Allez Wonder & I

For my first post I thought the one horse it must be dedicated to: Babygirl aka Allez Wonder. Allez Wonder’s retired after her Spring 2010 campaign and she will have months off in the paddock to relax before embarking on a new journey/career as a Broodmare in 2011 SH Breeding Season.

Allez Wonder’s success as a G1 winner was result of a great team behind her comprising of Bart Cummings and his team: Reg Fleming, Bill Charles and Selena Phillis. Without the dedication and effort of this team, I say with much gratitude that I may not have had my first G1 winner in 2009.

I remember in Allez Wonder’s 2008 Spring preparation, she was still a maiden and had yet to place in any of starts prior to the G1 VRC Crown Oaks and she was going up against superstar filly Samantha Miss. The day before the Oaks I popped by Saintly Place to visit Allez Wonder and said to her (after pats and smooches) “Babygirl, tomorrow’s going to be a tough one! If you’re up for it it’d be great if you could just try to run a place? No pressure to win though this would be a mighty fine race to break your maiden status!”

Allez Wonder as a 3YO Spring 2008

Samantha Miss blitzed the Crown Oaks field in 2008 – as expected. I cheered my lungs out as I saw Stevie Arnold pull Allez Wonder out wide coming into the straight as she fought in a photo finish with stablemate Think Money for third place. When I saw my girl’s name pop up for third, I felt so happy – the people standing around probably thought I’d won the race!

I felt so happy because I knew she tried her heart out and when she came back into the mounting yard looking exhausted I greeted her with a big grateful smile and said “thank you so much babygirl, I know you tried your heart out and I’m so proud of you!”

The day after the Oaks I visited her at the stable to give her a thank-you/good-bye pat and kiss before she hopped onto the float to Princes Farm for a spell.

After her spell at Princes it was back to work for her Autumn campaign with the G1 AJC Oaks as her main target. This preparation first told us her much dislike for rain affected tracks. Prior to the G1 Storm Queen Stakes and AJC Oaks (both run on Slow/Heavy going) she raced in the 1600m Listed Keith Nolan Hcp at Kembla Grange and won breaking the track record! It was a wonderful way to break her maiden status and yes, it was run on a Good track.

I was in KL during the race but I cheered so loudly in my home, she may have just heard me at Kembla all the way from KL! By the time I got to Sydney for the Autumn Carnival, she looked her usual lean self and with her coat just glowing.

After her win in the Keith Nolan she seemed right on track for the Oaks. Her run in the Storm Queen showed she didn’t handle the wet track and the Oaks showed pretty much the same result too. I can’t blame her for not liking the mud – I’m not a fan of it either!

Autumn’s rain affected tracks were a big dislike for her and she went out for a spell at Princes to be aimed at the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in Spring 2009.

Allez Wonder Spring 2009

Her first win for Spring 09 prep was a midweek 2040m race at Moonee Valley. I was still in Sydney for foaling season and went to Canterbury for the races. Well, we may have brought Canterbury’s roof down with our cheers for her win at Moonee Valley! What surprised me about her win was that she didn’t mind being surrounded by other horses in the field. Prior to this preparation – she was adamant about ‘her space’ and galloping room.

I arrived in Melbourne and visited Allez Wonder in the stables. She was feeling very feisty and literally ‘jumping out of her skin’. She had also filled out as result of a really good spell and looked stunning. Perhaps I’m a tad bias because I do very much love her, but gosh she looked lovely!

As a 3YO she often needed a lead pony with her in the mounting yard but after she turned 4 – she strutted around the mounting yard in a very calm manner before the G1 1600m Toorak Hcp at Caulfield.

Michelle Payne rode her for luck and had her in the perfect spot taking all the gaps she needed to push through the field and win the first Group 1 for all three ladies: Allez Wonder, Michelle and yours truly. It is a moment I will never forget as our family has won Group 1’s in the past (Allez Suez, God’s Own and Wonderful World) but this was the first under the management of Suez Thoroughbreds. Bart gave my father his first G1 winner 10 years ago – Allez Suez and 10 years later, he gave me my first G1 win.

