Toffee Tongue Breaks Maiden in Australasian Oaks

The Australasian Oaks (G1) win of Toffee Tongue—breaking her duck in a group 1, no less—was a tasty reward for the Tavistock filly who had stamped herself as Australia's best maiden before her breakthrough May 2.

For Highden Park, fast becoming one of New Zealand's premier nurseries, it was a first Australian group 1 success that continued its emergence as a birthplace of future top-liners. And Highden Park proprietors Sam and Libby Bleakley hope Toffee Tongue's victory is the first of many wins at the highest level in Australia.

The Bleakleys announced Saturday that Toffee Tongue's dam, Bagalollies, a blue hen daughter of Zabeel who has also produced three-time group 1 winner Werther, New Zealand Oaks (G1) third Milseain, and New Zealand Cup (G3) winner Gobstopper, had been privately sold with plans to offer her at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale shelved due to COVID-19. 

Bagalollies had been bought as a broodmare prospect at the 2010 Karaka National Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Bloodstock Sale by Trent Busuttin on behalf of a group including Tommy Heptinstall, Andrew Campbell, David Platt, David Allison, Tom Pivac, and brothers Chris and Johnny Barnao. They were the same group that had just sold Tavistock to Cambridge Stud and were looking for mares who would suit the newly retired stallion proposition.

However, with Tavistock's death last year at the age of 14, the opportunity arose to acquire Bagalollies—an opportunity taken by the Hong Kong-based Edmund Wong.

"I'm delighted to say that, about three weeks ago—during our COVID-19 lockdown—I actually sold her to a gentleman in Hong Kong by the name of Edmund Wong," Libby Bleakley told ANZ Bloodstock News. "It's the first mare he's ever owned, and I am so thrilled for him. He bought Bagalollies three days before (Toffee Tongue) ran second in the Adrian Knox (G3). He contacted me out of the blue, he'd been following us on social media, he knew of our results. 

"I'm not going to lie, I'd been trying to sell Bagalollies because the boys were winding up their operation with Tavistock's passing. I'd been trying to sell her since January. Funnily enough, I couldn't find a home for her. When Edmund got in contact with me, it was just wonderful. For him to come in on a mare like that and to straightaway have this result, with his first mare, what a thrill. Watching the Oaks today for him was completely different to what it would have been had he not got in contact with me. He bought really, really well, and I'm absolutely thrilled for him. 

"Edmund and I have had a lot of contact since then, and I have to say, what a wonderful guy, and I am absolutely delighted to be bringing him in for the Highden Park journey. He's so grateful to be involved, he's been a big follower of us and of Beauty Generation and Ping Hai Star in Hong Kong. He feels fortunate to be a part of our team, and that means everything to us."

Bagalollies traces from a strong American family that includes seven-time grade 1 winner Open Mind, five-time grade 1 victor Forever Together, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1) winner Mucho Gusto. Intriguingly, she shares the same fourth dam, Take A Stand, as Saturday's Robert Sangster Stakes (G1) winner, Bella Vella.

Bleakley admits that Bagalollies would have been popular had she gone through the Gold Coast sales ring, even more so now that Toffee Tongue has a group 1 win to her name, but she says that she's grateful to Wong as it means that the rising 17-year-old will remain at Highden Park.

"I don't know if there would be many mares who have had every runner to the races as a group performer," she said. "Every mare generally has a dud, and don't get me wrong, this mare has had a couple that didn't make it to the races. But every one of her foals that has gone to the races is now a group performer. It's pretty amazing. 

"We only have 15 mares here, and while she's no different to any other mare on the farm—she gets treated the same as the rest—she is such a nice mare, and we're so fond of her that to see her get on the truck and leave would have been really difficult," she said. "Her previous owners cared enough about her for that to be a deciding factor, that she would get to stay with us. It's just so special. 

"To get that support from people and to get that support from a new owner, to leave a mare of that caliber with us and not put her on a plane to Australia to a fancy stud, that means a lot to us; it requires trust and faith in us, in our ability and in what we do."

