January 14, 2014Win sees Blizzardly deliver for Kellys
- TONY ARROLD
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- JANUARY 13, 2014 12:00
BLIZZARDLY now holds a special place among the 60-odd broodmares on the Newhaven Stud, the southern NSW property for four generations of the Kelly family.
She is the mother of Unencumbered, the $2 million Magic Millions Classic winner at the Gold Coast on Saturday – the win coming 24 hours after a Newhaven-bred colt topped the MM yearling sale at a neat $1m.
How Blizzardly arrived on the Boorowa stud in 2006 may have had a bit to do with her two-year-old form of 2005 when she ran with credit against Media, a quality Gilded Time filly that raced in the famous Newhaven Park colours of founder John Kelly senior.
Blizzardly was herself a MM yearling buy at $60,000 in 2004 for Hartman Bloodstock, which raced the More Than Ready filly in a partnership to wins at Randwick and Moonee Valley at two and three years before being acquired by Newhaven Park.
Blizzardly was placed third to Media in the Group II Magic Night Stakes and one week later she checked in a creditable sixth of 16 in the Group I Golden Slipper Stakes.
Newhaven Park prepared Blizzardly for sale to the 2011 MM National broodmare sale, when she was carrying Unencumbered, but did not accept the market value when bidding stopped at $240,000. Blizzardly was returned to the Boorowa stud where, in the third week of October, she foaled her future MM Classic winner.
Unencumbered, by the runaway 1998 MM Classic winner Testa Rossa, was in Newhaven Park’s draft for the 2013 MM Gold Coast sale where he was bought by young Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker for $70,000.
“Attitude, attitude, attitude … the best of any horse I’ve trained,” Baker said of the first runner he’s saddled at the MM January carnival and who he will now give a break in training before the Golden Slipper in April.
April will also hold an interest for Newhaven Park as its draft to the Sydney Easter yearling sales includes Unencumbered’s half-sister, by Bernardini. Blizzardly foaled a filly to Commands in November and then visited Lonhro’s son Denman.
Son of renowned New Zealand trainer Murray Baker, Bjorn Baker recalled on Saturday how he had 15 years ago been working with yearlings off the Wakefield Stud and attended the MM Classic meeting to see Testa Rossa destroy his rivals.
Unencumbered did not match his sire’s four-length margin to claim his $1.9m prize on Saturday but he went about his task professionally to win by three-quarters of a length.