Another famous and successful thoroughbred family that I have a reasonably complete library of is the family of the champion racemare, More Joyous. She is a bay mare, foaled in 2005, which makes her a year older than
Black Caviar.
More Joyous is by the great American black stallion (and one of "my Boys") More Than Ready. She's out of the Sunday Silence
mare Sunday Joy, who was out of the grand broodmare Joie Denise (who
died not all that long ago). Sunday Joy won the AJC Oaks in and is a
half sister to Tuesday Joy. All 4 mares were/are owned by John Singleton and
reside at his gorgeous Strawberry Hills Farm at Mt White, NSW.
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| More Joyous and Nash Rawiller. Futurity Stakes, on Blue Diamond Day. 26 February 2011. One of my favourite images of the great mare. |
More Joyous, like her contemporary Black Caviar, is now closer to the end of her career than the beginning. But it is one I've chronicled in a similar fashion to the way I have documented the Famous Pony's career, although perhaps not quite as comprehensively because of circumstances that were sometimes beyond my control. She too has quite powerful links for me, and can serve as a reminder of particular days, some wonderfully happy and some exquisitely painful. Still, for me, horses have always been very personal. Perhaps that is why they are able to mean so much to me.
If it wasn't for Black Caviar More Joyous would surely have at least one Horse of the Year title to her name. She won a Riesling Stakes as a 2yo, and she's won 7 Group 1 races, including a wonderful and courageous victory in the 2010 Toorak Handicap and 2012 Doncaster Handicap, where on both occasions she set a weight carrying record for a mare.
This Saturday I will drive to the races at Warwick Farm. Apart from the Rosehill Guineas and the Challenge Stakes, there are two 2 year old races. One for colts and geldings (the Skyline Stakes) and one for filles (the Sweet Embrace). In the fillies race a little chestnut filly, trained by Gai Waterhouse and owned by John Singleton, has accepted for the race. Her name is Most Joyful and she's a full sister to More Joyous.
In addition to photographing More Joyous and her sire More Than Ready,
I've photographed her close relation Tuesday Joy reasonably extensively,
both on the track and as a broodmare, and her dam, Sunday Joy at stud
as well. This includes some of the beautifully bred new babies born to
these two mares.
Take a browse through the images below, which is a little pictorial history of this great family, both on the track and on the farms, of some great racemares, and broodmares, and a truly wondrous stallion. I like to believe in the dream that this little chestnut filly will win at Warwick Farm.
Finally, seeing as this post is all about mums, dads and their babies, I saw this "re-tweeted" (sorry, I still think this is a silly term!) on Twitter yesterday:
"Watson.. 1. About to become a dad.. Greatest time of your life! 2. Your
life will change now being a father! 3.. Your wife is now boss!"
I am quietly trying to remove my fingers from my throat....
Not all women think or act in this way..... Some of us like the thought of being best friend and confidante, rather than employee/employer.
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| 2010 Toorak Handicap. This was the same day that I photographed Black Caviar for the first time, and when So You Think won his Caulfield Stakes. First day I photographed with my Pony Charm too.. |
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So emotional. I cried after this race, when More Joyous won the 2012 Doncaster Handicap.
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| More Than Ready. The Black Prince. Sire of More Joyous, and many of her close relations. Singleton has sent his best mares to this wonderful and gorgeous looking stallion, after the success of the More Joyous mating. |
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