Begood Toya Mother is taking his breeders Mark and Melissa Nevin on dream ride at the spring carnival albeit from 15,000km away in England.
Like Godolphin’s star filly Exhilarates, he sports Vinery’s big V brand and has Group 1 aspirations in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) this Saturday and the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) on September 21.
Begood Toya Mother extended his winning streak to six in a row last time out in the Regal Roller Stakes LR at Caulfield. “He put them to the sword and they couldn’t keep up,” trainer Daniel Bowman said after the front-running victory. “Only good horses win that race. You’ve only got to look back at the honour roll.”
Now back home in Gloucestershire, Mark and Melissa are following his career closely while recalling their time at Vinery. “I was studying at the English National Stud and we decided to visit Australia,” Mark said. “We didn’t plan on staying for 10 years but it was a perfect opportunity to see how the industry operates in another part of the world.
“And you couldn’t ask for better people to work for than Peter Orton and David White at Vinery. I eventually progressed to broodmare manager and Mel worked across the board in the hospital, on foal-watch and preparing the yearlings.”
The Nevins bred Begood Toya Mother by using former Vinery sire Myboycharlie (Ire) over their NZ-bred mare Lady Of Helena (Kaapstad) who is a half-sister to Canterbury Guineas Gr.1 winner Western Red.
They had purchased Lady Of Helena cheaply at the 2013 Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale after she had already thrown winners by Shovhog, Dubleo (USA) and More Than Ready (USA).
“Begood Toya Mother was a nice foal and there was just something about him that Melissa really liked,” Mark remembered. “But his page was a bit stagnant and being a long, lean colt, wasn’t going to be an early two year-old.
“We entered him for the Inglis Weanling Sale but he didn’t make the reserve so we took him back home to Vinery. Then we sent him down to Adelaide for Magic Millions yearling sale and Daniel bought him for $28,000.
“Turns out that was an astute bit of buying, but good luck to Daniel and the owners. We’re really happy for them and we’ve still got his younger half-sister by Onemorenomore.
“She didn’t race after being injured as a youngster and we’re in the process of naming her now. She’s just gone up to Vinery and will be covered by Press Statement next year.”
Lady Of Helena’s final two foals are both showing promise in the early stages of their careers. “Her 3yo is an unraced gelding named Prince Of Helena,” Nevin said. “He’s by Sidestep and we sold him online through Inglis to Craig Weeding who trains out of Hawkesbury.”
The mare’s final foal is a 2yo colt by Vinery sire Casino Prince and he’s also with Bowman. “Daniel obviously liked the way Begood Toya Mother was developing and made an offer to buy the colt privately. He’s just been broken-in and they’re optimistic after the way he handled his education.”
Meanwhile, Bowman and his stable star face their moment of truth in the Memsie. “I’m trying to keep a lid on all the hype,” he admitted. “He’s the sort of horse that can make a trainer.
“Deep down I know he’s good but we won’t find out how good until this Saturday.”
