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53.
Bittersweet Victory
For Brave Chief
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16/08/2002 |
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In a
sad twist of fate, as the gallant nine-year old gelding Brave Chief scored an
emotional win at Sandown last Saturday his 16yo dam Artesian Queen died when in
foal to Coolmore Stud’s reigning U.S. Champion Sire, Thunder Gulch.
One of Victoria’s most popular racehorses due to his fondness to go straight
to the front in his races and defy the opposition to run him down, Brave
Chief’s winning return to the races is made more remarkable by the fact that
he almost died from colic. A son of the former top-class racehorse Hula Chief,
Brave Warrior has won 18 races and placed a further 4 times from 65 starts for
earnings of $870,880. It took the gelding until he was six-years old to win his
first stakes race in the MVRC Japan Racing Association Cup (LR) (2040 m.) The
following year Brave Chief won the VATC Sandown Classic (G2) (2400 m.) and the
Cranbourne Cup (LR) (2025 m.).
Artesian Queen had her own share of ability. The daughter of the very good
broodmare sire Water Mill (Mill Reef), Artesian Queen won 5 races in Adelaide, 4
in a row. Her grand-dam La Cienega is a half-sister to the grand racehorse and
outstanding stallion Matrice.
Brave Chief is easily the best of Artesian Queen’s 5 foals to race. Her only
other winner Toscelli (Prince Of Birds) won 3 races in Queensland. The seventh
foal of Artesian Queen, a now two-year old filly by boom sire Rubiton, was
passed in at the William Inglis Premier sale this year when she failed to make
her $60,000 reserve.
The last foal out of Artesian Queen is a yearling filly by Thunder Gulch.
By: Mark Smith
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