Before they were famous: Viddora

In this series TDN AusNZ will take a look at Group 1 runners before they were successful on the racetrack; speaking to breeders, breakers and trainers on their formative years.

Viddora

I Am Invincible x Snow Flight (NZ) (Colombia {NZ})

Winner - G1 Moir S. 1000m

Winner - G1 Winterbottom S. 1200m

Winner - Magic Millions Snippets 1200m

Winner - G3 R N Irwin S. 1100m

Placegetter - G1 Moir S. 1000m

Placegetter - G1 Ubet Classic 1200m

TDN AusNZ: Could you tell us what was Viddora was like as a weanling?

John Hodgson, Riva Ridge: I think I had nine to prepare that year, five of those were fillies, I remember after weaning I tipped them out for winter and they have this large round paddock, they were all a lovely crop and growing well, and they would run around together and Viddora she would always be the lead in the herd. And they looked to be going at some speed and I remember thinking, gee she is quick, but in that instance you hope the rest of them aren’t just particularly slow, and that you have a special one.

Watch: Viddora as a foal

TDN AusNZ: What was she like through her yearling preparation?

JH: She was one that just knew her job, I remember walking into her box to go and trim her feet for the first time, and instinctively she lifted up her leg. She just was quality and so easy in that respect. And I remember speaking with the rest of the staff and asked them to not touch her, and I wasn’t trying to have a crack and the rest of the team, it was more that I just didn’t want to stuff her up by overdoing her. She was just right, from the beginning,

I think I learnt a lot from Viddora, and she almost set the benchmark for me to compare everything to. Quite simply, she taught us how to do the job, she was very smart.

Watch: Viddora sell as a yearling

The Trainer

Lloyed Kennewell's comments from an interview conducted by Vicky Leonard of Kick Collective for Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale - The Viddora Story

Kick Collective: Tell me how you felt when she ran second in the G1 Moir S., she got so close.

Lloyd Kennewell: It was huge, it was one of those nights where you’re obviously so happy to see how well she ran and she performed at the elite level and was beaten by a golden slipper winner.

I remember the cameraman followed her after the line as if she had won the race and usually the camera men get it right! Where I was standing in the stand I thought it looked like she just got there, and obviously it didn’t happen, so it was very mixed emotions, but at the same time we knew w had arrived with her on the main stage where we she could perform at that elite level.

KC: She obviously likes the track at Moonee Valley is there something in her racing style that you believe sees her thrive at that track?

LK: I think its the fast pace, there’s always a good tempo in those sprint races at Moonee Valley and she was a horse that didn’t like to be bustled too much early, she had good speed in her early days but we actually found that the niche with her was to ride her quite, and the quieter we rode her the better she finished off.

KC: She beat a quality field in the Winterbottom, how did you feel about her that day? Were you quietly confident?

LK: Yes, look she was obviously the horse to beat, I don’t think Santa Ana Lane (Lope De Vega {Ire}) had arrived as the horse to beat just yet, he obviously was a top-class galloper but at that stage we thought we were the horse to beat, there was local Bob Peters horse in there that was the short-priced favourite and we were back minding our own business getting a nice perky ride on the inside, and everything just opened up perfectly for Joe at the top of the straight. It was a pretty painless watch to be honest, to win my first Group 1, it was at the 300 metre mark when everything opened up, she was always going to win the race.

KC: Could you tell us about the move to Melbourne and her preparation leading into the Moir S.?

LK: We called it her redemption race in the Moir where she just missed out the year before, and it was basically her time to shine. She spelled and pre-trained in Melbourne, and she had a really good campaign.

We had just moved to Melbourne and she was the banner horse for me and she did all her work and all her preparation here at Caulfield and then she went into that race definitely as the underdog, Nature Strip (Nicconi) was the hot-pot and the short-priced favourite. Her work and jump outs here were phenomenal, I found out later that some of her jump out times that she was running were some of the best jump outs times that had ever been run at Caulfield on the inside grass. We knew she was in the zone and was ready to go, it was just a matter of having a bit of luck.

