Love for a special mare lives on in miracle filly

New South Wales harness racing breeders Phil and Denise Thurston admit they were a mess of emotions with the arrival of a perfect little Captaintreacherous filly at their Central West property a fortnight ago.

The foal, born through embryo transfer, arrived seven months after the couple were devastated by the death of the filly’s mother – one of the Thurston’s favourite and most valuable mares, Gotta Go Jazzy Jet NZ.

“Gotta Go Jazzy Jet developed two abdominal hernias shortly before or after she had her first foal, a beautiful strong colt by Bettors Delight, in October last year, ” Phil said.

“We were told it was unlikely she’d be able to carry another foal herself. The concern was not only whether she could carry a foal but the likelihood that the hernias would rupture when she was giving birth and we’d lose both the foal and the mare,” he said.

“So, we decided to have an embryo transfer carried out and the embryo was successfully implanted into a recipient mare and this little filly is the result.”

The decision turned out to be very fortuitous when Gotta Go Jazzy Jet passed away due to lower intestinal issues just as her first foal was due to be weaned.

“We were absolutely devastated – losing Jazzy was our lowest moment because we’d had some amazing times with her. She raced in Denise’s name and she was her favourite horse,” Phil said.

“But now, some seven months later, having her foal is probably the highest moment. We had an anxious wait with her because she was 20 days overdue. But we are now celebrating one of our most joyful moments in breeding,” he said.

“It’s an amazing story and a vivid example of the ups and downs of owning and breeding.”

The couple, who operate the commercial breeding stud, Celestial Standardbreds are now looking forward to selling “Jazzy’s” first foal.

“He’s a very strong looking colt, very much like his mother. We did think of keeping him, but we have decided he will go to the Sydney APG Sale in March,” he said.

“We were so pleased to get a filly and we’ll definitely be keeping her, for sentiment and to keep the name of Gotta Go Jazzy Jet alive.

“Jazzy was a lovely race mare. She was probably the best I have trained over the years, and we have had some nice ones. She won 12 races and was placed second on six occasions from only 31 career starts.

“One of the highlights was when I trained her to win the Young Oaks and it was only fitting that Brad Hewitt drove her for Denise and I that night. Brad has trained and driven a number of horses over the years for us and he does an outstanding job.

“I really think she could have been anything because over her career she had two fractured tibias. She has a great pedigree, being out of Gotta Go Harmony NZ (By Christian Cullen out of Elect To Live) who has been a prolific producer and keeps getting winners, most recently Blameitonthenight NZ is showing lots of potential.”

Phil said embryo transfer is a wonderful option for mares who have trouble retaining foals or were at risk of giving birth themselves as was the case with Gotta Go Jazzy Jet.

“We’ve now bred a few this way. It’s of real value if the mare is getting old or has problems,” he said.

The Thurston’s 100-acre property on the Lachlan River at Forbes has 75 acres under irrigation and so is ideal for breeding horses.

“Denise and I bought our first yearling in 1979 and she turned out to be a very handy race mare and an excellent producer, so we have been hooked on standardbreds ever since,” Phil said.

“We purchased our property in 1981 but have only been breeding commercially for about eight years and the last three under the Celestial Standardbreds banner.

“We concentrate on breeding from a small band of quality mares. We have around a dozen black-type mares at the moment. In recent years we have sold all of our colts but occasionally keep a filly. This will be the case with Jazzy’s filly.

“We are always on the lookout for mares, especially top race mares just off the track and are dedicated to matching them to the best sires because we think this will ensure our continued success as commercial breeders. In the past 12 months we have been able to secure two top mares for our breeding barn, Nostra Villa and Miss Halfpenny.

“Nostra Villa is in foal to Captaintreacherous and Miss Halfpenny is in foal to Bettors Delight. Nostra Villa was the 2YO of the year in Victoria while Miss Halfpenny claimed the NSW title. Both are due to foal in September next year.”

Phil still trains a few and drives in trials to see first-hand how they are going but admits he really only has time to concentrate on breeding these days.

“I used to enjoy training especially when you get a horse like Gotta Go Jazzy Jet but now our focus is on breeding quality foals and preparing yearlings for the sales.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink