A Group 3 win at Sandown on Saturday with a horse owned by his 94 year old father should have been a joyous occasion for trainer Grahame Begg. As Royal Insignia sprouted wings to win the Manfred Stakes, Grahame’s thoughts were with the colt’s dam Yau Chin who’d been euthanised just twenty four hours earlier. The highly regarded broodmare lost her lengthy battle with laminitis, a painful and sometimes recurring foot condition. Yau Chin’s 2024 filly foal by Zoustar had been weaned prematurely when her dam’s issues worsened a few weeks after her arrival. The nineteen year old mare had been under round the clock veterinary care ever since.
Royal Insignia is so far Yau Chin’s seventh winner and may prove to be the best of them, notwithstanding a brilliant Blue Diamond Stakes win by his full brother Written By in 2018. Royal Insignia was not nearly as precocious as Written By early days, and had only one run as a two year old finishing well back in a Bendigo maiden last April. He wasn’t seen again until mid October when a struggling and distant third in Heavy 8 going at Pakenham. He convincingly won his maiden on a good track at Kyneton on November 6th, and repeated the dose in a 3YO BM64 at Caulfield two weeks later. It was a hefty class rise into a Gr 3 on Saturday, but Grahame was confident Royal Insignia was equal to the task.
With only seven runners remaining after the late scratching of Kirribilli, regular jockey Jamie Mott was able to give the rangy chestnut plenty of time to find his feet. After beginning smoothly Royal Insignia strode freely one off the fence in fifth spot to the turn, in a sprint run at a fairly leisurely pace. Produced on straightening up by Mott the colt took a few strides to get mobile, but it was obvious there was a tank full of gas. Just as Tropicus got the better of Band Of Brothers, Royal Insignia reached the full capacity of his huge stride and put them away in a twinkling. It wasn’t the hottest Gr 3 on record, and the time was only average but there was a definite wow factor about the win.
Few Victorian jockeys are riding any better than Jamie Mott. The Manfred Stakes win on Royal Insignia brought up a Sandown double for the talented jockey - courtesy Racing Photos.
“There’s a lot to like about him,” said Grahame Begg. “Apart from the fact that they’re both chestnuts you’d never pick this bloke and Written By as full brothers. Written By was a natural two year old with a few quirky habits. Royal Insignia is a taller, rangier horse with a laid back attitude. Written By was up and running from the get-go while his younger brother was always going to take time. Dad couldn’t wait to see him at the races but I guess that’s understandable when you’re in your nineties. He’s pretty excited about the colt’s future prospects.”
The story began when Neville Begg purchased a grey filly by Irish stallion Tobougg at the Scone yearling sale in 2007 for just $3000 and gave her to his son to train. In light of subsequent events, it was significant that he named her Yau Chin, a Cantonese expression meaning “plenty money” that Neville had picked up during his training stint in Hong Kong. The filly registered four metropolitan placings before winning her maiden at Newcastle with Blake Shinn on board. She later went to Peter Morgan for a brief stint in Victoria where she managed only one placing from three starts. Begg Snr opted to send her to imported stallion Spinning World for her first stud venture and the resultant foal eventually made it to the races under the name of Turn Again. He went through the hands of four trainers all up, winning only a Hamilton maiden from sixteen starts. Yau Chin’s 2014 foal was a Dalakhani colt later named Il Divo who won five Victorian provincial races, three at Geelong and two at Pakenham. He later sustained a spiral fracture in the off foreleg which required extensive surgery and a long rehabilitation. Il Divo never raced again but he’s enjoying a wonderful lifestyle as a chaperone to younger horses at Ollie Tait’s Twin Hills Stud at Cootamundra.
Two heads are better than one! The Beggs have enjoyed great success together since Grahame relocated to Victoria in 2016 - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
This is where the Yau Chin saga takes the first of several twists and turns. She had a positive test to Written Tycoon when Neville Begg elected to move her on at a broodmare sale in 2015. The former champion trainer was disappointed when she fell well short of her reserve, but elected to review the situation following the birth of her upcoming foal. That foal was a smart chestnut colt by Written Tycoon who at the time was a world away from the popularity he enjoys today. With a few too many horses around him Neville decided to offer his colt in the yearling sale ring but once again the reserve wasn’t met. Fate was about to deliver some unexpected racing luck to one of Australian racing’s most respected figures.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Grahame with the lively Written Tycoon colt later named Written By. Apart from his obvious natural talent, he quickly developed an aversion to the starting gates. He went back to the breaker on a handful of occasions before finally accepting the inevitable. Once he agreed to toe the line, the Beggs had themselves one exciting two year old. He was freshened after a first up Sandown win in early December and wasn’t seen again for two months. He won the Blue Diamond Prelude on February 10th, and two weeks later the Blue Diamond itself by a widening 2.5 lengths from Enbihaar and Oohood.
