Nimalee’s win in Saturday’s Queen Of The Turf Stakes meant more to Matthew Smith than any of his four previous victories at racing’s elite level. He first sampled the afterglow of Gr 1 success at Flemington in late October 2011 when Hurtle Myrtle won the Myer Classic. Damien Oliver had locked in the ride after winning the Gr 2 Sapphire Stakes on the mare during the Sydney spring carnival.
Matthew had to wait eight long years before he found another horse good enough to win on racing’s biggest stage. This time it was the one he’d sourced for the equivalent of $200,000 AUD from the 2017 Tattersall’s Autumn Horses In Training Sale - the Japanese bred Fierce Impact whose only win in seven starts had been a two year old maiden as far afield as Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast. It’s now history that the Warwick Farm trainer took the Deep Impact stallion to five wins and eleven placings for $3.3 million dollars in prize money.
Fierce Impact would provide Matt with a dazzling Victorian Group 1 treble in just under a year - the Toorak Hcp and Kennedy Cantala Stakes consecutively with Craig Williams in the saddle, and the Makybe Diva Stakes with Mark Zahra doing the honours. The stallion went within a neck of a fourth Gr 1 when a fast closing second to Alabama Express in the 2020 C.F. Orr Stakes.
Fierce Impact wins his third Aussie Gr. 1 - the Makybe Diva Stakes with Mark Zahra in the saddle - courtesy Racing Photos.
Matt was obviously chuffed with each of his Victorian triumphs, but was beginning to think a Group 1 win in his hometown would never come. That all changed on Saturday when Nimalee, a mare he’s long admired relished the Heavy 10 conditions to win the Queen Of The Turf Stakes by a widening two and a half lengths from Annavisto and the perennial placegetter Icebath. A feeling of deja vu was created by the fact that Nimalee was piloted by Damien Oliver who’d ridden Matt’s maiden Gr 1 winner Hurtle Myrtle over a decade earlier.
“I wasn’t too concerned about the Heavy 10,” said Matt. “She’d won three races in the Soft 6 and 7 range and had run a cracking second to Wandabaa on a Heavy 8 in the Newcastle Newmarket recently. I asked Damien to make good use of her inside draw in view of the fact that winners had been on the pace all day. I was pretty happy on the turn when she was trailing the leader Annavisto with Icebath still well back, and nothing else making much impression. She won the Gr 2 Emancipation Stakes last year but thoroughly deserved her Gr 1.
Nimalee (Damien Oliver) is the Queen Of The Turf for 2022 - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
“She almost tore her feed bin off the wall over the weekend and didn’t leave a flake of hay. I can’t find a reason not to back her up in next Saturday’s All Aged Stakes. She had a lovely “freshen” after the Newcastle Newmarket followed by a soft barrier trial and then ran a cracking race in the Gr 2 at Newcastle beaten less than a length. She certainly didn’t have a tough run in the Queen Of The Turf and the mile next Saturday should be ideal. Also in our favour is the fact that she’s in a great zone at the moment, and the track is certain to be rain affected again.”
The Group 1 win provided a pleasant return to the presentation dais for long time owner/breeder Lester Durney who races Nimalee with his wife Margaret under the Letmar Investments banner. The retired businessman spotted the So You Think filly in the 2018 Inglis Premier Sale catalogue and immediately commissioned Brett Howard of the Randwick Bloodstock Agency to represent him at the sale. “I was a huge fan of So You Think during his dual hemisphere racing career and it was wonderful to be a part of his unique Group 1 treble at Randwick on Saturday,” said Lester.
Lester Durney was thrilled to receive the stunning trophy after The Queen Of The Turf - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
“The fact that the filly was out of a Zabeel mare also appealed to me. I actually had a breeding share in Zabeel during his amazing stud career and became very friendly with Sir Patrick Hogan who stood the stallion at Cambridge Stud. The filly’s pedigree looked better the further you got down the page. Her grand dam is Elegant Fashion, a classy mare who won a Gr 1 race in Hong Kong. Brett Howard told me Nimalee ticked all boxes on inspection, but would probably make at least $200,000. As it turned out we had to go to $270,000, but she’s turned out to be an absolute bargain. Saturday’s win gives her a record of twenty two starts for seven wins and six placings for over $1.2 million dollars. I wish they were all like this mare.”
