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Wry smiles from Vanian at Rory's Jester's success

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  • Wry smiles from Vanian at Rory's Jester's success

    ThoroughbredNews.co.nz, New Zealand
    March 10 2006

    Wry smiles from Vanian at Rory's Jester's success
    10 Mar 2006

    By Brian Russell

    Souran Vanian, a former international horse breeder now living in
    Dubai, may have had a wry smile when the news filtered through to him
    that Wahid, a gelding from a mare by 1985 Golden Slipper Rory's
    Jester had taken out the Group1 New Zealand Derby on March 4. Rory's
    Jester, a grandson of another Slipper winner, Baguettte, could have
    been a saviour for Vanian investment in Australia if he could have
    held on a little bit longer when he ran into financial problems in
    the mid 1980s.

    Armenian Souran Vanian, a merchant whose business activities
    included a Peugeot motor franchise in France, established a horse
    stud called Manado on country stretching back from the Goulburn river
    to the hills near Sandy Hollow in the Hunter Valley and acquired
    Rory's Jester as a sire from its trainer Colin Hayes.

    Vanian would not have contemplated at the time that Colin Hayes
    would subsequently not only get back control of Rory's Jester
    following the stallion's early success as a winner getter but also
    acquire Manado.

    Renamed Collingrove, it was then owned for a few years by a Hayes
    - Sangster partnership but is now owned outright by Sangter's
    Swettenham Stud and is used as the home for their quality broodmare
    band and as the nursery for their offspring.

    The Hayes-Sangster partnership also established the Collingrove
    Stud at Nagambie in Victoria, but this too is now in the sole
    ownership of the Sangster family and is the headquarters for an
    impressive line up of sires including being the base for the past ten
    years for the now retired Rory's Jester.

    Built like a big quarter horse and showing a dazzling turn of foot,
    Rory's Jester had 19 seasons of use, the first nine of them in the
    Hunter Valley, and has been responsible for approximately 1000 foals
    which reached racing age. Out of these 827 have raced and provided
    623 winners (a high 75.3% strike rate) of 1867 races (1648 in
    Australia) and earners of $46.2million.

    On the quality side he has had 75 stakes winners including four,
    Chortle, Isca, Racer's Edge and Aragen, successful in Group1 events.
    Also, 71 others have stakes placed. Very few of his progeny went
    1600m or further successfully and he was year after year one of the
    prominent juvenile sires by winners and earnings. It is an
    achievement he has followed up by becoming a leading broodmare sire.
    So far his daughters have produced over 400 winners including 26
    successful in stakes races.

    They have done well with a variety sires including Almutawakel
    (USA) (sire of Wahid), Bubble Gum Fellow (JP) (Rockabubble),
    Beautiful Crown (USA) (In Top Swing), Danzero (Hinting),
    Danehill(USA) (World Peace) and Royal Academy (USA) (Consular).

    Rory's Jester has proved a good outcross to Danzig and this may
    have been a key to the success of Wahid, now winner of nine races in
    New Zealand including the Derby, Levin Classic and Waikato Guineas.
    His sire Almutawakel (GB) is a Dubai World Cup and French Group 1
    winner by the Mr. Prospector sire Machiavellian, a close relation to
    Danehill, and from a mare by the Danzig sire Green Desert.

    Currently in Ireland on a fee equivalent to $15,000, Almutawakel
    paid one visit to New Zealand.

    Wahid is from Rory's Helen, a grey mare bred by Vanian from Rory's
    Jester's second season at the Manado Stud and raced in New Zealand
    where she won one race - 800m at two - and earned $3,971. Her mother
    Helen's Love, a mare unplaced at her only two starts, was bred on a
    cross of two greys, being by Karayar (IRE) and from the Sovereign
    Edition (IRE) Listed winner Helen of Troy, the grandam also of
    Imposera, winner of the Caulfield Cup, Wakeful Stakes and SAJC
    Australasian Oaks.
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