The Taylors welcomed a half-sister to Pride Of Jenni recently only for the filly to die when just 3 days old.
“She was in the stable with her mum (Sancerre) and the staff went and checked on her at 3.30am and she was fine,” said Cherry Taylor.
“They came back at 6am and she was dead. There wasn’t a mark on her and an examination found nothing so all we can think is it was a congenital defect.
“I was devastated because she was a lovely little filly, who loved a cuddle. She wasn’t insured but that wouldn’t change anything for us.
“The heartache you feel when something like this happens has nothing to do with money.”
Pride Of Jenni’s dam Sancerre will now return to the same stallion, Hello Youmzain, who sired the deceased filly.
So Pride Of Jenni’s resumption today will be tinged with sadness but Cherry Taylor said that is the reality of breeding racehorses or any animal.
Sometimes Mother Nature gives and sometimes she takes away.
Pride Of Jenni is in the unusual position this spring of trying to repeat the almost unrepeatable, her signature wins last season were so stunning that anything short of winning the Cox Plate in October might be considered a step backwards.
Of course, winning Group 1s season after season isn’t quite that easy and Taylor said they would just enjoy the ride.
“What she has done has been amazing and we are so proud of her and we’d love to have her become the third Cox Plate winner bred by Trelawney after Tulloch and Ocean Park.”
Her reappearance is the highlight of racing on both sides of the Tasman today even though plenty of other big names return, including last season’s juvenile hype colt Storm Boy in Sydney.
Closer to home the major domestic meeting is at Whanganui where the track will be a heavy 10 for the Whanganui Guineas and that could mean the winner is decided as much by how they handle that slog as their ability.
Saturday Punt Pointers
1: Belardi (Whanganui, R5): Has won here on a heavy track before and trialled strongly recently. His early speed could help him dictate his own line.
2: The Victress (Riccarton, R4): Showed zip last term and her last trial was excellent. Good bet with cover on Enterprise (No 1).
3: Autumn Glow (Rosehill, R7): Won’t pay much but is a real excitement machine of a filly for whom Chris Waller has Group 1 aspirations.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
