Despite having no direct association with the ownership of Saturday’s ATC Derby Winner nor the Runner-Up,
DYNAMIC SYNDICATIONS have our DNA woven into the quinella of this time-honoured race.
To win a Derby is a race that burns in the soul of our Team at Dynamic, being one of just a handful of feature races we haven't won so far.
We’ve won a Cox Plate, an Oaks and 3 Guineas among 13 Group 1 successes but a Derby to this point still alludes us.
We’ve been close!
We’ve run Second twice (Savabeel and De Beers), a Third (Set Up) and a Fourth (He’s No Pie Eater) in Derbies but a spot still remains on the mantlepiece for that elusive Derby win.
However, we had a
genuine affinity with and achieved
great satisfaction from the result of this year’s
ATC Derby as QUICK THINKER crossed the line ahead of ZEBROWSKI in second place.
Team Dynamic were involved with the purchase and then raced both (a) the Dam of the Winner as well as (b) the Sire of the Runner-up.
Quick Thinker might be trained by Kiwi’s and ridden by a Kiwi, but the
Group 1 ATC Australian Derby (2400m) hero is an Aussie bred stayer that showed class and courage to score a tenacious victory in the Blue Riband at Randwick.
Prepared in NZ by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman,
Quick Thinker proved too good again for Zebrowski (by Savabeel), just like he did the previous Saturday when winning the
Group 2 ATC Tulloch Stakes (2000m).
Rock hard fit on a seven day back up,
Quick Thinker was strong to the line under Opie Bosson to hold out Zebrowski and win by a head with race favourite Castelvecchio failing to fire and finishing at the rear.
Quick Thinker is the fifth Australian Derby winner for co-trainer Murray Baker and has the tidy record of four wins and four placings from 11 starts with prizemoney in excess of $1million.
Quick Thinker was a $100,000 Inglis Easter purchase.
He was actually bought as a
pinhook from the
Holbrook Stud draft by James Bester Bloodstock at the
Magic Millions National Weanling Sale for $180,000 and it’s one of the anomalies of bloodstock market that he should be resold for
$80,000 less and turn out to be a
Group 1 winner!
Quick Thinker is a half-brother to Group 3 placed The August from stakes-placed Al Maher mare ACOUPLAMAS, who comes from the family of Group 1 classic winners BLACKFRIARS and LARROCHA.
ACOUPLAMAS has no yearling for the sales this year and was covered last spring by Trapeze Artist.
Quick Thinker raced keenly in the early and middle stages, which left Bosson worried whether the son of
So You Think would have enough in reserve in the straight.
But Bosson earned every cent of his riding percentages when getting everything out of Quick Thinker in a ding-dong battle with Hugh Bowman on Zebrowski.
Quick Thinker ($8) got home by a short head over the Hawkes Racing-trained
Zebrowski ($13). Queenslander
Eric The Eel ($19) worked home for third.
With star New Zealand jockey Opie Bosson aboard, Quick Thinker was positioned just behind the pace and made his move around the home turn.
“To be honest, he pulled my arms out the whole race,” Bosson said.
“He didn’t come off the bit until we got to about the half mile.
“He is hard work, I thought we might have done too much in the running but then the Murray Baker fitness kicked in.”
Bosson’s Australian Derby success was a rich reward for his decision to stay in Australia while the coronavirus pandemic forces lockdowns in New Zealand.
“It makes things so much better being away from them if I get some big winners but I can’t wait to get home,” Bosson said.
Castlevecchio started as the $2.60 favourite but finished more than 20 lengths from the winner.
Randwick Guineas winner
Shadow Hero ($5.50) finished fourth, more than seven lengths from
Quick Thinker.
It’s funny how things work out.
Last Sunday 29 March, we wrote a story on our website headed
“QUICK THINKER Derby Quest After Gr2 TULLOCH Romp has DYNAMIC Links.”
Seven days later we are writing about Quick Thinker’s Derby Success.
The previous story was about how Dynamic Syndications were an integral part of the TULLOCH Stakes Winner because we purchased Quick Thinker’s Dam ACOUPLAMAS as a yearling and raced her with success claiming black type with her and therefore creating the mare’s commerciality to be considered worthy of being covered by commercial sires.
We also highlighted that we’d be barracking for him in the Derby. Dreams came true!
As for the runner-up ZEBROWSKI, he is a son of the all-conquering champion sire SAVABEEL who sits on 99 Stakes Winners and Zebrowski just missed bring up his century.
Our followers know that SAVABEEL was purchased as a yearling and was syndicated by Dynamic Syndications Managing Director Dean Watt and the horse went on to win $2.7million including winning the Cox Plate and Spring Champion Stakes and he was runner-up in the 2004 VRC Derby to Plastered before going to stud for what was then a record amount.
Therefore the 2020 Derby result has our Dynamic DNA all over it because we purchased and raced the Dam of the Winner and also the Sire of the Runner-up.
However, we don’t stop there!
Also, at the 2020 Magic Millions sales we purchased a beautiful filly by Arrowfield Stud’s boom first crop sire SHALAA (IRE) the Champion 2yo and best son of super sire INVINCIBLE SPIRIT (Sire of I Am Invincible).
Our filly is the first foal out of TALENTED MISS – who is the winning FULL SISTER to ACOUPLAMAS (Dam of QUICK THINKER).
Whilst we also have an unraced 2yo who will be on a Derby programme as a 3yo. He is named PAROCHIAL by PIERRO out of LARROCHA. This Gr1 Winning mare is also closely related to QUICK THINKER.
