 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2010
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
 |
The winner of last Saturday's Sires' Stakes 2yo Trotters Championship could have been anybodys for a mere $800. And her six-win mother was even thrown in on the deal. That is how much Kylie Ree cost he original owner - and even though the Monarchy filly has changed hands a couple of times since for bigger amounts, she is still looking a pretty astute purchase now that her stakes tally has just shot past the $35,000 mark.
Kylie Ree (in utero) and her dam Nerokilo were snapped up at the PGG Wrightson Autumn Broodmare & All Age Sale this time three years ago by my father, retired West Melton plumber, Peter Robinson. Dad and my late grandfather Joe had had a long association with other members of Nerokilo's family during their many years of dabbling as breeders and owners, enjoying success with the likes of Ann Lord (1 win) and her daughter Ann Locarno (3 wins), so when Nerokilo went through the ring and had the added bonus of being in foal to a stallion he quite liked, Dad didn't need much convincing to put his finger up and take her home.
Nerokilo soon gave birth to a beautiful filly, but at that stage Dad had another horse in work so he decided to cut down on numbers; in walked nearby neighbour Maree Price and her son Shane, who took the mare and foal package off his hands when the latter was just three months old. "I really liked the look of her," Price said of the Monarchy filly, which she started weaning straight away. "She had a really nice head, and a great way of walking."
Price took such a shine to her new acquisition that she actually named the filly after another of her children, Kylie Maree - Kylie Ree being the slightly shortened version that she used to call her now 32-year-old daughter when she was a toddler. It wasn't long before the well-respected horsewoman had good news to pass on to her kids.
"I started breaking her in at eight months, and from 'Day One' I gave her ten out of ten with three plusses," Price said. "She was a lot like Pocaro, but even more fluent in her gait. I spent an awful lot of time with her, and some days we'd get lost for ages just walking around the roads. Sometimes you just get a 'feel' for horses, and really connect with them; that's what happened with her and I."
Like most baby trotters when they first start out, Kylie Ree took a couple of appearances to transform the promise she was showing at home into something on the racetrack. The filly's first decent cheque was a third at outing number five, and then a reluctant but realistic Price sold her on soon afterwards. "Shane was getting out of the game, because he was about to marry his fiancé Justine and move to Australia," she said. "It had cost us a bit of money to get to that stage, and you can't exactly train them for free either."
Kylie Ree's new owner is Brian McCully, who Price had first gotten to know when he purchased Eric's Legend out of her stable. Eric's Legend was initially transferred to Robert Dunn's barn before ending up with Mark Purdon and Grant Payne, and Kylie Ree went straight in the latter duo's direction. "You couldn't wish for her to go to a better stable," she said. "Mark's a super trainer, and he is so dedicated - he eats, sleeps and breathes horses."
First-up from her new base, Kylie Ree ran very cheeky second when she dived late along the marker line to push Springbank Sam close, then she made up a heap of lost early ground when finishing just under five lengths from Paramount Geegee next time out. Drawn the inside of the second line on Saturday for the Seelite Windows & Doors-sponsored Group 2 event, Purdon didn't think he could beat the favourite before the race and his mind didn't change during it - despite an economical one-one possie. "I thought second was going to be our lot," he said. "But then Paramount Geegee started to struggle over the last bit, and we got past him. Maree had done a great job with this horse, and since she joined our stable it's just been a case of putting on the finishing touches really. She's a very solid trotter, and is well-mannered."
Although unable to be on-course to witness Kylie Ree's first victory, which was sweetened even more by the fact that she established a new NZ Record in the process, few would've been yelling louder than Price. "Yeah, I was cheering her on big-time," she said. "I've always believed she'd be one of the best 2-year-olds in the country, and she'll only get better with age too because she's a Monarchy. I have to admit there were a few tears in the eyes on Saturday; not only because I know how good she is, but she is also a horse that Dad (Eric Ryan) took an interest in and watched all along. He'd have been looking down on us, I reckon."
-o0o-
Unbeaten Paramount Geegee was going for her seventh consecutive win on Saturday at Addington, however trainers Mark Purdon and Grant Payne upset the party with their maiden runner, Kylie Ree. The $55,000 Seelite Windows & Doors Sires’ Stakes Trot Championship was the eighth start for the Monarchy filly and with Purdon at the reins, she finally gained her first win, and a Group 2 one at that.
Paramount Gee Gee was the best to begin and was the leader from the beginning through to the home straight. With a lap to run, Kylie Ree had followed Springbank Sam up on the three-wide train to sit in the one-one. As they turned for home she was still in the one-one and ready to pounce.
Heading for home it became a three-horse race with Paramount Gee Gee, Kylie Ree down the outside and Latheronwheel on the passing lane. Purdon was determined to make it two Group wins in a row on Premier Day at Addington and had soon put Kylie Ree in top gear. She trotted on ahead of the competition to claim her first win, one-and-three-quarters-of-a-length in front of the race favourite. Only a neck separated Paramount Gee Gee and Latheronwheel in third, with over four lengths back to the next runner in, Springbank Sam. Kylie Ree's winning time of 2.27.5 has beaten Jo Anne's 2001 2YO filiies NZ Record by 0.1 of a second.
Kylie Ree is owned by Brian McCully and was trained by Maree Price until March. The $32,292 winning stake has placed Kylie Ree just $1,155 shy of leader Paramount Gee Gee on the 2YO Ruby Harness Jewel.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 19May2010