In the same year that Hannah Mathiesen celebrated multiple stakes successes with brilliant filly Away Game (Snitzel), she looks to have found another one in Listed Debutant S. winner Fake Love.
Fake Love was purchased by Mathiesen’s pinhooking group Oakmont Horse Club for $380,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale from the draft of Segenhoe Stud however she passed when returning to the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale the following year.
That looks to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise now that the well-bred filly has already added a black-type win to her CV with a ceiling still to be reached.
“It was very exciting,” Mathiesen told TDN AusNZ. “She was a horse we bought as a weanling for our pinhooking group and we couldn’t sell her as a yearling, but we always thought she was a good horse.
“We had set the bar high for her but to see her actually come out and win on debut was amazing.”
Fake Love winning the Listed Debutant S. on debut
From three horses to race in Australia, two of her purchases have become stakes-winning 2-year-olds, which is a strike-rate even the world’s best bloodstock agents would dream of.
Mathiesen said there are plenty of similarities between the fillies but she does think a little bit of luck has been involved.
“Pedigree wise, they’re both by sires that throw precocious 2-year-olds and physically they’re both strong, early looking horses but to get two horses of that calibre back-to-back I’d say is a bit of luck as well.”
"To get two horses of that calibre back-to-back I’d say is a bit of luck as well.” - Hannah Mathiesen
With successful purchases from both yearling and weanling sales in Australia, Mathiesen said she and her business will continue to target both markets for the foreseeable future.
“I think a good horse can come from any sale so we’re definitely trying to be at all of them and just pick the best athlete we can from each sale,” she said.
“With Oakmont, our main focus is pinhooking so that’s why we tend to go to the weanling sales.
“For Away Game and just racehorses in general, I would tend to lean towards the yearling sales but it doesn’t mean you can’t find a good one at the weanling sales either.”
Intentions
With toes dipped into several aspects of the breeding and bloodstock industry across both Australia and America, Mathiesen said she will continue to spread herself out between buying for herself, buying for clients as well as buying with the intention of pinhooking.
She also believes that buying horses and retaining a share for herself while selling the rest is important and is something she will look to continue with.
“I think it shows a lot of confidence to your clients when you’re buying in yourself and it shows you have confidence in the horse that you’re buying for them,” Mathiesen said.
“I’d love if I could continue to buy a piece of the horse for myself and buy the rest of it for clients and get more people involved that way, so my main focus now, is to continue doing that.
“I have a few different things going on right now.
Hannah (green dress) leads Away Game back to the stalls after winning the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic
“We have the farm in Kentucky which is mainly broodmares and breeding and then some yearling prep, as well and then we're just continuing with our family racing stable and then the pinhooking as well. I’m trying to go down a couple of different avenues and diversify and I think so far it’s going well.”
The current state of the world makes it challenging for any internationals to travel into Australia for the upcoming yearling sale season, but Mathiesen said she will be doing her best to make it to the Magic Millions Sale at the Gold Coast which has been a happy hunting ground for her so far.
However, it’s not only the sale that she’ll be looking forward to with Fake Love set to emulate the path of Away Game and target the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic in the hope of landing the race for Mathiesen for the second consecutive year.
“I’m going to do the best I can to get out there or try and inspect them virtually,” she said. “But if I can’t be there it’s going to be a bit of a challenge.
“I’d love to keep buying because we’ve had some success there and in the Australian racing industry in general.”
