West Coast may not have any black-type against his name, but he is proving to be one of best performers for his ill-fated sire Mettre En Jeu.
On Saturday, West Coast etched his name into the history books when recording his third consecutive Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) victory at Riccarton Park for trainer Mark Oulaghan.
It was the nine-year-old gelding’s 11th career victory, all over fences, and brought his earnings to just shy of $500,000.
Breeders Nigel and Adaire Auret, of Letham Stud, were proud as punch watching West Coast’s historic feat from the comfort of their Wanganui property.
West Coast is a son of their former resident stallion Mettre En Jeu and out of Grosvenor mare Testament, who they had acquired off Dan Myers several years earlier.
“Dan (Myers) suggested she (Testament) might be a nice mating with Mettre En Jeu and he wasn’t wanting to use her at that particular time,” Nigel Auret said. “We went ahead and had about two or three out of her, including West Coast.”
West Coast was initially trained by their son Hamish, for whom he had two unplaced starts before Awapuni trainer Mark Oulaghan enquired whether he could purchase the youngster.
“Mark had Des De Jeu at the time and he asked if we would like to offload this one and get on with things. It worked out really well for all of us,” Auret said.
“We have never really been into jumping, so good on Mark Oulaghan for spotting him and taking on the journey.
“He was a nice horse, he just needed a bit of time, which Mark has obviously given him. It is no surprise that he is a nice, relaxed jumping horse.”
His sire Mettre En Jeu had a solid race record himself, winning the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Triple Crown Cup (2100m), and placed in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m), Gr.2 Great Northern Guineas (2100m) and Gr.3 Waikato Guineas (2000m).
The son of Montjeu retired to Letham Stud where he stood for eight seasons and has sired 40 individual winners to date, including Group Three winner La Fille En Jeu, stakes winner Plays The Game, Group Three performer Overtheriver, and stakes performer Wolfe Tone.
“He was never a high-profile horse and did pretty well with the mares he ended up getting,” Auret said. “He was underrated.”
Group One winner Unusual Suspect has been the sole stallion standing at Letham Stud over the last few seasons, with stakes winner Unusual Countess and Group Three performer Unusual Culture remaining his highest profile progeny, but plenty of others are leaving their mark on the track, primarily in Australia.
“His progeny are going well in Australia, the Aussies love him,” Auret said. “Most of them are ending up there, there aren’t many racing in New Zealand.”
“So Unusual won four in a row in Melbourne and he has got a lot of up-and-coming ones. She’s Unusual has had six starts for three wins and three seconds, so she is booming away over there.
“Unusual Legacy is working up through the grades for Chris Waller pretty nicely. There is plenty to look forward to.”
The breeding season is looming, however, Auret said Unusual Suspect will have a reduced workload this spring, serving just the farm’s own mares.
“He’s getting older and I am getting older, so the two of us are trying to retire a little bit,” Auret quipped.
“This season we are only going to serve our own mares, we aren’t going to serve any of the public’s.
“He was a wonderful racehorse and his progeny are just so easy to deal with. They are relaxed, just like he is. They seem pretty sound and go really well over a trip, so it is working out nicely.”