Nimalee isn’t the first top flight mare to carry the distinctive Durney silks of white, pale blue stars, sleeves and cap on Sydney racetracks. In the mid 1980’s Lester and Margaret shared ownership of the brilliant Avon Angel with Dominic Beirne and his wife Cheryl. Prepared throughout her career by Bob Thomsen, Avon Angel raced only nineteen times before being sold to Sir Tristan Antico’s Baramul Stud. Those nineteen starts yielded ten wins and four placings for $268,000 which appears a paltry sum in this era of skyrocketing prize money. Her lone Gr 1 win was in the 1986 Rosemount Classic (now the Coolmore Classic) with Peter Cook up, but she won two other races which have subsequently been elevated to a Gr 1 classification. She won a Gr 3 Surround Stakes, and a Canterbury Stakes which carried Gr 2 status in the 1980’s.
Lester and a group of friends bought into Grey Receiver when the talented sprinter underwent a change of ownership in the early 1980’s. Co owner was the former Australian tennis player Kim Warwick who had just reached number 15 on the world singles rankings. “Bob Thomsen who was training Grey Receiver at the time of the ownership reshuffle recommended the horse very highly,” said Lester. “His judgement was very sound. The horse went on to win a Galaxy, a Newcastle Newmarket, a Stradbroke and was narrowly beaten in the Rothman’s $100,000.”
Lester’s association with Matthew Smith was the result of a strong recommendation from former Hunter Valley horseman Greg Bennett. “I was chatting with Greg one day before he relocated to Queensland where he’d landed a job with Aquis Farm,” recalled Lester. “He told me Matthew Smith had a healthy reputation as a trainer of fillies and mares. I contacted Matthew and the rest is history. He’s a thoroughly professional trainer and a great communicator.”
Matt Smith with Damien Oliver who notched his 127th Gr. 1 win on Nimalee - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Lester is looking forward to racing a two year old called Mon Pierre with Matthew in the near future. The colt is by the high profile stallion Pierro from a Fastnet Rock mare called Mongolian Beauty who was a two time winner in NZ for the Baker/Forsman stable. “I have invited a few friends to join me in the ownership,” said Lester. “He’s had a couple of shin soreness issues but is due back in the stable very shortly.”
Durney’s great faith in the progeny of So You Think inspired his involvement in the ownership of the thoughtfully named Anythink Goes, currently in work with Matthew Smith. The three year old has raced only seven times for one win and three placings. The win was a 3.3 length stroll in a Goulburn maiden in February. Lester and his large group of co owners are hoping for enough improvement to warrant a transition to city racing.
Lester derived a great deal of pleasure in breeding and selling a dual Group 1 winner in the mid 2000’s. He and his partner Sir Patrick Hogan sold their Quest For Fame/Zamsong colt to a client of the Mike Moroney stable in 2002. “We were delighted to see him win both the ATC Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Doomben Cup in 2008,” said Lester. “Patrick was one of the first to ring me after Nimalee’s win on Saturday. Indifferent health has forced him to scale right down in recent years, but he continues to breed from a small broodmare band.”
Eight mares have been successful in the last twenty runnings of the All Aged Stakes. Sunline, Private Steer, Shamekha, Hot Danish, Atlantic Jewel, Hana’s Goal, English and Tofane have all been successful in a race first run in 1865. Private Steer had the distinction of winning the first 1400m All Aged Stakes in 2004 when the distance was reduced from its traditional mile journey.
Matthew Smith is philosophical about Nimalee’s chances at the absolute top level. “I know it’s her toughest test to date but this is the time to throw her in the deep end. I’ve learned over the years that you should keep these good mares going when they’re in the right frame of mind. She’s a big, strong mare who came out of the Queen Of The Turf as though she hadn’t been around. She’s superbly fit and the predicted showers through this week will improve her chances. Let’s have a crack.”
Nimalee wins the Emancipation Stakes with Rachel King doing the honours - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The Smith stable is humming along sweetly with three and a half months of the season remaining. Matthew has already posted 47 NSW wins which was his total tally for the previous season. In the 2019/2020 season the stable recorded 54 wins. He went within a short neck of a huge stakes double last Saturday when Nimalee’s stablemate Tricky Gal was nabbed on the line by Bella Nipotina in the Gr 2 Sapphire Stakes.
Matthew was in his mid twenties when he took himself off on an overseas adventure almost three decades ago. He was to spend valuable stints with Aidan O’Brien at Ballydoyle and Niall O’Callaghan at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. On arriving back in Australia Matt was confident his references from those legendary horsemen would guarantee him a spot in a prominent Sydney stable. He certainly wasn’t expecting the spot he got. The aspiring young trainer was to spend five rewarding years as a trusted foreman to Bart Cummings himself. Is it any wonder this affable bloke is winning Gr 1 races at the Championships.
Yet another memento for Lester and Margaret Durney's trophy cabinet - the 2021 Emancipation Stakes. Matt Smith looks on - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Nimalee was dominant in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes to give Matt Smith his first hometown Gr 1 - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)