A passion for pedigrees and thoroughbreds is often one that lasts a lifetime and so it has been for one of the co-breeders of Bravery, who contacted me this week following our earlier and very well read story on current 2YO star Cool Archie.
Cool Archie has a pedigree steeped in history - image Grant Courtney
An email came through to Breednet, the day after the story was published.
Thank you for the wonderful article on Cool Archie/Bravery. Few would know the connection between the two horses.
There is another interesting story about this pair. If you ever want to hear it give me a call. My wife, Sharon, is helping me write this email as I am now 93, half blind and half deaf. However I am still vitally interested in the breeding side of racing.
Pedigree guru Malcolm Campbell is still a passionate follower of all things thoroughbred breeding - image supplied
That call was made today and the privilege was all mine to hear Malcolm Campbell tell me the story of how Bravery was bred and why Cool Archie is now adding to her legacy.
“My wife reads the stories to me and that one touched the heart of an old man,” revealed Campbell, who has spent a lifetime obsessed with pedigrees.
He has enjoyed much success for many years as an advisor to varied clients that included Lindsay Park back in the days of Colin Hayes and the Dabernig family, also Bob Lapointe and the Doncaster Syndicate were others to reap the rewards of his wisdom.
Malcolm with his pedigree insights and the late bloodstock agent Les Young were instrumental in the rise of Brian Mayfield -Smith to be leading Sydney trainer in the mid 1980’s backed by a fine stable of horses trained out of Rosehill at Nebo Lodge.
Bravery, who was bred and retained to race by the Doncaster Syndicate, was one of those horses.
“I was very keen to buy her mother, she was an American mare called Front Stage and traced directly to La Troienne, one of the most important broodmares in history,” Campbell recalled.
“I love La Troienne, love to see her in a pedigree and we had high hopes for Front Stage, who we bought at the Gold Coast in a dispersal sale. All of us in the Doncaster Syndicate (that also included Bob Lapointe, Biddy Oquist, Bob Leffler and Les Young ) had a turn picking a stallion for her each year and in 1983 it was my turn and I picked Zephyr Zip.
“He was by Zephyr Bay and he traced back to Eulogy, another mare that has had an incredible impact and you just love to have her in a pedigree.”
The genetic magic of La Troienne and Eulogy delivered something special in Bravery and continues to have an impact some 40 years later with the emergence of Cool Archie.
“Last year an old friend, Phillip Law, contacted me and said he’d found a mare on Inglis Digital (June late) that traced back to Bravery and she was by Redoute’s Choice,” Campbell revealed.
“Her name was Awareness and she was in foal to Cool Aza Beel, so I told him to have a bid…. And amazingly he got her for $700.”
Awareness is a winning half-sister to Cool Archie and her resulting filly born last October is a three-quarter sister-in-blood to the colt who is set to chase G1 glory next Saturday in the $1million BRC JJ Atkins (1600m).
Cool Aza Beel traces directly back to Melbourne Cup winner Rainbird in his tail female line.
Cool Aza Beel is a young stallion Malcom Campbell has a lot of time for with his enthusiasm for the Newhaven Park based son of Savabeel rooted in his childhood.
“When I was a kid of 13 back in 1945, I was living in a little town in New Zealand called Ashburton and I was learning to ride,” he reflected.
“They mostly had trotters there at the time, but I liked the thoroughbreds better and a mare called Rainbird won the Melbourne Cup that year and I became obsessed with her.
“I followed her whole racing career and then when she went to stud, I kept following her offspring and theirs and so on, right through to now and Cool Aza Beel, he descends directly from her.”
Malcolm Campbell will be cheering hard for Cool Archie on Saturday week and if he wins the G1 it will be an emotional moment for a man who has spent his life reading, planning and understanding pedigrees in a way rarely seen in the modern world of bloodstock.
The names on a pedigree page are living, breathing horses in the mind’s eye of Campbell, whose extraordinary knowledge and recall is impressive to this day.
“I’ve had a lot of luck in life and have helped breed a lot of good horses. You get a lot of satisfaction from all of those winners, but they can’t all be champions,” Campbell said mentioning Sea Pictures (Rolle(GB)), Beau Rossa (Unencumbered) and more recently Seradess (Astern)as Group winners that were by stallions considered less than fashionable.
“Cool Archie has La Troienne, Eulogy and Rainbird in him, my very favourite families…. I just hope he gets a chance at stud one day.”
