Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The Thoroughbred Report caught up with successful owner and breeder Christopher Grace, to learn the background of his latest winner, and discuss his journey and success within the game.
Where it all began: Grace’s breeding and racing journey
Christopher Grace has a long and successful history of breeding and racing horses.
When asked to reflect on where it all began, over 65 years ago, Grace recalled, “I bought my first horse when I was 16, a mare called Tenderfoot, who had some good foals, and I had to sell them including Our Fun and Chantal, as my father said you can only have one horse on the farm, and they both became Group-winning horses.”
“I bought my first horse when I was 16, a mare called Tenderfoot, who had some good foals, and I had to sell them including Our Fun and Chantal, as my father said you can only have one horse on the farm, and they both became Group-winning horses.” - Christopher Grace
Fast forward to 1962 — a then, 21-year-old Grace attended the National Yearling Sales at Trentham, where he paid the top price of 2300 guineas for a filly by champion stallion Le Filou (Fr) (Vatellor {Fr}) out of Te Awa (NZ) (Foxbridge {GB}) who was a Railway Handicap winner.
“I then purchased the top-priced yearling at the yearling sales as a 21-year-old. That horse was called Hakawai.”
Named Hakawai (NZ) (Le Filou {Fr}), the filly went on to win seven races, including the G3 Wakefield Challenge Stakes as a 2-year-old.
“She raced very well for me, but we unfortunately lost her as a 4-year-old.”
Christopher Grace
Determined to maintain a connection to her bloodline, Grace invested in a close relative.
“I then purchased a filly who was a three-quarter sister to her, to retain in interest the family. The mare was called Clearness and she was out of Clearaway, she came from Colin Hayes at Lindsay Park Stud. He definitely saw me coming to buy her as it cost me $100,000.
“That is how I got into it, and all these years later, we are still breeding successfully from the same family as well as other families now.”
Clearness (Without Fear {Fr}) would go on to become the fourth dam of Grace’s 2014 G2 Wellington Cup winner Graphic (NZ) (Volksraad {GB}), and he also bred the 1992 G1 Telegraph Handicap winner Morar (NZ) (Otehi Bay) from the same lineage.
Trocair – An inspired purchase
Last Saturday at Kembla Grange, Kilkenny (I Am Invincible) produced a dominant performance to score by 8l over 1500 metres at just her third career outing in the hands of Jeff Penza.
However, the story of her pedigree, and Grace's link with this particular family began long before that, back in 2001, when Cambridge trainer Roger James was tasked with sourcing a quality filly from the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. This mission led to the $285,000 purchase of Trocair (Flying Spur), who would go on to have a major influence on Grace’s breeding success.
Kilkenny is out of Shillelagh (NZ) (Savabeel), an eight-time winner and arguably Grace's best ever horse, her wins included both the G1 Cantala Stakes and the G1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington. The link here is that Shillelagh, in turn, is a daughter of Trocair, whose purchase Grace fondly recalls:
“How we got Trocair was that I asked Roger James to buy me a nice filly at the Easter Sales, and he bought Trocair. She only won one race which was a bit disappointing, but her progeny have been very good to me.
Shillelagh (NZ) | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“Mated to Savabeel, we have retained three full sisters to Shillelagh from her, she has had a couple of others also. Galway has probably been the most successful, and mating them to the Invincible Spirit line has been the key to that generation, using Charm Spirit and I Am Invincible.”
When Galway (NZ) (Savabeel) visited Windsor Park Stud’s former shuttle stallion Charm Spirit (Ire), she produced Kirwan’s Lane (NZ) — an 11-time winner whose victories include the G2 The Ingham, the G3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup, and the Listed Ladies Day Cup. Another standout out of Galway is Johny Johny (NZ) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), a 10-time winning sprinter who captured the G3 Sweynesse Stakes and the Listed Finance Sprint Handicap.
