Cover image courtesy of Aquis Farm
Standing for a $13,200 (inc GST) service fee at Aquis Farm in Queensland for the upcoming season, Lean Mean Machine came into the weekend with a total of two winners from 11 runners among his first-season juveniles.
That number went up to three when Title Fighter scored a bold front-running win in the Ladbroke It! H. at Moonee Valley on Saturday, and it was quickly followed by a fourth when The Longest Yard scored over 1000 metres at Bairnsdale on Sunday.
The Longest Yard was offered by Ponderosa Park at the 2022 Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale, where trainer Matthew Brown bought him for $24,000. Title Fighter, meanwhile, has remained in the ownership of Ponderosa Park’s Paul Kelly, his partner Sue and his brother Jamie.
“I really love Lean Mean Machine,” Kelly told The Thoroughbred Report AusNZ on Sunday, moments after watching The Longest Yard’s Bairnsdale win.
“I went and saw him early on and thought, ‘This is a really nice horse.’ I ended up sending quite a lot of mares to him, and now he’s sired two very nice winners this weekend that we bred.
“I was disappointed when they ended up moving Lean Mean Machine to Queensland. His progeny are just starting to come out and perform now, and I think he’s going to do a very good job. I think he was a big loss for Victoria.”
Exciting prospect
Kelly believes he has an exciting young prospect in the form of Title Fighter, whose trainer Clayton Douglas has him stabled alongside none other than superstar sprinter Giga Kick (Scissor Kick).
“That win yesterday was a very good way for Title Fighter to start his career,” Kelly said. “He’s got a lot of speed, but he’s got a few more tricks to his bow beyond that pure speed as well. We think he has the makings of a good horse.
“Clayton is doing a fantastic job with him. He really understands that type of horse. Title Fighter actually lives in the stable next door to Giga Kick, so if you want to read anything into that, Clayton might think he’s pretty good too.
“I also want to give particular mention to Rui Severino, who selected Title Fighter out of the paddock and did some of the early work before he went to Clayton. Since then, Clayton has done wonderful work with this horse, and then Craig Williams gave him a perfect ride on Saturday. That combination of Clayton Douglas and Craig Williams – you can’t get much better than that.”
Williams matched that compliment with plenty of praise for Title Fighter following Saturday’s win.
“He didn’t have any favours from the draw (barrier 11),” Williams said. “He’s very fast and because he’s very well-educated and fit, he was able to sustain that type of speed throughout. Amazing agility, amazing balance and very nice ability. He’s still very raw, but very well prepared for this race.”
Bargain buy turning to gold
Title Fighter is the only foal to race out of If Not Now When (Artie Schiller {USA}), who herself was a two-time winner as a 2-year-old including a debut victory in the $250,000 Vobis Gold Rush at Bendigo in 2016.
If Not Now When is a three-quarter sister to Group 3 winner Big Chill (Artie Schiller {USA}), while her half-sister Golden Child (I Am Invincible) is the dam of the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Asfoora (Flying Artie).
Kelly bought If Not Now When for only $18,000 from the 2018 Inglis Digital Monthly May Sale.
If Not Now When with Title Fighter at foot | Image courtesy of Ponderosa Park
“I decided to buy her because she’d won more than $300,000 on the track, including a Vobis 2-year-old race,” he said. “You’ve got to breed for speed, and she was the right sort of mare to do that.
“What I remember about Title Fighter as a young horse is that he was always a cheeky little bugger – very cheeky, very full of himself and very confident.”
“What I remember about Title Fighter as a young horse is that he was always a cheeky little bugger – very cheeky, very full of himself and very confident.” - Paul Kelly
Title Fighter was offered at the 2021 Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale, where he was sold to Bendigo Bloodstock for $24,000. He later went through the sale ring again during the 2022 Inglis Ready2Race Sale, where he fetched $20,000 in the name of Ponderosa Park and Intel Bloodstock.
“I originally bred him for my brother, who bought him as a weanling,” Kelly said. “We didn’t sell him as a yearling. We just kept him on the farm and had him out in a paddock, where we noticed he was growing really nicely. We ended up deciding that we’d better take him to the Ready2Race Sale as a 2-year-old.
Title Fighter purchased from the Inglis Ready2Race Sale | Image courtesy of Inglis
“My brother put him through that sale along with a few others. He was up there when the horse went through the ring, and he said to the auctioneer, ‘We’re just going to sell him.’
“He came to me after the horse was sold and asked me if I had seen who bought him. I said, ‘I don’t have to look far – I did.’ And then he immediately said he wanted to get back into the horse again.
“So it’s quite a funny story, but through all of that time, he hasn’t left Ponderosa Park, and now we race the horse together.”
Title Fighter was unfortunately the final foal out of If Not Now When, who died in the spring of 2021.
