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MAKYBE DIVA proved that good things really do come in threes, but Tony Santic and wife Deslee are more than happy to settle for two this time around. The Santics gave new meaning to Super Saturday with a couple of unforgettable moments to savour last weekend.
It started at 4am when Deslee delivered a baby girl named Charli Rose. Exactly 12 hours later, Starspangledbanner ran his rivals into the ground to claim the $1 million Group One Caulfield Guineas for Team Santic.
"We won two Group Ones that day,'' Santic told Sportsman.
Group One or not, Santic was going to be nowhere else but at the hospital watching the Channel Nine telecast with his family.
"It was more exciting (than being at Caulfield) because we had our newborn daughter Charli Rose there," Tony said.
"And we all had a bit of a cry really when he hit the 200m and we thought we were home and hosed.'' Despite some close calls,
Starspangledbanner's amazing triumph was the first Group One race that the Santics have won since Makybe Diva's 2005 Melbourne Cup win.
"Hopefully things have changed - instead of getting seconds and thirds, we might win a few more down the track,'' Santic said.
Apart from devising the Choisir - Gold Anthem mating that produced Starspangledbanner, Santic's decision to retain an interest in the colt after he changed hands for $120,000 at the Melbourne Premier Sale has proven to be a masterstroke.
Makybe holds down a 25 per cent stake in the colt, and it wouldn't be too long a bow to draw to think that he would one day stand there.
He is a magnificent type with a serious pedigree.
Starspangledbanner returns to Makybe this week for a break to ready himself for an autumn campaign.
"Leon Corstens said there's still a lot of improvement in him, and if that's the case, I think we're going to be happy with him.''