Kirwan's Lane (NZ) | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Trocair ended up with the outstanding record of producing eight winners from the eight to race. Among them were Tullamore (NZ) (Savabeel), winner of the G2 Brisbane Cup; Shillelagh, the dual Group 1 winner and now a stakes-producing broodmare; Grazia (NZ) (Savabeel), winner of the Listed Spring Classic; and Shenanigans (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), who has been Group-placed.
A win for Kilkenny, a nod to Shillelagh
Shillelagh was a standout mare for Grace, though her success didn’t come overnight. The daughter of Trocair began her career under the Te Akau Racing banner, trained by Jason Bridgman, and broke her maiden in mid-April as a 3-year-old at Woodville, in the hands of Lisa Allpress.
She ended up having six starts in New Zealand, and had success at Woodville, Wanganui, Awapuni, and Ruakaka before she was campaigned in Australia by Te Akau where she picked up a win at Caulfield. At the end of that campaign she was transferred to Chris Waller.
The timing of Kilkenny’s recent breakthrough hasn’t gone unnoticed by Grace, who sees a strong parallel between the two.
“It was an impressive performance, it has taken a long time to get there but patience has been needed, ever since we sent her across to Chris Waller as an early 2-year-old.
“It (Kilkenny's win at Kembla on Saturday) was an impressive performance, it has taken a long time to get there but patience has been needed...” - Christopher Grace
“We have just kept putting her aside, putting her aside, until she was ready. At the end of the day, it’s a good family, but it takes a lot of time.”
The late-maturing nature of the family is something Grace knows well and he is very happy to utilise patience as a result.
“Shillelagh didn’t win her first race until she was an autumn 3-year-old, the family is able to go on with it. Hostility is probably the exception to the rule in terms of maturity. Hopefully, he can make a handy 3-year-old. Other people may not have been as patient as I have. To me, it’s a long journey, and it’s a game you have to take slowly.”
It’s a family renowned for developing with time, with many members improving deep into their racing careers.
“Shillelagh won big races at five and six, and ran a lot of placings at Group 1 level as a 7-year-old. She was very good to us.“ Hopefully, some of these horses might continue with the family form, and go on with it going forward.”
“Harry Mitchell and I own 25 per cent each of Hostility, Mark and his team have already done a great job with him.”
Hostility is a 2-year-old colt by I Am Invincible and out of Shillelagh, he was purchased by DC Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ) for NZ$1.65 million from the 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale from the draft of Kiltannon Stables.
He has shown an immense amount of ability in his career so far, having run two seconds at his only two starts as a juvenile, including a very good second in the G1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes at his second start. He looks like he could develop into a star 3-year-old with Team Te Akau.
Looking to the next generation, Grace remains hopeful but grounded, aware of the hard lessons that often come with breeding.
Shillelagh has a Snitzel weanling filly, but severe weather recently dealt a heavy blow.
“Unfortunately, there was a massive storm in Sydney, through the Hunter Valley, and she got badly injured, but it looks like we will be able to save her for breeding purposes, it’s disappointing but it’s a fact of life.
“In all probability, she (Shillelagh) will go back to I Am Invincible this spring, it’s worked so far.”
It's never always smooth sailing in the world of breeding and racing horses, there’s also been further heartbreak along the way.
Unfortunately, Grace lost Irish Legacy (I Am Invincible), a full sister to Hostility recently, a three-time winner and placed in the Listed Mufhasa Stakes for trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood, and a potentially very valuable broodmare.
"Unfortunately, we lost her, she went to Massey but we were unable to save her, she had terrible laminitis soon after she came out of training.
“That’s why you need a big band of broodmares sometimes, as you are going to have some bad luck. You have a whole bunch of bad luck and good luck along the journey.”
“That’s why you need a big band of broodmares sometimes, as you are going to have some bad luck. You have a whole bunch of bad luck and good luck along the journey.” - Christopher Grace
How it all works at Surrey Farm
When asked how he manages his equine operations, Grace explained that much of the early groundwork is carried out on his own property.