Leading Allez Wonder into the mounting yard, I could barely hold my tears of joy/pride back because I could see how she had blossomed from a bit of a wallflower to a robust and confident mare. It was truly breathtaking. She pulled up great after her run and in comparison to how she pulled up as a 3YO – Allez Wonder showed she had matured up to be a much stronger mare this preparation.

Allez Wonder finished 8th in the Caulfield Cup, won by her stablemate 2008 Melbourne Cup winner – Viewed. It was most certainly Viewed’s day as he romped past the field and won kicking away. I knew my girl tried her best and felt grateful for having a runner in the Caulfield Cup! Pulling up fine – she was about to take me to a journey I’d yet to experience: The Melbourne Cup + a runner in the field.

At the barrier draw after Derby Day, I waited and waited for Allez Wonder’s saddlecloth number to be called out. Well, I didn’t get to pick her barrier (13 moving into 12 after Changingoftheguard’s scratching) as there were none left to pick – last number called! Once again, just the experience of having a runner in the Cup is truly an honour.

Standing at the mounting yard and watching the jockeys lineup, the national anthem performed and then seeing your horse, the one that you’ve been calling ‘babygirl’ with a smile; parade in front of thousands brings one word to mind: Grateful. Grateful that she’s taken me here and grateful that I’m here with her.

After the Melbourne Cup won by Shocking in a sensational finish from international gallopers Crime Scene and Mourilyan I saw my girl (finishing 16th) enter the mounting yard like she was a 3YO returning from the Oaks. She looked like she had run her heart out and I felt proud she had tried her best and a bit upset because she looked so exhausted.

Rushing to the stalls to see her post race because I really wanted to give her a pat and tell her how proud I am of her for trying her heart out and more than anything – just giving me the experience of having a runner in the Melbourne Cup. She pulled up fine and after visiting her in the stables the next day – off she went to her family home at Princes Farm for a spell.

Back in work for her Autumn Campaign targeting the G1 Doncaster Hcp she looked even more robust than in Spring! However, the wet tracks in Autumn once again proved terribly unlucky for her and she made it very clear to us: Wet Tracks = No Thank You! Her best run was on Dead track in the G1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill finishing 6th behind Alverta. In the Storm Queen Stks taken out by multiple G1 winner Typhoon Tracy she found the Slow track impossible to get through and the Doncaster’s Slow side of Dead track also proved to be too shifty for Allez Wonder resulting in beating one runner home.

Out for another spell at Princes she came back into work looking stronger than Autumn. Her first start back showed much promise at Caulfield on Sunday as she hunted her way around the corner into the straight finishing 5th behind Drenalin. Based on that run, she was set to run in the G1 Toorak Hcp again at Caulfield.

Won by glamour mare – More Joyous in 2010, I saw my girl go round the race she had won gallantly the year before, this time round she had raced wide and finished at the tail end of the field. First thing on my mind was – is she okay? Did she pull up alright? Walking to the stalls with those two big questions looming, I saw her being coddled by her strapper – Mel and was told she pulled up fine. Phew!

At this point, some may advise to retire her to stud. Allez Wonder’s career plan had always been retirement after Spring 2010 (whether she’d press on to Perth if she faired well in the Emirates Stakes) with half the year off in 2011 – paddock time. I think the last time she spent a good half year in the paddock would have been as a foal or yearling. She has been so good to us and brought the experience of having a Melbourne Cup runner, surely she deserves a bit more respect than to be carted off to the breeding barn straight from the track.

We kept her in work and as this Spring has proven to be terribly wet in weather, Emirates Stakes day was the only Saturday with sunshine since Caulfield Guineas day! Looking at her in the mounting yard, she looked as beautiful as she always does. As she jumped out of the barriers and ended up at the tail of the field and beat one runner home, she told us she’d had enough and was ready for her long awaited holiday before retirement.

I saw her at the stalls post-race and gave her a pat to say ‘thank you’ for bringing me so much joy and for the journey she took me on through her career. Her holiday in a paddock at Princes Farm is awaiting her arrival and it’s time for her to ‘just be a horse’ on the farm before embarking on her next venture in life.