Major players
PeterMcKaymust have gulped a couple of times when he signed the sale docket after going to $480,000 for Alamosas half-brother at Karaka last month.
It was, as McKay noted this week, roughly the same price as he paid for his Matamata property seven years ago.
It was also another example of McKay and his wife, Kim, being willing to back their judgment.
The McKays have essentially staked their own stable and the fact that they are now able to pay close to half a million for a yearling is an indication that their courage has been rewarded.
The McKays race Alamosa in partnership with Trevor Luke but bought the half-brother, by No Excuse Needed, on their own account.
We had to make sure that we were doing the right thing and that we could afford it, McKay said. Otherwise, if things went wrong next season, you could be in dire straits.
The decision to buy the close relation to their stable star was not based on sentiment. Some people have asked if we would have bought him if he hadnt been Alamosas half-brother. The answer is yes, but we probably wouldnt have had to pay as much, McKay said.
We really liked him and he was very high on our hit list. He and the half-brother to Sarajay [$200,000] were the two we really wanted.
The half-brother to Vincent Mangano was more of a sentimental buy. But we were very happy to get him for that money [$140,000].
McKay began working with his $480,000 colt this week and has been encouraged by the youngsters progress.
My heart was in my mouth a bit the first couple of times I put the gear on him. But hes a very sensible horse and has definitely got a brain. Thats half the battle.
In the meantime, the focus will be back on Alamosa when he takes on Sir Slick in the $200,000 Otaki-Maori Weight-For-Age (1600m) at Otaki today.
Alamosa opened as a $2.10 favourite yesterday following his spectacular double at Trentham last month.
The OReilly colt easily won the Wellington Stakes (1600m) before becoming the first three-year-old for 20 years to win the Group I Thorndon Mile.
He has had five wins and two seconds from his eight starts this term and has only once been beaten by more than a head.
He had two trips to Wellington and back but has bounced back very quickly. He looks good and is a happy horse,McKay said.
But he has got to be on his game again. Its a Group I race and you cant disregard any horse in there.
You can never disregard Sir Slick and Fiscal Madness is probably back to his preferred distance. Run Like Al was competitive at Te Rapa and Dorabella has been freshened.
But I think Alamosa will be competitive. The way he came through his Trentham runs, he could probably have had a crack [in the Waikato Sprint] at Te Rapa but you can push them too much when you start changing things.
Probably the best decision we made this season was to miss the Levin Classic. It was a hard one because we passed up a $240,000 race and went to a $100,000 race [Avondale Guineas] instead. But I think it was the right thing to do.
McKay, 42, has had a remarkable season.
The Matamata horseman, who has had 17 wins and 19 seconds from 102 runners, does not do feature in the top 20 trainers on the premiership but is in rarefied company on the column that dictates the bottom line.
If the premiership was based on stakes, rather than wins, McKay would be in second place, behind Mark Walker.
The top six on the premiership - Walker, Michael Pitman, Stephen McKee, Mike and Paul Moroney, John Sargent and the Newham-Rogerson partnership - have all won at least twice as many races as McKay, but only Walker can head off McKays stake earnings.
Walkers team has earned more than $2 million in stakes but McKay is next, with $1.38 million, while Sargent, the Moroneys, McKee and Pitman are the others who have topped $1 million.
In addition, McKay has won eight group or listed wins this term, a tally that only Sargent can match.
The stake earnings are particularly relevant to Peter and Kim McKay who have shares in about two thirds of the horses in the stable.
They have a 50 per cent share in both Alamosa and Vincent Mangano, who between them have earned more than $1 million this term, and a 40 per cent share in Clifton Prince, who has added $70,000.
Kays Awake has also been a notable contributor to the stable earnings, with $135,000 in place money this season.
Alamosa made his three-year-old debut in September and has continued to race consistently while Kays Awake, Clifton Prince and Vincent Mangano have also maintained their form over an extended period.
We dont do a lot of galloping with them and that might help get a little more racing out of them, McKay said. If you keep them happy and ticking over quietly, its amazing what you can get out of them. I rely on my gut feeling and just do what I feel is right.
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Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 am under