Cover image courtesy of Mogumber Park
Mogumber Park was founded in 2006 by racing enthusiast Colin Brown and equine veterinarian Dr Fiona Lacey. They had their best ever day at the races when their sale graduates won both the Magic Millions races at Pinjarra Park on February 15.
The sweeper takes all in the juvenile event
Winner of the R. Listed Magic Millions WA 2YO Classic, Do I Feel Lucky (Dirty Work) was purchased by Maureen Daly from Mogumber Park’s 2024 draft at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale for $100,000.
“His nickname was Sweeper because sweeping is dirty work. Every year, our staff give nicknames to all the yearlings and then make me guess which one is which,” said Brown.
“The staff were all riding him out to the line as they watched from the sales. He’s the first foal of Mindarie from our Clarecastle family. He was a really strong colt, always dragging the staff around at home, but at the sales he was just a dude.
“People want to see horses who behave in a stressful environment. The Caseys (who train him) say that when he feels like it, he’ll pull us around. He’s tough and you would’ve seen from the run that he was there to be beaten. It was a wide alley, and he was in the wrong spot on the track, but he was tough and (the Caseys) love him to death and his performance so far has been really good. He’ll have a couple of weeks off and head to the autumn and hopefully the Karrakatta Plate. Chris (Parnham) is a smart jockey and rode him a treat.
“We have his half-sister in the sale, she’s a nice style of horse.”
Lot 84 - Rommel x Mindarie (filly) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Lot 84 is a Rommel filly from Mindarie (Safeguard), who was a winner at two in Perth.
“You win a race like that, and it adds a spring to your step. The amount of people who come over and congratulate you is very good. As a community, everyone in racing is really supportive.”
Smooth Chino wins for clients
Mogumber Park’s second stakeswinner of the day was R. Listed Magic Millions WA 3YO winner Smooth Chino (Maschino). “The difference between the two is that we own the dam of Do I Feel Lucky and Smooth Chino was bred by clients. It’s equally as satisfying as we foaled and raised and sold Smooth Chino. Our clients owned a nice mare who won the Oaks a few years ago,” said Brown.
Smooth Chino winning the R. Listed Magic Millions WA 3YO | Image courtesy of Western Racepix
Moreish (More Than Ready {USA}) won the G3 WA Oaks and her daughter Amorei (Gingerbread Man) is the dam of Smooth Chino. “They’ve had a bit of bad luck as small breeders and are lovely people, and for them to say they’ve bred a special horse is so nice. John Chalmers gave them the advice to go to Maschino as he would give the mare a bit of size, and now they have a good horse.
“For Indiana (Weinert), who did a yearling prep with us years ago and is now an up and coming trainer, it’s so good. And (jockey) Austin Galati has had many challenges too. sp we are happy to be a part of the story when people get good things.”
Brown’s favourite three yearlings
Mogumber Park will offer 19 yearlings at the upcoming Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale. When asked about his favourite three in the draft, Brown said, “In previous years it would be easy to do that, but this year our draft is interesting as there are six or seven stand outs with a uniformity through the draft. That’s already been the feedback from buyers on the sale ground.
“From a heart string perspective, the half to Do I Feel Lucky is a really nice filly. Lot 13 is from the same family and Clarecastle is damn near a blue hen mare on a WA scale. They all win and she’s been an outstanding broodmare. The mare has a big group who own her, and they’ve raced everything from her. The trainer is getting older, so they’ve decided to sell this one and she’s the first from the mare to sell. We have the 2-year-old here called Castle Road and he looks very good. This filly’s residual value is enormous.”
Lot 13, the Safeguard filly is from G3 WA Champion Fillies Stakes-placed Clarecastle (Tribu), whose nine foals to race are all winners led by Lot 13’s full siblings G3 WA Sires’ Produce Stakes-placed Specialism, Listed Supremacy Stakes-placed More Special, as well as G3 La Trice Classic-placed winner of five races Royal Strata (Stratum). This is the family of G1 Karrakatta Plate winner Dynamic Beau (Dynamo {NZ}).
Lot 13 - Safeguard x Clarecastle (filly) | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“There’s a Hellbent filly, Lot 128, who is the first foal of a Not A Single Doubt mare and she’s spot on nice.” She’s the first foal of winning mare Singing Dixie (Not A Single Doubt) from the family of Listed Singapore Derby winner Golden Monkey (Star Turn) whose eight wins garnered him Champion 3YO and Champion 4YO status in Singapore.
“There’s a Farnan who is drop dead gorgeous, Lot 79. He’s really nice.” He’s the second foal of winning mare Magical Charge (Magic Albert) whose first foal, 3-year-old filly Magical Moments (Winning Rupert), has been a winner since the catalogue went to print.
“We stand Safeguard, and Lot 223 is his dad. He has his personality and looks, and loves his feed, a very relaxed type.” Out of winning mare Go Daisy (Show A Heart), Lot 223 is a half-brother to juvenile winner Red Square (Russian Revolution), while Safeguard is a Group 3-winning son of Exceed And Excel.
Gallery: Colin Brown’s Top Yearling Picks from Mogumber Park at the Perth Magic Millions Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Magic Millions
“We put a lot of time into teaching our staff to walk and that means our horses walk well, they power from behind, they all cover the ground well with good overstep. They are well structured and well put together. The market might not like every horse (in our draft), but I feel there are no weaknesses. None of them are embarrassing to us.
“We have an emotional connection to all of them. Fiona’s the vet, and we are both there when they are born and they are our life. We have an amazing emotional connection to them all the way through their life. That’s why we do it, we love them all.”
