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Tuna fisherman, come businessman, come horse breeder Tony Santic gained everlasting fame as the adoring owner of triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva, but it is his achievements as a breeder that are now starting to pay real dividends on the track.
'Bred by Makybe', is a moniker carried by a host of recent smart performers including Group Two winner Musket, stakes-winning sprinter My Vegas, stakes-winning juvenile Corsaire, stakes-placed three year-olds Lucky Thunder and Silent But Deadly, as well promising maiden winners Contortion and Tinkling, who is a half-sister to highly rated juvenile Starspangledbanner, winner of the $250,000 Inglis Juvenile at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate Day.
"When you're in the business of selling yearlings the best possible advertising is in breeding winners and the Makybe bred horses have certainly been in great form during the spring," said Dean Harvey, Bloodstock Manager for Makybe.
It's not the first year of Makybe bred spring success either, with last year's carnival highlighted by the performances of the Makybe bred filly Arapaho Miss, winner of the Group One VRC Oaks and slick juvenile colt Exceedingly Good, winner of the Group Three VRC Maribyrnong Plate.
Makybe will head to the commercial marketplace in 2009 with quality drafts for Inglis Premier, Magic Millions and the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, the latter sale showcasing Makybe's Diva's first foal (pictured) by champion sire Galileo (IRE) and a three-quarter brother to Makybe Diva by Redoute's Choice from Tugela (USA).
A strikingly marked bay colt, stamped in the mould of his grand-sire Sadler's Wells, Makybe Diva's first foal is a horse that is going to attract global media attention and would be a star if offered at any sale in the world.
Super producer Tugela (USA) is already the dam of a legend in Makybe Diva, a Group Two winner in Musket and a Group Three winner in Valkyrie Diva, so her colt by champion sire Redoute's Choice will also be among the elite lots consigned to what is Australia's number one sale.
A full brother to Musket, who topped the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in 2005 when knocked down to Woodlands Stud for $2.5million and also to a filly this year that made $1.8 million, this star colt is more in the mould of his sire Redoute's Choice than his previous full siblings and sports the four white feet carried by record-breaking Redoute's Choice filly Amelia's Dream.
Makybe will also send a dozen youngsters to the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale including a half-sister to the Tuesday Warwick Farm winner Contortion by Encosta de Lago from Group Two placed It's Who Deanie.
Selling under their own banner for the first time at Magic Millions on the Gold Coast, the Makybe draft includes a half-sister by Royal Academy (USA) to Starspangledbanner and Tinkling from stakes-placed Gold Anthem, who hails from the family of champions Elvstroem and Haradasun.
Written by Tara Madgwick - www.breednet.com