Longtime owner-breeder Howard Blight has been doing it tough of late. The octogenarian recently lost his best friend and love of his life, wife Judy.
And while the mourning continues and the grief is palpable, Blight did receive some much-needed good news when Golden Monkey (Star Turn) – a horse Judy and he bred at their Bendaree Park Stud – won Saturday’s feature race at Kranji, the G3 Singapore Sprint.
Unfancied by punters, the Timothy Fitzsimmons-trained Golden Monkey upstaged hot favourite Silent Is Gold (Star Turn), bursting clear to prevail by than 3l under Oscar Chavez.
“It was good to see him do so well, I was happy that he could win a big race,” Blight told TDN AusNZ.
“Winning a Group 3 by the margin he did was pretty good, pretty smart.”
Golden Monkey is a graduate of the 2020 Inglis Ready2Race Sale, where he was offered by Blake Ryan. Prior to that, the Blights offered him as part of the Byerley Stud draft at the 2020 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, where he was purchased by Research Bloodstock for $54,000.
Golden Monkey as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“We took him to the Classic Sale and we thought he was a pretty smart horse. He didn’t make quite what we thought he would,” Blight said.
Golden Monkey was winless in five starts in Victoria when trained by Clayton Douglas, before being exported to Hong Kong. Josh McLoughlan of Jig Bloodstock purchased the horse and put together a syndicate of owners, one that includes past and present Australian Rules stars Dane Swan, Michael Gardiner and Dustin Martin.
“He looked pretty good in his first run in Singapore and then the Group 3 win was just marvellous, it was lovely, a really good run,” Blight commented.
“He (Golden Monkey) looked pretty good in his first run in Singapore and then the Group 3 win was just marvellous, it was lovely, a really good run.” - Howard Blight
Success runs in the family
Golden Monkey is the second foal of dual winner Dixie’s Comet (Northern Meteor), who was bred and raced by the Blights. She raced six times, notching two wins and two placings, for earnings of $33,800. Dixie’s Comet’s first foal, Django Dream (Dissident), is still in work and has three victories from 14 starts to his credit, while the third, Pride Of Dixie (Pride Of Dubai), is an unraced 2-year-old with James Ponsonby.
“She (Dixie’s Comet) was a bloody good mare, she never had the opportunity to do as good as she could have,” Blight remarked.
“Pride Of Dixie has had a couple of trials. He looks a bit immature, but with a bit of ability. Winona Costin rode him in his first trial and said we should have a bit of fun with him.”
Blight also owns Dixie Paradise (USA) (Dixie Union {USA}), a mare Judy and he purchased from the US. They bred a number of foals from her, including Dixie Chick (Star Witness), a half-sister to Dixie’s Comet. Dixie Chick’s first foal is Conqueror (Churchill {Ire}), a colt with Chris Waller that won on debut at Randwick-Kensington in February.
Conquerer as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“He’s only had one start and won in race record time, so it’s pretty exciting,” said Blight.
“All the reports I get on him… they’re all waxing lyrical. He should be back relatively soon and I'm looking forward to that.
“I really like Churchill as a sire. I go my own way with the matings, I’ve never gone with the crowd, and the main reason for that is I’ve never been prepared to pay $200,000 for a service fee, but also, I always study the pedigree and try and find a stallion that when matched with the mare, I can get a number of crosses there that are proven crosses.”
The love of the game
Blight has been breeding and racing horses for 30-odd years and has enjoyed his share of success. Along with Judy, they bought Listed Black Opal S. heroine Sarthemare (Street Cry {Ire}) at the 2009 Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale for $100,000 and she went on to win in Brisbane, before injury forced her into retirement.
Sarthemare has done a good job as a broodmare, throwing dual stakes winners Sesar (Sebring) and Doubt Defying (Not A Single Doubt). The former won in excess of $400,000 in prizemoney and finished seventh, beaten less than 5l by superstar Sunlight (Zoustar), in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. in 2018.
Sesar, a dual stakes winner and well-regarded | Image courtesy of Steve Hewlett
“We used to do it fairly seriously and had two or three people employed. We were breeding around 15 mares a year at that stage,” said Blight.
“I’m getting on in age and it’s just too much for me now. The lass I have with me now, Louise McCormark, has been marvellous, she’s been with us many years but is leaving next month, so that will pretty much be the end of breeding for me. I’ll keep a few horses and just race them.
“My interest in horses is the horse itself. I’m not a gambler or a racing person, per se, I just love the animals. I’ve always set out to breed a good animal, rather than trading or trying or push what I breed. I’ve never changed my thoughts on how I should breed them and how I should choose the matings to satisfy the flavour-of-the-month-type judgement that others might have on a horse.”
“My interest in horses is the horse itself. I’m not a gambler or a racing person, per se, I just love the animals. I’ve always set out to breed a good animal, rather than trading or trying or push what I breed.” - Howard Blight
Bendaree Park, which is located at Appin, about 75 kilometres south of Sydney, has also produced G2 WA Oaks victress Superior Star (Nothin’ Leica Dane), as well as multiple Hong Kong winner Flagship Shine (Tale Of The Cat {USA}).