Watch: The Viddora Story

KC: Talk me through the race, were you nervous?

LK: I was probably more confident than what I have ever been for a lot of the big races going into it, even though Nature Strip was the short price favourite. I felt that he had a few vulnerabilities if he got taken on early or if he wanted to over do it, which he can do, and we knew she was in the hitting zone to be very hard to beat, and she’s got such a devastating turn of foot that if she just got that nice drag into it she was going to be hard to beat.

I think after they had ridden the first 400 metres you could see she was clearly the one you’d like to be on, she was the one that started to smoke up into the race at the 500 metre mark without using any petrol and Nature Strip had done it pretty hard early on.

By the time they got to the corner the race was all over she put him to bed and the rest of the field to bed that night and like her other Group 1 wins it was pretty painless to watch, and it was great to see after setting her for that race some 12 months earlier.

KC: What did it mean to you?

LK: It was huge, especially after moving the stable and everything to Caulfield, it was pretty instrumental. It was what I’ve done in the last 18 months to set myself up with some great people around me and with some lovely yearlings that I’m dealing with now and we’ve got a great team and I can thank her for the majority of that, to be honest. She put me on the main stage to be able to travel around and be involved in racing around Australia.

KC: Tell us about what she meant to the ownership group?

LK: She changed their lives for the better. For people who were sort of kicking off in racing and they got a dream start into a horse like her. The majority of the people were handpicked to go into the horse by myself and there were still shares available in her I think even three months before she raced at her first start. So some people we very lucky and got in late to get involved. And most have repaid me in spades since and are big supporters of the stable now.

KC: Joe and Jen Bowditch are obviously a major part of the Viddora story, how special was it to have him riding her for those major races?

LK: He’s one of my closest friends and he’s been instrumental in helping me, he’s a great judge on the track and gives me great feedback about the horses, so its very good having someone like him in the yard. He’s absolutely fantastic to have around the place, and is still riding winners all the time.

KC: Could you tell us about her travelling life and time in Dubai.

LK: She always travelled well, Paddy Bell went over with her, and he had previously been over with Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) so he knew what was required of her in order to be competitive over there, she’s a very cruisey horse, and he looked after her there for 10-14 days all up and she didn’t miss a beat the whole time and she really enjoyed it.

She ran a super race and obviously Blue Point (Ire) won the race and he looks like he’s going to be a great stallion in the upcoming season, and we ran a very gallant fourth.

KC: What did it mean to the owners you’ve started with a $40,000 yearling to a million-dollar mare?

LK: It's been fantastic you know they jump into the horse initially to have a bit of fun and you know I just wanted to get a stakes placing for her at the start and we obviously got a stakes win and you know she just kept progressing to that higher level, we raised the bar and she kept raising the bar.

I think that the ride that she took us on, most people enjoyed it and not many took it for granted that’s for sure and its one that you look back on now, and if you didn’t enjoy it and you didn’t have fun along the way, you’ll never have fun after it. I mean spending $40,000 on a horse that won over $2 million in prize money and you know over $1 million to sell, it's a big result in anyone’s language.

KC: You mentioned as a yearling she needed time to furnish can you describe her physical at the end of her career?

LK: She was a tank. Everywhere she went, she stood out to everybody. Whether she was overseas or whether she was going into a Group 1 race here in Australia, people would always go to look at her. She just has an unbelievable physical, she’s deep in the girth, she’s got a back end on her like a truck and that’s where all her power was obviously generated from.

She’s one of those mares that was actually a heavy mare, she’s always raced big, if she was big she’d race better, if she was a bit light on I thought she wasn’t at her peak, the bigger the better for her and that’s how she’d pick them up and put them to bed.

Physically I couldn’t fault her, she’s pretty correct and she’s got a beautiful head and she’s very intelligent. I think she’s going to make a wonderful mum and hopefully, we get to see her progeny soon enough!