Exciting colt Coniston was destined for the sales ring as a yearling, however, unfavourable x-rays curtailed those plans, which has proven to be a blessing in disguise for owner-breeders Graham and Helen-Gaye Bax of Blandford Lodge, who now have a Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) favourite on their hands.
The son of Wootton Bassett jumped to the top of the market of the southern Classic, alongside Excite, following his victory in the Gr.2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Rapa on Labour Day Monday, and the Baxes are excited to be heading to Riccarton in a few week’s with a leading contender.
“He was a good boy yesterday and did everything right,” Graham Bax said. “He improved a lot from his last run. I was very happy with his run, and he hit the line really well. He is angling toward the 2000 Guineas at Riccarton, so that all stacks up pretty well for that race going forward.
“Just to get into the race is good, but to have one of the favourites is great, and hopefully he can live up to his reputation.”
Trained by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott at Wexford Stables in Matamata, Coniston has always shown plenty of promise, stringing together three trial wins before making his debut in August, and he has now won two of his four starts.
“He had quite a few trials, which he won just about every one of them, and he has shown a lot of ability,” Bax said. “He is the sort of horse that likes to roll forward and if you let him do his own thing he has got pace enough to get into a good position. He has also got a good, long sustained run on him and I think he will need that at a track like Riccarton.”
Coniston hails from a family that has a long association with Blandford Lodge.
“I have had that family ever since I started breeding about 40 years ago,” Bax said. “It goes back to a mare I bought years ago off Ron Denby called Polly Soleil. She was a half to a very good stallion called Avon Valley. I bought her in foal to a stallion called Red Tempo. We foaled that down and I sold it to Bevan Allen of Karaka Bloodstock, and she became Soleil Rouge. Soleil Rouge has left a daughter that has left a very good one by Ardrossan in De Armas.
“From there I have bred horses like Black Sun, and Kylie (Bax, daughter) bought a horse off me called Danzdanzdance (dual Group One winner), who is out of a half-sister to Le Gai Soleil (dam of Coniston).
“Le Gai Soleil is out of a mare called Night Danza and she has been a very good broodmare.
“Le Gai Soleil won races in Australia and won a Listed race as well. It is a very nice family that keeps producing very good racehorses. It is a very good filly family, but this time I seem to have a nice colt.”
Le Gai Soleil was trained in Australia by John O’Shea, where she won seven of her 18 starts, and was retired following her victory in the Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1400m), and Bax thought Coolmore Stud stallion Wootton Bassett was a perfect first mating.
“I had seen Wootton Bassett up in France at Haras d’Étreham and I loved the horse, and thought he was a magnificent-looking animal,” Bax said. “When he came down here, I couldn’t wait to send Le Gai Soleil to him.
“Then I got the colt (Coniston) and I thought this will be a nice sale yearling, but unfortunately the x-ray report wasn’t so good. A few of my mates wanted to race him with me, so I decided to go down that track.”
Coniston is proving to be an exciting racehorse for the Group and has Bax dreaming of potentially having a stallion prospect.
“I had this dream of chasing rainbows and thinking I am going to breed myself a stallion here,” he said. “It is still the dream. There is a long way to go yet, but we have got a foot on the step. You need to have a very good horse to make a stallion, but this game is built on dreams.
“He has always been a nice-looking horse, and he has got a good brain on him, he is no dummy. He is the perfect horse to try and get to be a stallion because he is not a heavy horse.
“At this stage, fingers-crossed, we are still on target to go to Riccarton.”
Bax sold a Proisir half-brother to Coniston at Karaka earlier this year to leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller for $150,000, while a yearling half-sister by Super Seth will go through the sale ring next year.
“I have got a Super Seth filly that is getting ready for the sales, and she will probably go to Sydney Easter,” Bax said. “She has got a Super Seth colt at foot, and we are sending her to Sword of State.”
While excited about the prospects of Coniston, Bax is also upbeat about another homebred in Mr Miller, who will be aiming to snare the lion’s share of the A$10 million on offer in Saturday’s Gr.1 Golden Eagle (1500m) at Randwick.
“I bred another horse caller Mr Miller that Pam Gerard at Ballymore trained up for me, and we sold him to Australia,” Bax said. “I kept a little bit of him myself and he got fifth in the Epsom (Gr.1 1600m) and this weekend he is going to the Golden Eagle, which is quite exciting.
“We are hoping for good things in the Golden Eagle, but it is going to be a very hard race.”