Table of contents for May 2023 in Turf Monthly

Arguably the greatest son of Bill Of Portland was Maltster. He was a horse that was the cause of some confusion having raced under the name of Maltster, a misspelling on his original nomination form. After his retirement to stud, the AJC issued a statement saying that they would accept the new spelling for his progeny. It seems likely that as the colt was out of an imported mare by the name of Barley, the name Maltster was much more fitting. Barley by Barcaldine. Barley had been in foal to Harvester, who had dead-heated in the 1884 English Derby when purchased by Matt O’Shanassy along with Oratava who was to produce La Carabine. The mare spent her days at St Albans and her colt by Bill Of Portland was sent…

A daughter of Maltster in Widden Lass was to produce one of the best racehorses of his era who deserves at least a brief mention in these pages. The colt we are talking about is Wolaroi by Kenilworth. Widden Lass was only a small mare from the very first crop of her sire. Not only was she small, but the filly also had a twisted leg and was so unsuitable that she was excluded from the Widden draft of yearlings. Her family was certainly worthy of note though with her granddam being a sister to the top stallion Abercorn. Prominent breeder and racing identity of the time “Lucky” Dan Seeton was inspecting the Widden stock when he spied the mare and took an immediate fancy to her. Studmaster Alfred Thompson…

Another Golden Slipper has been run and won, and this year it was another son of Snitzel who was victorious. The bay colt out of the Blue Diamond winning Samaready was an impressive victor by over a length from Cylinder and King’s Gambit. Sadly in the race, the favourite, the unbeaten filly Learning To Fly lost her rider. Interestingly the Irish powerhouse Coolmore shared ownership of both of these runners which were trained by Chris Waller. For readers of the magazine, you may remember last month that we published a table of past winning sires and damsires. If you had studied that list, the breeding pattern will come as little surprise. But back to the Shinzo. The colt rather surprisingly did not go through a sale. Instead he was retained…

Maltster went to stud in 1903 for a fee of only fifteen guineas. He had arrived late in the season and got few mares, most of which were owned by the Thompson family. Like many champion stallions, Maltster was an immediate success through a daughter of the Lochiel mare, Loch Laya. The result was a filly called Maltine who was a star 2yo. We will let the Northern Miner of Charters Towers take up the story of her. Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld.: 1874 - 1954), Thursday 25 August 1910, page 5 MALTINE Maltine Is the best mare seen out since Wakeful and Gladsome and is certainly the best of the Maltster mares up to the present. A handsome chestnut, Maltine Is a low set, symmetrical mare, who has demonstrated…

Alawa was among the best of Maltster’s sons. He was a winner of nine stakes races and was incredibly popular among racegoers of the day. Alawa was described as a big gross horse that needed lots of work to keep him fit. He suffered from leg issues for most of his career which was put down to the constant hard work. Alawa never raced outside of Victoria which is perhaps one reason that he never received the recognition that he deserved. He was owned by Mrs Margaret Buchanan who was the sister of John G Robertson, the owner of Mount Mitchell Stud near Ballarat. Mrs Buchanan had the honour of being the first woman to own a VRC Derby winner. He started his racing career on New Year’s Day 1908,…

Militarize was something of a surprise winner of the Sires’ Produce starting at $21. Much of this was attributed to his finishing thirteenth in the Golden Slipper as a $101 shot. While he did finish some 18 lengths behind the winner in the Slipper, he was behind the two horses that struck trouble and no doubt this had a huge influence on his performance in the race. It was certainly a run that in retrospect should have been forgotten. Drawing much better in the Sires’ Produce, Militarize was able to settle closer, and when he saw clear running in the straight he careened away to win as he liked from Don Corleone who had finished a strong fourth in the Golden Slipper. The question mark still hanging in the air…

As we mentioned, Maltster sired some 39 stakes winners. Many of his sons went to stud but few are remembered even though they continue to be prominently placed in the pedigrees of some good horses. Baverstock Baverstock holds a special place in the Australian thoroughbred, being by Maltster out of the champion mare, Wakeful. It is hard to imagine a more regally bred thoroughbred. While he did not make a career on the track, he proved a useful sire although much of his success depended on his best son David. Nonetheless, his daughters have played their role in the development of the breed with horse like Dual Quest who won the 1966 AJC Oaks, Bluebird The Word and Porto Roca all hailing from daughters of Baverstock. More recently we have…