Mr Cojuangco and Gooree Park are synonymous with success in many of Australia's biggest races, breeding and racing champions such as six-time Group 1 winner Desert War (Desert King {Ire}) and the highly influential but ill-fated stallion Northern Meteor and racing G1 Australian Derby winner Don Eduardo (NZ).
As Chairman and Chief Executive of San Miguel, one of south-east Asia's largest food and beverage businesses, a philanthropist and a former politician, Cojuangco, also known as Danding, was a giant in political, business and sporting circles in his home country.
But he also had a soft spot for Australia, buying his first horse in 1959 and setting up Gooree Park at Mudgee over 40 years ago. It has long been under the eye of trusted Stud Manager Andrew Baddock, who said Cojuangco's achievements sit up there with the most influential breeders in Australian thoroughbred history.
Andrew Baddock and Eduardo Cojuangco
"He was one of the old style breeders that have seen plenty come and go. He's been around for four generations, breeding high-class horses. He was one of the few very successful businessmen who you would come across who could take the highs and lows of breeding," Baddock told TDN AusNZ.
"A lot of very successful businessmen come in and can't accept both the ups and the downs, but he was in for the long haul. He bred multiple Group 1-quality horses and had this ability to breed a multitude of commercial stallions."
"He was in for the long haul. He bred multiple Group 1-quality horses and had this ability to breed a multitude of commercial stallions." - Andrew Baddock
Other Group 1 winners to be produced from Gooree Park include Laser Hawk (Artie Schiller {USA}), Hallowed Crown, Your Song and Prized Icon (More Than Ready {USA}), while the likes of Mr Murphy (Danehill {USA}), Barkada (Spectrum {Ire}), Shower Of Roses (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and Snowland (Snippets) have graced the Group 1 winners' circle in the iconic red with black stripes.
Cojuangco’s impact on the Australian industry was celebrated with his 2015 induction into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame.
He also tasted racing success in the Northern Hemisphere, notably through the 1987 US Turf Horse Of The Year and G1 Breeders' Cup winner Manila (USA) (Lyphard {USA}).
Gooree Park Stud
Baddock said the decision to buy 5800 acres at Mudgee for development into thoroughbred breeding and pre-training facilities, as well as into land for beef, sheep, cropping and use as a winery, was visionary and set the scene for the success of Gooree Park over 40 years.
"When he bought the property, he bought in the right area here at Mudgee and developed it into a showpiece. Whilst the white fencing looks great, it doesn't make them run faster and he just had the ability to rear a very good horse here," he said.
"He was a clever businessman, but he was a clever breeder too. He often bred left field. A lot of his good horses were by what you would call non-commercial stallions." - Andrew Baddock
"He was a clever businessman, but he was a clever breeder too. He often bred left field. A lot of his good horses were by what you would call non-commercial stallions. He didn’t just follow the crowd and breed what was in fashion at the time.
"He pumped a lot into the industry, here locally in Mudgee, but also through a lot of stud farms and trainers across the country. He bred a very good horse and he will be fondly remembered."
A legacy of breeding and buying the elite
Baddock also pointed to Cojuangco's considerable success in purchasing top yearlings, including future Group 1 winners Shower Of Roses and Don Eduardo, who cost NZ$1.45 million and NZ$3.6 million respectively through the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales at Karaka.
"When he did spend big money on horses, like Don Eduardo and Shower Of Roses, he was able to get Group 1 winners. The key was he let us manage those good horses how we wanted to manage them," he said.
"They were fairly soft mentally and physically when we got them, and we were able to develop them into athletes. It takes a brave man to allow your manager to put a $3 million colt in with a bunch of homebred colts. He let us do what we had to do."
Don Eduardo (NZ)
Baddock said that Cojuangco's greatest achievement was probably breeding a horse of the rare quality and influence of Northern Meteor, but it also provided him with his toughest moment in the thoroughbred industry.
"Northern Meteor was one of those horses who lived up to his breeding and pedigree. His crowning jewel was winning the Coolmore," he said. "But one of his greatest losses in racing was when Northern Meteor died on the day he was crowned Champion First-Season Sire. But he has left a legacy through horses such as Deep Field and Zoustar that will carry on for generations."
The late Northen Meteor
Cojuangco also brokered a landmark sponsorship deal for San Miguel of the AJC in the 1990s, in a period where the industry was in major need of an injection of investment.
"It was a 5-year $40 million deal, which was probably bit of a rush of blood at the time on his behalf. It was more about a gift to Australian racing if nothing else. He was a very wealthy man, but he was very generous too," Baddock said.
The Cummings connection
Cojuangco held a strong connection with Australia's own racing royalty, the Cummings family, with his granddaughter Monica married to Godolphin Australia's head trainer James Cummings.
Together with his own legendary grandfather Bart Cummings, James was able to taste Group 1 success with the Gooree Park-bred and raced Hallowed Crown in the 2014 G1 Golden Rose and 2015 G1 Randwick Guineas.
Hallowed Crown when racing
Across his 35 years at Gooree Park, Baddock was able to get to know the man himself, someone who relished the quiet of his horse haven at Mudgee.
"He was very down to earth, and he craved normality. He had come from the hustle and bustle of political and business life in Manila and he liked nothing more than to go around the fields here at Gooree and look at his mares and foals," he said.
"He was very down to earth, and he craved normality. He had come from the hustle and bustle of political and business life in Manila and he liked nothing more to go around the fields here at Gooree and look at his mares and foals." - Andrew Baddock
"We would go into the pub for lunch here at Mudgee and he'd have a steak and no-one knew who he was. He just loved that.
"That's why he loved Australia, he could walk around here without any pressure. He genuinely loved his horses and he was always looking ahead. He was always looking for the next bunch of foals to see whether there might be one to come through.
"I’m not too sure there are too many like him around these days."
