Hannon has always been a fan of patience when it comes to the breeding game, and so when he purchased From The Wood (Ire) (Tap On Wood {Ire}) in 1988, he was willing to wait for her influence to be felt through the generations.
On Saturday, around seven years after one of her Hannon-bred descendants, Shamus Award, won the Cox Plate and the G1 Australian Guineas, Shaquero (Shalaa {Ire}) put his own name up in lights in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic for trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald.
Reflecting on another triumph from the family, Hannon told TDN AusNZ it was particularly enjoyable given the long-term commitment he had made.
Jockey Hugh Bowman returns to scale on Shaquero
"Kieren Moore bought From The Wood from Ireland for me in about 1988. She was a Group 3 winner, and she's the great grandam of Shaquero," he said.
"I have all that family all the way through. Shamus Award came out of that, and now him. To get two stallions from the family is a good result. This guy looks like he’ll got to stud for sure. It's pretty special and there's lots of other winners on the way too.
"You have to be patient. You have to be in this game. It’s a tough game. I have been patient and I've kept the family and have got some beautiful mares to breed on from."
"You have to be patient. You have to be in this game. It’s a tough game." - Bob Hannon
Hannon doesn't recall what it specifically was about From The Wood that appealed, nor the price he paid. From a family with a wealth of stakes success across continental Europe, she was talented enough to win the G3 Concorde S. at Phoenix Park in Ireland for Kevin Prendergast and contest a G1 Irish Thousand Guineas.
"Kieran Moore was over there. He picked her out for me and we agreed on the price. I actually can't even remember what the price was, it was that long ago," he said.
"She had that Group 3 win in Ireland. She was well-bred and after I brought her out here, we raced her. She was only a 3-year-old by their time when I had her and she won a nice race at Randwick. She then went to stud and the rest is history."
All seven of From The Wood's foals would go onto be winners, and it was her third foal, Finito Fling (Luskin Star), who would prove most successful as a broodmare, producing the Singapore Listed winner Ghozi (Catbird). She also produced the five-time winner Sunset Express (Success Express {USA}), the dam of now Rosemont Stud-based stallion Shamus Award, and Fimatino (Not A Single Doubt), the dam of Shaquero.
Invincible bloodlines
Fimatino was twice a winner and after producing two colts by Pierro and a colt by Hinchinbrook, Hannon decided to send her to Arrowfield's then first-season shuttle sire Shalaa (Ire).
"I really liked that sireline. The Invincible Spirit sireline has been so successful out here. Shalaa was a very good racehorse. I loved what he looked like. He was a great type. That influenced my decision," Hannon said.
The result was a colt, foaled early in the 2019 breeding season, who Hannon would put through the Fernrigg Farm draft at last year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where he was purchased by Guy Mulcaster on behalf of successful owners Neville Morgan and David Devine.
Shalaa (Ire) | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
"He was a beautiful foal from day one and he was a great type," Hannon recalls. "We sold him up here last year at the Magic Millions and we got $160,000 for him. A few good judges reckoned he was one of the better Shalaa types up here. I was a bit disappointed in the price, but to get the result on Saturday was very special.
"He always looked a racehorse and obviously Waller has got a big opinion of him. To win the Breeders' Plate, there have been some very, very good horses that have won that and gone on to do some great things, so here's hoping.
"He always looked a racehorse and obviously Waller has got a big opinion of him." - Bob Hannon
Given the investment of time Hannon has put into the family, the significance of Saturday's win in the $2 million feature on the Gold Coast was not lost on him.
"It certainly was a huge thrill, I was very happy. To breed a Magic Millions winner is something very special," he said.
Hellbent filly hits the mark
Earlier in the week, Hannon had put Shaquero's yearling half-sister by Yarraman Park's Hellbent through the Tyreel Stud draft, where she was picked up by The Racing League for $360,000.
"She is a lovely filly. Shaquero was always a colty type, stronger set and what have you. But she's a real athlete, and I'm sure she’ll race on," Hannon said.
Lot 305 - Hellbent x Fimatino (filly)
"A lot of good judges really liked her. Harry Mitchell from Yarraman Park, he stands Hellbent, and liked her too. That cross with that Invincible Spirit sireline. Hellbent has the same bloodlines. It would have been nice to have kept her, but you can't keep them all."
"It would have been nice to have kept her, but you can't keep them all." - Bob Hannon
Fimatino foaled a colt by Rubick last spring, before visiting another Hannon-bred success story, in Newgate's Cosmic Force.
"The Rubick is a striking colt. He was early, foaled in September. He's a real cracking colt and the mare is in foal to Cosmic Force, who I bred," he said.
"The Cosmic Force family, I have had a long time too. It was nice to breed and race him, he was very good 2-year-old."
As for his success as a breeder, Hannon said his strategy remains as it was 32 years ago when he purchased From The Wood.
"Having these great families helps, I just keep a number of fillies on the way through and keep it going" he said.
