Ping Hai Another 'Star' for Highden Park

Libby and Sam Bleakley's boutique operation at Highden Park in Manawatu, New Zealand, located about two hours northeast of Wellington and some 300 miles southeast of Auckland, has been in existence for just seven years. But during that time, the operation has had wild success with its graduates, particularly those that have been exported to Hong Kong. The Bleakleys were on hand at Sha Tin last Sunday when Ping Hai Star (NZ) (Nom du Jeu {NZ}) became the second farm graduate in the last three years to take down the prestigious BMW Hong Derby.

“It was pretty impressive, a lot of people who have seen a lot of those races said it was one of the most impressive Derby wins they've ever seen in Hong Kong,” Bleakley said by phone earlier this week. “It was desperately breathtaking and it looked like he could have pulled away even more if he'd wanted.”

The Bleakleys were joined in Hong Kong by breeders Glenn and Lisa Morton, who also bred and raced Nom de Jeu. Bleakley recalled being smitten by Ping Hai Star from the time he was foaled Nov. 6, 2013.

“I am of the opinion that good horses are born good,” she said. “We breed a few here and every now and then one is born and you say, 'Wow! This horse is top shelf.' I rang the owners at 2 a.m. when he was born and I said, 'Wow, guys, this is such a good foal.' He was born with so much natural muscle, he had a really lovely leg on him and as he grew out over the first few months, he had a beautiful temperament. He was always very calm, relaxed and intelligent. There's a lot of pressure with yearling preparation, but he just rose above and thoroughly enjoyed it. He really thrived on and to me, when they thrive in the yearling preparation–because we work them quite hard–that leads to them being something special on the track.”

But those on hand at the 2015 NZB Select Yearling Sale weren't exactly sold on lot 775, as he was led out unsold when bidding stalled out at just NZ$40,000.

“I would put my hand up and say that he was one of the nicest yearlings I've ever taken out to the sale,” Bleakley said. “If anything, it was his sire. People were just put off by the sire, nobody wanted [his progeny]. I tell you I was blue in the face just saying to people, 'shut the catalog and look at what's in front of you.' It doesn't matter what it's by. He might be by an unfashionable sire, you couldn't tell me that this wasn't going to be a nice horse. From there it was frustrating, because we select our draft for Karaka every year based on type. We are not about the fancy pedigree pages, we will only take a horse if it's a nice type, and to me, I was disappointed no one else could see what I saw in him as a yearling.

“Being by Nom du Jeu, he just needed that extra time to get the very best out of him,” Bleakley continued. “Physically, you could have been swayed to push him a bit earlier than what he has been, but it worked out that they let him do things his way when he was ready. And I think being in the right hands along the way has made such a difference as well.”

Convinced that she had prepared a nice horse even if there were no takers at Karaka, Bleakley encouraged the colt's owner to eschew racing at home and to send the horse overseas.

“Back at the farm here when we got him broken I spoke with the owners and said, 'take him to Australia.' Let's put it this way: we have a banner that has all our top graduates on it and I one for 'Ted' printed out, that's how confident I was,” she said.

Watch: Ping Hai Star swoops from last in the BMW Hong Kong Derby

Trained by Stuart Kendrick, the horse then known as Ted won a pair of races by a combined 11 1/2 lengths at the Sunshine Coast in February 2017 before being sold to Zeng Shengli and transferred to leading trainer John Size. The rest, as they say, is history, as Ping Hai Star was running his current winning streak to four with his barnstorming score in the Derby.

But Highden Park is no one-hit wonder. In addition to Ping Hai Star, they have raised the likes of 2016 Derby hero Werther (NZ), G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile winner Beauty Generation (NZ) and MGSW Amazing Kids (NZ). Werther's 3-year-old full-sister Milseain (NZ), a NZ$300,000 graduate from the Highden Park draft at the 2016 Premier Sale, was also third in last Saturday's G1 New Zealand Oaks. So what is the secret to all this success?

“I was born with a passion, actually I think it's a little bit more than a passion,” she explained. “This is what I was always going to do. Luckily, my husband, who was a mechanic for a very long time and is only just picking up five years with horses, he is an absolute natural and has a bit of a gift with them as well. For us it's all about selecting the right type of horse, educating them to the highest standard, because a horse is nothing without a good brain.

Bleakley added, “From when they are foals, we teach them confidence and self-belief. You come to our farm, these foals that are just being weaned, they think they are the bee's knees. If you've got a horse that believes in itself and thinks it can do anything, they can. As far as our topography, we have beautiful, rolling country, so our horses are raised on rolling hills, some of which can be quite steep. So right from the time they're born, they're building muscle, they're building strong skeletal structure. I think there is something to both, in education and being raised on these hills. John Size was saying to us the day after the Derby that he couldn't believe the graduates we've had and said, 'there's something in your ground!'”

And the Bleakleys see nothing but blue skies ahead.

“These horses are really the start of our business, these are the very first horses that have been born and raised on our farm and they're doing that. The first ones out the gate are doing it for us, how fantastic!” she said, adding that the farm boards about 15 mares. “We had a fantastic sales season at Karaka [in 2018], we ended up as the top vendor by average [in Book 1, led by a NZ$500,000 full-sister to Werther and Milseain] and sold the [NZ$200,000] top lot in the second book (lot 885). And I would say there are three horses from that draft that I would go ahead and have their name printed on our banner. We certainly have some nice ones coming.”

Given the success in such short order at Highden Park, which one of us is to argue?