Kim Waugh was quietly confident Great News would vindicate her short odds in Saturday’s Provincial Championship Qualifier at Gosford, but didn’t expect the four year old mare to win with such ridiculous ease. Great News was flat footed at the start from her wide gate, after having been in the barriers for quite some time. She settled midfield and four wide in the fifteen horse field.
So well was she travelling approaching the home turn, that jockey Jay Ford let her start striding up from the 600m. She was always going to be wide on the corner, but to Kim’s horror she finished up eight deep when Liberty Sun laid out significantly. Great News wasn’t comfortable as she scrambled around the turn, and on straightening was spotting Barossa Rosa a conservative six lengths.
“I would have been happy had she nailed Tracey Bartley’s mare in the last few strides,” said Kim. “I was stunned when she rocketed past her 100m out and won by two lengths with her mind elsewhere. Right on the line she was looking at everything in sight. It’s a good feeling to be safely qualified for the Provincial Championship Final on April 10th.”
The ears tell the story! Great News was clearly distracted as she hit the front in the Provincial Championship qualifier at Gosford - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The Wyong based trainer has been chasing the rich series since its inception in 2015. Kim has had a total of twelve starters in the five editions run to date, posting two seconds and three thirds. “I think I’m being realistic in saying both second placegetters should have gone close to winning,” she said. “Spring Charlie ran second to Bobbing in 2019 after being held up at a crucial stage in the straight. Blake Shinn was visibly upset when he came back.
“Andrew Adkins was equally apologetic in 2018 when Newsfan was stopped in her tracks before running second to Serene Miss. Let’s hope Great News can make up for those disappointments next month.”
Another trainer to throw plenty of horsepower at the Provincial Championships is Kris Lees who enjoyed a career highlight on Saturday when Mugatoo won the third edition of the All Stars Mile at Moonee Valley. The Newcastle trainer holds the Championship record with a whopping thirty runners over the five years. Weight of numbers has helped Kris to win the Final on two occasions - Danish Twist was one of his eight runners in 2016, while Serene Miss was one of seven in 2018.
Kim was elated after this win at Newcastle 2015 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Kim Waugh actually trained Great News’ dam Wonderful News, who has turned out to be a pretty valuable broodmare for long time stable clients Jimmy and Betty Yee. A daughter of Clang, Wonderful News retired after just two provincial race starts in which she finished out of a place. “Wonderful News was a beautiful mare who could really gallop,” said Kim. “She had ongoing knee issues which eventually destroyed her confidence. Jimmy Yee decided not to persevere and made the decision to add her to his breeding stock.
To date Great News is one of four winners produced by Wonderful News. Newsfan has won three races with five placings for $263,000 while Mighty Marmalade was sold to Northern Queensland after winning a Wyong maiden by a big space. Another daughter Linguee won a Taree maiden in January and is back in work after a break.
The grand dam of Great News is Oxford Princess, a four time winner for the late Paul Sutherland and now a valued member of the Yee broodmare band. This daughter of Magic Ring (Ire) is the dam of seven winners including Oxford Poet ($750,000) and Miss Monashee who in turn produced the talented Oxford Tycoon ($262,000).
The next dam Mama Rossa (Red Anchor) won three races including two in the city for Alan Denham, while her fourth dam Mother Duck was one of the fastest two year old fillies of her generation. This daughter of Luskin Star won the Gr 3 Gimcrack Stakes at her first start, and later added three more stakes races to her CV.
Great News is a daughter of Coolmore shuttle stallion Uncle Mo, whose promising racing career was cut short by a rare liver disease. He was five from five as a two year old which included a 4 length demolition job on the opposition in the Breeders Cup Juvenile. That win earned him the distinction of being voted US Two Year Old of 2010.
He won a couple of races following his illness, but never regained his two year old form and was sent to stud in Kentucky.
He’s been eminently successful with seven Group 1 winners including 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. Interesting to note that Great News was one of three runners by Uncle Mo in Saturday’s Qualifier.
Kim Waugh resolved to hasten slowly with Great News from the moment she entered the stable. “She was always a fairly tall filly, but not heavily framed,” said the trainer. “You could see she was on the fragile side and would need to be cuddled for a while. I opted for short preparations with plenty of paddock in between.”
Great News was a November three year old in 2019 before Kim even considered a race preparation. By this time breeder Jimmy Yee had put together an ownership group between family and friends which totalled eleven. She ran second on debut in a Kembla Maiden with Grant Buckley on board and followed with a third placing at Wyong in the hands of Jay Ford who formed an instant attachment to the filly. The paddock beckoned, and Great News wasn’t sighted for twenty four weeks.
Following a soft barrier trial, the Uncle Mo filly resumed with an easy maiden win at Wyong followed by an even easier one in Class 1 company at Gosford. Andrew Gibbons rode her in both wins. In the Gosford win she was unfazed by a Heavy 8 track - worth noting for future reference. Kim had seen enough and immediately returned her leggy filly to the spelling paddock.
