Through the decades, breeding powerhouse Waikato Stud has celebrated countless big results on the track and in the sale-ring, but none as satisfying as the massive weekend double by I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel) and Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls).
Within the space of 15 minutes on Saturday evening, I Wish I Win won the A$10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill and Icebath shook off her Group One bridesmaid’s tag with victory in the A$1 million Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.
I Wish I Win’s victory in the second richest race on the Australian calendar capped an incredible story from unsaleable wonky-legged foal to multi-millionaire, while for Icebath the sweet taste of Group One glory was recognised by all who have witnessed her 38-start career.
The celebrations at Waikato Stud were shared by those who had played a part in the breeding and rearing of both horses, with I Wish I Win a son of Savabeel, while Icebath is a daughter of the late Sacred Falls.
Leading the charge was stud principal Mark Chittick, who shares in the ownership of I Wish I Win with trainer and long-time mate Peter Moody.
“I would have loved to be at Rosehill with Moods but we’re in the middle of our busiest and most important time of the year,” Chittick said.
“We’re 60 per cent of the way through something like 700 mares in the breeding shed, we’ve foaled down a bit over 200 and the yearlings come into the boxes on Wednesday, so it’s full on around here and right now this is where I belong.
“At the end of the day sharing it with 40 people who put heart and soul into the farm – enjoying and celebrating it with them – that means every bit as much to me.”
I Wish I Win’s journey from a foal with a severely deviated foreleg to Group One-placed two and three-year-old before being transferred to Moody has been well documented.
He will always have far from perfect conformation, but that has not hindered his rise to winning Saturday’s lucrative four-year-old pop-up race that was won last year by fellow Kiwi-bred I’m Thunderstruck (NZ) (Shocking).
“Doing it with Moods is special,” added Chittick. “He and other Aussie trainers like John O’Shea and Danny O’Brien have been mates for years.
“We’re all around the same age and have come through together, there’s that special bond and days like this definitely mean so much.
“Talking to Moods afterwards, the satisfaction he took from what he describes as hitting the target was huge – he described it as his Melbourne Cup.
“It was a massive payday for both of us and I know he’ll make good use of his share with the stable he’s in the middle of building at Pakenham.
“The race itself wasn’t an easy watch, especially over the last 150 metres or so.
“I’m thinking when he hit the front ‘I hope you haven’t gone too soon’, and then the Waller mare (Fangirl) came hard at him, but he was up for it and he won by enough.
“It just about lifted the roof off here; we were all with Luke Nolen riding him home.
“It’s just one of the really neat stories when you think where he’s come from, it just shows you that every horse you breed deserves its chance.
“He’s an absolute trooper and it means so much to all of us here at Waikato to see him do that.”
Satisfaction of a different sort came only 15 minutes later with Icebath’s win in the Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington.
“If ever a horse deserved to win a Group One it was her,” Chittick said of the six-year-old with just four previous wins and no less than 16 minor placings, five of them at Group One, from 37 starts across five seasons. “She’s been so close so many times in the past and to be fair even before this had won more than $5 million, but this is the cherry on top.”