Written By and Jordan Childs combined to score a dominant win in the 2018 Blue Diamond - the win to launch Grahame Begg's Victorian training career - courtesy Racing Photos.
Off to Sydney where he led throughout to win the Gr 3 Pago Pago Stakes from Sandbar and Spin. Seven days later he beat all but the placegetters in the Golden Slipper won by Estijaab, finishing just 1.8 lengths from the winner. “Maybe the seven day back up was too much for him,” Grahame recalled. “He’d been up for a long time and perhaps we rode him a touch too close in the Slipper. He was brave and never stopped trying right to the line but the sparkle was missing. I couldn’t get him into the paddock quickly enough.”
Written By resumed in the spring with consecutive wins including the Gr 3 Blue Sapphire, which was destined to be his final success. He failed to win again in four starts, but did manage a very good fourth in Sunlight’s Coolmore Stud Stakes. Retired with six wins from only eleven starts, Written By is already on the board as a sire with a stakes winner in his first crop. His well named son The Novelist won the Gr 3 B.J. McLachlan at Doomben in 2022.
As for Yau Chin, the grey daughter of Tobougg (Ire) has subsequently produced eight time winner Wise Dragon (Fiorente), Ces’t Magique (Zoustar) winner of the Gr 2 Dane Ripper Stakes and a total of $779,000, De Bergerac ( Zoustar) 2 wins, with Royal Insignia arriving in 2021. Neville Begg and Partners elected to sell their Capitalist - Yau Chin filly at last year’s Gold Coast Sale and the China Horse Club were the successful bidders at $370,000. “De Bergerac will have a winter preparation this year simply because of his liking for wet tracks,” said Grahame Begg. “He absolutely loves getting his toes into the ground. Punters should keep an eye out for him later, and remember the wetter the better.”
Grahame with Written By after the 2018 Blue Diamond Stakes. The colt's full brother Royal Insignia might just be Yau Chin's second at the elite level - courtesy Racing Photos.
The Grahame Begg’s Cranbourne stable is on a roll at the moment with fifteen winners on Victorian tracks so far this season. Royal Insignia will tackle the Gr 3 Colin Hayes Stakes over 1400m at Flemington on February 15th, and a bold showing would more than likely steer him towards a crack at the Australian Guineas. Grahame expects three year old filly Reluctantlycharmed to go on with the job after three good recent wins at Geelong, Kyneton and Flemington, while he’s confident Miraval Rose will soon go one step better than her listed win at Flemington recently. He has a good opinion of recent impressive Pakenham maiden winner Perfect Picture who happens to be out of a half sister to Royal Insignia and his siblings. The experienced trainer has long sung the praises of four year old gelding Maharba, already the winner of two listed races, a Gr 3 and a cracking second to Overpass in the Gr 1 Winterbottom Stakes in Perth last November.
When Neville Begg accepted a contract to train in Hong Kong in 1990, the opportunity arose for 29 year old Grahame to go it alone after a long and productive apprenticeship. He opted for a two year break from racing in 2014, and on returning decided to regenerate his career in Victoria. A trainer with a commonsense approach and infinite patience, Grahame Begg looks back on 109 stakes victories (17 Gr 1’s, 22 at Gr 2 level, 29 Gr 3’s and 41 listed races). He’s rarely been without a stakes horse in the stable and right at the moment the ranks look strong. He’s holding out special hopes for the bold striding chestnut Royal Insignia on two counts. The colt’s owner happens to be his Dad, his best mate and lifelong inspiration. A Gr 1 win for Written By’s brother would provide the perfect epitaph for Yau Chin, the gallant grey mare valued at just $3000 as a yearling but destined to make her mark in the Australian stud book. She’s got one Gr 1 winner already and might have another one waiting in the wings.
Grahame with in form jockey Jamie Mott after the Manfred Stakes - courtesy Racing Photos.
(Banner image - Royal Insignia (Jamie Mott) claims a Gr. 3 at just his 5th race start in Saturday's Manfred Stakes - courtesy Racing Photos.)