“David McKinnon looks after our property ‘Surrey Farm’ just outside of Bulls. We have a really good setup with about 350 acres there,” Grace said.
“We are able to do all our breaking in and pre-training when we want to there. The property wraps around the Bulls race track.”
Most of the broodmares are based on the farm, with one notable exception.
“Generally all our mares reside there, apart from Shillelagh who can be a proper a bi**h, she kicks, can hurt her foal if travelling and doesn't travel that well. So she resides in Australia at Segenhoe Stud, and Peter O’Brien has been very good to us, looks after her magnificently, and does a wonderful job.”
Peter O'Brien | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Another horse who hasn't spent much time at Surrey Farm in recent times is Hostility.
“Hostility is another who hasn’t done much at home. When he came back from Australia, I thought we didn’t need him at home with all the fillies around. Mark and Lorraine Forbes (Kiltannon Stables) have done a lot of work with him, and did a great job putting him through the ready-to-run sales. They do a great job.”
When asked about his approach to deciding which horses to sell and which to retain, as well as how he controls numbers on the farm, Grace outlined his considered strategy.
“We generally try and sell all of the colts, and keep the fillies, but some colts you can’t sell for whatever reason, and we will race them ourselves or whatever. We also do sell the odd filly, if we have quite a few already in the family — maybe if we have at least two from the mare, we may contemplate selling one.”
“We generally try and sell all of the colts, and keep the fillies... we will race them ourselves... maybe if we have at least two from the mare, we may contemplate selling one.” - Christopher Grace
“We have been trying to keep the broodmare numbers down a bit and keep the quality up.”
A lifetime of winners
When questioned on how many wins he has experienced throughout his time racing horses, Grace commented, “Well over 300 is pretty accurate, near enough to that figure. It’s a large amount of wins that we have been lucky to have had.”
The line-up is impressive when it comes to the horses Grace has been involved with — whether through breeding or racing. Among them are Tullaroan (NZ) (Generous {Ire}), Tullamore (NZ) (Savabeel), Graphic (NZ) (Volksraad), Beefeater (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}), Hinepara (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), Kirwan's Lane, Johny Johny, Hinemoa (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}), Shillelagh (NZ) (Savabeel), Hinerangi (Fastnet Rock), and Hinekaha (NZ) (Savabeel).
These horses have collectively claimed victories in prestigious events such as the G3 Manawatu Cup, G2 Brisbane Cup, G3 Taranaki Cup, Group 1 races at Flemington, Listed sprints at Te Rapa, and many, many more.
When asked about what the future might hold for Kilkenny and other runners in the stable, Grace remains grounded yet hopeful.
“In regards to Kilkenny, we will have another race in the country somewhere, to build confidence. It has taken time for her to develop, and Chris (Waller) is very patient — probably even slightly more patient than me.
“No hurry with her.”
Hostility, a colt who turned heads at the ready-to-run sales, and his early starts, also remains a source of great optimism for Grace and his co-owners.
Hostility at the 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
“Also, with Hostility, his breeze-up was unreal, and that’s why he made so much money. Harry’s in the horse as he loves his temperament. He lies down in the box and goes to sleep after his work, and for a colt, that's a tremendous attribute.
Running second in a Group 1 at your second start is a pretty good result, so we are excited about what he may do next season.”
Grace is realistic about the ups and downs of racing, but continues to be energised by the promise of what’s to come.
“We have a lot of other runners that show a bit of promise, so as always there's something to look forward to, but it would be great if Hostility could win a big race, and who knows how Kilkenny may develop.
“We have a lot of other runners that show a bit of promise, so as always there's something to look forward to, but it would be great if Hostility could win a big race, and who knows how Kilkenny may develop.” - Christopher Grace
“We dream to win a Melbourne Cup and we are lucky enough to win a maiden at Bulls. If the horses are good enough, they get every chance to win good races. We have won our fair share, and hopefully, we can win some more big ones.”
