Marc Conners was still shaking his head in disbelief half an hour after Willaidow’s impressive Midway win at Rosehill Gardens. It was four wins on the trot for a sparingly raced gelding who has now banked eighteen times his purchase price on the 2022 Magic Millions March online sale. “His photograph caught my eye in the catalogue,” recalled Marc. “He was an unbroken three year old at the time who looked immature but tradesmanlike. The fact that he was by Shamus Award appealed strongly. When his X/rays checked out I decided to throw in a bid, and to my surprise we nailed him for $7000.”
Shamus Award’s emergence as an elite level stallion in recent years remains a major talking point in breeding circles. Marc dismissed the fact that Stimulated (Casino Prince), the dam of his new acquisition had been winless in four starts on northern rivers tracks. He was impressed that the second dam Provokes (Octagonal) boasted a record of three wins and eight placings. Three of those placings had been at stakes level. Willaidow’s third dam needed no introduction. Excited Angel was a wonderfully talented mare when trained by Jim Conlan in the early 90’s, posting 12 wins and a whopping 16 placings in a 61 start career. She won a Gr 2, three Gr 3’s and three listed races which helped her to total earnings of $811,000.
When the time came to formalise ownership of his Shamus Award colt, Marc decided to keep it all in the family. He races the consistent gelding with wife Michelle and her sisters Louise, Kate and Alison. Willaidow’s name is derived from a combination of letters from the names of Marc’s nephews William, Aiden and Owen. The colt was broken in by Shane Rose at his landmark Bimbadeen Park complex at Werombi in the Macarthur region. A three time Olympic medallist in the eventing pursuit, Shane has emerged in recent years as a much in demand breaker of thoroughbred yearlings.
Willaidow - the $7000 online purchase who's got 4 wins on the board with more to come- courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Willaidow got completely lost on debut in a Hawkesbury maiden just over a year ago finishing second last, many lengths behind winner Bowie Of Dubai. There was slight improvement at his second outing when he finished 6th only 5 lengths behind Smart As Smart at Gosford - the penny was starting to drop. Start number three brought a marked improvement. Ridden for the first time by Deanne Panya, Willaidow finished fourth in a Kembla maiden only 1.6 lengths behind Winning Point. Sixteen days later he beat all but Allasandra in a Wyong maiden, and for the first time Marc, his wife and sisters-in-law could see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Two weeks later and stepping up to 1400m for the first time, Willaidow led throughout to dominate a maiden field at Kembla Grange with Deanne Panya on board. His next assignment was a Cl 1 at Nowra which saw him find the lead soon after the start. He looked like winning easily at the 100m, but started to shorten stride soon after. A close look at the race replay will confirm that the gelding put in a very rough step close to home which enabled Master Right to get to within a neck of him. Marc’s worst fears were realised when X/rays later revealed a significant fracture to the off fore cannon bone. Vets stabilised the fracture by inserting three screws and ordered the horse to the paddock for an indefinite period.
Marc was concerned when Willaidow faltered near the post at Nowra but still managed to win. Xrays revealed the worst - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Willaidow returned six months later to finish second in consecutive barrier trials at Warwick Farm and Hawkesbury. Marc was delighted with his action and relieved when he pulled up perfectly on both occasions. An 1100m Gosford BM64 just before Christmas looked the ideal first up assignment and so it proved. Willaidow was dominant as he flew the gates and led under a nice hold to the hometurn. He cornered like a greyhound before dashing away to score by an emphatic 3.3 lengths for regular jockey Panya. It was a performance worthy of a step up to city class.
That class rise came in Saturday’s BM72 Midway over 1200m at Rosehill Gardens. Connections were concerned when he came up with close to the extreme outside gate, and even more worried when he was reluctant to come back to Panya on the first turn. Initially it appeared that Xpresso’s rider was going to hand up, but when he decided to hold the front Willaidow didn’t take kindly to being restrained. He quickly accepted his fate, and by the 600m was travelling sweetly at the leader’s girth. He showed a sparkling turn of foot to dash clear at the 200m with the race safely in his keeping. Gently Rolled was the only horse to take any ground off him in the closing stages, but was never going to threaten.
Four on the trot! Willaidow did plenty of work before scoring a comfortable win in Saturday's Midway - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Willaidan was in the spelling paddock before lunchtime on Sunday. Marc is obviously now focused on one of the $150,000 Provincial Midway Championship qualifiers between February 29th and April 3rd. First and second placegetters from six qualifiers will make the $1 million dollar final on April 13th, as will the first, second and third placegetters from the single Wild Card. “He’ll have an easy ten days or so before we get him back in for the qualifiers,” said the trainer. “He’s obviously got quite a bit of upside and you can see him switching on with every run. He flies the gate and can race handy which is going to be an asset in big fields over the sprint distances. After four straight wins he deserves a crack at it.”
