Dixie chick: the Easter debut of Dixie Blossoms

Cover image courtesy of Sportpix

It was late August last year when Alan Osburg, lawyer, breeder and all-round good fellow, died in Sydney after a long illness. His death was intensely felt, in particular among the Cornish family at Torryburn Stud, but also among the likes of Max Whitby and Ron Quinton.

For decades, Osburg had been a racing and breeding man, responsible in one way or another for no less than Exceed And Excel. Alongside Nick Moraitis, Osburg had raced the Darley stallion through a top-shelf career in Australia before his famous sale to stud.

If this was all Osburg had ever managed in bloodstock, it would have been enough. Exceed And Excel was a great highlight in Osburg’s life and a story he recounted among friends on many occasions.

However, his greatest hits also included the Group 1-winning filly Dixie Blossoms (Street Sense {USA}), and next week at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, the story of both horses will be planted heavily on the neat shoulders of Lot 104.

By Exceed And Excel, Lot 104 is among the 457 horses catalogued for Easter. She is a good type and much in the mould of her dam, the G1 Coolmore Classic-winning Dixie Blossoms.

She is the mare's second foal, with the first, her full sister Al Flores, in training with Quinton at Randwick. For Lisa Miall, Osburg’s partner of close to 20 years, the filly is full of memories.

“We always had a grand plan for Dixie,” Miall said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “With a few ups and downs, that plan largely came to fruition and while she was always going to be a thrill racing, she was set up to be the prize broodmare of Alan’s bloodstock. We always had confidence that she would be a great broodmare, and so far she’s produced three stunning fillies, the first one being Al Flores and the second one being this filly, Lot 104.”

Lot 104 is the first of any Dixie Blossoms progeny to make it to market. She will be offered by Torryburn Stud, one of the farm’s eight yearlings in the sale and one of the 21 by Exceed And Excel in the catalogue.

Miall will be ringside for the show and, with not even a year since the death of her partner, it will be an emotional afternoon.

“I think it’s quite unusual to own or have owned both mum and dad in a yearling,” she said. “It’s a nice story and it’s rare enough, I feel. Alan never missed an Easter Sale. He was there without fail every single year, and it was always known by his staff at work that meetings were never, ever to be scheduled on sale days, and everyone knew not to call him unless it was absolutely necessary.

“His ritual of going out to the sale was something that gave him so much joy, not just to be out there with good friends, but to see such beautiful horses and know that most years he had a yearling going through that salering. It was a really special part of his life.”

Dixie blossoming

With Osburg’s death, Miall inherited the good but complicated fortune of a bloodstock portfolio. At the time, it included not just Dixie Blossoms and annual services to Exceed And Excel; it included mares like Aliberani (Redoute’s Choice), Chicquita (Commands) and Axiomatic (O’Reilly {NZ}), plus their collective stock on the ground or on the way.

Miall is a sharp-minded woman and she’d paid attention to Osburg’s bloodstock for years. As such, when he died she had not only the brains to keep it going, but the required wits too.

“After Alan’s passing, it was put to me that I should sell Dixie through the mares’ sales this year,” Miall said. “Given that I had two daughters from her at that point, and the two daughters would be racing prospects for me with future breeding down the line, it was suggested I get some cash in the bank.

“But that was never going to happen. I’d always told Alan that no matter what happened, Dixie was mine and we’d be keeping her. She’s part of the family and selling her is not something I could bring myself to do. The fact that we bred her in the first place was such an added bonus.”

Dixie Blossoms was bred by Osburg in 2012 from his mare Whistle Dixie (NZ) (Star Way {GB}). There was enough black-type on the page to think it a good mating, and so it was.

The resultant filly carried them right to the top of the game with five Group wins and no less than 13 Group placings, and her $1.6 million in earnings would today would be triple that figure with such a record.

These days, Miall is down to just Dixie Blossoms in Osburg’s portfolio. Liquidating the stock was both necessary and regretful, even if its jewel remains in her possession at Torryburn Stud.

Miall sold Chicquita last year through the Inglis Digital September Online Sale, the mare making $180,000 when selling to Shadowbrook Bloodstock. Even Chicquita had given the couple a good thrill, providing the highest-priced Harry Angel (Ire) yearling of 2022 in a colt that sold for $460,000 to Roughwood Park at Classic.

Axiomatic, who she owned in partnership with Torryburn, was bought out entirely by the Cornish family.

“It’s been sad to liquidate the horses over the last seven months,” Miall said. “But it was something that was needed. The portfolio was a full-time job and I couldn’t commit all my time to it, given I’m working and looking after our 14-year-old son.

“I’ve had to sell mares with foals by Dundeel and Maurice at foot, and I’ve sold mares like Miss Connie and Seven Churches. They weren’t producing anything major for us but there was some good breeding on both of those horses, but unfortunately it was just all too much for me to manage on my own.”

Miall has had to learn the business of bloodstock quick smart. She was with Osburg a long time before he died, and she picked up plenty, but the suddenness of responsibility took even her by surprise.

She has taken good counsel from people like John Cornish and Mel Copelin, and Bill Sweeney and David Baxter of Macquarie Stud. She has tried to surround herself with “people much smarter than me”, and as difficult as the decision has been to disperse much of the her late partner’s estate, she made it without sentiment because it was the smart thing to do.

“Even with this filly (Lot 104), I’d had no solid feelings from Alan before he died as to what he was going to do with her,” Miall said. “So I basically had to make that decision with some wise counsel around me. Given that I had a third filly from Dixie anyway, it sealed my decision to sell this one because I had one to race and one in the bank, and it meant I could keep Dixie going.”

Continue the dream

It’s been a tough few months for Miall and you wouldn’t blame her for being excited about next week’s sale. Some good news in her life will be welcome, and Dixie Blossoms has been a constant source of good news.

Miall isn’t sure what to expect in the sale ring with Lot 104, but it won’t change her faith in the Dixie family or tell her otherwise that the bloodline is gold.

“I’m hoping there will be a lot of buyers out early,” she said. “From all reports, the filly’s scopes and xrays are good and she’s thriving in her Easter prep. I wouldn’t say she is a solid type, but she’s strong and mum hasn’t definitely stamped her, but she has stamped all three of her fillies.

“They are all like her, and to know I’ve got the engine of Exceed And Excel in there, that is so exciting to me. He’s been kicking some amazing goals himself, given the age that he is.”

At Torryburn, Dixie Blossoms missed to Exceed And Excel in the spring so Miall isn’t expecting a foal in the upcoming season. She's not concerned because it has opened up her options about sending the mare to a new stallion for the first time in September.

“Time for a change, I think,” she said. “We might try to get a colt this time around. I’ve been blessed to have David Baxter and the Cornish family in my corner, giving me words of wisdom and helping me with all the deals and contacts.

“They’ve gone above and beyond what they’ve needed to, and that is a mark of respect for their best friend, Alan. I can honestly say they’ve wanted to see his dream continue as much as I have.”