Toffee Tongue Breaks Through

The Chris Waller-trained Toffee Tongue was sent out as the favorite in the 16-runner Australasian Oaks field, the subject of plenty of money as she struck her favored soft conditions. She was coming in off a string of placings, including her past two at stakes level in the Adrian Knox Stakes and The Star Australian Oaks (G1), both times behind Colette.

Jumping well under Damien Thornton, Toffee Tongue settled handier than usual early but also started to overrace. Thornton deftly brought the filly back underneath him but also found himself in a sticky position turning for home as horses weakened in front. 

However, with most of the field pulling wide, it left a gap for Toffee Tongue and Thornton. She sprinted strongly along the rails and quickly put the race to bed, holding off a wall of challengers, all swooping home late, to give Thornton a first group 1 win.

Moonlight Maid recorded a second group 1 placing, finishing three-quarters of a length from the winner, with Affair To Remember a long head away in third.

"Even though it was her first win, I felt she was always improving," Waller said. "Her run in the Adrian Knox Stakes was great, and her run in the Australian Oaks was brilliant. She perhaps should have finished at least a bit closer. It's great to get the group 1 with her.

"We only decided to send her to Adelaide after she ran so well in the Australian Oaks and the Adrian Knox before that. She was earmarked for Queensland originally. She has got the breeding to be a really good horse."

The Bleakleys, though, remain down to earth and humble, excited by the fact their graduates are continuing to prove themselves on the big stage but also somewhat perplexed by their farm's ongoing success.

"It's quite surreal," she said. "We don't know what's happening, we have no idea what's going on. It's a little bit out of the ordinary, the results we are getting, and consistently, too; we can't really explain it. We're spoiled for choice with these horses, but we don't know what it is. We just do our job and do it the best we can. 

"I think anyone that knows us knows that we have a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old, so amongst watching the Oaks, we still had to put pajamas on, read books, dry dishes, fold washing, and get children to bed. I'd love to say that we're jumping up and down on the lounge, we've got the Moet all over the place, and the party is turning up in half an hour, but it's just not us. It's just not the life we live. 

"Sam only just got back in time to watch the race because he was down at the back of the farm feeding all the spellers. Even a big group 1 like that, we don't stop—we've hopefully got a new batch of future group 1 winners to look after!"

Sent to the 2018 NZB Karaka Yearling Sales, Toffee Tongue was knocked down to Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock on behalf of Jonathan Munz. 

"The previous two that we'd had through our hands were Milseain and Candyland," Sam Bleakley recalled. "I remember with Milseain, I gave Andrew Campbell a call and asked him, 'What was Werther like? What was Gobstopper like?' I was just trying to understand them as horses. I found that Milseain was very hot and worked up. I couldn't quite work out that Zabeel cross myself. 

"Over time, we've slowly figured it out. Candyland was much better, more relaxed. I worked out a system with her. And then Toffee Tongue, I think we nailed it with her. We worked out how to treat her, we got onto her early as a weanling, but also we gave her enough space to work out her own brain. Her foals have all been the same—they command a lot of respect from you, and if you're not prepared to put in the time and form that relationship with her foals, earn that two-way street of respect, you're fighting a losing battle. That's why we were so delighted when Dean purchased Toffee Tongue for Jonathan.

"I actually rang Dean after the win," Libby Bleakley added. "We can only do so much when we prep them, and from there it's out of our hands. I just had to ring him and thank him for buying her and putting her in the right hands to get the job done. It was amazing. Actually, I said to him, 'Do you think I could ring Chris Waller and say thank you so much? It's really nice to get our first Australian group 1 win with a Kiwi.' And he said, of course!

"We're just Sam and Libby from Highden. We're just a mechanic and a horsy girl. … How does that work? But between Dean, Jonathan, and Chris, they are the sorts of people that know how to operate as we do. They form relationships with horses, they give them time, respect, space, all those sorts of things. So you just know you're on a winning formula when they go to environments like that."