Hong Kong Derby Could Be Molan's Shining Moment

It will be business as usual this coming Sunday at Ireland's Riversfield Stud, roughly halfway between Limerick and Cork. When the clock strikes 8.30, Shane Molan figures to 'be mucking out the stables,' but you'll forgive him if he takes a few minutes out of his morning to sit in front of a TV or a device of his choosing to watch racing from halfway around the world. After all, the very first horse Molan ever bred in his own name, Waikuku (Ire) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), is expected to jump as one of the favourites in the HK$18-million (€2.03 million) BMW Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin Racecourse.

Molan, whose father Thomas bought Riversfield Stud about 15 years ago, is all of 33 years old, and the Waikuku story begins in 2013, when Molan acquired the six-time maiden London Plane (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) at the Goffs February Sale about 200km north and east of Riversfield. He managed to purchase the then-5-year-old mare–a daughter of the MSP Aunt Julia (GB) (In The Wings {GB}) and a full-sister to G3 Winter Hill S. third Al Waab (Ire)–for a mere €13,500.

“She represented good value, first and foremost, and she's by a good broodmare sire,” Molan said when asked exactly why this mare fit the bill. “She had a good bit of size and she was a full-sister to quite a good horse in Al Waab. On pedigree, we wanted to buy something that we could afford and then on physical, she had good bone, a good step, a very nice frame. She was a bit light coming out of training and she didn't look all that impressive at first, but there was a nice bit of quality there to work with. She was a very straight-forward filly that was affordable on the day for us. She was only just out of training when I bought her, but she let down nicely and really thrived over the summer.”

Barren to Born to Sea for 2014, Molan decided to breed London Plane to Harbour Watch, a son of Acclamation (GB) who won the G2 Richmond S. for Richard Hannon Sr. in 2011, but suffered an injury while being prepared for a start in that year's G1 Dewhurst S. Harbour Watch sired four crops at Tweenhills Stud, but his injury led to an arthritic condition which ultimately led to his premature retirement from stallion duties. Harbour Watch was bred by Thomas Molan.

Additionally, according to Shane Molan: “We liked his first foals, he was really stamping his stock. He was a good-sized horse himself and a very good 2-year-old and we wanted to get a good-sized [stallion] into her for her first foal. And, then obviously, to support a stallion that Dad bred himself.”

Molan described Waikuku as a very likable sort in his early days.

“He was a very straight-forward colt growing up, very athletic, nicely put together,” he said. “He had a great temperament–we had quite a few foals here by Harbour Watch and they all had lovely temperaments. He enjoyed his work, he thrived through his prep and seemed to have a toughness about him as well as a good attitude.”

The decision was made to pass on the foal sales and the colt was ticketed for the 2016 Tattersalls Ireland sale. He sold for a respectable sum–€33,000 is nothing to sneeze at. That a world-class conditioner and judge the likes of John Oxx signed the ticket made the transaction that much sweeter.

“His pedigree wasn't massive at the time and it was the sire's second season, when they tend to go a little bit quiet on second-season sires until they're proven,” Molan said when asked if the hammer price was a satisfactory one. “But he was going down quite well, quite a few trainers liked him. John Oxx obviously liked him very much and, in fact, Johnny Murtagh was the underbidder on the day. You see John Oxx coming towards your horse and you can't help but get pretty excited. No matter how much it's going to make, you know it's going to be in good hands. To have bred something that one of the top trainers of the world is interested in is overwhelming. And you gain some confidence that maybe he does something to enhance the value of the mare.”

Molan was on hand when Waikuku made his career debut on a rainswept August Sunday afternoon at The Curragh. Waikuku had done some growing up.

“He wasn't over-big, but he did have some size and scope as a yearling and he'd turned into quite a big horse,” Molan commented.

Fifth in a 16-horse field in yielding-to-soft ground, Waikuku went missing for the better part of a calendar year, returning in a seven-furlong Leopardstown maiden over a sounder surface in July 2018. Ridden prominently by Colm O'Donoghue, the 11-10 favourite took command 100 yards from home and edged clear to graduate by 1 1/2 lengths (video).

“A lot of the credit has to go to John Oxx for the way he handled the colt, he is the kind that is willing to give these bigger horses a little bit of time and you saw the payoff,” Molan said. “There's a lot of emphasis now on early 2-year-olds in Europe, but he was willing to take his time. He said that he was one of the better horses he'd had in the last few years.”

The effort had caught the eye of Alastair Donald, whose SackvilleDonald agency is renowned for their success in exporting European horses to Hong Kong, and Waikuku was purchased by Siu Pak Kwan. For the Siu family, SackvilleDonald had secured the likes of 2017 G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup hero Time Warp (GB) (Archipenko) and the talented Irian (Ger) (Tertullian), among others. SackvilleDonald has also brokered the deals on past Derby winners Viva Pataca (GB) (2006), Collection (Ire) (Peintre Celebre), 2009 and Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), 2014.

Waikuku was subsequently gelded and turned over to John Size. For Molan, Hong Kong was a brand new frontier.

“I wouldn't have actually known a whole lot about Hong Kong racing until I found out the horse was going to John Size,” he said. “I looked him up on Google and saw all that he's accomplished and you know the horse is in safe hands then, going from a leading trainer in Europe to a leading trainer in Hong Kong.”

Waikuku dropped a narrow decision in his Hong Kong debut, but has improved steadily to scoop four races on the bounce since. He was exceptionally impressive in overcoming a wide, no-cover trip to land a Class 2 over the 1400 metres Feb. 17 (video) and most recently handled an extra quarter-mile with aplomb when coming home 1 1/2 lengths to the good Mar. 2 (video). He enters Sunday's race on a field-best rating of 108.

Molan sees no issues with Sunday's 2000m trip.

“I suppose the only doubt was that Harbour Watch was a six-furlong horse, but in all his races, he really ran out all the way to the line,” he said. “He was actually ante-post favourite for the Guineas. So looking at that, you had confidence that the mile was going to be OK. The dam's full-brother was a good mile-and-a-quarter horse and Aunt Julia was a good mile-and-a-half horse herself. When Waikuku stepped up to the nine furlongs last time, he looked to improve even more, so you'd like to think another furlong won't give him any trouble.”

Molan reports that London Plane foaled a filly by two-time G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase winner Highland Reel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) Mar. 10, and is looking forward to Waikuku further advertising the family this weekend.

“You have a world-leading jockey like Joao Moreira and the signs all seem pretty positive for a good effort,” he said. “The way he ran last time, you'd have to be pretty confident.”