Gunn's Quick thinking starts a new chapter for Motree

Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy

But there was certainly plenty of excitement as she cheered home So You Think's historic hat-trick, while doing the rounds in the ute on her 1500-acre thoroughbred, beef and sheep property at Waterhouse on the north-east tip of Tasmania.

Gunn, the breeder of Tassie stakes stars such as Mandela Effect (Turffontein), Glass Warrior (Glass Harmonium {Ire}) and White Hawk (Tough Speed {USA}), is a woman of her convictions and when she spotted Quick Thinker in the recent Inglis Digital Sale, a thought popped into her head.

Gallery: Mandy Gunn-bred stakes winners

"I wasn't looking for a stallion at all, and I've told so many people that I would never stand a stallion, but it made sense to me to get a stallion that was bred well enough that I could use him on my mares," she told TDN AusNZ.

"I couldn't have done it but I've got Sean O'Donovan who has come to me and he's a stallion manager and he loves stallions. That made me feel comfortable knowing there was someone there who knew how to manage him."

Gunn wasn't able to move quick enough to get the deal done through the Sale itself but when Inglis rang her back to gauge her interest, she backed herself in to make it work.

"I went to look at him and Sean came with me and said he has a beautiful set of legs. He's not an overly big stallion," she said.

"It wasn't what I would call a well thought-out plan, but when I saw him and there was something familiar about him. He's got that big, white star and he's a bay, and Banco Mo was a bay with a big white star and I have a natural attraction to those type of horses."

Banco Mo (Tough Speed {USA}) was a very special horse for Gunn. He was purchased as a yearling for just $2100 and would go on to win over $800,000 on the track, with the Listed Warrnambool Cup and Listed Mornington Cup among his 12 racetrack wins.

When Gunn named her new thoroughbred operation, it was in tribute to the son of Tough Speed (USA), who drove her passion into breeding.

Gunn also has a strong affection for So You Think, Quick Thinker's Coolmore-based sire.

"I went to the Hunter Valley with Mum last year and he was my favourite," she said.

On Tuesday, Quick Thinker, to be nicknamed Hubie after the man who picked him out as a yearling, stepped off the boat and headed to Motree, beginning a new era for the farm.

From Queensland to Tasmania via Cambridge and Randwick

Quick Thinker, bred by Queensland-based Andrew Bowcock, was a $180,000 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale graduate and then a $100,000 Easter Yearling Sale graduate.

It was renowned judge Hubie de Burgh who picked him out at Easter, buying on behalf of OTI Racing. The colt was then sent to New Zealand the next week, joining the yard of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman.

While the expectation was the colt out of stakes-placed Al Maher mare Acouplamas would take some time, he showed considerable natural ability as a 2-year-old and at his second start won the Listed Champagne S. at Ellerslie. To this day, he is one of just two juvenile stakes winners for his sire.

Quick Thinker then resumed in his 3-year-old season with a win in the G3 Ming Dynasty H. and while he wasn't able to progress to the G1 Victoria Derby as had been hoped, he returned in the autumn in good form, building up to win the G2 Tulloch S., and then backing up the next week to win the G1 Australian Derby.

His fifth stakes win came at Randwick the following year, winning the G2 Chairman's H.

With stakes wins at two, three and four from 1400 metres up to 2600 metres, he showed the same versatility as his illustrious sire and was offered through the Inglis March (Late) Online Sale, where he attracted considerable interest, but not enough the meet his reserve.

A stallion in the Gunn

Gunn got the deal done post-Sale for $350,000 and admits she has barely slept since wondering if she has done the right thing. She hasn't even had time yet to consider what service fee he might stand at.

However, her logic is fairly sound though when you consider that from a pedigree perspective, Quick Thinker hails from the same family as the champion late Western Australian stallion Blackfriars, who was also a Derby winner, and who has helped reshape the breed in that state.

From a commercial perspective, Quick Thinker's immediate family has also resonated with he market, with his half-brother Yulong Code (Zoustar) a $1.075 million yearling. His half-sister Seasons (Sebring) is a Group 3 winner, while another half-brother, The August (I Am Invincible), was Group-placed.

Gunn has built a strong record, both through the ring and on the track, with her broodmares in recent years and thinks Quick Thinker may help upgrade them further, while negating some of the costs of transporting mares to the mainland on an annual basis.

One mare she has already picked out is White Hawk's dam, White Yard (Partners Choice {USA}), the first horse Gunn ever raced with her sister and trainer Angela Brakey. As well as G3 Hobart and G3 Launceston Cup placegetter - and Devonport Cup winner - White Hawk, she has produced the winners White Cliffs (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) and Squami (Squamosa).

Remarkably, Quick Thinker becomes the second Australian Derby winner to stand in Tasmania in 2022 after Levendi debuted at Broadmarsh Stud, near Hobart, last year. The son of Pierro was also purchased off the Inglis Digital platform.

For Gunn, she won't know if her flash of inspiration will result in success for some time, but she is willing to put in the work, along with her team, to give her new acquisition every chance.

"It’s a five-year project, we won't really know for at least five years, by the time you go through the mares getting pregnant, then foaling down, and then to the sales, and it mightn't be until they are 3-year-olds until we know if we have done the right thing," she said.