HAY LIST, the new budding Melbourne spring star from the West, has a nutrition background that includes much hay grown under the direction of the late Lionel Israel in his forty year plus tenure of the historic Segenhoe stud, now Vinery, in the Segenhoe Valley near Scone. Prepared at Gosford by John McNair for his Western Australian breeder T.J. Davenport, Hay List is the winner of ten of twelve starts following his success in the McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Hay List raced three times in the east, the other efforts being in June when he was runner up in the June Stakes at Randwick and then a smashing five lengths winner of the Healy Stakes at Eagle Farm. Earlier he had wracked up eight straight wins on Perth tracks in his first eight starts before finishing sixth at Ascot at his first stakes appearance, the Reeves Stakes, in which he pulled up lame.
The 5-year-old gelded Hay List is by the Storm Cat good English 2-year-old Statue of Liberty, a visitor in 2010 from Japan to Eliza Park, Kerrie, Victoria, and from Sing Hallelujah, an Is It True competent Perth sprinter. Inbred 3x3 to Star Kingdom, Hay List’s grandam Pucesca, is a Marscay mare whose first five dams were bred by Lionel Israel and whose sixth dam, the Ajax mare Civic Pride, was the cornerstone of much of the Segenhoe success. Four of these mares were by Segenhoe used sires in Kaoru Star, Tudor Tinker, Duvidal and Nilo.
Although Hay List is from the distinguished Civic Pride family, he is the first stakes winner under his first four dams and is the only winner from the six foals produced by his dam. His success adds to the appeal of his sire Statue of Liberty, an eye-catching, rangy near black 16.1 hands stallion got by Storm Cat from Charming Lassie, an American winner by Seattle Slew and from the world class Lassie Dear family. He is a half-brother to American based multiple Group1 winner and good sire Lemon Drop Kid and his dam is a three-quarter sister to A. P. Indy, an American Horse of the Year and champion sire. Three close relations who have got winners from use in Australia are Bite the Bullet, Spectacular Spy and Foxhound. An even more glamorous relation in use in Australia is Coolmore shuttler Duke of Marmalade, an Ireland sired Danehill ranked the world’s second best older horse in the world in 2008. He is now in his second Australian season.
By Brian Russell