Marc Conners and his father Clarry train around fifteen horses each from the same premises at Warwick Farm. Marc’s the first to tell you he’s fortunate to have a sounding board like the man who was recently inducted into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame. “People have wondered why we haven’t formed an official partnership, but it’s hardly necessary with the number of horses involved here,” says Marc. “Most Australian training partnerships are reserved for huge stables where one person can’t physically run the operation. Maybe one day I’ll look at a partnership with my son Mitchell. He started out with me before stints with Gai Waterhouse and Maher/Eustace. He intends to gain some overseas experience and then we’ll work out a game plan.”
Marc's a third generation trainer who doesn't mind doubling as a strapper when required - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Marc’s delight in seeing Willaidow progress to a Midway win was shared by jockey Deanne Panya who holds a special place in her heart for the Shamus Award gelding. It’s well documented that Deanne opted to quit the saddle for the birth and early life of the baby daughter born to her and partner Steve Englebrecht more than two years ago. “I always intended to ride again but not until Ruby was at the stage where she could be cared for by my mother while I rode trackwork and attended race meetings,” said Deanne. “It’s not easy, but at the moment I’m managing well and thoroughly enjoying being back in the saddle. This horse Willaidow was my first ride back, and my first winner this time around. Is it any wonder he’s my favourite.”
Laotian born Deanne changed stables several times during her apprenticeship, spending time with Keith Dryden, Donna Grisedale, Craig Carmody, Theresa Bateup and Bjorn Baker. Her dedication to trackwork earned her the support of many trainers, including Gary Portelli who could see the young rider had an affinity with the genuine gelding Testashadow. Gary’s faith was vindicated when Deanne rode a copybook race to get Testashadow home in a nail biting finish to the $1 million dollar Magic Millions Cup on the Gold Coast. Trainer and jockey had to endure the agony of a prolonged delay before the photo finish result flashed onto the semaphore. Deanne thought she’d run second while Portelli feared Testashadow had missed a place in the blanket finish. The trainer gave his young jockey full credit for the win.
Willaidow is Deanne Panya's current favourite. Following a two year break for the birth and early life of daughter Ruby, Deanne is back in circulation thanks to Willaidow - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Deanne makes herself available for trackwork three days a week at Warwick Farm principally for Marc and her partner Steve, although her services are occasionally sought by the smaller trainers. Deanne has ridden more than 120 winners including several in the city. She handles 54 kgs as a matter of course and can ride at 53 kgs with sufficient notice. By way of coincidence her twin sister Beany is also a talented jockey, and has enjoyed moderate success since making the move from Brisbane to Sydney recently. Deanne obviously enjoys the commonly asked question about the relative ages of she and her twin sister. “Of course Beany’s older than me but only by ten minutes,” she says with a twinkle in the eye.
Nothing gives Marc Conners more satisfaction than developing the talents of inexpensive yearlings who go on to win many times more than their purchase prices. He quotes his handy mares Winning Verse and Rebel Rama as prime examples. Winning Verse, a $10,000 purchase in NZ has gone on to bank more than $296,000 while the year older Rebel Rama cost $40,000 and has accumulated almost $600,000 with an Eagle Farm stakes win on her CV. Both mares have had recent runs back from a spell, and Marc expects them to show the benefit at Rosehill on Saturday.
A Rosehill win for Rebel Rama and Mikayla Weir in 2021. The $40,000 purchase has won close to $600,000 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The third generation training son of a Hall Of Famer is happy with his situation in one of the toughest training jurisdictions in the world. “I’m one of the majority who simply don’t have the luxury of spending power at the yearling sales,” says Marc. “I’m happy to do my best for loyal clients and keep looking for horses like Willaidow. I love what I’m doing and I’ll be around for the long haul. Somebody might send me another Camino Rose one day. To this day I don’t know why Queensland owners picked me to train a mare who’d already won five races in Brisbane. She turned up at my place five minutes after I’d started training in my own right in 1997. She gave us an enormous kick start with wins in a Tristarc Stakes, a Queen Of The Turf and a Gr 1 Coolmore Classic. She also ran second to Shindig in another edition of the Coolmore Classic. She was a dream come true. You never know there might be another one waiting in the wings somewhere.”
(Banner image - Marc was in the good books with female owners after Willaidow's Midway win - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)