King’s Legacy…
Lot 51 brown filly Playing God - Drinkwhatyoulike (Denman)
The first foal for a city winner has impressed Daniel with her progress - “she has developed into exactly what you want to see from a Playing God, a strong filly who moves well ”
Lot 59 bay colt Microphone - Feliciana (Shooting To Win)
A grandson of the dual stakes winner Rio Osa, she is “a typical Microphone - a strong horse with a great attitude, he loves his work He is a horse from a family we know really well - that which produced Tiger Of Malay - and we really like him ”
Lot 69 bay colt Xtravagant - Greytfilly (Ferocity)
“A horse who stands over a lot of ground,” he is by a stallion who “has had some nice types in Perth” out of a Group 3 placed city winner who showed enough ability to contest the Gold Coast Magic Millions - finishing off nicely after ending up too far back in running
Lot 106 bay/brown colt King’s Legacy - Mansera (Manduro)
“Manighar was one of my very favourite horses,” Daniel enthused, “I absolutely loved him and I am rapt to have one out of his half-sister in our draft And we are excited to have one of the first King’s Legacys to go through the ring - especially as he has been such a good, straightforward horse to work with ”
Lot 143 black/brown gelding Rommel - Real Beauty (I Am Invincible)
“He is just what you’d expect by Rommel out of a Vinnie mare - a beautiful, strong type,” and a well related one too with his grandam being the dual stakes winner Real Charm
Lot 225 bay/brown filly Safeguard - Classic Princess (Choisir)
“She comes from the same breeders as the promising Safeguard two-year-old Sinful Living who has been putting the wins together - and she is a classic Safeguard yearling, a good, strong type who gets her work done ”
Lot 230 bay colt Snippetson - Dance On Air (Perugino)
From the penultimate crop of his reliable sire, he is a half-brother to an extra smart one - the outstanding filly Clairvoyance who won seven of her 11 starts including the Listed Pinjarra Classic; her career brought to a premature end by injury “It is really nice to be selling a nice, strong half-brother to such a good horse - and very nice that Clairvoyance has recovered enough from her injury to go to stud (served last spring by Maurice)
Lot 258 brown colt Playing God - Hazel Hellraiser (Due Sasso)
A horse with “a couple of Railway Stakes winners on his page,” he is “a big, scopey type as most of the good ones from his family are We have been really happy with his progression throughout his preparation ”
Lot 267 chestnut filly I’m All The Talk - Jesse Quick (Due Sasso)
Out of a half-sister to the juvenile stakes winner She’s In Demand from her sire’s final crop, she is “one of the easiest horses you could ever deal with - she does nothing wrong and she is strong and athletic ”
Lot 325 bay filly Long Leaf - She Rules All (Universal Ruler)
A half-sister to the stakes placed triple city winner Aiyza, she was pin-hooked by Ruby in the hope that she would improve - and she has done just that, putting on 30kg in the three weeks prior to our chat with Daniel“she just keeps getting better and better,” he enthused, “and she is the sort of filly who is going to continue to improve for her new owners ”
Lot 332 brown filly War Chant - Soy Tan Rapido (Patronize)
Out of a city winning half-sister to the Group 3 galloper Chantski whose daughter Stormchaser is racing in such great form, she is a good type of filly who “has really pleased us with her preparation ”
Lot 341 bay filly I’m All The Talk - Thunderplump (Oratorio)
With all 13 of the I’m All The Talk runners out of Oratorio mares being winners; three stakes performers including the triple Group winner Watch Me Dance, this filly is a nice way for Ruby to see out the sale - and “she is very typical of the good I’m All The Talks; a textbook sales type who will be in demand ” n