This is a family that is
constantly improving and has the
genetic capability to produce
outstanding Black-Type racehorses.
We also purchased in 2020 at the NZ Sales, a gorgeous yearling daughter of SAVABEEL from the mare BINGO.
Knowing genetics and working families is a vital ingredient when looking at buying yearlings at sales to give the
opportunity of increasing commercial values of your equine investment whilst your yearling sits in the spelling paddock.
Certainly now
our Shalaa filly is now worth considerably more than what we paid for her as a yearling even if she never races because when she retires to stud, if she was to be covered by
So You Think, she would produce a
3/4 relation-in-blood to Gr1 Derby Winner Quick Thinker!
So, what would that yearling be worth in the sale ring?
The sky’s the limit.
What about if our filly was to also claim Black-Type?
Apart from the prizemoney she would be worth
huge money as a broodmare.
That’s why we buy well-bred fillies for our owners.
Their pedigree commerciality and value can keep rising on the deeds of close relations.
Our Shalaa filly out of Talented Miss has become incredibly desirable with now little downside but huge upside.
Why would you invest in the stock market with its huge risks when the bloodstock market can deliver massive financial results and you have fun with your investment along the way?
Here is an extract of our story of 29 March:
Number 1:
QUICK THINKER is out of the mare ACOUPLAMAS (pronounced - A Couple A Mars) because the mare is by Al Maher from Mahira. There is a MA in the sire’s name and a MA in the dam’s name.
How do we know this?
Dynamic Syndications purchased ACOUPLAMAS as a yearling and syndicated the then filly and the co-owners gave her the name.
ACOUPLAMAS was a very handy racehorse, that never reached her true ability in racetrack deeds that she deserved.
Acouplamas (f Al Maher) 2 wins at 1000m, 1400m, 2d BRC Princess S., L, AJC Australia Day at Warwick Farm H.
She was a duck in the rain and loved soft to heavy going. She was placed
another 3 occasions and was the subject to some very poorly judged
rides in her career that prevented her career resume looking
significantly stronger.
She also had a wonderful pedigree behind her, and after racing she was on-sold as a broodmare.
It’s here she has excelled.
ACOUPLAMAS has injected her untapped ability into her progeny. She is the Dam of 3 winners. They are:
QUICK THINKER (c So You Think (NZ)) 4 wins-1 at 2-from 1400m to 2000m, A$1,010,228 to 2019-20, ATC Derby Gr1., ATC Tulloch S., Gr.2, Ming Dynasty H., Gr.3, ARC Champagne S., L, 2d Hawkes Bay Time Test H., 3d ATC Phar Lap S., Gr.2, Gloaming S., Gr.3.
$100,000 Yearling
The August (g I Am Invincible) 2 wins at 2, A$137,525, VRC Eugene Gorman 2YO H., 2d MRC HDF McNeil S., Gr.3, ATC Events by ATC H., Irresistible Pools & Spas H., 3d ATC Kia Canterbury Sprint H., 4th MRC Vain S., Gr.3.
$150,000 Yearling
Seasons. 4 wins at 1200m, 1250m,
A$239,480, to 2019-20, ATC All Too Hard at Vinery H., Australian Turf
Club H., UNSW H., Tab.com.au P., 2d ATC Catanach's H., Book Summer
Hospitality H., Theraces P., 4th ATC Birthday Card S., Gr.3.
$110,000 Yearling
In addition, her 2019 yearling colt – now 2yo by Zoustar sold for $1,075,000 at the Magic Millions.
Every champion has a story and QUICK THINKER is no different.
He was purchased for $180,000 by James Bester as a weanling at the Magic Millions weanling sale in 2016 and then re-offered at Inglis Easter sale as a yearling in 2017 under the Coolmore Stud draft, where he sold for $100,000, a loss of $80,000 plus holding costs.
As a racehorse he has a record of 11 starts: 4:2:2 Prizemoney: A$1,010,228
Number 2:
Knowing how well the family is growing out commercially and how well fillies in the family are being bred to commercial sires, we
have continued to keep our eyes out for close relations that are bred
to commercial sires and where the resultant foal from the mating has a
high genetic rating.
The planets aligned in 2020 at the Magic Millions yearling sale when late on the final session on the Saturday evening when Lot
842, a filly by top new Arrowfield Stud based first crop sire SHALAA
(IRE) from the mare TALENTED MISS was purchased by Dynamic Syndications
for just $80,000 + GST.
Bred on the superb INVINCIBLE SPIRIT x DANEHILL Cross with 21 Stakes Winners including Gr1 star LOVING GABY, there is more significance to the pedigree than just this excellent mating cross.
The Dam TALENTED MISS won two races at 1400m and 1600m and this is her first foal and importantly it is a filly.
The major advantage is that TALENTED MISS is a Full-Sister to ACOUPLAMAS.
So, since we have purchased our filly on 11 January, there has been
close up black-type improvements within the already commercial pedigree
as QUICK THINKER has added Saturday’s win in the Gr2 TULLOCH STAKES and Gr2 placing in the PHAR LAP Stakes.
Also, SEASONS added a Gr3 performance to the page in the ATC Birthday Card Hcp.
So, with ACOUPLAMAS producing Stakes Horses with sires SO YOU THINK, SEBRING and I AM INVINCIBLE this will ensure our filly is in strong demand and have excellent residual as a broodmare when her racing days conclude.
Already she is a 3/4 sister-in-blood to THE AUGUST, our filly becomes a gilt-edged investment.