It was a similar routine next time in for a filly who was still showing a hint of immaturity. Following an easy Gosford trial, Great News won a BM68 at Newcastle with Jay Ford doing the honours. Seventeen days later with Tom Sherry up, she finished a good second at Randwick to the promising Crosscheck after striking a spot of trouble at the 600m.
Brenton Avdulla had the ride at Newcastle on November 14th when the improving mare narrowly defeated Enchanted Heart who was coming off two metropolitan wins. Avdulla retained the ride two weeks later when Great News contested a BM78 at Rosehill - her first metropolitan Saturday assignment. She led comfortably and fought valiantly right to the line to go under by only a neck to Two Big Fari who’d raced outside her all the way and was equally tenacious.
Great News narrowly defeats Enchanted Heart at Newcastle 14/11/2020. The runner-up had won her previous two races in the city - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
It’s a safe bet that a campaign aimed at the Provincial Championship was already dominating Kim’s thinking. She couldn’t get her promising mare into the paddock quickly enough, content in the knowledge that her full potential was about to come to the surface.
Fifteen weeks later Great News stepped out at Gosford for one of the most talked about trials of the season. One of her opponents was none other than the fleet footed Farnan whose five wins have yielded more than $2.5 million dollars. Last year’s Golden Slipper winner was having the second trial of his preparation and was obviously slightly ahead of Great News from a fitness viewpoint.
With Jeff Penza helping out, the local mare parked outside Farnan throughout the 1000m open trial and really had him working as they turned for home. Farnan had just over a length to spare on the line with third placegetter Pride Of Adelaide more than seven lengths away. It was a great workout for both horses. Kim’s grin said it all.
Anxious to lock in the same jockey for both heat and final of the upcoming Provincial Championship, Kim immediately contacted her former apprentice Jay Ford. “Jay has rides in town most Saturdays and I thought he’d need some convincing to get him to Gosford last Saturday,” said the trainer. “I was wrong. In just two previous rides on the mare he’d formed a very favourable impression. Not only was he able to win the $150,000 race but he covered exes by picking up four other rides on the day.”
Great News is one of 35 horses currently in Kim’s care on the Central Coast. Most of them are housed in two barns on the Wyong racecourse, but frequently spend time on the trainer’s beautifully appointed twenty hectare farm just minutes away at Jilliby. The property embraces six huge paddocks in which several horses can be turned out together, with another fourteen one horse paddocks. Named Mahtoum Lodge after her 2005 Sydney Cup winner, the facility also boasts an arena and treadmill.
The highly respected trainer is able to spell and pre train her own horses and has the capacity to provide a change of scenery for any member of her Wyong based team in need of a “pick up”. She and husband Mark Waugh searched for the ideal property for an interminably long period of time. “It was worth waiting for,” said Kim. “This place has worked out better than we ever expected. We’re very happy and so are the horses.”
Kim and Mark Waugh listen intently to a post race report from Blake Shinn - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
When asked to name another one or two horses that punters could keep an eye on, she quickly came up with Conrad and the attractive filly French Bonnet. “Conrad’s a lovely two year old Maurice (Fr) gelding who won his maiden at Wyong last week by a huge margin,” said Kim. “Let me quote James McDonald who got off him and said he was a Group horse in the making.”
She’s also looking forward to stepping French Bonnet up in distance over the next few weeks. “She’s by Puissance De Lune who won up to 2600m in the Gr 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Flemington a few years ago,” said Kim. “French Bonnet gives every indication she’ll get a trip. I’m hoping we’ll make it to the Australian Oaks during the Championships.”
Kim Waugh has come such a long way since her early days in the harness racing industry. I can still see her blazing down the straight at Harold Park with blonde locks streaming out from under her race helmet. She won eighty races in the sulky and soaked up invaluable knowledge passed on by her mentor, the master horseman Charlie Parsons.
Kim showed unmistakable ability from her earliest days as a galloping trainer and quickly made a statement with horses like Never True and Catapult. Since then the devoted horse lover has maintained an impressive strike rate, largely due to her ability to immediately identify the potential of every horse in her care, and take that horse where it can win.
Mr and Mrs Mark Waugh have become a very popular couple in the Sydney racing industry. Mark’s status as an enduring Australian sports legend is matched only by his wife’s burgeoning reputation as a trainer of immense talent and a person of unwavering integrity.
They’ll make a handsome couple should they be standing by the winner’s circle at Royal Randwick on April 10th after the Polytrack Provincial Championship. Kim and Mark will be hoping their talented mare gets the luck that completely deserted previous Mahtoum Lodge runners like Spring Charlie and Newsfan. With the half million dollar feature still three weeks away, Kim believes Great News will benefit from a lead up run. The intention is to aim the mare for the 1400m BM 88 at Rosehill on March 27th, Tancred and Vinery Stud Stakes day.
Should she come through that assignment as expected, the countdown will begin to the race Kim has had in mind for a year or more. It’s a nerve wracking business this horse training!
What a day! Kim with Darren Beadman after Mahtoum's win in the 2005 Sydney Cup - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Great News (Jay Ford) wins a BM 68 at Newcastle 17/10/2020 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)